IABD 33: A Free Sunrise

With eyes locked on the Rune of Clarity burning on the back of Bregindoure Stonebreaker’s left hand, Eklund’s mind raced, raw panic gripping him.

A Rune that—if obtained—granted any rune-marked bearing the Rune of the Berserker, the freedom and rights most other rune-marked were permitted to hold in the High Kingdom of Evalmera.

Certain restrictions were still placed on rune-marked: they could never hold noble title within the High Kingdom nor could they join a priesthood…but in all other ways, they enjoyed the same rights as any other free person within the realm.

They could earn gold.

They could hold land.

They could marry anyone they wished.

And—most relevantly—they had full rights to their freedom, or to win their freedom by steel should they be imprisoned under false pretenses. Now bearing the Rune of Clarity—and having committed no crime—Eklund had no grounds to keep Bregindoure in his dungeon.

In fact, if he harmed or continued to imprison him without cause, he would be deemed to have assaulted a subject of the High King of Evalmera.

He would be the criminal at that point.

Which meant—

‘By all the holy members of the Ascended,’ horrified words echoed through the earl’s mind. ‘I’ve lost my leverage. Matthias Stonebreaker is no longer a weakling draining Beggahasta’s resources. Bregindoure Stonebreaker will no longer be a prisoner draining Beggahasta’s resources.’

He continued to stare at the symbol—the open eye with a sword for its pupil—burning on Bregindoure’s hand for all to see. Horror continued spiking through the earl, his racing heart pumping it all throughout his body.

When he’d first entered the dungeon, he was certain that Beggahasta would be the desperate one and he—a cautious and patient man—would be able to take advantage of that desperation.

Now, the situation had been completely flipped over, spun around like a ship drifting in a storm.

Without leverage, how could he complete the task set before him by the Archlord?

His heart drummed in his ears.  

The floor seemed to sway beneath him.

He staggered, leaning against the wall, a cold sweat beading his skin.

“My lord.” One of his warriors reached to steady him. “Are you ill?”

“S-stay back!” Eklund hissed, his bloodshot eyes falling on his warriors. 

He had made a terrible mistake: not only had he led Beggahasta down to the dungeons to prove her son should be freed, he had also brought plenty of witnesses with them. 

Had he come down alone—and learned what had transpired—he might have had time to think and develop a plan to regain the advantage. But now? Now there was no time—

“Jan.” Beggahasta’s voice cut through his frantic thoughts. “You have acknowledged that my son, Bregindoure Stonebreaker, possesses the Rune of Clarity, thereby freeing him from the imprisonment that was required because of the Rune of the Berserker. He is no longer a threat and you no longer have the right to hold him. Are you going to let us walk out of here or are you going to make this fun for me?” 

 Four sets of eyes, belonging to the Stonebreaker family, bore into him. Altaizar’s amused gaze joined theirs.

Eklund quickly weighed his options.

‘There has to be a way to turn this around!’ he thought. ‘Should I grab Lady Dagma? No, I would have to kill her wretched family and—even if I could—she would be witness to my crime. The child would be in her full right to seek a blood price from me. Maybe I can–No, that won’t work either!’

No matter how quickly the mind of this cautious and patient man raced, he could find no suitable solution.

“I will take your silence to mean that you will stand down.” Beggahasta turned away, reaching for her son. “Can you walk?”

“I will walk,” Bregindoure insisted.

His massive body stretched, joints popping he had not walked in nearly two weeks. 

He took a step, stumbling.

His brother was at his side in an instant.

Matthias Stonebreaker threw Bregindoure’s arm over his shoulder. “I have you.”

Dagma Stonebreaker pressed against his other side like a crutch. “I have you too.”

Beggahasta walked behind him, steadying him should he fall. “Go on, son.”

Together, the Stonebreaker family left the cell, supporting each other. Altaizar hummed a little tune, hands behind his back, following behind them.

“In the coming days, I will ask the stonemason to repair the damage I have done to your dungeon. Perhaps your capable—from what you say—mages can reinforce his work.” Beggahasta paused beside Eklund. “Aside from that, our business here is concluded. Goodbye, Jan.”

The family moved past the stricken earl.

“Wait!” Eklund called to Dagma. “Lady Dagma! Your father desperately wishes to meet you! Do not believe the lies against him! He’s a good man! A good man! You must give him a chance if not now then when you are grown—”

“Keep away from me.” Dagma glared at him. “I hate you: all you’ve ever done is let my mother and brothers get hurt. If you say that someone is a ‘good man’ then that’s the lie. They’re definitely a ‘bad man’. ‘The worst man’. Never come near me again.”

With that, she turned away.

“That was music to the ears, sister.” Bregindoure’s hoarse laughter reached Jan Eklund’s ears like salt in a wound.

His laughter faded as the family and the mage left the dungeon.

Left the earl behind.

Left the earl behind with the ruins of a task he’d spent ten years patiently working on…left the earl behind with only his failure to present to the archlord.

“My lord,” one of the warriors whispered. “What do we do?”

Eklund stared at the woman with empty eyes. “To be honest? I have no idea.”

He slumped against the wall.

###

The Stonebreaker family emerged from the dungeon, supporting Bregindoure. They moved through the halls slowly, letting the freed giant set the pace. His gait was slow and unsteady, though his enormous strides were gradually increasing. As they kept going, his steps grew more confident; he leaned less on Matthias, Beggahasta and Dagma.

When they finally reached the entrance hall, he stopped for a minute, leaning on the wall instead of his family, then he straightened up and stepped forward, walking fully on his own power, his eyes fixed on the front door. 

Stopping when he reached the threshold, his family and Altaizar came up beside him.

“I…” he gulped. “I have not walked outside under my own power since…” His heavy eyebrows knitted together. “Since before I can remember.” His enormous left hand brushed the door, the Rune of Clarity blazing on it. “Long have I dreamed of this day, though it’s not quite how I imagined it.”

“Are you ready, big brother?” Dagma asked.

“I am,” he said, reaching down for the door handle. “I think I am more than ready.”

Gingerly, he pulled the door open, ducking under the frame.

For the first time, Bregindoure Stonebreaker—in full control of his mind—stepped outside, walking beneath the moon and stars under his own power.

His hulking form paused to look up at the sky, those closest to him gathering around him. “So, that’s what the world looks like without bars.”

Beggahasta choked back a sob, wrapping her arms around him. “Oh my boy, my dear, baby boy.”

Tears ran down his face, and he spread his enormous arms wide, scooping Matthias, Dagma and their mother closer. Putting his little sister on his shoulder, he easily picked up the other members of his family.

“Tell me,” he said, “Is there a good place to watch the sunrise around here?”

“The top of my tower has an excellent view,” Altaizar suggested. “I regularly take my meals there.”

“Then we’re off to see the mage’s tower!” Bregindoure laughed. “I want to see a sunrise without a roof over my head, with no bars blocking my view, and my family at my side.”

Dagma’s giddy laughter bubbled from her chest.

Matthias simply smiled, humming the tune to his brother’s favourite song.

Bregindoure left Eklund’s courtyard, carrying his family—including the enormous Matthias–away through the mountains as though they weighed very little.

At first, Altaizar tried to keep up, but was soon jogging, then flying, to not get left behind.

Bregindoure’s joyful laughter filled the valley.

###

“Well, is it what you imagined?” Matthias asked.

The two brothers sat on the edge of the parapet atop Altaizar’s tower, watching the Wolfwood to the east, their legs dangling over the side. Dagma sat on Bregindoure’s shoulders while their mother stood behind her eldest son, a hand on one of his broad shoulders.

Altaizar was inside his tower, giving them some privacy.

“I imagined so many things, Matthie,” Bregindoure patted his brother on the head. “So many daydreams over so many years. They all looked a little different. But I have to say…this is better than any of them. Because it’s real. This is my life now.”

He took a deep breath and roared, “This is my life nooooow!” His words echoed through the mountains.

“It is your life now, son…” Beggahasta said. “There are a lot of things to do. We’ll have to prepare your room in the house, and make sure it’s ready for you. Ah, but your old bed will be much too small.”

“We could use the one from the tower,” Bregindoure suggested.

“Only for now. You deserve a better bed,” she said. “But we’ll have to move your books down to your room, along with your other things.”

“Ah, my books.” Bregindoure smiled. “I’ll need to earn enough coin to get some new ones: I’ve read every book in that tower enough times to remember most word for word.”

“What do you want to do beside get more books, Breg?” Dagma asked. “Now that you’re free?”

Bregindoure smiled down at the Rune of Clarity. “So much. First, I’d like to shave and get this beard properly groomed: no more looking like a monster for me. I want to see more of these mountains and what lies beyond them. I want to make friends and meet girls and have my first drink of mead and laugh under the stars and fish and hunt and…by the deities, visit an actual city!”

He looked down at the village of Barrowgate. “That tiny town looks enormous to me! Can you imagine what Dagger Rock or Mervala must look like? Or the dwarven city-states or any of those big cities in Ostari or Yahar or Hallit-Baal. They have deserts in Hallit-Baal that have an entire sea beneath them!”

“Travelling around sounds like it’d be exciting,” Matthias said, giving his own future some thought.

Now that Bregindoure was free…he felt a little lost.

There was no great threat to overcome, no emergency to handle, no nightmare to end. For the first time in his life, Matthias could simply be, with no crises hanging over them. He had no doubt another would come soon enough, but at this moment they could be at peace.

He remembered that strange black carriage they’d seen passing over the woods; there’d been no sign of it in the last few days, as far as he knew. He still needed to explore the shadow attached to his soul, as well as to build his Towers.

Soon, he was supposed to meet with Altaizar’s mother so she could continue his training in the Divine Breath.

And he needed to keep up with his martial training, since when he turned eighteen, he’d be obliged to do his blood duty in the Wolfwood…he remembered how Sur Friya kept worrying about the elven expansion to the south.

What if there was something to her fears?

He sighed.

But those problems were not this moment’s problems, they were meant for future days.

Would it be so bad just to enjoy himself, even for a few days? What was the point of victory if one couldn’t bask in it.

“While some travelling would be good, we must prepare you for your duty in the Wolfwood, Bregindoure.” Beggahasta squeezed her eldest son’s shoulder. “You are strong, you are tough, you are fast, but you have not had any real combat training in your life. You’ve never been tested for your compatibility with Life Enforcement either. We must begin your preparations if you are to survive and excel in your patrols. There are less than two years ahead of you before your duty begins.”

“That sounds fine.” Bregindoure smiled, scratching at his beard. “I want to fight the sort of battles that would be talked about even a thousand years from now. No…forty thousand years from now!”

“That sounds like fun,” Dagma grinned.

“Yeah, I’d like that too,” Matthias added. “And maybe—Ah, there it is.”

The Stonebreaker family fell quiet as the sun rose to the east, sending a wave of morning light pouring over the world. 

They drank in its warmth.

“The sun has never looked as beautiful as it does right now.” Bregindoure’s eyes shone as a warm wind blew through his hair and beard.

“No,” Matthias said, taking in his family.

His family that was finally complete.

“No, I don’t believe it ever has.”

###

Author's Note

Yoooo! And with that, we finish the Bregindoure breakout arc! We're like...40-50% of the way through book 1 already? Time flies when you're having fun, and I'm having fun lol.

Next week, new arc begins!

Oh and I Am Become Death has launched on Royal Road.

If you have a Royal Road account, would you mind following the story on there? It helps with the algorithm a little. It's been a good launch so far.

Y'all are great. And if you're new from Royal Road, welcome to my humble little story!

Let's take care of each other. Next week 5 chapters, Monday to Friday!

Cya then!