Half A Hero

10

“I—I… I’m… alive?” Ghwyr asked as he gritted his teeth from the painful wound. “W-what… happened…” He lowered down his voice to avoid painful spikes in his stomach.

“Should I start from the very beginning?” The elf asked. “Or do you just need the details of those last few moments?” He asked.

“I… I… remembered… everything….” Ghwyr tried moving but was stopped by the elf. “Except those few moments.” He sighed.

The elf stared at him. His face wrinkled from trying to figure out what he should say to him.

“Well, obviously…” He pointed at the bandaged wrapped around Ghwyr’s stomach. “You got stabbed… through and through… never seen anything like it before. I’m talking about the size of the wound.” The elf holstered back his knife on his leg pocket and ate the apple.

“How… b-big… is it?” Ghwyr tried looking down at his wound.

“Big enough for me to think you’re a goner.” The elf answered.

Ghwyr looked at the elf, then came back to look at the huge bandaged wrapped on him. His face painted a look of disbelief.

“I-impossible…” Ghwyr shook his head.

“That’s what I told them.” The elf answered. “And stop moving around or shaking your head or speaking so much. I was given strict order to instruct you not to move. Please follow them, or I might stick a knife randomly in your body, if you don’t.” He said in an annoyed tone.

Ghwyr did his best not to move as much as possible after that. He laid there and stared at the ceiling until he dozed off. However, this time, it was a peaceful dreamless sleep.

He woke up later to a commotion inside the room. He wanted to stop himself from moving, but his curious eyes moved on its own, along with his head. He turned around and saw Bjorn and seemingly the guild master arguing. Their conversation was audible, but from their faces, he could tell it was a long and heated discussion.

The guild master seemed to have noticed him and immediately pointed at him, screaming. Bjorn turned around and saw him awake.

“See?! The murder is awake!” The guild master shouted. “The murderer is awake!” He reiterated.

“Shut yar trap, old man!” Bjorn spat. “I am not sure why the kingdom elected ya as the guild master, but yar not doing yourself any good favors from this… childish reaction.” He grabbed the old man by the arm.

He dragged the guild master outside, and they continued their bickering there, leaving Ghwyr alone inside the room.

His thoughts were very clouded. He wasn’t sure what the guild master was saying. Why was he calling him murderer? What was going on? As far as he was concerned, the monster killed everyone in the tunnel save for him. What was the guild master talking about.

There was still a commotion outside his room. But after a few minutes, it had finally died down and Bjorn went inside the room with a tired look on his face.

“Ah! Hello there, kiddo.” He smiled at him. “I hope yar wound’s healing well. Frankly, I was surprised at how ya survived that huge wound!” He exclaimed.

Ghwyr smiled back and nodded weakly at him. “Sir elf told me that.” He said with a bated breath.

“Sir elf? Oh, ya mean Tersextes?!” The berserker chuckled. “He ain’t no elf, he is a half-elf… maybe just like yah… well, ugh… not a half-elf… just the half part… you know what I mean!” He fumbled for words.

Ghwyr wanted to laugh at Bjorn’s expense, but his respect for the man and the pain in his belly was preventing him from doing so. He cracked a little smile to appreciate the berserker’s effort to put some meaning into what he meant.

“I… understand… Sir Bjorn.” He lowered his head slightly.

“S-ser?! You called me a ser?!” His laughter echoed throughout the room once again. “I am no ser… but that is nice of ya to call me that! But Bjorn will do.” He said.

“I am sorry… sir Bjo—” Ghwyr almost slipped his tongue. The berserker raised an eyebrow at him. “I mean… sorry Bjorn.” He cleared his throat and grimaced at the pain of his wound.

“That’s more like it!” Bjorn slapped his leg in delight as he sat on the bed beside him. “But there is nothing to forgive. Ya haven’t offend me.”

Ghwyr nodded once again. The bed creaked as Bjorn tried to get cozy on it. The berserker was a huge man, he made the bed look like a chair.

During his time in the capital, Ghwyr heard stories about the titular leader of the Iron Bears. It has been said that he was a half-giant. His mother was the giant, while his father was a normal human. It might not be further from the truth upon seeing how he towered over his other companions.

“Well, now that I have settled in, let’s go to the more serious problem.” The jolly bigman’s tone suddenly became serious.

“Was it the… guild master?” Ghwyr asked.

“Yes.” The berserker nodded.

“Why was he screaming and pointing at me?” He asked with his pained voice. “W-why did… he called me… a murderer?” His wound throbbed badly.

The berserker looked at him in the eyes with a concerned stare. “He says ya kill yer group.” He answered.

“W-w-what?!” Ghwyr uttered in disbelief. “H-how… w-would… I do that?” He clenched his jaw as he tried to move but was stopped again by Bjorn this time.

“Don’t know.” Bjorn looked at him straight in the eyes. “You tell me how.” He said.

At that point, Ghwyr realized that even Bjorn was already suspecting him of something that he didn’t do. He wanted to insist that he didn’t do it. He wanted to convince his idol that he wasn’t a murderer, but his stern look was intimidating him.

Bjorn’s eyes were piercing his very soul, like hot iron penetrating a cold butter. It was incriminating and judgmental, but what else could he do? He had no choice but to fight back his stare with his own.

The halfling took a deep breath and looked deeply into Bjorn’s eyes, unflinching.

“I did not kill them.” Ghwyr said. “I never did, and I never will.” He added.

Bjorn was still staring at him for the next few minutes, until the berserker scratched his head and nodded.

“I believe ya.” The berserker said.

“W-what?” Ghwyr was surprised by his sudden change in tone.

Bjorn raised his eyebrow. “Wouldn’t ya want me to believe that ya didn’t?!” He asked.

“Y-yes… of course….” Ghwyr was still startled. “It’s just… I just thought you would…” He grimaced as the wound throbbed.

“Judge ya?” Bjorn said. “Ya don’t know me, kiddo. I, Bjorn Bearskin had always been impart… impar… not a judger. At least not immediately.” He thumped his chest.

Although he felt a little relieved hearing his idol say it, he still had the looming problem of how to convince the guild master that it wasn’t his fault.

Ghwyr sighed.

“Even if… you do… trust me…” Ghwyr closed his eyes trying to prevent himself from crying. “The guild… master… wouldn’t….”

“Yeah, that’s a tough one.” The berserker agreed. “But have no fear. If you didn’t murder them, I am sure that the truth would come out… eventually.” He scratched his beard.

Ghwyr knew that Bjorn was trying his best to comfort him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working as much as Bjorn though it would. He must convince the guild master in one way or another that he wasn’t a murderer and he had to do it fast.