BwA: Chapter 8 - The Silver Settlement

 There is an interesting gap in the journal of Severah ajal Binoch of her time spent at the silver miners' settlement with Xandria the Merciless. The pages contain scribblings of a mad woman and a few horrific sketches of men being eaten or disemboweled by creatures that do not appear on this land. I questioned my grandmother about this gap and she claims no memory of any time spent at a silver miners' settlement. – From the research of Firan ajal Milista ajal Severah ajal Binoch ajal Harsa ajal Iard about the Vanisakara.

The silver miner's settlement was really just a camp. Tents were basically pitched in a rough circle around the only building, the Treasury Office. The miners would bring their ore to the office, have it weighed, purity checked and paid then the ore was melted into ingots. Breckinridge did not see any of these miners as a trading post was further south on a more direct route to Clayaire. One thing the settlement severely lacked was women. Xandria spotted no more than two. One was mid-twenties, the other looked no more than thirteen. Both looked worn and somewhat used. Xandria counted more than twenty tents before she stopped.

"Is the silver vein rich?" Xandria asked Quarrion.

"You planning on staking a claim?"

"No, but there are a lot of tents," she stated.

"I've not seen the vein," Quarrion answered her. A man rode over to greet them.

"Greetings paladin," said the man to Quarrion. He appeared well fed and less dirty than the miners. "I'm Umdan. I'm the unofficial mayor of Silver Settlement. I welcome you!"

"Captain Quarrion," Quarrion replied. "You were the one who requested our protection?"

"I am. I'm surprised that you brought so few soldiers with you." His eyes drifted across faces and lingered on Xandria and Severah. Xandria didn't like the way he licked his lips.

"Has Zandria attacked much?"

"If she had, the Silver Settlement would be a smoking ruin and we'd all be her slaves."

"Has Zandria attacked at all?"

"No," the man said hesitantly. "We don't think she knows we're here yet." Quarrion nodded.

"We'll set up camp over there," he said, pointing to a spot to the east of the settlement. Quarrion and his men rode to the edge of the settlement while Severah followed Xandria to the largest tent.

Xandria and Severah met several stares of the miners. It was getting dusk and they were returning from seeking their riches. There were catcalls to them and when one miner tried to cop a feel off Xandria's buttocks, she'd twisted his arm and nearly broke his wrist. The miners left them alone after that.

The biggest tent was a tavern, no more than an awning over tables and benches. The kegs of ale were not even unloaded from the wagon they'd arrived in. The older woman served mugs of ale to the miners. She nearly danced among the rough tables and benches trying to avoid slaps to her ass and the occasional breast rub.

"It's nice to see women folk," she said as she placed mugs in front of Xandria and Severah who sat at an empty table. "My name is Malun, can you give me any news of Clayaire? My sister still lives there."

"Fylfawen," Xandria introduced. "Severah. No, sorry, I've not come by way of Clayaire."

"You can only reach Silver Settlement by way of Clayaire," Malun stated.

"We've come from Breckenridge," Severah replied.

"There's no road."

"No, there isn't," Xandria agreed.

"I'm not sure why you've come to Silver Settlement but I don't think you'll want to stay. The men here may be hard working miners, but many of them seem to lack manners. I saw what you did to Ynysu."

"Oh the one I nearly broke the arm of?"

"That's him. He may come back with his brother, Suor, and you may wish you'd never laid a hand on him."

"I fear no man," Xandria said firmly. Malun smiled weakly and left the table after one of the other men banged his empty tankard on the table for more ale.

"Miss Fylfawen," spoke Qarrion's voice behind her. Xandria turned and the paladin captain stood casually with a hand on his sword hilt.

"Captain Quarrion."

"I would like the pleasure of your company at dinner," he said formally. Xandria really had not planned on remaining long in the settlement. She was eager to see this so-called Zandria, the city and the woman.

"Thank you, Captain, but-"

"I won't take no for an answer." The tone he used was one accustomed to not having his orders or requests denied.

"Very well then."

"It might be better if you ladies keep company with my men than these miners." It had seemed Quarrion wanted to call them something else than their profession.

After the sun had set, Xandria found herself in a large tent, seated across a table not exactly laden with food, but one of Quarrion's men had managed to shoot a few quail. There were also fruits, nuts, and bread on the table. The wine was not watered, not fine, but drinkable. Xandria found that she was ravenous. The tent was divided into three parts, a curtain had been sashed aside to reveal a bed and armor rack in one room, they sat at the table in the center room, and the 3rd room was hidden by its curtain.

"Do you have a tent?" Qarrion asked.

"No."

"My lieutenant, Leord, will share mine, you can sleep in his with your companion."

"Thank you," she replied. She was not comfortable with eating with someone she considered the enemy, but then again, Quarrion didn't know he was the enemy.

"Tell me about the sword you carry," Quarrion said out of the blue.

"It is nothing special."

"I've only seen two swords with that hilt, both are on display in Clayaire. One belonged to Xandria the Merciless and is entombed with Brother Ciagit, the other is in the halls of Sanctuary. Now unless you managed to steal the sword from the headquarters of the Holy Order, yours is a third."

"How do you know I did not steal from this Brother Ciagit?" Her hand moved down to the angel that was the handle.

"His sword is bronze, taken from Xandria the Merciless himself. Yours is steel."

"It was a gift, a copy of the one in Sanctuary," Xandria half lied.

"There are no copies of that sword."

"It was a gift," Xandria repeated.

"Why are you really here in the settlement?"

"Why all the questions?"

"Because I was a boy at Sanctuary when Xandria the Merciless was brought in chains to Clayaire. It may have been forty years ago, but you remind me very much of her, you could pass easily as her twin, except you're missing about twenty years of age. You can't be Xandria the Merciless because she'd be about ninety now." Xandria didn't say anything.

"Who are you?" He asked. "Are you Zandria the Cruel's sister?" He asked when she didn't answer.

"Are you so sure I'm not Zandria the Cruel?"

"I've seen Zandria the Cruel and she is a brunette with brown eyes. Who? Are. You." Xandria didn't respond. "Answer me!" Quarrion slammed his fist on the table so hard the plates jumped. Xandria didn't even flinch.

"You would not believe the truth, and when I tell you, you will want to clap me in chains again." Quarrion raised a brow at her. Xandria's tone was even and she showed no bit of unease in his company. She was a woman but Quarrion knew a warrior when he saw one.

"My name is Xandria the Merciless. Forty years ago I was betrayed. My people at the oasis we called home were poisoned so they could offer no resistance to the Holy Order led by the angel Caleran who arrested me, but not before I killed him. I was taken back to Clayaire and thrown into a hole where I did not see the light of day for forty years. I escaped, with aid, and given my youth in return for ending a plague of undead that were attacking the village of Breckenridge. I am headed to this place you call Zandria, daring to hope it is my oasis. I suspect the woman you call Zandria the Cruel is my great grand niece." Xandria could not remember when she'd spoken so much, and she didn't know why she was speaking the truth. Quarrion listened silently to her every word. When she had finished Quarrion suddenly burst into great guffawing laughter. Nearly wiping tears from his eyes he sobered when he saw that Xandria's expression was dead serious.

"You really believe you are Xandria the Merciless? I've heard of this, of people who live in fantasy lives thinking they are someone they're not. It's a malady of the mind."

"Believe what you wish, Captain. At dawn I will leave to go to Zandria."

~*~

After leaving Quarrion's tent, and he allowed her to leave, Xandria looked for Severah. She had told Severah to wait on a hillside outside of the camp and to be ready to leave. The hillside held their mounts, Xandria's old nag and Severah's burro.

"Severah?" Xandria called as she inspected the lamp that had been kicked over and Severah's journal and pencil where it looked like they'd tumbled into the grass. She heard the sounds of muffled cries followed by a slap.

"Shut up, bitch!" Snarled a voice. The crying became whimpering.

"Hurry up, Suor! I wanna go with her!" Spoke a voice in the darkness. It only took a second for Xandria to register what was happening and to react. Two men were with Severah. They had her on her back in the grass at the bottom of the hill. The man Xandria had nearly broken the arm of, Ynysu, had Severah's wrists pinned. Ynysu was a small squirrely man, muscled from swinging a pickaxe all day, but no bigger than Severah herself. The man who lay on top of Severah was a massive fat man. He had torn Severah's blouse and fondled her breasts with one hand, held his other over struggling Severah's mouth, while his hips pumped his cock into her.

Xandria drove her sword into the fat man's back, he was so large that the tip barely protruded out his front. Blood spattered onto Severah's exposed breasts when Xandria jerked the sword free and kicked the fat man over.

"You murdered Suor!" Shouted Ynysu who suddenly had released Severah at Xandria's appearance. In anticipation of getting to rape her, he'd already pulled his dick from his trousers, and when he ran away into the darkness, he'd forgotten to put it away. Xandria was going to give chase except the hand that clamped around her ankle. The big fat man wasn't dead, yet. He jerked Xandria's leg, tripping her, her sword fell away into the darkness. He easily outweighed Xandria by more than two hundred pounds. His fist, nearly as big as her head, slammed into her jaw.

The blow nearly cracked her face, and it tore her lip. He tried to pin her down with his weight but she rolled away. He crawled after her, and Xandria felt her hand grip her sword in the darkness. She lay on her back and drove the stiletto heel of her boot as deep as she could into the fat man's crotch. He screamed in a high pitched voice, forgetting her, grabbing his manhood. Xandria swung the blade, slicing through the man's head. The top half slid down and Xandria rolled again to keep the dead fat man from falling on her.

"Severah?" Xandria found the girl in the darkness. She was huddled and weeping. Xandria put her arms around the girl, and she sobbed and shuddered, clutching Xandria with white knuckles. "Its okay. That bastard won't hurt you ever again." Within moments, Captain Quarrion and two other men were on the hillside. Ynysu had run to the camp claiming the black haired witch had murdered his brother.

"There she is!" Ynysu had shouted and pointed to Xandria who protectively held Severah as if the young woman were a small child. Quarrion took one look at Severah's torn clothes and pulled a blanket from Severah's burro. When he neared them, Severah pressed herself closer to Xandria, whimpering. Xandria accepted the blanket and wrapped Severah in it.

"I'm not blind, I can see what happened," Quarrion said. "It's self defense."

"Self defense? She murdered Suor!" Ynysu sounded like a child throwing a tantrum. "She should be hanged!"

"There will be no hanging," Qarrion said in a calm voice.

"We'll see about that," Ynysu replied and mounted Xandria's old nag, galloping away on it into the darkness.

"He's a rapist and a horse thief," Xandria stated.

"Justice will be served," Quarrion replied. "Leord."

"Yes, Captain?" Answered the other man who came with them. He was probably the youngest looking one of all the men who'd accompanied Quarrion to the silver mining camp. Brown hair was trimmed short, and he was clean shaven with blue eyes that were similar to Quarrion's.

"Have your tent brought here, I don't think it's a good idea to bring the girl back to the camp and post a guard on them."

"Thank you, Captain," Xandria said quietly. Quarrion nodded.