Heins and Björn

Chapter 11
Part 1 - Heins

“What's an Avi doing here?” One of the Baiin bandits says with his boot on the young man on the ground.

I stand out in the open in front of the three vicious-looking men.

Dima and Elda eventually come out of hiding, walking up behind me. Their faces are nervous but ready. We all glare at them.

“You should get out of here, we don’t want to fight you,” I urge them to get away.

“Fight us?” the bandit asks over the curled-up Baiin. They all burst into laughter.

“What is an Avi dog like you going to do, piss on us?” he insults.

“What did he even do to you? Can’t you just let him go?” Dima asks them, desperately trying to avoid a fight.

“This little runt came to steal minerals from our mine. And then blew something up, getting smoke in our eyes. It really stung, you know,” the bandit says with a sarcastic tone.

“It’s not your mine, shitheads…” the young man mutters from the ground.

“Shut up!” the bandit yells at him, kicking him again.

Anger rises through me as blood drips from the young man’s mouth. With heat gathering in my legs, I’m ready to move. Elda puts her hand on my arm, urging me to calm down.

“One last time, just let the guy go,” Dima warns them, slightly hunching down.

The silence thickens with violence. The bandits smirk with malice.

“You’re funny, for a couple dogs…” one of the bandits says, lifting his leg and then planting it down.

I feel vibrations from under my feet, like something is pushing up the ground. Jumping to the side, a slab of rock comes through the ground, past my body. Heat brims in my legs as I land and launch forward. The bandit is way too slow, just barely lifting his foot as I have my palm in front of his eyes. I grab his face and slam it to the ground, smashing his skull against the rock.

“Hhhnf!” the bandit wheezes out on impact.

Standing up, I lock eyes with one of the other grey men. My markings still radiate. I see the fear and confusion in his eyes as he starts to move, but gets swiftly hindered as Elda's spear pierces his side.


Quickly, it is over. Just the one bandit left standing next to the young Baiin on the ground. I stare at his dazed hazel eyes. The bandit turns around, screaming as he runs away.

I help the young man up so he can sit and breathe. He coughs and groans. Putting his arm around my shoulder and pressing my ear against his chest, I hear his ribs crackle with each breath.

“He's not doing so well, we need to get him help.” I look back and tell the siblings standing next to me.

“How do we do that when we don’t even know where we are?” Elda asks with a skeptical tone.

I look at her with frustration.

“I can show you to my village,” the man mutters under his breath.

“Great, then let’s go. Before more of those scum show up,” Dima says as he starts walking.

“What? We’re just gonna trust this dude?” Elda asks with doubt.

“It’s better than just running around, no?” Dima answers, walking further away.

“Hmph…” The man groans as I lift him up on my back.

“Sorry, we will get you help soon…” I tell him and start walking with Elda.

“Hey! Where now?” Elda shakes him and asks the man on my back.

Groaning, he lifts his head from my shoulder to look around.

“Just a little bit further down this path, it should come into view soon…” he explains until his head drops on my shoulder again.

“We need to hurry,” I tell the others, hearing his wheeze.

A watchtower made of stone pokes up from over the hill, with the colossal mountain in the background. As we get further up, we see stone houses, Baiin people and creatures pulling carriages filled with rock. Two guards are standing at the entrance to the village surrounded by the rocky plains. The guards have dented armor and battered helmets. The people are dressed in leather and beige clothing. Their grey skin melts into the colors of their surroundings. As we approach, the guards look at our marked bodies in disgust and confusion.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” one of the guards yells at us as we get closer.

But then their expressions change when they see the grey man on my shoulders.

“Is that Heins?” the other guard asks with his eyes wide open.

Now standing right in front of them, I glare at one of the guards.

“Are you gonna let us help him or not?” I ask him, frowning.

The guards exchange a confused look. One of them sighs and says:
“Fine. Hey, Vernim, come here!” the guard agrees and calls after someone.

A short boy with dirty clothes and messy hair comes running. He stops when he sees the man on my shoulders.

“Heins? What happened to him?” the boy asks with worry.

“Bring them to his old man,” the guard asks the boy.

As we walk through the village, many Baiin glare us down. Their faces give me a sour taste, looking at us with such disgust. Elda sticks out her tongue and I meet their gaze.

“Over here!” the Baiin boy tells us, pointing us to a house with a sign out front.

The bell rings as we come through the door. Inside the shop, there are pickaxes, scythes and all kinds of tools hanging off the walls. Behind the counter that is covered by hide, a door opens.

“Welcome…” a big Baiin man with a white beard starts to say, before he sees the Avi standing in his shop, and the hurt man on my back.

“Heins!” he yells, hurrying to me.



Part 2 - Björn

“So his name is Heins then?” I ask the bearded Baiin, while looking at Heins lying in bed with his body wrapped in cloth.

The sturdy-built fireplace lights up the room, with the sound of soup being boiled in a pot. The heavy broth smell makes me almost drool in hunger. The bearded man pours some into a wooden bowl with a metal scoop. He walks up to Heins and lifts his head, pouring the soup into his mouth. Heins coughs and groans in his unconscious state.

“Yes, that's indeed this fool's name,” the bearded man answers me.

“What is yours?” Dima asks him.

“Björn, but Heins calls me old man,” Björn answers.

Watching his huge back turned against me and his thick rough hands holding the bowl, he definitely doesn't seem like a frail old man.

“Eat, that I owe you. But then you leave,” Björn turns around and tells us in his rusty voice.

“We actually wanted to ask you some things, we’re trying to…” Dima tries to explain but Björn doesn’t let him finish:
“Look! You Avi don’t belong here, you only spell trouble for me,” Björn says more aggressively.

The room grows quiet, until Elda mutters:
“Cheap bastard…”

Björn turns and walks up to her, towering over, making her look tiny in comparison. He glares down, his expression telling me that he is really bothered by what Elda said.

“What did you call me?” Björn's deep voice vibrates.

Elda stands up, smacking the table on the way up. She stands almost belly to belly to the huge grey man in front of her.

“I said, you cheap bastard,” she says while bending her neck up to meet Björn's gaze.

Dima and I are nervously watching them stare each other down.

“Me!? Me, cheap!? How dare you? I am not cheap!” Björn yells.

Dima and I are shocked by what we are hearing coming out of this huge man's mouth, seeing him truly frustrated over being called cheap. Elda responds:
“Yes, you! We saved your son's life, and you repay us with what—some soup!?” She yells back.

Björn looks furious, like he could snap at any moment.

“Elda…” I whisper to her from across the table, nervous of what he could do.

“The boy is not my son. You can stay one night! That’s it! And you sleep in storage upstairs, got it!”

Björn suddenly bursts out, as if he is discussing terms.

“We want blankets!” Elda yells back.

I wake up to the sun shining through the tiny windows in the slanted roof. Dima and Elda are still sleeping with the crates and other merchandise around them. I go down the stairs to the shop front, opening the door behind the counter slowly. Björn is still sleeping in a big leather armchair, with his big hand on the bed where Heins is sleeping. He has probably been by his side all night, showing he cares despite the tough demeanor. As I close the door behind me, Björn nods awake and looks at me standing at the door. He removes his hand and clears his throat.

“Are you all still here?” he asks harshly.

Heins has sweat dripping and a grimacing face in his sleep.

“He doesn't look good,” I say, looking at Heins.

Björn doesn't say anything, just stands up and starts putting wood into the fireplace.

“You haven't even asked us what happened,” I tell him.

“He went to the mine, didn’t he?” Björn answers.

“How did you know?” I ask him.

“Because I know how foolish the boy is,” Björn says, throwing in the last piece of wood.

“What’s going on with the mine?” I ask him.

Björn stands up and turns to me.

“It has nothing to do with you! Now, get out of here, that was the deal,” Björn angrily tells me, raising his voice.

Heins moves and groans in his sleep, making Björn look at him. I see the worry in his worn out eyes.

“He’s gonna die like this. Please, let us help you,” I try to convince him.

“Help me?” Björn says while walking up to me in anger.

He looks me in the eyes. I see his frustration as he asks me:
“How is a boy like you going to help me?”

My purple eyes stare, eyes that have seen death many times.

“I’m the boy who killed those Baiin scum, for that man over there,” I tell him with the creeping anger within me.

He meets my gaze and sees the determination. Sighing, he sits down at the table.

“The bandits took over that mine months ago. Many men from this village lost their lives trying to get it back,” Björn explains to me from across the table, as we hold warm cups of water.

He continues:
“But… There is a rare mineral there. One that could save the boy. Our village has been making medicine with it for decades; it was our pride as well as what kept us fed.”

“So… we just need to go get that mineral then,” Elda says as she opens the door, Dima standing behind her looking down.

“I’m not sending kids to die. Didn’t you hear me say that the Baiin men died trying already?” Björn says in a strict voice.

“Yeah, why would we risk our lives for these people? You see the way they look at us!” Dima tells us, standing at the door.

Elda looks at him and then looks down, not being able to argue back.

“I want to do it for Heins,” I tell Dima.

“Why?” he asks back.

I know why. It’s because of Rayon and what he did for us, what he once said.

“Because we saved him from death,” I say, remembering Rayon's words at our trial in front of the Danar.

Elda looks up at me, and then smiles at Dima.

Dima looks at his smiling sister, and then to me, seeing the fire in my eyes.