The Weight of Blood (The Half-Orcs, #1)(67)

Qurrah stepped back from his brother, and Aurelia noticed his robes and frowned.

“You should have left them. He was an evil man. Following in his footsteps will lead to a similar fate.”

The half-orc said nothing. For a moment all three glanced about, the atmosphere akin to air before a thunderstorm. Qurrah broke the silence.

“Woodhaven is behind us,” he said. “I have made mistakes, as has my brother. I saw you leave with him, and I know you sacrificed much to protect him. For this, I thank you. All I ask is that we speak naught of this again. If we are to travel together, it is my only wish.”

“A wish gladly granted,” Aurelia said, a tiny smile finally cracking free. “So where is it we should go?”

Qurrah glanced at his brother and shrugged.

“The only homes we have known are Woodhaven and Veldaren. I doubt either will gladly accept us.”

“I have never been to Veldaren,” Aurelia said. “Although I have heard it is beautiful, in its own way. I can get us inside, if all you fear are the gate guards. The edict to banish elves is foolish, anyway. After the casualties he took in Woodhaven, the king should be forced to revoke it lest any human villages be attacked.”

“I wouldn’t mind going back home,” Harruq said. “Sound good to you, Qurrah?”

“Wherever you two go, I will follow,” he answered.

“Settled then,” Aurelia said. “You two are going to have to play along when we get there, though.” She glanced at the sky, which was still speckled with stars even though dawn fast approached. “We’ll wait until morning. I could use a bit more sleep.”

She walked away, cast a levitation spell upon herself, and then settled in for sleep hovering an inch above the grass.

“Odd girl,” Qurrah whispered. Harruq forced a laugh. To Qurrah’s eyes, he looked exhausted, and the shrinking of his muscles was glaring.

“I’m sorry I left you there at Woodhaven,” Harruq said. “And I’m sorry you were alone when Velixar died. How did it happen?”

“Elves came and attacked. No apologies are necessary, Harruq. All is forgiven.”

“No, it’s not all forgiven,” he said, grabbing his brother’s shoulders. “I can see it in your eyes. Please understand. I would have given anything to be there with you.”

Qurrah’s bloodshot eyes lost their rage and sorrow.

“But you weren’t.” His voice lowered, as if he were afraid Aurelia would hear. “You abandoned me for her. You left me, still wounded and alone. And I know what you did, brother. You turned against Velixar. You denied the gifts he gave you.”

“He’s gone,” Harruq said. “And I want that strength no more. We are not his slaves.”

“We were his disciples.”

“We were his weapons!” Harruq shouted. He glanced back at Aurelia and held back a curse.

“Weapons,” he said again, his voice an angry whisper. “Nothing more.”

“If that is your belief,” Qurrah said, settling down upon the grass. “But don’t forget the blood on your hands. You killed more than I, brother. Now leave me be. The night has been long, and I need to rest.”

Harruq let Qurrah sleep in the flattened grass by the fireside. As for him, he sat between Aurelia and Qurrah, glancing back and forth between the two.

“I can love them both,” he repeated, though seeing the robes Qurrah wore, he wondered how long before that love split to one or the other.





Epilogue





Far away, ash floated on a cold breeze, sucked into a forgotten cavern within a chasm feared by orcs and goblins. On the damp floor it fell, coalescing into a black muck, which stirred by unseen and unfelt winds. Here a bone poked up from the filth, there a fingernail. Floating above, transfixed in patient stasis, a soul awaiting a host, shone two crimson eyes.





A note from the Author:



I never set out to write a dark fantasy. I had two characters in my head, troubled half-orcs without home or family and whose decisions would one day bathe a world with war. To tell their story I had to start at the beginning, and the beginning is not kind. Reading some letters and reviews, I’ve seen just how dark I’ve gone.

What you have just read is a slight alteration from my original manuscript. I have not changed the brothers’ actions. Instead, I have tried to show a bit more into their thoughts, their hearts, and their souls. I have had people call Harruq and Qurrah evil. Perhaps you agree. Much of what they have done certainly is evil. I will not sit here and justify the deaths of children, and to do so would paint me a psychopath and my characters sick beings.

I view Velixar as sort of a recruiter, the kind of man who’d be right at home at a Nazi rally filling confused kids with bigotry, anger, and murder. He is gone, for now anyway, and in The Cost of Betrayal these two brothers will get a chance to live on their own. For once Harruq has not only felt regret but done something about it. For once Qurrah has seen that the darkness he follows is not the absolute power it claims to be.

This Half-Orc Series is a story of redemption. I will not tell it in just one book, not even in two or three. People will die, and I will break the hearts of my beloved creations. If you’ve read this far and enjoyed it, I welcome you to continue along with me, as well as thank you for your readership. Your time is precious, dear reader, and I couldn’t be happier knowing you spent it with me.