A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 85  The Cruelty of The Gods - Part 10

Beam glanced at it. With the stitches, it was in a much better state than earlier. It was only a slight stream of it now. It did not worry him. His thoughts were of the future as he strode down the steps out of the merchant's house. He gave a brief nod to Judas before the big man closed the door behind him and then, Beam hobbled his way across the square to where Nila was waiting.

She stood with her arms folded, looking bored until she caught sight of him. Seeing blood already rushing down his leg, she ran to him in a worry. "Look what you've done!" She said, seeing the state of him. "I told you I should have walked you there! This is serious, Beam. You're really going to die if you keep pushing yourself like this. Do you know how much blood you've lost?"

She glanced up, only to see the serious expression on his face and the hardening of his jaw expressing a grim determination. She recoiled slightly at the sight. "What happened?" She asked.

"He and I came to something of an agreement," Beam said cryptically, his thoughts on the future. And then he remembered the coins that he'd asked for. "Here," he said, taking her hand and putting the 5 copper coins inside it. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"What's this?" She asked in surprise, eyeing it.

"For the Goblins you slew," Beam told her. "They're worth more, but Greeves' is pretty stingy, as you'd expect from a merchant."

"They're worth more?" Nila repeated with a blink, looking at the handful of coin. "Wait, this is too much! I can't accept this. This is two weeks' wages! How are you fine giving this away? Besides, I only managed to kill those two Goblins thanks to you – I don't deserve pay for it."

"Nah," Beam said. "It's your skills that got you that coin, Nila. I don't know how hard you've been practising to be able to fire arrows like that, but your skill is something else. These coins are the result of your hard work, just accept them."

Nila looked startled by the sudden praise as she continued to stare at the coins, looking conflicted.

"I'm never going to be able to pay you back at this rate," she mumbled. "I don't think you understand how important just these few coins will be for getting us through the winter – and you're just dropping them on me like that."

Beam shrugged. "We've had a rough day, after all. It makes sense that we'd get a reward for making it through the danger."

Nila frowned at that. "Just making it through with your life would be enough for most people – it's enough for me… Are you really sure I can have these?"

"Hah, just take them Nila. You killed those Goblins, so you get the rewards for them. We're both too tired to argue. Let's just leave it there," Beam said, genuinely feeling exhausted at this point.

"Thank you," Nila mumbled as she pocketed the 5 coppers. "Mother is going to be really grateful for this, too."

She offered her shoulder to support Beam and the two of them hobbled back away from the town, towards the forest.

Beam grew more and more silent as they went, the blood continuing to dribble down his leg in short bursts. Nila kept glancing at him worriedly, to make sure he was okay.

"We're nearly at the forest Beam," Nila said, attempting to stir him as she saw his eyes slowly close.

"Mm…" Beam said in response, as though half asleep.

They entered the treeline.

"Where do you want me to take you?" She asked again, trying to rouse a response out of him. But by now, he was completely unconscious, it seemed. His legs had even stopped moving, and Nila was forced to shoulder more and more of his body weight.

She gently lowered him down against a tree in worry. "I don't know what to do…" She murmured, twisting her lips. From the rise and fall of his chest, he was still breathing, but the boy was thoroughly exhausted by now. The continuous blood loss plus the stress of the day's activities - they'd all caught up with him. In truth, it was a wonder he'd made it that long.

"I will take it from here, girl," a voice called out from behind her, making her flinch, and the old warrior that she had seen earlier emerged from the shadows, hidden beneath his straw hat. He approached the boy, as Nila continued to look at him warily. "You've treated him well," Dominus said.

"…He pushed himself too far. I don't know if he's really going to be okay like this – he's lost too much blood," Nila said.

Dominus smiled at that. "If only you knew how much the slightest flicker of concern means to a child like Beam. He has spent far too long in the cold, away from human warmth. You've done more for him than you realize."

Nila twisted her lips, unsure of what to say. Hearing the kindness in the old man's voice, her wariness faded, but she couldn't hide her curiosity. "Just who are you, anyway? How long have you known Beam?"

"A short while," Dominus said. "It would have been better for us both if I'd met him sooner – but the Gods have their games to play."

Nila noticed that he'd avoided the question of his identity.

"How are you so strong?" She pressed, recalling how he'd dealt with the Hobgoblin so easily. Dominus glanced at her, out of the corner of his eye. Feeling the weight of his gaze, she felt pressed to reassure him. "I promised I wouldn't tell anyone about what happened – and I won't. I'm just curious."

Dominus looked at her, long and hard, before he smiled. "…Amusing. It would seem you have it too – the hunger in your eyes. You have an ambition far above your station, mm? What a strange game fate plays, for two sets of eyes like that to stumble upon each other so suddenly."

"..? I don't understand?" Nila said, as Dominus spoke seemingly to himself.

But Dominus did not seem keen to elaborate much further. "Be gentle with the boy, won't you?" He said. "I have a feeling your paths might cross more than once in the future. I do not have much time left, so I cannot guide him all the way. But show the boy kindness. His is a fragile vessel. He lives just as strongly in the darkness as normal folk do in the light."

"I'll… I'll try to be kinder," Nila said, still not understanding. "I owe him my life, after all. Even if I don't know anything about him, I can at least be kinder when I see him."

"Ah, but I do not mean that kindness, girl," Dominus said, shaking his finger. "Force it, and you'll only make him distrustful. You've caught him in a rare moment of weakness. Do not expect his heart to be always so open. Merely treat him carefully, as you would a wounded animal. Do that, and I believe it will benefit you both. He has what you're seeking, and you have what he lacks."

With those cryptic words, the old warrior scooped the unconscious Beam up carefully and began to walk into the woods.

"Wait!" Nila called out as she tried to process what he had said, but they were already gone, and no one came to answer her.

She rubbed her eyes as she leaned against a tree. "This is all so strange…" she murmured to herself, as a crow wandered over the path in front of her.

It paused a moment, as though to observe her, and then it cawed loudly, and flew right past her ear. Nila watched it go, seeing that it only had one leg.

Chapter 10 – The Wounded

When Beam awoke the next morning, he almost wished he hadn't. A groan escape from his lips as he tried to sit up, only to fail and fall back to his bed again.

He noticed there to be a roof over his head, which felt strange to him at this point, after weeks of sleeping outside. It almost made him worry that these past couple of weeks had merely been a dream. But as he turned his head to look outside of the hut that he was in, he saw the familiar campground of Dominus, with a small smoking fire pit and a kettle boiling amongst the embers.