Twin Mercenaries Chapter Four:
When the Smoke Clears.

When the demon fell its body started to turn into a black smoke. Irena backed off as its body started to disappear. The light in the temple started to reappear allowing the afternoon sun into the room. When the monster’s body was gone it left a black imprint on the temple floor.

Cyryl got up and walked over to Irena saying, “Are you all right? A blow like that couldn’t have been sustained without injury, even for me.” He was looking at her arm which was obviously broken replying with “I guess we’re going to stay in town a bit longer than I expected.”

Irena smiled a bit and said, “Well, I needed a break anyway.” She then flinched a bit from her broken arm saying, “I just wished it wasn’t literal.”

Cyryl sighed wondering how she can be so cheerful even though she’s obviously worse off then she is. He then asked her plainly “Is your right eye all right at least?”

Irena replied to the question with “Don’t worry my right eyes fine. You don’t need to buy another one.”

“Another one? Wait, don’t you have both eyes?” Bethany asked puzzled. Bethany was too busy with things that were more important than Irena’s eye to say anything.

Irena, in response to Bethany’s question reached up with her arm that wasn’t broken towards her left eye. With her hand she gave a tug and pulled the eye out, a sight that made one of the surviving blacksmiths faint. She said in a somber voice unlike her usual self “Back during the war Cyryl was captured by the enemy and was going to be executed. I lead a team of soldiers to rescue him but in the skirmish that followed one of the enemy archers shot me in the eye with an arrow. Its nothing unusual to happen, a lot of people get either killed or maimed in war, I was one of the lucky ones.” She then put her glass eye back in it’s socket.

Cyryl then helped Irena gat back up and said to Bethany “Hey don’t you have some work to do?”

Bethany nodded and started to chant a spell. The moaning from the crystal ball started to cease when she was done. It lost its dark crimson color and then turned completely clear. Then the ball broke apart and faded away. She had difficulty focusing on the spell after Irena’s tale, like most wizards she only read about wars, which never actually showed the real horror of war.

Govik was then lifted out of the temple to be nursed back to health while he was still unconscious. Bethany wondered what life must have really been like for the two mercenaries who fought alongside her. They must have obviously seen terror and tragedy ten maybe ten times more then she will ever know.

When they left the temple, something very peculiar happened. Certain swords, armor, and weapons started transforming. It was a strange sight to behold as all across the town swords, shields, and horseshoes as well as any other type of metal item were turning into chunks of useless iron. For a week while Irena was recovering everyone was pondering what had happened there was one thing that seemed consistent with every piece. Every metal item that had been transformed was something crafted by Bogdan.

Govik and Bethany looked at the scraps and came to one conclusion said by the wizard “Bogdan did not make any real personal sacrifices to make these. Since he did not have any personal sacrifice to make these they really weren’t anything worth while.”

Irena, with a case and splint on her arm smiled saying “And since he forced someone else to make those sacrifices for him he paid with his life and soul.” Her smile then faded into a frown and said “It’s just that… it’s so sad that the man who suffered for Bogdan had to pay such a horrible price just so he could escape from Bogdan’s clutches.”

Cyryl walked up to Bethany and said something very profound and simple. The fact that Cyryl still cared enough to say it even caught Irena’s attention “You know Bethany, maybe you shouldn’t worry about those you are beyond the ability to help. You’ve done all that was possible for the man’s soul, I’m sure you now know why a person like you is important to have around.”

Bethany blushed a bit at the statement. It was nice getting complimented by the man who fought for money. She didn’t know why but the grim man suddenly seemed rather charming.

Flustered and bright red the half-elf said “Well we’ve got other important business. S-see you around Twin Mercenaries.”

She left in such a rush that she nearly forgot Govik. He looked around seeing his mage companion and he started to chase after her saying “Hey Bethany don’t forget me.”

Cyryl and Irena just stood there. Irena then looked at Cyryl saying “You know, I never knew someone in an overgrown skirt could run that fast. I wonder if we’ll meet her again, she was a funny person.”

Cyryl sighed and said “We probably won’t, the worlds too big a place anyway. Besides you still need to recover Irena. Let’s get you back at the inn; we just saved the town so the food, drink and board is free anyway. Besides we still need your arm to recover fully before we can do anything else.

Irena sighed, she wanted to slap him and tell him to go after Bethany, though she knew her brother was probably too thick headed to get the hint. When it came to women and romance her brother was beyond hopeless. Though she really did need to recover.

Another half a week later Irena fully recovered from her injury. The path the two of them were taking seemed familiar to Irena. She thought about it a bit and then realized what was going on, the path Cyryl chose was the same one that Bethany took.

Irena smiled and teased her brother with “Soooo, you chasing a particular half-elf?”

Cyryl blushed and replied with “N-no I’m not, I just so happen to be going along the same road she took earlier. There’s nothing wrong with that is there?”

Irena smiled and said “There’s nothing wrong with that. She probably is a nice catch for marrying material.”

Cyryl turned bright red at Irena teasing him. Irena started to laugh and say “You should see the look on your face Cyryl. I’ve never seen you turn that red before, maybe I should introduce you to more female wizards from here on out, or is it just that the timid, innocent, and naïve variety are more your type?”

“You know Irena, you could always try to find someone of your own.” Cyryl finally said to Irena as sort of a comeback. He never saw anyone man or woman catch her eye to his knowledge.

Irena after hearing the statement sarcastically remarked “I’ll get back to you on that one once we find a man who wants more than just my bosom. Besides I’m sure you would miss the comic relief.”

And from there the two of them walked on the trail. They would continue to fight for money and glory, being remembered as heroes to some and villains to others. Though above all else they were warriors, sell swords, and most importantly… family.

End Twin Mercenaies