IABD 32: Eklund's Broken Sword

Matthias awoke with a lightness he hadn’t felt in a very long time. Even when he’d defeated his tormentors, Bregindoure’s plight was never far from his thoughts. 

Now, his brother was almost free.

But he wasn’t free yet.

There was more to do.

“Matt?” Beggahasta rose from her chair across the room. Nearby, Altaizar was sleeping, while nearby, Dagma was deep in sleep. “Matt are you alright, how did things go?”

Matthias beamed, giving her a thumbs up. “Bregindoure has the Rune of Clarity. We did it, mother.”

She stared at him, stunned. “…what? What?”

Her cry woke both Dagma and Altaizar.

“What’s happening?” The young girl stretched, yawning.

“Mrph?” Altaizar sputtered. “Can’t believe I let myself doze off.”

Matthias smiled at them. “Bregindoure has the Rune.”

Everyone went quiet, as though holding a collective breath.

Then…

“Yeeeees!” Dagma bounded from the chair, racing across the room. “You did it! You did it! You did iiiit!”

She leapt at him.

Matthias’ hands shot up, grabbing Dagma in mid jump before she landed on his belly. She giggled.

“Well, I’ll be.” Altaizar’s eyes were very wide indeed. “Good. Might I have the mirror back?”

“Of course.”  Matthias held Dagma up with one hand—while she spread her arms like a bird, giddily laughing all the while—and handed the mirror back to the mage.

Altaizar inspected it closely, then slid it into his robe. “Wonderful news. Well, then, congratulations. I suppose we will just head over there in the morning and—”

“No,” Beggahasta and Matthias cut him off in unison.

Altaizar bit off his words. “Pardon?”

“There’s no way Breg’s spending another second in that prison.” Matthias put Dagma down and leapt out of bed.

“We are going to Eklund’s castle tonight.” Beggahasta agreed, marching to the bedroom door. “My son will walk free.”

“Wouldn’t it be simpler to wait until morning?” Altaizar asked. “What if they ask questions? Like how you know he has gained the Rune of Clarity in the middle of the night?”

“You were trying all sorts of different methods to aid him, were you not?” Beggahasta pointed out, her voice quiet. “If you say that you could tell from some magical method of yours, how would Eklund know any different?”

“Do you expect me to lie to him?” Altaizar asked.

“Yes,” Matthias said.

“Well, you’d be right. I’d do it happily.” Altaizar rubbed his hands together. 

###

“Who goes there?” a guard called from the top of Eklund’s castle wall. He peered through the darkness.

Four figures stood before the portcullis down below.

“It is Beggahasta Stonebreaker, my family and the mage Altaizar!” The powerful warrior woman called. “We must see Bregindoure at once.”

The guard leaned down toward her. “Do you have any idea what the hour is? Visit him in the morn—”

“My brother has developed the Rune of Clarity!” Matthias’s bellowed, his patience already frayed. His cloak whipped about in a rising wind. “We are not leaving here until he is released. By law, he now has the right to walk free and unhindered!”

“That’s right, now let him go!” Dagma shook her fist at the guard.

“It is true!” Altaizar added. “I have used many methods to help Bregindoure develop the Rune and I tell you that he now has it! Which means, he is wrongfully imprisoned.”

“Make your arguments in the morning!” the guard yawned. “I’ll—”

“I’ll climb up there and open the gate myself,” Matthias promised.

“Or I will kick it down.” Beggahasta growled. “Give me my son and give him to me now.”

The guard groaned. “Wait there.”

He scurried off.

###

“They’re here? At this hour?” Earl Jan Eklund leaned up in bed, bleary-eyed, pulling the bedcurtain open.

His servant’s face—looking eerie in the candlelight—swam before his tired eyes.

“Yes, my lord.” the servant bowed. “The mage claims that The Beast has developed the Rune of Clarity.”

Eklund sat bolt upright. “What?”

“Obviously, this is a trick to help him escape. Shall I send them away?” the servant asked.

“Not yet. Explain what they said from the beginning.” The earl pulled himself out of bed, grabbing for his robe.

There was a thwack.

“Agh!” he cried.

“Is there a problem, my lord?” his servant asked.

“I stubbed my toe on this thrice-damned bedside table, bring that light closer!” Eklund snapped. 

“Apologies, lord.” The servant huddled closer as the thin man dressed.

He explained the story of how the Stonebreaker family—and the mage, Altaizar—had approached the gates, insisting that Beggahasta’s eldest boy had developed the Rune he needed for freedom.

Eklund scoffed. “They’re obviously lying.” He tied his white robe at the waist, putting a heavy silver chain and pendant around his neck. “They come here under cover of darkness like thieves looking to steal away my prisoner. The Beast has had over a decade to develop the Rune. Why would he suddenly and conveniently gain it now? There are only two days and two nights left until he is executed: this move of Beggahasta’s stinks of desperation. And if it is some desperate plan to see him escape…”

The earl gave the issue deep thought.

Could he use this?

If he were entirely honest, even his greatest warriors would be no match for Beggahasta Stonebreaker. The mage who had sabotaged The Beast’s tower had brought an honour guard of formidable life enforcement practitioners with her, but even they would likely not be a match for Beggahasta.

But did that matter?

Strength was only one path forward through life, and there were many limits to what simple strength alone could accomplish.

‘If she helps Bregindoure escape, she makes herself a criminal: Archlord Eaderic would have full leave to call on every resource at his disposal to put her down. Not an easy task, but definitely not impossible.’ He rubbed his chin, thinking. ‘And if she acts criminally, I will be in my full rights as lord of this region to place her child under my protection. This could be a blessing in disguise. In the chaos of an escape, I might not be able to stop Beggahasta Stonebreaker, but taking Lady Dagma shouldn’t be difficult. That she-bear will need to keep focus on her son…and! And!’

His mind sparked. ‘If Bregindoure were to go berserk in the chaos, she would have to focus her attention on him! Yes! My servants and I would have plenty of time to escape with the girl!’

He looked around his bedroom. ‘My home would be destroyed, sadly, but…once I deliver Lord Eaderic’s daughter to him personally, my rewards will be greater than one castle!”

A self-satisfied smile crept across his face.

His time had finally come.

###

“Welcome, welcome,” Eklund’s voice was as sweet as honey as the gates to his castle opened. The earl stood in the centre of the courtyard, surrounded by dozens of warriors and every Gift Wielder under his banner.  “Though the hour is late—”

“We must see my son,” Beggahasta’s voice snapped. “Immediately.”

Eklund’s eyebrows rose, like they would shoot past his forehead. “Well, I have not heard that tone since you were called Lady Beggahasta Dramagnus-Stonebreaker. But I understand how stress might be making you tense. Come, let us test this theory of yours.”

Matthias watched Eklund closely as the earl led the Stonebreaker family and Altaizar into his home. 

The young man took his sister’s hand. “Stay close to me.”

Eklund yawned, walking through the castle halls, humming a pleasant tune to himself. His warriors formed a circle around the visitors.

As they neared the dungeons, a scream cut through the night from the direction of the infirmary.

No one acknowledged it.

Soon, they reached the iron-shod door leading down to Eklund’s dungeons; markings declared that it had been reinforced with The Gift.

“Hmmm,” Altaizar mused, eyeing the door. “It would seem that you’ve been taking extra precautions, my lord. Many of these reinforcement markers are new.”

“We must secure our dungeon against The Beast, mage. Your shoddy magic was obviously not up to the job.” Eklund gave Altaizar the sort of smile one might reserve for an especially simple child.

Altaizar took his spectacles from his robes, put them on and examined the markings more carefully. “Did you change Gift Wielders for the last three reinforcements? The feel of their Gift…is somewhat different, yet oddly familiar. Very familiar.”

Eklund said nothing, his expression not changing one bit as a guard opened the door. His eyes were conspicuously kept off the mage.

Altaizar smiled to himself.

Groans of misery greeted them, rising from the cells as they entered the dungeon and walked the grim halls past cells on either side, heading to Bregindoure. The warriors’ torchlight illuminated figures curled up behind the prison bars; for the most part, none moved, only one raised a hand as they went by. An iron door stood at the end of the dungeon: Bregindoure’s cell, it had five guards posted before it, standing at attention, saluting their lord when the group stopped.

“Relax.” Eklund yawned, appearing barely awake, yet his eyes were as alert as those of a night predator. “Well, here we are, Beggahasta.” 

He positioned himself at a distance from Bregindoure’s cell—closer to the exit—with many bodies between him and the Stonebreakers. His warriors and Gift Wielders encircled the family, their eyes on Beggahasta, Altaizar and Dagma.

“So, you claim that The Beast has developed the Rune of Clarity,” the earl continued. He nodded to the guards. “Has there been any change in the prisoner since you began your shift?”

One of their number stepped forward—a sturdy man with a carrot-coloured beard—and threw a glare at Matthias. The young greatfolk recognised him as one of Haakon’s drinking companions. The guard bowed to Eklund. “No, my lord. There’s been no change in the prisoner.”

“I see! No change! How…expected.” Eklund turned to Beggahasta, his head tilting like that of a curious dog. “Are we through with this game?”

“You haven’t even opened the slot to the cell.” Beggahasta glowered at him.

“Mother, is that you?” Bregindoure shouted through the door.

“Yes son, it’s me!” His mother called back, stepping forward. “We’re all here! We’re here to get you out!”

“Yes!” Dagma shouted. “Even if we have to cut through everyone here!”

A tense silence followed before anyone spoke again.

Dagma’s eyes met the earl’s. “I mean it.”

Eklund’s lip curled up. “Is this your plan? To trick us with this false story about convenient Runes? Guard, open the viewing slot.”

The ginger-bearded man snorted, slamming the slot open. One of Eklund’s escorts stepped forward, holding her torch up to the slot. 

Flickering firelight illuminated the squinting face of Bregindoure.

“Release me!” he bellowed. “I have developed the Rune of Clarity! You unlawfully hold a free man!”

“Oh my: ‘you unlawfully hold a free man’. Isn’t that an old cliche? So odd that I have heard the same words from nearly every condemned person I have ever judged, imprisoned or punished.” Eklund snorted. “I see no Rune: just the same face of a beast—”

“Don’t call him that.” Matthias hissed between gritted teeth.

“I will call my prisoner whatever I wish,” the earl snapped back. “Now, are we going to end this farce, Beggahasta Stonebreaker? It’s late and your stink of desperation is turning my stomach.”

“The rune has developed on Bregindoure’s left hand,” Altaizar said. “We will all need access to that hand.”

Eklund threw his head back and laughed. “You must truly think that I am utterly brainless. Reveal his hand? Why? So he might more easily fight us when you commence your daring escape?”

Beggahasta’s face contorted in rage. “You will allow us access to him. We are allowed to examine him—under law—for the purpose of seeing his Runes.”

“Oh, you would like that, wouldn’t you?” Eklund asked. “A perfect excuse for you to enter his cell and release the bindings that you and the mage placed upon him. Then all the carnage you are known for begins, Beggahasta Stonebreaker? No, I think not.”

“It’s our right.” Matthias’ free hand balled into a fist. “You’re going to deny us? If you do, we have the right to force it.”

“Oh, you do, do you?” Eklund snarled. “And when your ruse is proven, I have the right to see every last one of you dead. Be warned, boy, you might have grown stronger, but my Gift Wielders could set the air on fire the next time you try to take a—

There was a tremendous boom.

Beggahasta’s fist was now embedded in a wall. “Do you see the stone my fist has now breached, Jan? That will be you the next time you threaten one of my children.”

Guards’ hands fell on their weapons.

“Ugh, this is getting barbaric even by the dubious standards of our people.” Eklund rolled his eyes, though he could not hide the fact that his face had paled considerably. “Fine, then. You may have access to the prisoner…as long as Lady Dagma comes and stands beside me.”

He smiled, sneering like a serpent. “I would not want any harm to come to her when the inevitable violence begins.”

“Alright, I grow tired of this.” Beggahasta sighed deeply. “No, that’s wrong: I grew tired of this long ago, Jan.” She looked at Eklund as though he were a piece of filth one of her children had picked up on the bottom of a boot. “I advise you to listen to me very carefully.”

Eklund chuckled. “I—”

“What did I just tell you?”

Eklund choked on his words.

Beggahasta’s voice cut like an iron blade. She seemed taller. Larger than Matthias had ever seen her. “Matthias wasn’t able to defend himself, and Bregindoure was imprisoned with my former husband’s guards always nearby, against my wishes. Which meant that for all these years, you have held a sword to the throats of my children. Do you have any idea how that feels?”

She took a step toward the earl.

He took a step back.

“For more than ten years, Jan, I have had to use the Way of Stone to endure your backbiting, your scheming, your condescension, your veiled threats, your smugness as well as the slime dripping from every single word that the filthy hole you call a mouth spews.” Her face was like stone. Her eyes like lava. “A single command from my Gift would have set those clothes of yours aflame with fires so hot, they would have cremated you. With a single hand I could have pulled your heart from your chest or torn the spine from your back. I could have done that at any moment over these last ten years: none of your warriors or Gift Wielders could have stopped me.”

She raised a hand, fingers curled like claws. “That very sword you’ve had to the necks of my children is the only thing that has forced me to play these games that you and my former husband have concocted. But something wondrous has happened, Jan.” Her lips curled into something that was only a ghost of a smile. “Tonight, your sword has been broken. You have nothing to defend against me any longer. So, no. Dagma is not going to your side and I am in my full right to extract my son from your clutches.”

Beggahasta turned back to the cell. “And I am going to do just that.”

She took another step forward.

Her foot hammered the stone, sending cracks spiraling through the floor. “Anyone who gets in my way is going to find themselves turned into a red mist. Matthias, guard your sister. Altaizar, protect my children.”

She marched forward.

“S-stop her!” Eklund stammered.

A misguided warrior let out a low cry and thrust his spear toward the towering woman. 

Her arms blurred.

By the time he finished his thrust the spear’s haft had been snapped in three. The other guards yelped—including the blusterer who used to drink with Haakon—they scattered before her.

“Yes! Go get them, mother!” Dagma cheered.

“At long last!” Matthias pumped his fist, lifting his sister while smoothly darting behind the warrior woman. 

The Gift Wielders tensed.

Their lips parted…too slowly.

“Swarm,” Altaizar commanded.

Flames leapt from the warriors' torches—expanding into glowing fire balls—shooting through the air like comets, hovering by the stricken faces of Eklund’s Gift Wielders.

Fireballs blazed with a warning heat.

“By all means,” Altaizar said. “Utter a word.”

The Gift Wielders paled.

Beggahasta stopped in front of the cell door. One hand gripped the handle while the other gripped the bars of the viewing slot.

“They’ve been reinforced many times over!” Eklund cried. “You can’t—”

She gave a sharp tug.

The door tore from the wall. Beggahasta tossed it to the ground and stepped into the cell.

“Mother!” Bregindoure cried.

She pointed at the sarcophagus. “Open.”

Stone shuddered beneath her will, and the rock parted. 

A red glow filled the cell.   

Or rather, two red glows illuminated the cell.

The first was the Rune of the Berserker on Bregindoure’s right hand.

The second…the symbol of an open eye with a sword serving as its pupil.

“Im…” Eklund gasped. “Impossible. The Rune of Clarity?”

“Not impossible,” Beggahasta said. “Not at all. Now…what will you do, Jan?” She cracked her knuckles. “Go ahead. Give me a reason to break you.”

###

Author's Note

A LOT of Beggahasta's frustrations coming out here, lol.

Cya Friday for the next chapter! Series launches on Royal Road tomorrow! Next week, 5 updates!