Chapter 5: Tread Not, On Me

Bjorn dropped his latest catch onto the hardy grass.

-thud-

He went to his knapsack to collect his fillet knives. They were actually a pair of failed daggers that he forged. After cutting into the doe he began happily slicing away. After a short while Bjorn noticed Graum wasn't at the campsite.

"Brother?" Bjorn called out towards the trees. He did not hear a response only the gentle breeze caressing leaves.

"Brother?!" He called out again louder. The wind began to pick up, trees wrestled against the tangerine sky.

"Graum!" Bjorn shouted.

"What?!" Graum replied exiting the tree line with his hands full of unripened apples .

"I was calling for you, jackass." Bjorn huffed. Feeling some sort of relief that at least his worry was for nothing.

"What's wrong, miss me?" Graum mockingly quoted Bjorn from earlier.

"You are the worst type of person." Bjorn sulked as he prepared the venison for the fire.

"I wanted to have a back up plan in case you tried to 'Bjorn' the meal." Graum insultingly gestured broadly to him.

"Look, if you are still holding a grudge about the Troll meat. I'm sorry," Bjorn confessed.

"ASS MEAT! A TROLL'S ASS MEAT, that's what you prepared... I will always hold a grudge about that. THAT ONE TIME." Graum sneered sitting down near the fire with his unripened apples.

-an hour or so passes-

"Alright this should be ready to eat." Bjorn ripped off a piece tossing it to graum.

"Should be?.." Graum looked at the meat then back at Bjorn.

"Yes, it's ready you big baby." Bjorn laughed.

"I'll take your word for it.." Graum paused momentarily then replied as he took a bite. "Thank you for the food." It was slightly gamy but Bjorn seasoned it with some salts to make it more than bearable.

"Since I prepared the meal, you get first watch right?" Bjorn grinned already knowing the answer.

"Yes, That is how we do things." Graum sighed tossing Bjorn a few apples.

"Thanks" Bjorn smirked taking a bite out of unripened apple, core and all.

Darkness crept in and the only light was that produced by the campfire. The smell of cooked meat lingered in the air only to be pushed and pulled by the gentle breeze. Crickets chirped into the night only to be answered by the whoing of owls and seldom fluttering of bats.

The night was quiet and peaceful.

"Alright brother, I'm off to bed" Bjorn cuddled his scabbard next to the fire.

"I got your back, but I'm sure your snores will do a better job at keeping the beasts away than I." Graum chuckled climbing into the lonely tree next to their campsite. He climbed to where he could watch over the campsite as well as the clearing that surrounded them.

Since it was just the two of them, Graum dropped his guise…

*Guise: off*

Dropping his guise meant he could use his Devil Sense or Sense for short.

*Sense*

Graum felt the thin film that obstructed his sight vanish, exposing the glowing crimson rings inside of black spheres that were his true eyes. The cool evening air was nothing less than refreshing against his unhindered eyes. Graum peered vigilantly into the night and gazed into surrounding areas as a myriad of colors and hues became clear to him.

Sense made it possible to detect strong forms of emotion such as hate, anger, malice etc… Each feeling giving off its own unique color and the strength of any particular emotion could be gauged by its hue.

Sense was a trait Graum was born with and it was thanks to the tainted blood flowing through his veins, the blood of a demon. Being a Devil-kin meant one parent was a demon. Demons were drawn to emotions and fed upon them. Each type of demon feeding on a different emotion.

Graum sat in his perch listening.. and looking…for any sort of disturbance, any sort of danger. The cloudy night sky parted, letting through light from a waining crescent moon, pushing back the dark of night. A rolling breeze brought in a sweet pleasant fragrance from some far off flower.

'This stillness…' Graum thought to himself getting lost in the serene calmness.

-hours peacefully past-

"Brother, wake up" Graum tried waking Bjorn by breaking off a tree branch and tossing it at him.

~Fwump~

The branch hit Bjorn torso.

Bjorn, un-phased slept soundly.

"Oi, Dwohf!" Graum yelled in a shoddy eastern dwarf accent.

"Even in my dreams you still sound aweful as a dwarf" Bjorn groaned.

"it's your turn to keep watch"

"Alright, I'm awake." Bjorn said standing up, stretching. "You can come on down." He yawned.

"I'm actually quite comfortable up here. Night, brother." Graum settled himself firmly against the trunk of the tree. In the blink of an eye Graum was fast asleep.

-hours went by-

Under his breath Bjorn mutters,

*bjarkan üruz mannaz*

~KABOOM~

The sound of the explosion shook the ground and air, forcing a startling wake up for Graum.

Then he heard something near him chattering. With adrenaline surging through his veins Graum frantically looked around. He saw two goblins standing near Bjorn, who 'appeared' to be sleeping.

'Shit' He thought to himself. Graum knew if he made any sudden movements it could spook the goblins, which intern may lead them to attack Bjorn.

For some reason they were hesitant to approach Bjorn. Graum noticed their hesitation to be quite strange.

'Did the goblins cause that explosion..or are they just cautious something else did? These goblins don't seem as fearsome as he had heard..' Multiple thoughts raced through his mind as he watched the goblins creep closer and closer to the sleeping Bjorn. One of the goblins poked Bjorn with its makeshift spear.

~KABOOM~

The goblin that poked Bjorn exploded into chunks upon contact.

"Skraaaagh!!"

The remaining goblin let out a terrified screech as it witnessed its partner explode before it's eyes.

The goblin ran for its life, screeching into the woods.

"Brother!" Graum called out. As soon as Bjorn heard his brother's voice he jumped to his feet.

"Yes!?" Bjorn quickly responded.

"What the hell was that?!" Graum exclaimed jumping out of the tree.

"Well that..thats a bit of goblin" Bjorn chuckled pointing at various chunks of goblin remains.

"No! That explosion!" Graum shouted. He still shaken by the manner in which he was awoken.

"Well brother, I thought I'd try 'thinking outside of the box' like you're always suggesting." Bjorn smiled with a big grin. "I used my rune skill then placed several of them in the surrounding area and on myself." Bjorn confidently explained.

"What if they shot you with arrows, idiot" Graum scorned his brilliantly reckless idea.

"Relax, they explode on contact. See..watch." Bjorn picked up the reamaims of the makeshift spear and gently tossed it at the base of a nearby tree trunk.

~KABOOM~

The base of the tree had a giant chunk blasted away.

"If they would've shot me the arrow would just be blown apart." Bjorn smiled at the pure genius of his plan.

"That... was... you know what... I got nothing to say about that." Graum sighed conceding defeat.

"You have to admit that was good 'out of the box thinking'." Bjorn gently jabbed his elbow into Graum's shoulder.

The morning breeze gently grazed the surrounding foliage as the rising red sun peaked over the horizon.

"It was." Graum smiled placing a hand on Bjorn's shoulder, "I'm just glad you are alright." Graum felt a haunting concern rush through his heart and felt it vanished just as fast as it appeared leaving relief in its wake.

"You're kinda freaking me out, it's not like you to show… Ya'know… feelings." Bjorn nervously laughed taking a step away from Graum.

"Yes..you are right." Graum chuckled collecting his composure.

A shock of malicious energy surged across graums spine. His Devil's Sense detected something.

"Brother..we have company." Graum pointed towards the tree line on the outskirts of their camp.

Moments later they heard loud foot steps along with the sound of breaking branches. Whatever it was, it seemed big... and angry. Suddenly, a few goblins came rushing out of the foliage... followed by one hulking hobgoblin.

"I want the big one." Bjorn exclaimed under his breath.

"Heh, leave the little ones to me." Graum replied with a subtle laugh. With his guise still not activated Graum's mana pool was full. Graum conjured up a bow made of shadows.

*Profane Bolt*

He held the black flame like an arrow launching it from the bow. The arrow splintered into three separate arrows, all of which hitting their respective goblin targets, burning holes through them.

"Show off." Bjorn muttered under his breath reaching for his great sword, Rage. Be grasped for the handle but felt nothing but air. "I forgot to put it on my back!" He exclaimed as he looked behind him to see it laying by the campfire.

The hobgoblin roared at the sight of its slain allies and began to charge Graum.

"Haha. You you got him, right?" Graum chuckled.

*shadow stride*

Graum sank into his shadow, appearing out of the shadow of the lonely tree behind Bjorn.

"Agh!!" Bjorn exclaimed as he charged the hobgoblin bare-fisted. The hobgoblin turned its attention to Bjorn then began relentlessly swinging a fallen tree as a club. Bjorn ducked and dodged furiously as he looked for an opening to dive for Rage while Graum simply watched.

"Are you just going to dance with it or are you going to kill it?!" Graum taunted from a safe distance.

"Once I get my baby, I'll destroy this beast" Bjorn managed to shout as he weaved between the Hobs attacks.

'Wait a minute..' Graum thought. "Brother, can you create those runes anywhere?" Graum asked scheming.

"As long as I can breathe the incantation onto the object." Bjorn replied still on the defensive.

"Breathe the incantation onto your fists, and bludgeon that beast." Graum suggested.

"Aha!! I love it! It's like a regular punch... but spicy." Bjorn cackled hysterically in between dodges.

*bjarkan üruz mannaz*

Bjorn held his fists near his face similar to a boxing stance and breathed the incantation onto his fists. With a glowing light a sigil of some sort appeared on Bjorn's fists.

"My turn." Bjorn grinned. He quickly ducked one of the hobs swings then swung his fist into knee joint of the hobgoblin.

-KaBang-

With flash of fire and smoke; chunks of meat flew out from the carnage followed by a loud -thud- Bjorn blew apart the knee of the hulking hob.

"Lights out." Bjorn smirked connecting his other fist with the Hobs head.

-KaBang-

With a final punch Bjorn decapitated the hob making a mosaic from it's skull and brain matter on the grass.

-crash-

The lifeless, headless body of the hobgoblin hit the ground.