Rune Bearer

#3. The cost of surviving hits at the least hours

Grace's brows narrowed. “I will do no such thing!”

Elrond was on his way, Eton muttered a small plea to Grace which earned her a hiss he looked over his shoulder and shut the door behind him as he rested his aching back on the bed.

AT THE HOUR OF THE CROW "Elrond. . ." he heard a sound so eerie and full of dark melody call out his name.

"Who are you?" He asked raking his hair with his nails. Walking to the side by the heath where the wolf pelt was kept.

"Save the light. So long I am with you, find him." The voice was like a sharp breeze. "Save the light." Elrond was confused. He had no idea.

"Elrond! I knew you would be sleepwalking." Eton's hand rubbed against his shoulder and back to his face chuckling.

"I saw it standing by the fire, his eyes fierce as the flames," Elrond confessed.

"Elrond!" This time his voice almost tore the wall of the room with hints of sarcasm. "You couldn't wait to have the best sale in the market today right?" Eton's words made a white mist.

Get rid of the hide once and for all and be free of this illusion.

"I meant it, I saw a white wolf as if he'd come to tell me something." Said Elrond. "Not silver. White. The wolf was pure white as if it were not scarlet stained."

Eton's hand rested on his shoulder. "Hey, I have not been the best half-brother to you but I know when you try to scare me away, we are going to the market together. Unless you've got a moment with some young ladies at the brothel that you want to keep discreet, I forbid you to use things like this to scare me."

"I wasn't scaring you. I saw it, you were right about the wolf." His hand brushed off Eton's.

"It's guilt! You probably wished to have left it for the wolf. Elrond." He drew the two-syllable of his name into the most hideous whine he had ever endured. Grace clicked her tongue loudly before ordering him to shut up. "Humans need to think about themselves, at least in that I'm proud of you bro. Putting our family first."

"What are you doing up?" Elrond asked, facing Grace. He knew she wasn't the type to wake up so early.

"Couldn't lie down where you guys are busy whining the whole place." She rolled her eyes. Her eyes narrow to slits. With her light skin and delicate features, she’d be almost pretty if she wasn’t so catty all the time.

"Thanks for that I will keep that in mind when paying for your dowry."

"Whose dowry?" Elrond asked.

Her attention shamefully slit to the pelt of the wolf hanging. And Elrond pulled on his cloak before she could say anything acerbic.

The trampled snow coating the road into the village was spotted with brown and black from passing carts and horses.

Eton walked alongside him acting all vulgar at the sight of everything—he knew why he had come, probably because he knew he would be selling the hide and would have pocket money. He took a look at the satchel and grabbed his cloak.

Elrond didn't bother talking to him, from blocks away was the brothel the sound from them made Eton have a sizzling feel. But the smell of hot food that wafted by tugged on the edge of Elrond's memory beckoning him. He wished for a bowl of hot food and warm milk.

"If I do well at the market perhaps I will have enough money to buy us food."

"You give me my share brother." He best the back of Eton's head how he was lusting for the black-haired that was fetching water from the well. Her hair gleamed in the light, her clean, pretty face was dashing, and it was no doubt Eton fell for her.

"About Grace's dowry."

"I'm not saying a word, you direct that at her or father."

"You know you can get yourself one after the sale."

"I'm not interested." Elrond's voice drops to a cruel husk.

"Why? Did it scare you might lose your cock? Don't worry I will be there to guide you through." He winks.

Elrond stopped on his track and turned to face him. "Any more word from you then there won't be a share from the sale for you," Elrond warned.

Eton gave his brother a gentle push to get him walking.

"I will meet you here in an hour." Eton's familiar voice called and he rushed off to the well and Elrond walked into the crowded square.

It took him ten minutes to contemplate his three options.

There were his usual buyers: the weathered cobbler and the almond-eyed clothier who came to Charevibe market from a nearby town. And then the unknown: a mountain of a man sitting on the lip of the broken square fountain, without any cart or stall, but looking like he was holding court nonetheless.

The scars and weapons on him marked him easily enough. A mercenary.

"What is your business with me, boy?" The mercenary asked in an accent that he hadn't heard of before.

"I have a doe hide." He fidgeted, there was a tale that haunted Charevibe never to trust mercenaries but then he needed coins and no one except this strange man would be interested. "And a wolf pelt, I thought you might be interested in purchasing them."

He held his gaze. "You steal them?"

"No, I hunted them myself." There was silence as he pulled the wolf pelt out of his satchel. The mercenary gave it a thorough glare. "If you're not interested I should go look for another customer."

He stopped him, the mercenary ran his hand along the pelt. "You weren't lying, the wolf must be gigantic, well it doesn't look anything elvish and that means we're close together without an issue."

He continued and named his price. Elrond couldn't believe he gulped harder. "That amount. . ."

"Consider it a favour. You might become a great hunter one day. But be careful that the trollocks can't be easily killed and they haunt even in dreams. Demon with horns deadly as the Nug they were pushed to."

Elrond studied his scarred hand, chapped from the cold. "Have you faced one yourself?"

"You don't want to know, boy, not unless you want to be hurling up your breakfast."

The man pulled back the sleeve of his heavy jacket, revealing a tanned, muscled forearm flecked with gruesome, twisted scars.

"Didn't have the brute force of a trollock but its bite was poisonous. Symptoms started growing deeper in two months and for another two months I was down," he continued. "I spit out treacle instead of crimson, only very few were as lucky as I am. But still, I hear whispering."

"This is just a wolf," Elrond assured himself.

"Just hope yours is of no Nug or Cirdanoth. If Nug you won't last a week, the human body is no vessel for darkness."

"They're dangerous." Eton snapped Elrond from his reverie, the marking was similar to his. His head filled with thoughts, how long will it take him before he starts suffering from the mark on his hand that seemed to be moving like a luke feeding off of him?

"They will take every copper from you." Elrond glanced at the mercenary. "Did he rob you?" Eton asked.

"It's a bit late to pretend to care." He said as he took out twenty copper marks and sucked in a breath. He pushed into Eton's palm and said. "See you at home.

After another venison dinner, Elrond watches his siblings gathered around the heath whispering and laughing together. Eton had spent his copper on what he didn't know and came back with nothing other than the lingering feminine scent of the brothel.

He didn't say anything to him after all he'd gone out to chop firewood tonight while he was the last to hear of his sisters' betrothal and to broach it, the town parody, he turned to her but the screaming and the slashing outside the house made them bothered. Elrond turned to his father and his jaw dropped as he looked above him.

There was a roar that half deafened and shocked him, and his sister screamed as snow burst into the room and an enormous, growling shape appeared in the doorway, his eyes the glow of a beast worse than the wolfs. His horn fierce as his size.