hot fire while Fil prepared the meal of oats and salt. The food was good and they washed it down with cold mountain water. The oats warmed their bellies and they leaned back against a log and relaxed. The icy fingers of night were creeping into the clearing, leaving them in complete darkness except for the small amount of light radiating from the glowing red coals left over from their fire.
“Should we douse the coals?” asked Jonas.
“No, the light is nice, not to mention the warmth. The light is minimal. I think it is fine,” answered Fil, pulling his traveling cloak over his shoulders. Jonas shivered, wrapping his wool cloak around him tightly, hoping to keep the chilling cold away.
They sat in silence for a few moments before Jonas finally spoke. “Fil, will you tell me how my mother died?” Jonas had never worked up the courage to ask Fil about what he saw that dreadful night. He didn’t think he could take it, but now he was stronger, and he wanted to know. He wanted to know how she suffered so he would never forget her. The news would be hard to hear, but he was prepared for that.
Fil glanced up and Jonas could just make out the reluctance in his eyes under the faint glow of the coals. “Are you sure, Jonas…you really want to know?”
“I do. Please tell me what you saw.”
Fil hesitated. “Okay, but it will not be easy to hear.”
“I need to know,” was all Jonas said.
Fil sighed. “I will tell you what I saw.” He took a deep breath. “The battle was not going well. Everywhere the townspeople were being killed. The boargs were unstoppable. The cavalier had left to fight the Banthra and he gave orders to Gorum to get as many people to safety as he could. So I followed Gorum to his home where I assumed he was gathering up you and your mother. Instead I find a boarg feeding on his remains. I remember feeling so much anger. It all just exploded out when I saw what the boarg had done to Gorum. I went berserk and stabbed it in the back with my spear. The beast jerked away from me and I couldn’t remove my spear. It was injured, but it was not dead. The thing’s jaw was badly damaged, probably by Gorum, and my spear had pierced its back deeply, but it still came at me. I grabbed Gorum’s sword on the ground and swung at its neck as hard as I could. That finally killed the thing.” Fil paused for a minute to look at Jonas skeptically. “You sure you want to hear the rest?”
“Yes, please, Fil. I want to know,” Jonas responded, his eyes wide with emotion.
“Okay,” Fil whispered. “It was then that I heard a noise against the wall near Gorum. It was your mother. She was partly covered by a dead boarg, and I rushed to her side. She held a bloody knife in her hand. The boarg’s throat had been cut. She had killed it but she was beyond any help. Her throat had been cut open by the boarg’s talons.”
Fil stopped for a moment as Jonas wiped tears from his eyes. “Was she alive? Did she say anything?” Jonas asked, his voice catching in his throat.
“Yes, she was barely alive. With her last strength she grabbed my wrist and told me where you were hiding, and made me promise to take care of you. She was not in pain Jonas, she was just thinking of you,” Fil said lamely in an attempt to lessen Jonas’s grief.
There was silence for a few moments as Jonas regained his composure, wiping the remaining tears from his face. “Thank you for telling me. I’m glad that you did.”
Suddenly a low growl emanated from the darkness not too far behind them. Jonas’s body went rigid. He reached for his recently claimed short sword lying next to him. Fil reacted similarly, grabbing his spear. They were both up and facing the forest behind them, their weapons held before them in shaking hands.
“What was that?” whispered Jonas.
“It sounded like a boarg,” replied Fil, grasping his spear tightly. His voice was dripping with fear but his stance was firm as his wide eyes scanned the darkness.
Just then, another growl came from behind them. Jonas spun to face the darkness holding his sword protectively before him. They were back to back, the darkness of the night sucking away the light as