Chapter III

The House of Brutus

Dawn had broken an hour before Dave got up, exhausted after all the scouting mission he had been sent out on. It felt good to have just been able to sleep the whole night, both indoors, and not having to keep one eye open. He quickly realised that he was the last to wake up to find Dmitri and Vernon talking to a huge man, the giant was almost seven feet tall with long black hair reaching to the small of his back, the man’s face and arms were as hairy as his back which made it look more like fur than hair. His eyes however were the most terrifying, being almost completely black with only the hint of white in the iris.

As Dave joined the others by the empty fireplace carefully watching the tall man, it wasn’t that he didn’t trust him, he had after all met one of the giant’s kind before, back when he had taken part on the raid at Boris’ Fortress Dmitri and Vernon joined them.

“Brutus here has agreed to help us cross his lands.” Vernon announced looking slightly more pleased than he had the night before, the fact that this person had turned out to be a friendly had been a surprise, but a welcome one.

“I will escort you to the gates of the mountain pass. From there you are on your own.” Brutus said leaning up against a wooden beam that did not to Dave’s surprise give way, either Brutus was not as heavy as he looked, or those beams could take much more strain than he had first thought.

“How long before we can move.” Codsworth said, whilst grateful for the shelter, especially with a confirmed hoard in the area, he wanted to be on their way as quickly as possible, partly due to the threats that would be following them, but mostly because of the threat of winter ahead of them. Brutus turns arounds to look at the commander glowering at the armour he still wore.

“A week, give the hoards a chance to move on.” Brutus said, he had no doubt that they would eventually disperse but they hadn’t done just yet, having been drawn by these fools’ crash landing a few miles from his boarder.

“Hoard’s?” Barca said, he had known about the one that had chased them towards this house, but the news that there was more than one, scared him.

“Yes.” Brutus replied curtly, whilst Barca was no longer in his imperial armour, having left it back at the downed jet, it wasn’t hard for Brutus to tell that he too was an imperial soldier. At that moment a small voice broke the silence then and caused the brute to turn around.

“Is there anyone else out there?” Martin said timidly, trying to change the subject away from the dead. The boy was greeted by Brutus staring down at him, causing Martin to take a few steps back in fright. Brutus stares at him for a few moments before smiling, trying to relive the tension on the boy’s face and then answering.

“Yes lad. But you’re the first lot I’ve met. My guess is that people are trying to flee north.” Brutus said with a look of mild amusement on his face.

“To the mountain?” Charlie asked.

“Yes, to the mountain. Although a fat lot of good it will do them.” Brutus said grinning slightly at this, if a few arrogant imperials got a wakeup call in the north, he wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. Vernon turns around, he had placed their lives on this plan and was shocked to hear those words leave Brutus’ mouth.

“What do you mean?” Vernon asked. If this was true, then their mission, and maybe their lives, were going to be a lot shorter than he had originally hoped. It surprised him, from his understanding, the dwarves of old had always kept their gates open to refugees. The fact that they were apparently shutting them made Vernon think that something else was going on at the mountain kingdom.

“Last I heard, the dwarves have shut their gates to all but their own kind. Unless you can prove that you are either North-men or a dwarf. They will not let you enter. Assuming that the refugees even make it to the mountain.” Brutus said, no longer smiling but looking grim. The lines on his face in sharp relief after moving away from the window allowing sunlight to come back into the room.

“We’ll keep to the towns mostly, that should be the best and safest option.” Dmitri said, trying to reassure himself as much as everyone else in the room. This at least made Brutus smile, he laughed at this particular statement as if someone had just told him a joke.

“Safe. The men of the north are not like their counterparts down here in the south. They are less wise and more hostile, particularly to outsiders.” Brutus said smiling, which did nothing but highlight his brutally scarred head, before his face darkened again, as even he was nervous about walking into a northern town or city. They were an odd people, choosing to remain to themselves more often than not, and when one did venture south, it was normally accompanied with some act of brutality against the local inhabitants. “But it doesn’t matter anyway I suppose.” Brutus finished leaning back up against the pillar, looking around at his guests. They looked like they could handle themselves in a fight, but raw strength was no longer what was needed, intelligence would get them through, and he didn’t know how much they possessed.

“What do you mean?” Jack asked, this just seemed to be going from one shit heap to another. He wondered to himself what else could go wrong in this adventure, before it was over.

“You only have a few more weeks before the enemy find you here. There numbers are growing by the day.” Brutus looked around at the sorry group mentally sizing them up before continuing. “So, either you stay here, and die. Or head north, and possibly die.” Brutus said, the group sit in silence thinking on this as Brutus walks up to Dmitri and stands over him. “I made my views about your culture clear the last time we spoke. I find you imperials greedy and blind to the lives of those you think are lesser than your own” Brutus said, walking over and looming over Codsworth, not an easy feat as the commander was already tall himself. “But I hate the enemy more. What’d you need of me?” Brutus asked looking down at Dmitri.

Two days later Brutus stands by the perimeter fence as Dmitri, Charlie and Codsworth walk up to him, wondering why they had been summoned. It was certainly odd as for the past days, Brutus had kept his distance from the group of survivors for the little time they had been in direct contact. Instead choosing to spend his time out patrolling his lands, whether it was because he preferred the solitude, or because he didn’t like imperials, was anyone’s guess. After waking up to find him standing over them on the first morning that they had been in his house and the subsequent conversation, Brutus had been out in the wilderness and had just arrived back, with a dark shadow on his face despite the abundance of sunlight. The wear-bear turns around to face the three as they approach and grimaces at them.

It was hard to say what his motivations were regarding them, he obviously wasn’t a fan of the imperials, but he seemed to be grudgingly putting that to one side for the sake of the greater good, at least for now.

“You will leave here in two days’ time.” Brutus said looking darkly at them. The reaction was as he had expected, all three spoke up at this, until the wear-bear raised his hand for silence. Which, given his impressive stature, they gave. “The situation I’m afraid has changed.” Brutus finished

“Why the rush?” Charlie asked, they had agreed on a week before they left, as it would give them a chance to rest and make sure they could cross the mountain before winter truly set in. whilst the three were alright, they still were concerned. Vernon was after all, not getting any younger and needed as much time as possible to heal.

“As I said. There has been a development, the new schedule will give you more time before winter comes however.” Brutus said, he too was concerned about the winter, whilst it was still on schedule, it wouldn’t be the first time that it came early and killed the unprepared.

“What happened if we don’t make it?” Dmitri asked, but in his heart, he knew what the answer would be.

“You’ll freeze to death, boy.” Brutus said looking down at Dmitri, that was common, particularly in the north, where it was not unheard off to find the remains of people, frozen to death and their bodies preserved by the winter, to be found by the time that spring came back around. “I’ll be following within a year. Once all of my people are over the mountains, for the time being the boarder is still open, but I do not know how long it will remain that way.” Brutus finished looking up at the white capped mountains behind them.

Rising to a kilometre in height at their lowest point. The snow mountains, as they were called, were well known for their treachery as many people had died trying to cross them from both the cold and wolves that prowled its routes. Dmitri thought to himself that he wasn’t sure what, which was the worst, being bitten by the mountain wolf and die from the poison that was known to be carried in their teeth. Or to freeze to death when the snows came down suddenly and without warning.

“I’ll tell the crew to get ready.” Codsworth said, leaving the conversation and heading back to the house, he thought that if he gave them enough of a warning, they would be more likely to accept the change in plans. As Charlie and Dmitri go to follow, Brutus calls them back, looking more concerned than ever.

“There is another reason you must leave.” Brutus said turning away from the mountains and walking up to the two of them, towering above them, as he continued. “I have received word that three black riders were seen crossing the sand mountains a few days ago.” He finished.

The colour in Dmitri’s face started to drain before he speaks again, an involuntary speak comes out first before he is able to gain control of himself again.

“Three, what about the other two?” Dmitri asked, before realising that even one of the Raven’s would be too much to handle let alone three of them. It was, however, certainly a reason to leave this place, and as quickly as possible.

“I don’t know, but they were not seen in or around the mountains. Perhaps they are mopping up what’s left of the resistance.” Brutus said. That had been some news to the group. The fact that others had survived and were keeping up the fight gave them hope, no matter how much they told themselves that it was just a fool’s hope, it didn’t matter to them.

“Have you had any contact with resistance members?” Dmitri asked, instinctively thinking about the men that had chosen to remain behind and rule Haverminster after the small civil war in the army unit. He chose not to say this however, as the fact that the imperials had taken a Bartazer town for their own was not likely to please the wear-bear.

Before Brutus could answer the question however the faint sound of an alarm starts ringing out from the south. Brutus looks towards the sound quick as an animal who has sensed danger.

“Go inside there’s been a perimeter breach.” Brutus said before running towards the sound changing into his bear form mid run and continuing to charge towards the sound. From the house a couple of figures could be seen running towards the sound as well, and so both Dmitri and Charlie rush of after the huge bear.