A Brother's Broken Song

Deynfif ducked into the cramped recess of the Miers camp, his cloak brushing against the dust-laden air. A lone figure, Hirua, sat hunched in the shadows, brows knitted together in a frown. Hirua's fist clutched a golden amulet, its scarlet stone glowing faintly in the sliver of light piercing through a crack in the makeshift wall.

A thick silence filled the space, each breath held a weight of unspoken anxieties. A faint creak from the wooden wall echoed the tension. The traces of laughter from brighter days now felt like a distant memory, a painful reminder of what had been lost to the harsh truths of their mission. His gaze settled on Hirua. The tightness in his brother's jaw, the restless tapping of fingers against the amulet… a dissonant geometry to the carefree grin Hirua wore like a mask.

The urge to reach out, to offer a comforting word, warred with an unseen force, holding him rooted in place. The knot in his gut tightened. He dragged Hirua into this mess. Each potential word felt like a pebble, poised to either soothe or further irritate a raw wound. Which would it be? Curiosity and fear vied for control, a battle playing out within his thoughts. To ask more was to risk uncovering horrors. Yet, to remain silent... that felt like a betrayal of their bond.

He cleared his throat, the sound rough against the oppressive quiet. "Einntyr…" his voice barely a whisper. "What's keeping him?"

Hirua shrugged, a tremor running through him. "Don't know," he muttered, eyes glued to the amulet.

His eyes traced the room's rough geometry, each corner a dead end in the stifling silence. A solution had to exist, a way out of this… The air grew thick, each breath a struggle. He could feel the room's corners closing in, the walls pressing against his skin. Across the space, his brother's lips moved in a silent plea, his trembling fingers raising the amulet towards the sliver of light.

Einntyr burst through the opening, his gasp tearing through the tense silence. His chest heaved with ragged breaths. Einntyr's movements were stiff and strained, as though each shift pained him.

What could have happened out there to leave Einntyr this shaken? His stomach churned, and his breath caught in his throat. Einntyr, usually a whirlwind of energy, now stood hunched and breathless.

"Brothers," Einntyr muttered, chest heaving. "They're onto me."

His heart hammered against his ribs, a heavy silence broken only by the faintest echo of marching footsteps, fading into the distance. A dissonant counterpoint to Einntyr's rasping breaths.

"I had to lose them before coming here," Einntyr's voice strained.

His fingers instinctively clasped the familiar green scarf, its rough texture grounding against the chaos threatening to unravel his thoughts. "When did you first notice?"

Einntyr dragged a hand across his forehead. "Last night," he rasped. "Mingling with the soldiers, there were whispers along the rows of tents, eyes tracking my every move."

Despite the stifling air of the Miers encampment, a chill ran down his spine. His fingers clenched and unclenched, tracing patterns in the dust as if seeking answers in the disarray of the earthen floor. "So," his voice barely a whisper, "they know someone's been poking around their camp. But why no move to capture you?"

Einntyr's shoulders lifted then fell, his empty hands a silent echo of the question.

He sucked in a sharp breath, his shoulders stiffening. "This complicates things." he rasped, the words barely audible against the silence. "All the information we gathered... compromised."

His brother's nod mirrored the grim line of his own lips.

"Then there's no point in us staying here any longer." His breath caught, a shard of ice in his lungs. The pieces of their plan, once a sturdy foundation, now lay scattered like shattered rock.

The only sound was the rasp of Einntyr's breath. Hirua hadn't looked away from that amulet, not once. The amulet's scarlet stone blazed against Hirua's tawny skin. Sweat beaded on his brother's brow, dripping to the cracked earth. Hirua's foot wouldn't stay still, kicking up dust that hung in the thick air between them.

"Are you alright, Hirua?" He finally asked, a single eyebrow raised. "Has something happened?"

Hirua's voice scraped against the silence, barely audible. "I must save her," he choked out, fingers digging into the rough wood of the wall.

Einntyr leaned closer to Hirua. "Save who?"

Hirua's voice rasped, the name "Kyura" scraping against the rough walls of the hideout. His brother's eyes, usually so vibrant, seemed hollowed, haunted. A tremor wracked his body as he choked out, "She's here."

Einntyr's brows shot up. "You never mentioned her."

A new variable. His mind raced, calculating angles and possibilities. Another complication, another risk. He studied Einntyr's surprised expression, a mirror to his own unease.

Hirua's shoulders heaved with each breath. "Because I thought..." The words tumbled out, each syllable a jagged shard of pain. "...I thought she died that day, with my father." Hirua's voice cracked, the unspoken grief echoing in the cramped space.

The muffled clank of weapons sliced through the silence, a harsh reminder of the thin walls that separated them from danger. He pressed himself against the rough wooden wall, the solid support a comfort against the sudden unease.

He leaned forward, his voice low and urgent. "Who is this Kyura?"

Hirua sucked in a sharp breath, his jaw clenching. He turned away, shoulders stiffening as if bracing against an unseen force. "When my father embarked on a quest to find a cure for my mother's illness..." He cleared his throat, the sound harsh. "...instead of a remedy, he brought a young girl with him."

Hirua's fingers tightened around the amulet. A sliver of light pierced a crack in the wall, highlighting the dampness on his brother's cheeks. "She's the only family I have left," the words scraped out of Hirua's throat, rough and strained.

Was this a desperate grasp at straws, a ploy? First Einntyr's news, and now this… too many angles intersecting. Was this coincidence, or something more sinister? His fingers tightened on his scarf. Cold logic warred with the flicker of empathy in his chest. Desperation could make them reckless, a dangerous variable in their already unstable equation. Yet, the hollowness in Hirua's eyes... it mirrored a reflection he knew all too well. "How can you be sure it's truly her?"

"A bell necklace," Hirua's voice wavered. "With a unusal design. She couldn't speak, so the bell...it was her voice. A way to let us know she was around."

The faces of lost soldiers flickered before his eyes. Their deaths, the brutal reality of their conflict... had he the right to endanger them further on a hunch, a whisper of hope? "There could be others with similar trinkets. How certain are you?"

"Need to make sure first," Hirua rasped. "But if that's really Kyura, there's no way I'm leaving her behind."

"We can't let emotions cloud our judgment," His voice measured, but the scarred faces of fallen soldiers flashed in his mind, their eyes seeming to question his every word. "A hasty move could escalate tensions between our nations." His fingers tightened around his scarf, an attempt to steady the spiraling calculations in his mind. "Perhaps we should consult the Captain before acting rashly."

The low light sculpted Hirua's features, highlighting the tightness around his jaw and the furrow in his brow. "But what if it's too late? What if we lose her for good?" The sound Hirua made scraped against his ears, raw and ragged like tearing cloth. "Deynfif, I saw her arm. Purple and scraped raw. Who knows what horrors they're inflicting?"

"Deynfif, how can you say that? She's Hirua's family. Wouldn't you do the same for us, for your family?" Einntyr questioned.

The sting of Einntyr's words tightened his grip on his scarf. Was he truly that callous? He saw the accusation in Einntyr's eyes, the unspoken question hanging between them. Did he not value family as much as the rest of them?

A phantom chill seeped into his bones, echoing the icy grip of Fifbrith's hand one last time. He met Hirua's gaze, the desperation etched in his brother's eyes a tangible force. Denying Hirua felt like a betrayal, a sharp stone lodged in his own heart. But the bodies... the smell of burnt earth, the cries that still haunted him... He tasted bile, his jaw clenching.

Light pierced the gloom, illuminating Einntyr's Eardian Bracelet. The stones, each a unique shape and color, resonated with a familiar harmony – an echo of his father's haven, Eard, where unity was more than just a word. The knot of dread in his stomach loosened. In its place, a warmth spread, a fierce resolve solidifying like molten rock.

Einntyr leaned in, his voice a low rumble. "She's been left in Miergart all these years…"

A muscle twitched below his eye. Kyura... among the Miers? The thought sparked a flicker of possibility. An angle, a weakness perhaps... yet, the risk… He glanced at Hirua. What kind of brother is he to ignore him?

His hand rose, gently laying itself on Hirua's shoulder. The air caught in his lungs, each breath a laborious climb against the weight pressing down on his chest. The guilt was a stone lodged in his windpipe. "Hold on, Einntyr," He rasped, a tremor betraying the doubt that gnawed at his resolve. "Hirua, I... I miscalculated… The angles, the potential for disaster... they blinded me to the more immediate equation: your family."

Hirua's desperate plea, etched in the familiar lines of his face, cracked open his carefully constructed defenses. A fierce, unexpected warmth unfurled in his chest, thawing the ice around his heart. The sight of Hirua's trembling hands, clutching the amulet like a lifeline, ignited a spark in him— not the cold, analytical flame that usually guided him, but something hotter, more primal. "Einntyr's right," he declared, the words snapping into place like the final pieces of a puzzle. The certainty in his voice surprised even him.

"Years among the Miers..." His fingers traced the worn pattern of his scarf, each thread a potential answer. "A source of knowledge," he murmured, "untapped... invaluable." He let the words hang in the air, the unspoken truth—their gathered information was dust—settling heavy in the silence.

Kyura—an unknown variable, a risk. This wasn't just about Hirua anymore. This was about Craiddhol, about their future... about trust. He searched Hirua's face for answers, the lines of desperation etching a familiar geometry of loss.

The dust clinging to his nostrils, the stale air heavy in his lungs – none of it mattered now. Hirua's breath rasped like a broken bellows. The frantic thrumming against his fingertips, where they rested on Hirua's shoulder, sent a jolt through him. He gave his brother's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Alright, then. Here's the plan..."

The sharp angles of Hirua's face softened. Was that a flicker in his eyes? A spark, perhaps, buried beneath the ashes? Whatever this new emotion was, it cracked open the suffocating shell that had encased his brother.

Einntyr's voice lifted, a surprising lilt to it, "Way to go, Deynfif! Sharp as ever."

He leaned in, the musty scent of the hideout filling his nostrils as their voices dropped to a conspiratorial murmur. The weight in his gut, a granite boulder he'd been hauling, shifted, fractionally lighter. It wasn't hope, not yet, but the sharp angles of despair had softened. He saw it in the subtle easing of Hirua's shoulders, the new spark in Einntyr's eyes. Duty and desperation had formed a fragile alliance. The sliver of light through the crack, for once, didn't feel like a weakness. It illuminated a path forward, however risky, and he saw the same flicker of determination reflected in both Hirua and Einntyr's eyes.