Brand I

Brand I

The wolves knowing they had been spotted had bristled their murky gray coats and were beginning to circle their way around the pair of combatants. Brand noted that there appeared to be 8 wolves in total, that'd be at least 4 wolves he alone would need to take down if the two were to fight as equals, but from his travels thus far with the little lord he knew that fighting as a unit was almost certainly off the table. As if to make true of his prophecy of the mind, Arthur unsheathed his sword with his blackening fingers mostly numb from the cold and squeezed the leather grip firmly in his hand. His sword was a true beauty to behold as it seemed to shine a ray of cool blue down its edges without there being very much light at all to reflect, a Mithril sword no doubt forged by a true master of arms eons ago - it was a sword that denoted class and nobility, not something you'd haphazard across through some bazaar or street market but a trinket passed down from father to son, from lord to lordling.

Raising his sword Arthur charged alone at the pack leaving Brand behind to wonder what the hell he was supposed to do with no weapon.

"Use your Mandate, Brand." Came Jarvins advice from behind him, Brand shuddered but not from the cold - he hated his Mandate, no it would be more accurate to say that he feared it. Looking back to Arthur he watched as the noble cleaved his sword through one wolf and then another, only to be snagged from behind by the furs of his cloak in the jaws of another wolf. Arthur was dragged to the floor whilst the other wolves moved in to finish him off, Brand shakily raised his hand and pulled on the power waiting dormant within his palm.

A tiny fire rose from his outstretched hand and crackled through the air as it approached the wolves, as it soared it shone with an eerily blue glow the likes of which illuminated the dark, gray world and turned it into the sky of day, but then as fast as it had started, the plume of fire dissipated and fizzled out into nothingness. Although it hadn't reached the wolves, the light and heat had given them pause in their charge long enough for Arthur to pierce the wolf at his back and to stand back up, looking over to Brand in annoyance.

"Don't get in my way peasant! And don't be letting any of those parlor tricks off near me you hear?!" Arthur seethed as he returned his attention back to the pack of dire wolves who still weren't willing to back off. Their mouths dripped with saliva and foam, they weren't willing to back off because of their hunger, Brand knew all too well how dangerous an animal is when it has been starved, it'll do just about anything to get its next meal.

Knowingly disregarding the lords wishes, Brand looked back to his palms shakily trying to **** the flames out of him once again but alas his body simply wouldn't allow him to, all that came of his Mandate was a small blue flame that flickered like a candle wick about to go out. It was pathetic really, he had been told so by so many others that it must be true. 'What use is having a mandate if all you can amount to is a portable lantern or cooking stove?' Some would say 'As you see, Mandates are wasted on the low born.' would say others. No matter how many times he would try, whenever he saw those flames he would be transported back into a dark room where naught but a solitary forge bellowed away, along with the sounds of scraping metal on stone that sent chills running up and down his spine and made him feel as a small as the young boy he once was.

"Control yourself Brand, or you leave Arthur to kill your share of the wolves for you." Jarvin stole Brand away from his thoughts and brought him back into the present, steadying himself Brand chose this time to point his index finger forward and focused the flames from his palms to his digits and pulled upon his power more confidently this time. Looking up, Brand could see Arthur sending a clumsy swing of his sword only to be evaded by one of the wolves dodging out the blades trajectory.

The snows were alight with blue once again but unlike this time, the wolves made no attempt to dodge - maybe this was because the wolves weren't going to fall for yet another feint, or maybe it was because it all happened so fast, but this time the line of blue fire shot true and strongly, piercing the pouncing wolf's abdomen and sending it hurtling to the floor. The wolf was alight from small blue flames that melted the snows around the crash site and singed the fur straight to the reddened flesh that continued to burn. The wolfs yelps of pain echoed through the clearing and gave pause to the rest of the wolves.

Arthur picked himself up angrily and pointed his sword back at Brand, his eyes shone a tint of red in his rage. "You dare defy me, whelp?! I need not your help to slay these pups!" Arthur said, attempting to hide his panting or else he'd most certainly lose face in front of the others. Brand pretended not to notice and had the decency to at least subvert his eyes from the blond.

"Apologies my lord, I hadn't heard you over the winds." A lie on both fronts, he wasn't sorry and he had heard him - but Brand had learnt that arguing with a lord lead to either punishment or beheading; often both if you were particularly unlucky. His lie seemed to have passed unnoticed however as the young lord made an irritated noise and sheathed his Mithril sword. 'Why was he sheathing his sword?' Brand asked himself, only to have it answered as he looked back to the wolves who were currently tearing apart their burnt brother ravenously. The life's blood soaking the snow a deep satin as the wolf's yelps grew quieter and quieter until it no longer drew sound - all the while Brand couldn't take his eyes off of the area he had burnt into a blackened crisp. It bore into him like a ghost and made his skin goose up and his hairs to stand on there ends, small beads of sweat somehow managing to moisten his brow even in these colds.

"Good job boys, you've proven your worth before Skree and he has blessed us with safer passage." Jarvin said, Brand noticed that the winds had died down all of a sudden, the cold along with it - as if rewarding them for their job well done. "Lets pick up the pace, there's only a few more hours of light left and we'd be best to seek the castle before dark." Jarvin continued as he set to trekking through the shin high snows, Brand, Arthur and the others fell back in line with Brand at the back and Arthur just in front. As they were getting into positions, Arthur gave him a brief scowl and then focused his attention to the front just as quickly. Brand sighed quietly as he tried his best not to loose his footing, but rejoiced in the small victory that they hadn't much longer to travel now. The rest of the journey Brand could only think of what he had done to that wolf, and how it reminded him of that darkened room with that roaring furnace.