Chương 4: Brotherly Bond

Roy looked smaller when he was unconscious. Orion stood near the foot of the bed and watched Aurelia replace the cloth across their brother's forehead. Roy had been asleep for several hours, though sleep seemed too gentle a word for the stillness that had taken him. He had not stirred when Orion carried him into the bedroom or complained when Aurelia removed his boots and tucked three blankets around him. That alone felt unnatural. The storm pressed against the cottage walls in long, violent waves.

Roy's new beams held, but Orion listened to each groan as if the house might change its mind. Aurelia sat on the edge of the bed beside Roy. Thin broth, softened bread, and preserved fruit waited on the chest between the beds in case he woke. Orion folded his arms.

"His skin is still warm."

"He doesn't have a fever."

"How do you know?"

"I checked." Aurelia lifted the cloth, felt Roy's forehead again, and then leaned back with a long breath. The tension left her shoulders.

"He's stable." Orion looked at Roy's face.

"He hasn't moved."

"He's exhausted, not dying."

"You cannot know that." Aurelia's eyes shifted toward him.

"I can." Orion frowned. She focused on Roy, and a cluster of pale text appeared above him. Orion instinctively did the same. He saw what he had seen earlier. [Roy — First Seal Architect] [Health: 100%] [Weave Reserve: 4%] The last number had risen since the collapse, but it did not reassure him. Aurelia pointed toward the space over Roy's chest.

"There are two more lines."

"I don't see them. What do they say?" Aurelia read them aloud.

"Condition: Exhausted. Status: Improving. Needs Rest." Orion stared at the empty space where she claimed the words were.

"You can see information I cannot. When did that start?"

"While you were carrying him in here." Orion turned toward her. Aurelia lifted one hand, and another pane of text appeared beside her. Unlike the messages Orion had inspected on his own, this one faced him as clearly as it faced her. She had shared it deliberately. [Skill Available: Care and Compassion.] [Enhances recovery for individuals under active care.] Orion read it twice.

"It appears to be passive," Aurelia said.

"I didn't have to activate anything. Once I started tending to Roy, I could see more about his condition."

"As if the Weave is healing him. Even though it is the reason he collapsed…"" Roy is the reason Roy collapsed." Orion looked at her. Aurelia's mouth tightened, but she did not retreat.

"He used his skill until nothing remained," she continued.

"He didn't check his reserve. None of us did."

"He should not have been able to hurt himself by using something the Weave gave him."

"Axes are useful. You can still cut yourself." Orion had no answer he liked. The force that had opened inside Roy had emptied him without warning, yet it had also given Aurelia the ability to understand what was wrong and allowed Roy to reinforce the cottage before the storm tore it apart. Orion looked toward the wall. The beam above Roy's bed no longer sagged. The support beneath it had been shaped so precisely that it appeared grown from the floor.

Aurelia dipped the cloth into a bowl of cool water and wrung it out.

"You are worrying too loudly."

"I'm making sure he's safe."

"He is improving."

"You said that because the floating words told you."

"And because his breathing is steady and his color is returning." Orion glanced at Roy's 'Weave Reserve' percentage again. Aurelia laid the cloth over Roy's forehead.

"You need sleep. It is the middle of the night."

"The storm is still moving."

"The supports are holding, Kindle is keeping the cottage warm, and Roy needs quiet." Orion looked toward the bed. Roy's chest rose and fell, slowly and evenly. Aurelia stood.

"I'll check him again before dawn. Get some sleep, brother. You cannot heal him by staring."

"I can make sure he wakes."

"So can I." Orion's instinct was to argue. Aurelia looked tired enough that shadows had formed beneath her eyes, but she remained steady on her feet. She was the Caretaker. The word felt more substantial now than it had during the class assignment. Not merely a title, but a responsibility she understood better than he did. Orion nodded once.

"If anything changes—""I'll wake you immediately." They left Roy beneath the blankets and closed the bedroom door most of the way. Kindle lay curled inside the hearth, his ember-patterned back glowing between the stones. One eye opened as they passed.

"Keep the house warm," Aurelia whispered. Kindle's tail tapped the ash once. ─── 🐲 ─── By morning, the storm had buried the lower portion of the cottage. Orion woke to the sound of wind and the unfamiliar absence of soreness. He lay still for a moment, expecting his shoulders to ache from the previous day's labor. His back should have protested when he sat upright. His hands should have been stiff around the joints. Instead, he felt rested. He dressed and checked Roy before leaving the room.

His brother remained asleep, but some color had returned to his face. Aurelia entered behind Orion carrying fresh water. She focused on Roy.

"Condition: Recovering," she said. Orion looked at the status screen himself. [Weave Reserve: 19%]"Is that good?"

"It has only been one night." Aurelia adjusted the blanket beneath Roy's chin. Orion watched her for another moment before remembering the date.

"You are eighteen." She looked up. For the first time that morning, her expression changed from concern to surprise.

"So I am."

"I didn't forget."

"I did."

"We should do something." Aurelia glanced toward Roy.

"Later. Roy would never forgive us if we ate birthday pie without him."

"He would forgive us after complaining for a week."

"Then we should save ourselves the trouble." Orion nodded. Another gust struck the wall. The smile faded from both their faces. Aurelia picked up the water bowl and began to head off. Before she could, Orion called once more.

"Happy Birthday, Aurelia." Then his day began in earnest. The outdoor work began with the front door. Snow had packed against it during the night, forcing Orion to lean his shoulder into the wood until a narrow gap opened. Wind drove flakes into his face the moment he stepped outside. The field, road, and tree line had disappeared behind shifting walls of white. Snow reached above Orion's knees and gathered waist-high against the western side of the cottage. The barn remained visible only as a dark shape.

He tied a rope around his waist and secured the other end inside the doorway. Aurelia watched him from beneath the frame.

"You are not going beyond the barn, correct?." If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"No. The rope won't reach much farther beyond that. I should be fine as long as I pace myself."

"That is usually what you say before doing something foolish."

"That sounds more like Roy."

"Roy announces his foolishness. You disguise yours as work." Orion stepped into the snow before she could continue. His first task was clearing pressure from the cottage walls. Snow was not heavy when lifted by the shovel, but enough of it packed against old timber could bow boards inward or trap moisture in every crack. He dug a path around the nearest corner. The work should have been exhausting, but it was not. Orion drove the shovel into the drift, lifted, threw, and repeated.

His breathing deepened but did not become ragged. His shoulders warmed without burning. Each path opened faster than he expected. The First Seal had changed something. Awakened laborers were said to work longer and lift more than ordinary people, though Orion suspected most stories had been improved by alcohol. Still, he cleared twice the distance he would have managed a week earlier before needing his first break. The Protector class may have contributed as well, though he disliked considering that possibility.

A class called Protector should have given him a shield, not better endurance for shoveling snow. Then again, endurance had protected his family longer than any shield ever had. He returned inside, drank warm water, and allowed Aurelia to inspect him.

"Health is full," she said, almost teasingly. Orion looked toward Roy's closed door.

"Any change?"

"His reserve is still rising."

"Get me if he wakes."

"I will." Orion made another path. By midday, he had cleared enough snow to reach the barn. He checked the horse, replaced damp bedding, and moved feed farther from a section of roof where powder had begun slipping between the boards. He should have returned soon after, but instead he noticed how disorganized the winter supplies had become. Boards leaned against tools. Rope had been dropped beneath a shelf. Two buckets of pitch sat where the horse could kick them if frightened. Orion began sorting.

He stacked the construction timber by length, moved the nails into a covered box, and prepared several braces near the entrance in case another emergency forced them outside. He split additional firewood with the axe, surprised by how easily it passed through dense logs. The blade landed exactly where he intended more often than chance should have allowed. Orion paused with the axe resting against the block. Strength was one thing; control was another. He looked at his hands. No golden light. No visible threads.

Nothing to indicate the Weave was moving through him. He returned to work. Aurelia came to the barn entrance during the afternoon with Kindle beside her. The young drake bounded through the path Orion had cleared, sinking into the deeper snow whenever he stepped too far from it.

"Why are you out here, Aurelia? It's still not safe."

"I followed your path and rope." she called.

"You have been gone too long,""The barn needed work." Kindle shook snow from his scales. The flakes melted before striking the floor. Aurelia nodded toward him.

"I brought you help." Orion eyed the Hearth Drake.

"With what?"

"Melting snow."

"That is a Roy-minded idea."

"It could work."

"The house needs him."

"The house is warm enough that I opened a shutter." Orion looked toward Kindle. The drake sat beside Aurelia, head tilted.

"You stay near the door," Orion told him. Kindle's tail moved once.

"And you do not eat the support beams." The drake looked toward the nearest post.

"Kindle…" He looked back at Orion. Aurelia smiled.

"He understands, and agrees for now." They compromised by settling Kindle near the center of the barn with a small piece of wood. Warmth spread outward as he chewed, driving the chill from Orion's fingers and calming the horse. Orion worked another hour or so. By the time he decided to return, the light outside had begun to fail. The storm remained fierce, though the snow had shifted from heavy flakes to hard, windblown crystals. Orion tied the rope around himself again and stepped into the path.

Kindle followed close behind. Halfway to the cottage, Orion noticed the tracks. They crossed his cleared path from the direction of the road. Three sets. Deep, uneven, and recent. Kindle bumped into the back of his leg as he stopped long enough to process. The tracks led directly to the cottage. The front door hung open in the distance. One side of the latch had been torn from the frame. Orion ran. He did not remember dropping the rope. The axe remained in his right hand as he crossed the final stretch.

Kindle followed, his compact body moving faster over packed snow than Orion expected. Voices carried through the doorway.

"Take the jars."

"All of them?"

"All of them, idiot." Orion reached the threshold. Three men occupied the main room. Two had emptied the kitchen shelves onto the table. Preserves, bread, smoked meat, and sacks of dried grain had been piled into open packs. One man wore a patched leather coat and carried a short club. The second had a rusted sword at his hip and Aurelia's pie knife tucked through his belt. The third man held Aurelia against the wall. One arm pinned her shoulders. His other hand covered her mouth.

Aurelia's eyes found Orion, fear widening them.

"Let her go!" The two near the table turned. Orion stepped inside with the axe raised. The man with the club laughed.

"You alone?" Orion did not answer. Kindle slipped through the doorway behind him and moved along the wall, low and silent. None of the bandits looked down. The swordsman drew his blade.

"We'll be staying through the storm," he said.

"You'll give us the food and beds, and maybe we leave something behind." Orion knew men like these. Not personally, but by the stories left after them. Isolated farms emptied during winter. Families found beaten, stripped of supplies, or worse. Bandits entered as guests when allowed and as conquerors when refused. They ate like kings because someone else had starved to produce the meal, then took whatever else amused them. Orion looked at Aurelia. The man's hand still covered her mouth. Her eighteenth birthday.

Orion moved first. The clubbed bandit swung toward his head, but Orion caught the attacker's wrist with his left hand and drove the axe handle into the man's ribs. The impact produced a grunt and a sharp cracking sound. Orion did not know whether it came from bone or the table behind him. The swordsman slashed. Orion twisted aside, the blade cutting through his coat without reaching skin. He struck with the axe.

The attacker barely avoided the edge, but Orion reversed the motion and slammed the flat of the head against the man's shoulder. The swordsman stumbled into the cupboard. Orion felt faster than he should have been. Not trained. Not skilled. Simply able to react before panic became paralysis. The club wielder recovered and charged from the side. Orion lowered his shoulder into the man's chest and drove him backward. They struck the table hard enough to overturn one of the packs. Jars shattered across the floor.

The swordsman came again. Orion blocked the blade with the axe handle, shoved it wide, and swung toward the man's leg. The edge struck below the knee, causing the bandit to scream and collapse. Orion stared for half a heartbeat. He had not aimed to cripple him. He had not really aimed at all. The third man dragged Aurelia away from the wall. His hand left her mouth only long enough to seize a dagger from his belt and press it against her throat.

"Drop it!" Orion froze. The injured bandit groaned on the floor. The man with the club backed away, one arm pressed against his ribs. The hostage-taker tightened his grip.

"Drop the axe!" Aurelia's breath came quickly. The blade touched the skin beneath her jaw. Orion lowered the weapon, even though every instinct in him rejected the motion. If he surrendered, the bandits would stay. They would eat through the winter stores. They would wait until Orion was restrained or asleep, and then whatever happened would happen beyond his ability to stop it. If he refused, Aurelia died now. The axe slipped from his fingers and struck the floor. The bandit smiled.

"That's better." Kindle moved behind him. The Hearth Drake sprang and bit into the man's calf. The bandit immediately shrieked as his grip loosened. Aurelia shoved forward. For one instant, she was free. Then the man kicked backward. His boot caught Kindle beneath the jaw and threw the drake across the floor until he struck the base of the hearth. The bandit turned after Aurelia, enraged and half-blind with pain. He drove the dagger toward her back. Orion moved on instinct, but he knew he was too far away.

The room narrowed. He saw only the blade, Aurelia, and the impossible distance between them. He had worked since childhood to keep this family alive. He had given up every thought of leaving because someone needed to remain. He had built his life around the promise that Roy and Aurelia would always have somewhere safe to return. None of it mattered if he failed now. A message appeared. [Skill Available: Brotherly Bond.] Orion did not read further. He had to trust it. The Weave had not yet proven kind.

But Aurelia trusted it, Roy trusted it, and now there was no other choice. – Take me to her! The world blurred. Space folded into a streak of motion, and Orion reappeared between Aurelia and the bandit. The dagger passed through his palm. Pain exploded up his arm as the blade emerged from the back of his hand, slick with blood. The bandit stared. Orion stared back. Fear replaced the man's anger.

"Awakened," he whispered. The man with the club looked toward Roy's unnaturally precise supports, Kindle's glowing back, and Orion standing where no ordinary person could have moved.

"There could be more!" The swordsman dragged himself upright against the cupboard.

"Go!" The hostage-taker released the knife, leaving it lodged through Orion's hand. All three men fled. The injured one stumbled after the others, leaving blood across the broken threshold before the storm swallowed them. They dropped and threw everything they had collected. A desperate attempt to keep the family's attention on the stolen goods instead of them. Orion remained standing until he was able to slam the front door shut. Then the room tilted. Aurelia caught his arm.

"Sit down."

"Kindle."

"He's moving." The Hearth Drake shook himself near the hearth and gave an angry, crackling growl toward the door. Orion looked at the message waiting before him. [Skill Available: Brotherly Bond.] [Reappear between a bonded loved one and an adversary threatening them.] A laugh escaped him, brief and strained.

"What?" Aurelia asked as she guided him toward the floor.

"Nothing." His class had called him Protector. His first skill had turned that description into something painfully literal. Orion inspected himself. His Health and Weave Reserve had both fallen, and it noted that he was actively bleeding and losing health. He did not need exact numbers to understand the weakness spreading through his limbs. Aurelia knelt beside him and grasped his wrist without touching the knife. Her focus sharpened.

"Condition: Puncture wound. Status: Requires immediate treatment."

"I gathered that."

"Do not joke."

"I wasn't." Blood ran down his forearm. Aurelia looked around the wrecked room.

"We need cloth. Something clean and thick. I have to remove the knife, but it will bleed badly." A voice came from the bedrooms.

"Use this." Roy stood in the bedroom doorway. He looked pale and unsteady, one hand braced against the frame. In the other, he held a folded strip of rough white fabric. Aurelia stared at him.

"You should be in bed!"

"I was." Roy crossed the room slowly.

"I woke up when the fighting started. By the time I reached the door, you already had a knife at your throat." He held out the cloth.

"My blanket." The material no longer resembled wool. It had been compressed and roughened into something closer to thick gauze. Aurelia's expression tightened.

"You used Basic Transmutation. You just recovered."

"Orion needs it now." Roy lowered himself beside them, breathing harder from the short walk than he wanted either sibling to notice. Both did notice, but said nothing. Aurelia simply accepted the cloth.

"Hold his arm." Roy obeyed. Kindle approached and pressed his warm body against Orion's side. Aurelia placed one hand near the knife and the other around the prepared gauze.

"This will hurt."

"It already does."

"That was not reassurance." She pulled. Pain immediately turned the room white. Orion heard the knife strike the floor. Aurelia wrapped the cloth tightly around his palm while Roy applied pressure from above. The bleeding slowed, but the weakness did not. Aurelia's skill settled over him like warmth sinking into cold hands. He could not see it, but he felt the difference in the steadiness of his breathing and the gradual retreat of panic from the edges of his mind. Together, Roy and Aurelia lifted him.

Between them, they guided Orion toward the bedroom he had left that morning convinced he was stronger than exhaustion. Kindle followed. Behind them, the door remained closed but broken, food lay scattered across the floor, and the storm continued beyond the reinforced walls. No one looked toward the quest display above the hearth. The final line changed without ceremony. [Days Completed: 2/3]