“Are they asleep?” Lithia asked as the two moons above shone down through the dark evening clouds.
“No. They’re using a language involving only snores.” Varus answered with a soft whisper that barely carried even to the valkyrie’s sharp ears.
Lithia blushed a little when she realized the absurdity of her question, and then laughed lightly at herself before she asked, “Were you this much of an ass when you were still alive?”
“Absolutely.” Varus replied at once with a deep chuckle of his own. “And more than once, my friends brought it to my attention. The same way you just did, actually.” He laughed again and shifted slightly, settling first Tuesday, and then Hannah, lightly on the set of furs beside him.
They shifted a little, murmuring ‘almost’ words in their sleep while he stood and moved to sit in the wide box seat of the wagon only a handspan from Lithia. Her hands tightened over the leather reins, and for a moment she was still, there was no sound but the faint noises of beasts and insects of the enchanted woods, and the rustling of leaves in the breeze. Through that stillness, Lithia’s mind was abuzz with noise.
She looked the Elder Lich up and down out of the corner of her eye, it was still hard for her to believe. ‘My favorite author, and a hero out of myth, all in one person…this seems…so unreal. So impossible.’ Everything that happened in the brief time since she’d undertaken what should have been a simple quest. ‘Go investigate, maybe slay a monster. Maybe rescue lost children if necessary.’ It was the kind of vague quest that was normally her bane. ‘I wouldn’t have even bothered if they hadn’t required someone exceptional over the presence of that forest… but maybe he… we, got lucky I took it. Somebody else wouldn’t have listened. They wouldn’t have listened, and would probably have just ‘died’. Ancient Elder Liches are as rare as they are dangerous.’
She couldn’t help but smile a little, it was as if the Dark Mother herself had guided events to ensure a good end. “Is something on your mind?” Varus asked, he turned his head toward her, his red eyes seemed somehow brighter in the darkness, and as hard to look away from as the devout seeing the Goddess herself emerge from the shadows to grant her blessing.
“It’s nothing.” Lithia answered abruptly.
“If you’re tired, you can sleep. I will handle the wagon.” Varus offered, and Lithia, to his surprise, shook her head back and forth hard enough that her golden hair danced wildly back and forth.
“No-No!” She answered, “I’m fine. I was just- ah, well, do you think this will actually work out? You know, pretending to be a summon?”
“Truthfully? No.” Varus responded, and Lithia’s jaw dropped. “At least not in the long run. Either your guild will have questions, or someone in the village will have questions, but… it is my hope that before the truth comes out-” Varus stopped and looked behind him to where the two young girls slept cuddled together with tails intertwined and held out a hand in their direction, “that the village will welcome them into their hearts. It has been known since ancient times that it takes a village to raise a child. I just want to see it happen for a little while. Once I know they’ll be alright, I will be too.”
“But- they may send someone to exorcise you. I know you’re from the Heroic Age and all that, but against the Acolytes of Shadow, or the Sons of the Father or Daughters of the Mother?” Lithia shivered involuntarily, “They’re strong too, and they aren’t few in number. What will you do if they come to end you?”
Varus didn’t answer at first. When he did, his voice was more uncertain than usual, “What needs to be done. But don’t worry about it, by the time that happens, hopefully they’ll be grown or close to it, and they won’t need me anymore. I’ll leave them enough of my books that they’ll be rich from the sale, and-”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Lithia barely heard the rest. It was a faint buzz to her ears as she lost herself in thought. ‘This. This is knighthood. This is heroism. If I had any doubts left that this was the hero out of legend, they’re dead now. He’s willing to sacrifice his immortal existence just to make sure two little ones are able to live happy lives…’
She interrupted him as he went on and said, “Don’t worry about going that far. I’m not a very good liar, but since I’m not very smart, I don’t have to be. I’ll just be vague and make sure I sound dumber than usual. Dealing with me is kind of hard for the Guildmaster, so nobody should ask any questions for at least a few years as long as nobody else complains about the undead in the village.”
She froze when Varus’s hand went to her shoulder, “What did I tell you before?”
“I know.” Lithia replied, her tone went soft and her hands related their grip on the reins just a little, “But still.” She did not say more as she did not get the chance.
Varus leaned back a little and looked up at the night sky, his hands folded into his lap, and as he let out a useless breath, he drew up a story from the recesses of his memory. “Hero was regarded as an idiot for most of his life. Or, most of the years I knew him for, at least.” Varus couldn’t help but laugh a little, “Once, he was trying to light a torch, and the spark stone just would not spark. He tried for ten minutes, sitting there getting madder and madder, grumbling and glaring at the rocks as if they’d done something wrong, until I approached him and saw the stones were stained. Do you know what with?”
“What?” Lithia asked with curiosity touching her voice.
“Water.” Varus laughed a little deeper, rustling his dark enchanted robe, “The spark stones were dirty, so he’d decided to wash them first.” Lithia cracked a little smile as she imagined the hero out of myth being stymied by wet rocks, but Varus was not done.
“Another time while we were staying at a castle, intending to travel the next day. However, we got caught up at a tavern until early morning, and I suggested he ‘take a cat nap’ as that would help refresh him for travel that afternoon. It was better to get some sleep than none, after all. We all went to our respective rooms, but when we got up, none of us could find Hero anywhere. Do you know where he was?”
“Do I even dare ask?” Lithia’s smile was already growing as she asked her rhetorical question.
“In a catapult on the wall. Apparently he thought I meant that sleeping in catapults was especially refreshing. Which, maybe it was, he certainly didn’t look tired on the journey.” Varus snorted, and tried to keep back the urge to laugh louder while Lithia went a step further and covered her mouth with both hands and kicked her feet with an almost childish glee.
“Another time,” Varus said as he regained some control over his voice, “he had stored some berries away somewhere and forgotten about them, and I suppose the seal wasn’t very good because rainwater had gotten in, naturally, they fermented. I don’t know ‘exactly’ what happened, but Hero found them again, and apparently he decided to try drinking the concoction and I found him slurring his words and slumped over a bale of hay with his pants half down. He passed out before I could get him to bed. When he woke up the next day with a hangover and I explained what he must have done, do you know what he said?”
“What?” Lithia raised her eyebrows with a new intense curiosity as she stared up at the Elder Lich.
“He said, ‘How could that be alcohol, they were berries when I put them there?’ The poor man did not even know how alcohol was made. Or evidently notice that he was getting drunk until it was too late.” Varus laughed, but Lithia raised a questioning hand.
“Ah, what does fermented mean?” She asked, her cheeks reddened just a little, but Varus only gave a dismissive shrug.
“Don’t worry about it.” He replied, “My point is, Hero was capable of some of the dumbest misunderstandings of anyone I had ever known. But he was a genius with the sword, had an intuitive understanding of battle and war, a profound sense of duty, more courage than a whole army, and a sense of loyalty to his friends and to his cause that even the Demon King himself admired him for it. Everyone has their strengths and their weaknesses. Him. Me. The Demon King. You. Think more of yourself for your strengths, rather than less of yourself for your weaknesses. Alright? No more bullying yourself.”
Lithia’s eyes welled up with tears, she said nothing, but gave the tiniest of nods before she inched a little closer to where Varus sat, leaning against him and dozing off without ever noticing he’d quietly taken the reins from her hands and held them gently in his own.