Alacar
"I don't know why you bother," Alacar said, hacking once again at the target dummy. The practice sword was heavy in his hand, but he worked diligently at swordplay every evening he could, in any weather, even at the expense of missing dinner.
His brother just laughed and looked up from his new spellbook. "You wouldn't understand. Go back to hitting that dummy before it gets you."
"You want to give it a try? You think you could do better?"
His brother just grinned. "In Por Ylem," he muttered, and the dummy rocked back, almost tearing free of its suspension rope under the force of a bolt of magical energy.
- - - - -
That was how it had been for as long as Alacar could remember. They worked side-by-side during the day, helping the family. Mother worked at the inn while father hunted monsters. Alacar worked in the kitchen and sometimes helped to hunt for food during lean times, while his brother served tables and practiced his magery.
But things changed, as all things do. Alacar's father met up with three wandering ettins and never returned home. Mother sold the inn and went to the Hall of Paladins in Trinsic to become their cook. Left with their share of a meager inheritance, the two brothers took to the roads to find their fortune and their calling.
Alacar and his brother traveled together for a while, seeking to protect the travelers who wandered the roads of Brittania. Monsters had become more prevalent in these years, and Alacar's hunting skills were put to good use. He even learned to cook lizardman steaks, since he never seemed to have time to hunt hinds or goats anymore.
His brother diligently practiced at his magic, despite Alacar's continual teasing. "What's it good for? Run out of those stinking reagents, and you're helpless!" Alacar would say.
His brother always just smiled and nodded. "Right, brother. If that's what you want to think."
Alacar tried to get his brother to develop at least minimal fighting skills, but he always refused, claiming that a sword would just encumber him in an emergency. "I need my hands free for spells!" he would remind Alacar.
- - - - -
It was late one evening when the two brothers, escorting a messenger, stepped through the moongate from Trinsic to Moonglow. Alacar was stunned at the darkness and chaos, and could only stand breathless for a moment, deafened by the screams of mongbats.
His brother leaped forward, throwing balls of flame at the winged beasts, dazzling Alacar's night-blind eyes even worse. Perhaps he knew this, for he stopped his barrage long enough to cry out, "In Lor!"
But by the time Alacar had drawn his sword, there were no more of the beasts to slay. Warily the travelers made their way to the road, and finally the two brothers were able to escort the messenger safely to his destination.
As Alacar counted out the gold they had been paid, he asked, "Where to now?"
"Nowhere," was the stunning response. "I'm staying."
"What?" Alacar exclaimed. "But - How could you?"
"Look around, brother. The famed city of magic! I knew our travels would take us here one day." A note of awe crept into his brother's voice as they passed another magic shop on the street - the second or third one that Alacar had noticed in the two minutes they'd been in the city. "I'm staying. I can learn a great deal here."
Feeling even more lost than he had when he'd heard that his father had died, Alacar could only nod numbly. "All right. If that's what you want."
His brother smiled. "It's what I must do. You've always protected me and led me, brother. It's time for me to be on my own."
"But -"
"I'll be fine," his brother assured the nervous Alacar. "But your place is not here." He raised his eyes to the trees beyond the fenced city. "You belong out there, where the battle's front lines are. Monsters are coming, brother. It's a bad time for all Brittania. We must all do our parts."
Alacar nodded slowly, the truth in his brother's words cutting through his sudden sense of loss. "All right. But if you need me."
"And you, brother. If you need me, I will know. And I will find you."
Alacar sighed, knowing the brutal truth of the world beyond safe city gates. "Or avenge me. That's all anyone can ask."