Chapter 8: The Fourth Day

Nero was bored; it was as simple as that. At first, he had delighted in the feeling of being away from home and seeing all the cool new animals and sights. But now that they were on their fourth day, all he wanted was to finally arrive in Koringrath.

If what his sister had told him was accurate, then by sunset that day, the mountains running close on both sides would end, and the land would once again open back up into wide plains. It was at this point they’d be nearing Koringrath.

Nero wasn’t very happy with the group. They bossed him around, and they didn’t even let him watch Sehn beat up those bandits two days earlier. That alone wouldn’t have been so bad if not for that Daniel­ human being allowed to go. Why did Daniel get to watch but not Nero? It was so frustrating. Nero wanted to punch him in the face.

Nero slowed his horse to ride alongside Sehn, who was once again starting to lag behind. He was slouched over in his horse, with quill and parchment in hand, writing at a furious rate. He’d been spending a great deal of time composing his Adventurer’s log. All day yesterday, from sunup to sundown, he’d been writing in that thing, and now all day today as well. Cah’lia had fought with him several times, forcing him to stop and eat, because Sehn had almost passed out—he claimed he’d been meditating—from lack of food and water. As the sun reached its noon position, Nero decided enough was enough.

“Sehn, let’s play a game. I’m bored, and all you’ve been doing lately is writing in that stupid book.”

Cah’lia pulled up alongside them as well, appearing interested in the conversation.

“Hush, Nero,” Sehn said. “This ‘stupid book’ chronicles the adventures of Sehn as he journeyed from the Harrow-Plains all the way to the treasure. I must make sure I write down everything completely accurate, exactly the way it happened. You see—hey, stop! Give that back, Cah’lia.”

Nero’s sister had a look of amusement on her face. She chuckled while she flipped through the pages. “Accurate, huh?”

“Of course, Fool’lia. The Great Sehn writes only the truth.”

“Fool’lia, Sehn? Really? Nice try, but not good enough.”

Nero tried to stay out of it. Sehn and his big sister were having some kind of name calling war. It all started yesterday when Cah’lia told Sehn his face looks like a pineapple. She started calling him Pineapple-Sehn. Now, every time Sehn spoke to her, he tried to make up an even more insulting name. Nero figured Sehn must’ve been losing the battle on purpose as the Great Sehn was incapable of defeat.

“Give me back my Adventure’s Log, Bitch’lia! It is a sin to even touch such a sacred object.”

Sehn tried to snatch it back, but Cah’lia held out a hand and deflected his grabs, pushing him away while laughing at the contents of Sehn’s great, heroic tale. Nero wanted to see what was inside too!

“Sehn, are you sure it happened this way?” Cah’lia asked. “I was there for most of these parts, and some of this isn’t ringing a bell.”

“Your foolish woman-brain is merely distorting reality, Cah’lia. It occurred exactly as I have written.”

“Oh really, Sehn? I’m pretty sure there were only ten bandits, first of all. And secondly, I don’t recall you summoning a fire-breathing dragon. “Cah’lia’s look of amusement turned to one of anger as she continued reading. “And what is this? I don’t remember you saving my life just as I was about to be devoured by a troll. I’m wondering if I really want to turn this page to see what happens next…”

Nero watched as a look of panic spread across Sehn. “No! Don’t turn that page, Cah’lia. You’ll activate a magical trap that will rip your face off. Stop!”

“Whoa, really?” Nero shouted. He gasped in horror as his sister lowered her hand to turn another page “Don’t do it, sis! Didn’t you hear what Sehn just told you? Stop, before it’s too late.”

Cah’lia turned the page despite Nero’s warning. Nero relaxed as, thankfully, nothing happened. Sehn must’ve decided to be merciful and somehow deactivated the trap.

Cah’lia snarled at Sehn. “You even have drawings in this?”

Sehn had a look of something that resembled fear, but Nero knew that couldn’t be possible, because Sehn was incapable of the emotion.

“Calm down, Cah’lia. Don’t force me to destroy you.”

Nero didn’t understand why, but his sister looked as if she was about to rip a hole in Sehn’s face. She shook the book at him.

“This is definitely not the way it happened, Sehn. I should rip this book in half right here and now. Why is there a drawing of me kissing your boots while saying, ‘Oh, Great Sehn. You have rescued me from the evil giant and, as repayment, I shall no longer ask for a share in the reward, which I don’t deserve anyways, being a woman and all.’ You are so dead, Sehn. Hey, why are you speeding up? I thought the Great Sehn runs from no one. Get back here!”

“I am not running, Fool’lia. My horse is acting of its own accord.”

“Then why are you kicking it in the flank?”

Nero watched in confusion as his sister gunned down Sehn and knocked him off the Elven high horse he rode. He had a feeling there was some kind of joke hidden in that, but it probably wasn’t something he’d figure out until he was older. Ah well, this was the most entertaining thing to happen in a while. Nero sped up to watch.

“Cah’lia, stop hitting me with my book. Cease this instant, or I shall—”

Sehn didn’t finish his sentence, because Cah’lia stuffed the spine of his large book into his mouth. He spat it out and glared at her.

“That’s it! You asked for it, Cah’lia. Remmos Sa—”

Cah’lia dove at him, covering his mouth with her right hand. “You don’t exercise nearly enough, Sehn. You rely too much on that magic of yours. What happens if you can’t speak? This happens.”

Cah’lia kneed him in the stomach, causing him to double over and fall to the ground. Nero couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Was his sister actually defeating the Great Sehn? The three Humans also stopped to watch. Delight lit up on Daniel’s face as he watched Sehn struggle with Cah’lia.

Sehn fell on his back, and Cah’lia jumped on top of him, her palm still covering his mouth. “Say I get a fair reward, Sehn, or I’ll embarrass you more.”

She removed her hand. “Never! Remmos Sal-umghp” Cah’lia covered it again before he could finish the spell, and this time, she pulled on Sehn’s ear with her free hand.

Sehn roared in what Nero believed was some form of pleasure, with tears watering in his eyes.

“Say I get an even share.”

This went on for around twenty minutes, with Sehn trying to use magic and Cah’lia torturing him. Finally, after what seemed an eternity of screaming and failed attempts at spell casting, Cah’lia removed her hand from Sehn’s mouth, and again asked, “Well? Do I get as much as everyone else does?”

Sehn scowled as he spoke. “I have decided, after testing your worthiness in battle, that you will receive an even share of the treasure’s profits. Your performance was barely acceptable, but the Great Sehn is benevolent and encouraging. Now, get off me, Cah’lia!”

Cah’lia walked away with a victorious grin planted on her face while Sehn threw evil glances at her back. He was further aggravated as she shook her rump in his face and told him to kiss it. Sehn tried to land a fireball on the easy target, but Cah’lia nimbly dodged, thanks to both her natural and trained agility.

Nero laughed as he watched the two of them yell and scream. For the rest of the day, every time Sehn wrote something in this Adventurer’s Log, he glanced over his shoulder.

As the sun finally set and they cleared the mountains on the end of the fourth day, Nero went to sleep with a smile on his face. Tomorrow he would finally get to see a city other than Elvar. Thinking of Koringrath, he closed his eyes and dozed under the stars.