Dorin & Darin
Dumb & Dangerous
“Let me see that one,” Darin said, yanking a sheet of flimsi from his brother’s hand.
“It’s all yours. Shame it won't say anything new.” Dorin told him. They had been at this for hours, pouring over the documents and datapads they had recovered from their hunt. Scant few sheets of flimsi and a couple of datapads were what they had to go over and over and over. Most of it was useless—larder logs and nothing more. More butter next week, running low on salt, that sort of thing but there were a couple of pages worth their interest.
They wish there was more. Maybe then they would be treated less like failures.
The trip back from the village was made in stony silence, not even the birds dared to sing, no insect was foolish enough to buzz. What should have been a triumph, a blow thrown at The Fayth, a declaration that the Lupo had returned was being treated like a defeat. There were no songs, there was no feast, and there was not so much as a pat on the back. Never had they been covered in such glory and been unable to find joy. In that silence, the twins had wondered if Aelin had poisoned their minds the same way she had the old knight’s.
“Dorin, check this out!” Darin exclaimed excitedly, making room for his twin to come closer.
“What am I looking at Darry?” Dorin asked looking now at a different sheet of flimsi than he had handed Darin earlier but still on he had tried to figure out maybe half a dozen times.
“What does this look like to you?” Darin asked pointing at a handwritten word or phrase on the page.
Dorin looked at it again and could not understand what his brother was going on about when suddenly it struck him.
“It looks like ánni, like river!” He exclaimed
“And that one?” Darin pointed to another word
“Leyndarmál. Secret. So you’re saying this sheet here is written in…”
“Wufi.” They said together.
“I have never read wufi like this before,” Dorin said.
“You hardly read before.” Darin teased. Neither Twin had put too much effort into their lessons, preferring instead to use The Gift to pull each other’s hair or knock each other over.
“I wish Dorry were here. He would know what it said or how to figure it out.” Their brother Dorian was simply put: the best. They had never had a problem they could not bring to Dorry for solving.
“What about Declan?” Darin asked “Durry always said he would’ve made a fine Draoidae.”
“Declan has gotten himself lost in the woods. Again.” Dorin reminded his brother.
“Why would the humans have flimsi with that strange wufi on it?” Darin asked himself as much as Dorin.
“You don’t think this has something to do with The Baramoðn?” Darin asked.
Dorin snorted out loud. “From the songs, Darry? Why would humans care about a Lupo legend written in a language Lupo can’t even read?”
“I don’t know,” Darin conceded “but you remember coming south with father and he would always sing, do you remember?”
“The River Away. I remember, what about it?” Even now Dorin could hear the way his father’s voice would waver and crack as he tried to sing the high notes on the song about two Lupo from warring clans who would use the river to meet in secret.
“Well we would always sing with him and you remember what he would say when we asked what we were doing so far south? ‘Searching for The Fjordrunners’.”
“That’s just a story, Darry. Something father said to make the trip more exciting for two little pups and even if it weren’t that doesn’t help us find Durin.”
Darin’s face and heart sank. Dorin was right, though he felt bad about the way it took the air out of his brother. Darin was certain The Fjordrunners and The Baramoðn were important to The Fayth and important to them but he knew Dorin was right, they did not have time to find out how or why.
“We could ask for help,” Darin suggested.
“And who would help?” Dorin asked, “Declan is missing with another Alpha, Aelin is surely unlikely to come running to our aide again after the last time and so many of the others are tied up in these secret meetings, so tell me brother who should we turn to?”
“I’ve heard some of the others say a seer from the desert has made camp here,” Darin suggested hopefully.
“ Norn,” Dorin said spitefully. ‘A witch’
“You’d do anything to find Durin. That’s what you said.” Darin reminded his twin who responded with a drawn-out exasperated sigh.
“You’re a good brother Ninny,” Darin said with a smile.
After some time of searching the twins entered a tent and inside found two Lupo they had not met before with skin darker than any of the others around the camp, a male and a younger woman.
“Are you the seer? May we talk?” They said as one.
Zaya Tawfik
“It’s all yours. Shame it won't say anything new.” Dorin told him. They had been at this for hours, pouring over the documents and datapads they had recovered from their hunt. Scant few sheets of flimsi and a couple of datapads were what they had to go over and over and over. Most of it was useless—larder logs and nothing more. More butter next week, running low on salt, that sort of thing but there were a couple of pages worth their interest.
They wish there was more. Maybe then they would be treated less like failures.
The trip back from the village was made in stony silence, not even the birds dared to sing, no insect was foolish enough to buzz. What should have been a triumph, a blow thrown at The Fayth, a declaration that the Lupo had returned was being treated like a defeat. There were no songs, there was no feast, and there was not so much as a pat on the back. Never had they been covered in such glory and been unable to find joy. In that silence, the twins had wondered if Aelin had poisoned their minds the same way she had the old knight’s.
“Dorin, check this out!” Darin exclaimed excitedly, making room for his twin to come closer.
“What am I looking at Darry?” Dorin asked looking now at a different sheet of flimsi than he had handed Darin earlier but still on he had tried to figure out maybe half a dozen times.
“What does this look like to you?” Darin asked pointing at a handwritten word or phrase on the page.
Dorin looked at it again and could not understand what his brother was going on about when suddenly it struck him.
“It looks like ánni, like river!” He exclaimed
“And that one?” Darin pointed to another word
“Leyndarmál. Secret. So you’re saying this sheet here is written in…”
“Wufi.” They said together.
“I have never read wufi like this before,” Dorin said.
“You hardly read before.” Darin teased. Neither Twin had put too much effort into their lessons, preferring instead to use The Gift to pull each other’s hair or knock each other over.
“I wish Dorry were here. He would know what it said or how to figure it out.” Their brother Dorian was simply put: the best. They had never had a problem they could not bring to Dorry for solving.
“What about Declan?” Darin asked “Durry always said he would’ve made a fine Draoidae.”
“Declan has gotten himself lost in the woods. Again.” Dorin reminded his brother.
“Why would the humans have flimsi with that strange wufi on it?” Darin asked himself as much as Dorin.
“You don’t think this has something to do with The Baramoðn?” Darin asked.
Dorin snorted out loud. “From the songs, Darry? Why would humans care about a Lupo legend written in a language Lupo can’t even read?”
“I don’t know,” Darin conceded “but you remember coming south with father and he would always sing, do you remember?”
“The River Away. I remember, what about it?” Even now Dorin could hear the way his father’s voice would waver and crack as he tried to sing the high notes on the song about two Lupo from warring clans who would use the river to meet in secret.
“Well we would always sing with him and you remember what he would say when we asked what we were doing so far south? ‘Searching for The Fjordrunners’.”
“That’s just a story, Darry. Something father said to make the trip more exciting for two little pups and even if it weren’t that doesn’t help us find Durin.”
Darin’s face and heart sank. Dorin was right, though he felt bad about the way it took the air out of his brother. Darin was certain The Fjordrunners and The Baramoðn were important to The Fayth and important to them but he knew Dorin was right, they did not have time to find out how or why.
“We could ask for help,” Darin suggested.
“And who would help?” Dorin asked, “Declan is missing with another Alpha, Aelin is surely unlikely to come running to our aide again after the last time and so many of the others are tied up in these secret meetings, so tell me brother who should we turn to?”
“I’ve heard some of the others say a seer from the desert has made camp here,” Darin suggested hopefully.
“ Norn,” Dorin said spitefully. ‘A witch’
“You’d do anything to find Durin. That’s what you said.” Darin reminded his twin who responded with a drawn-out exasperated sigh.
“You’re a good brother Ninny,” Darin said with a smile.
After some time of searching the twins entered a tent and inside found two Lupo they had not met before with skin darker than any of the others around the camp, a male and a younger woman.
“Are you the seer? May we talk?” They said as one.
Zaya Tawfik