Melody of the Builders 9

Varen was bothered. His expression said it all. If asked what it was that bothered him he would have given any number of things in answer. There was that no matter how far that he walked with Chain and Kyte in the labyrinthine underground system of tunnels both manmade and natural and large caverns that the air was always fresh and that it was lit as though it were daylight so far underground. There was the steady orange glow that the daylight was taking on implying that the Great Bird Sol would soon soar beyond the horizon. There was the fact that Chain obviously had no idea where they were going but still lead on confidently with her hands placed casually on the back of her head. There was the fact that the Hero who had tried to kill them at the beginning of the day was travelling with them chatting away as if the lot of them were the best of friends. There was also the grumbling of his own stomach as well that bothered Varen but in the end none of those things were what truly bothered him to where it was visible on his face in a form other than exasperation. What bothered him was the smile that almost constantly adorned Kyte’s face. The sight of the Hero smiling brought old memories to the fore and words spoken by a voice that filled the swordsman with a quiet rage.

(What’s the matter Varen? Don’t tell me that’s all you have. I know you can do better.

(Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha! That look Varen. It’s priceless. You’d think you were betrayed or something.

(Don’t worry Varen, you’ll grow into it eventually. I’m sure you will. This is you we’re talking about after all. You’ve never let me down yet or disappointed me in the least. As for everything else, just leave it to me.)

Varen covered his face with his left hand as though he was trying to block out the memories. Naturally he drew the attention of Chain and Kyte and knew he had to do something if he was going to avoid drawing any further suspicion onto himself. Exploiting his long stride he positioned himself next to Chain and lowered his hand while leaning over in an attempt to focus his voice solely at the maid.

“So how much longer are you going to let this Hero stick with us?”

Varen’s question annoyed Chain and her entire posture changed. Pulling her hands free from behind her head Chain clutched at her left temple while resting her right hand on her hip. The irritation she wore on her face was clearer than the waters of a holy spring and it was obvious that she regretted being curious about Varen’s body language.

“How many times do I have to answer this question you idiot?”

“Maybe until you say something that makes sense?”

“I have been making sense! You’re just obviously too much of an idiot to get that through your head!”

“I can’t help it. Outside of Lord Elliot I’ve only had bad luck with Heroes.”

“You think I haven’t?! If I could get rid of him I would, but the problem I’ve already spelled out for you over and over again is that he’s too good to be lost that easily.”

“Come on Chainmaid, you’re being cruel again. I thought we were fast becoming friends.”

Kyte flashed Chain a jovial smile and easily irritated the maid even more than Varen had. His jovial buddy-buddy demeanor also annoyed Varen who quickly turned his attention back to Chain with another annoying question for the maid.

“Are you sure we can’t lose him? In these tunnels that shouldn’t be a problem with how labyrinth everything is.”

Varen was in prime position for Chain’s elbow to find its way violently into his empty stomach bringing the group to a stop as he doubled over in pain.

“Ugh. Your idiocy is really starting to get on my nerves Varen. You called me reckless but have you been paying attention to anything since we headed out besides your idiotic grudge against this muscle bound idiot?”

“Did you have to hit me so hard?”

Varen barely breathed out his question through the pain but the look that Chain gave him in answer made him regret asking.

“If you didn’t have such a hard head I would have caved in your skull by now.”

“Oh~ don’t be so hard on the tall man, Chainmaid. He’s in the presence of greatness after all.”

“Didn’t you introduce yourself as humble you idiot. Somehow I feel like the meaning of that word is lost on a muscle bound idiot like you.”

“I don’t recall speaking of myself Chainmaid. While I don’t doubt that the tall man feels threatened by my physique –”

Kyte was not afforded the opportunity to finish what he was saying as Chain leveled him with a look that made the Hero question if it was wise to cross the maid.

“You do realize I’m not above killing a man in his sleep I hope.”

Swallowing nervously Kyte offered Chain a smile and regretted it as the look in her still green eyes told him that his life might legitimately end if he took one wrong step. A strange relief washed over the Hero as Chain finally pulled her eyes off of him and continued on ahead without the two men. Stepping up next to Varen, Kyte offered the swordsman a friendly smile.

“All spit and venom that maid isn’t she.”

A hearty laugh rose up out of Kyte and Varen sighed as he straightened out and started after Chain. He found himself stopped as Kyte placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Not so fast tall man. Maybe you should take a moment to talk with me before you end up harassing our little viper again and getting the both of us killed. She doesn’t seem to be above killing someone out of irritation and that’s far from the way either of us should go tall man.”

Looking back Varen frowned at Kyte.

“Do you really think I’ll listen to a man who tried to kill me just because he was looking for a fight?”

“Sorry about that tall man, I kind of got to into it. But it taught me something important; the Bandit King probably can be killed. He’s not invincible.”

“Of course not. Lord Elliot will fell him should they cross paths again.”

“But will they tall man?”

“What?”

Varen’s glare softened in response to the tone of Kyte’s voice. It was a subtle change but there was no questioning the doubt in it.

“That bastard Roc, he kills Heroes to add to his own part in the Builders’s Song. He gathers verses as you and I would gather wounds. Every time you fight him you can almost be certain he’ll be stronger than the last time. But I’m the only Hero who has ever fought that monster and survived. At least until your Hero from the east challenged him, yet it was undoubtedly the Chainmaid who caught the Bandit King’s fancy. An adventurer wielding a Relic survived her encounter and since has survived an encounter with yet another Hero. I have no doubt that the Builders would sing of her if their song could affect her because of what she is capable of. I’m honestly confused as to why they don’t sing about you tall man. You don’t seem to have a Relic from what I can tell but I guess it doesn’t matter. You seem to be intent on protecting the Chainmaid and that means it’ll be you who has to face Roc. But if the Chainmaid can imitate verses using the Well of Chaos then with the right verse just maybe it’s you two who can kill that bastard. For that I would gladly give my life.”

The confident smile that Kyte gave Varen left him speechless and he could only wander what it was he had followed Elliot into. Kyte recognized the passion and hatred intermingled in Varen’s silver blue eyes and smiled softer as he took his hand from the swordsman’s shoulder and took a step back.

“♪~ Surely this time he’s dead for sure ~♪
♪~ With wounds like that it must be true ~♪
♪~ None could live in such a state ~♪
♪~ But that’s laughter I hear, sure as the Emerald Sea is green ~♪
♪~ Too his feet again for another day to try again ~♪”

Copyright © 2018 Joshua D Tarwater