THE BROTHERS’ CHAMPION

Henri and his brother, Evan, were closing out a haggle with their last customer at their little grocer’s shop, located at the front of the home. When Henri noticed an unexpected visitor, their dearly departed dog.

The customer walked out the door, not sparing a glance at the dog. When Evan turned to see what Henri was looking at, he made for the dog, but it ran away. Glancing back at Henri with determined eyes, Evan said, “Come on,” and took off after the dog.

As Henri was hastily closing the door behind him, he could taste the salt of tears on his lips as he recalled the day they lost their dog and parents. The dog died trying to protect its family when starving bandits ambushed their wagon on the road back from transporting goods for the shop.

“The dog is waiting for us,” Evan called out to Henri, bringing him out of the memory. Sure enough, the dog was sitting patiently at the end of the road leading out of their small village. It got up when it spotted Henri approaching, looking at them expectantly. So, they followed.

Henri stopped at the edge of the forest that bordered the far edge of town. It was getting late; the sun was descending upon the horizon. Henri inspected the darkening woods. It would be easy to get lost within. Evan tugged on the sleeve of Henri’s tunic, and in they went, not wanting to lose track of the dog.

For the moment, Henri felt relaxed. Crossing cool and gently running creeks, listening to birds sing their evening songs, and inhaling the scents of sun-warmed wildflowers and herbs. Until he caught the smell of smoke wafting towards him from somewhere up ahead.

The dog led them to the edge of a cliff off the side of the path, where it was looking down, between an opening in the foliage on the edge of the cliff. Henri and Evan quietly approached the dog when they were startled by the sound of voices below them. Peering down, they saw a gang of men sitting around a campfire. Some of the men had a burned-on brand on the side of their necks.

“They’re outlaws,” whispered Evan.

“We need to inform the guards. We can’t have them terrorizing the town’s people.”

“What about the dog?”

Henri turned from the cliff to see that the dog was sitting behind them, waiting. “We follow it back.” Careful not to make noise, leaving the camp behind them, they ran after the dog leading them out of the woods.

When they got out of the tree line of the forest and back to the main road, it was nearly dark out, and the dog was nowhere to be seen.

“We lost it,” said Evan, quietly.

“We already had,” whispered Henri, grabbing hold of his brother’s arm and hurrying back to town and the garrison. Upon arriving, they were greeted by Dorian, a town guard who had been looking out for them since their parents’ passing.

“What are you boys doing out so late?” scolded Dorian.

“We just got back from the forest, where we saw a gang of outlaws making camp,” Henri explained.

“Why were you out in the forest? Never mind. Outlaws you say.”

“Near a cliff off the main forest path.”

“I’ll take some men with me to clear out their camp and neutralize any threat. In the meantime, you boys can wait here until I get back,” Dorian said to the brothers while getting the attention of some guards nearby to get them to follow him.

“The dog might have gone back home where he first came to us,” Evan told Henri, after Dorian had left with the guards.

“It is late, we might as well head home,” agreed Henri.

Sticking close to one another, Henri and Evan walked the darkened streets of their town at night. When they tuned on to the road that led home, they saw in the distance figures moving in the dark in the direction they were headed.

Stepping in front of his brother, Henri turned to Evan. “Go back the way we came. Look for any guards on watch and bring them back here,” instructed Henri.

“What about you?”

“I will look out for the dog and make sure it’s not in harm’s way.”

Henri cautiously makes his way home, going around to the side of the building to look through the window. Three of the outlaws were tearing through the shop’s goods, destroying all that Henri’s parent worked to build. Noticing that no one else was entering the house, Henri went toward the front of the house, looking around for the dog. It didn’t come back here. Turning to go find his brother, he instead finds the dog running past him.

Giving chase, Henri is led to the back of the house, where the dog is standing in front of his training sword. Henri picks it up just as he hears footsteps coming up behind him. Not noticing that Henri was armed, the outlaw lunges at him, but Henri, reacting quickly, swings at him, landing a disorienting hit to the side of his head. Before the man could recover, Henri ran back to the front of the house where guards on horseback raced past him, going after the other outlaws that were in his house, escaping.

“Henri!” Evan was calling out as he ran to join him, bearing a torch, “are you alright?”

“Stay back!” Henri warned Evan, spinning around to put himself between the last outlaw and his brother. Henri fought off the man with his sword, putting all the training he had done to prevent losing the last of his family, until the man hit the ground, unconscious. Exhausted, Henri fell to his knees.

“It’s leaving,” said Evan. Ahead of them, the dog was glowing softly, its body fading.

“The champion’s duty is complete.” The dog’s tail was wagging, happily as its final remnants faded away.

Bibiana Roque hails from Chicago and is currently studying Creative Writing at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. When not writing, she can be found shopping for books to add to her collection, playing video games, or attending rock concerts. Follow her on Instagram @bbvalerianrd.