The Last Outlaw: Part 5

“I see, so it was your uselessness that has left you stranded for so long.” Arwen said.

Basil could see it in her face that she was glad to see Helmund, ecstatic even. However he didn’t dare to speak on it given their current situation.

It wasn’t unusual for Basil and his trusty travel guide Helmund to find themselves in a dire situation, but this time was different. Helmund had taught this girl before he even met him, Basil figured she could kill him in an instant if she’d wanted, but Helmund’s presence had made her falter. He decided if there was any time to speak, it would be now.

“P-pardon me, but why would you try to rob your own sister.” The sound that came out of Basil’s mouth had sounded more like a whisper than he intended. Nonetheless it got the attention of Arwen.

“I wasn’t going to rob her” Arwen lowered her bow “ I heard rumors throughout the forest that the slayer of kings had returned” she turned and looked at Helmund “ I knew that if it were true he’d come here first like he promised.'‘

“So why is your arrowhead pointed at us” Basil replied, “If anything, shouldn’t you be happy to see that you were correct?”

Basil didn’t quite understand this girl, but if there was one thing he did understand, it was that she was hiding something.

“ I heard other rumors as well” she lowered her bow. “There are signs of a fourth catastrophe, I’m sure you have noticed the lack of magic these days.” Arwen looked to Helmund.

“Precisely little o- Arwen” Helmund finally spoke again, “My sole purpose of leading that trek to his village was because I was hired to investigate the mysterious magic that had been detected in the area.” Helmund stood and walked towards Arwen, carefully taking the bow out of her hands.

“What happened afterwards was completely out of my control, and as I said before. It was the last request of his grandmother that i see to his safe passage to the mainland.” Helmund didn’t notice Basil’s expression as he spoke.

It was the first time in a while that Basil had thought about that day. He had been stripped of his regular life overnight, and had been fighting for it ever since. He still remembered being so confused as to why his grandmother had left him with Helmund, still he didn’t quite understood. There was never any time to reflect on what had happened, he just went with it because his grandmother said he was meant to live this life.

“Be that as it may, I still had to check for myself.” Arwen said in a more relaxed tone. “Lower your weapons men, and I humbly introduce you to the slayer of kings.” She looked Helmund in the eyes.

Her men had dropped their weapons in a fashion that resembled an exasperated ensemble.

The one with the flat nose looked relieved, as if he wasn’t quite ready to see if the legend of the outlaw were true. He and his crew put things back to where they were and handed Helmund back his weapons.

“I must speak with you” Arwen said to Helmund. It was hard to hear what she had said next over the bustling noises of her men’s movements, but it looked like she had said ‘alone’, which I figured was the case when she and Helmund went into the kitchen area, away from the noise.

***

Wind rushed across the cliffs as a dark wall of clouds moved from the sea to the land. There was a coolness to the air that made the birds take off in swarms. It was as if they could sense that whatever was on the horizon would be dire. The cawing echoed across the grassy plains atop the cliffs as they flew away from the storm.

Helmund and his companion, Basil, sat in the kitchen of Estel’s home as they did on many afternoons. It had been a month since Arwen’s visit her warning of the 4th Great Catastrophe hadn’t been just a rumor. As Helmund rocked back and forth in his chair, he grimaced toward the incoming Storm.

“Do you feel that, Basil?”

“What?”

“There’s an ache to the wind and moistness in the air,” declared Helmund.

Basil stood up and walked to a nearby window. The wind carried a fine mist that covered the trees in small droplets of water. A mighty gust shoved the leaves back as the clouds raced toward the shore as the window’s storm guards smashed against the shack. He turned and closed the guards over the glass and latched it.

“I see it now, the ache,” stated Basil.

“That’s the sign of a wicked storm. I must prepare the house.”