Dogs Upon the Isle - the Saga of Arshloch, the Fearful #1
I am a free man with free will. Will to live.
The time I spend with Aisling keeps me going. The company of men grows tiring. We are rugged, brash and stupid. We have a tough exterior but are soft in our hearts - Women occupy the other side of that coin. Because men tend to rule and are concerned with wealth and pride, women suffer for it and must harden their hearts. Aisling's heart is soft. She is patient with my incoherent mumblings. Ruis has been tough to grasp but as I learn new phrases, I feel I am growing closer to her, too. I want to tell her how I feel but I know not how to phrase it. Time with her is sweet but a man must suck down bitter reality and set out to do his work. My work is with a battle-axe.
My compatriots and I went to her birthplace, southeast of Dorbagh. The big man of the village was missing and his wife was in charge. I am afraid I made a bad impression, somewhat salvaged. She misunderstood my intentions, unfortunately... Their men are going missing. When I heard of their hardship, I was moved. She seemed so sad, and must love her husband. But she has resigned herself to hopelessness and considers him dead. I could not earn her trust but she did show me a carved idol of the local spirit, a wolf. I carved one myself during the march back to Dorbagh and keep it near my breast. It reminds me of Aisling and I feel safer to have it.
Dorbagh is in peril. They are suffering a terrible plague. My friends and I are trying to help them. I would love to stay at sweet Aisling's side and perfect my recipe of battered sausage on a stick but it is impossible for now. If we do not save Dorbagh then Aisling - everyone she knows - will be lost. I cannot stand for this. In spite of my fear, my quivering breast and turning stomach, I press on. A free man must show bravery, or what use is his freedom?!
We were investigating the source of the plague and traced it down the river. We went with 6 men. They are young men of Dorbagh who want to prove themselves to their lord Donnagh. I understand. I had a Lord once, too. Then I had a slaver. Now, I am my own master. And so I must press on.
We arrived at a Spring. The river was littered with rotten debris. Parts of men and beasts. It stank. As we came close to the spring, I went ahead with two men as a scouting party. That's when we saw it. A fetid pool of carcasses. We wrapped cloth around our faces to keep. It was all I could do to hold back the bile crawling up my esophagus. The stench was terrible indeed, but more terrible was the vision before my eyes.
Living bones defiling wolves. Hacking them to bits and tossing them in the murky spring water. Another dead thing on a pile of dead things. Somehow, the fact that it was a wolf's body being molested felt significant. The boys were afraid and, by my axe, I was too. All the more reason not to show it. I sent one back to report to the others and it was decided we would return in a week's time.
Only, this time, we would come prepared. I dont want to die.