Bramblepoint The view from halfway down

Njord squeezed Bronco’s paw, even as the man’s damaged body began to quake from shock. “Aye,” he breathed. A story, an anecdote, a memory… anything to stave the mind of its pain and bring relief. Naturally, the Sveijarn turned toward family

His tongue whetted his lips. “Ye may not ken me, but Ah’ve heard of you, Bronco,” Njord explained as his gaze rested upon the man’s face, but not his grievous wounds. “My wife, Meerkat, ‘as told me many a tale ‘bout the great man she calls her brother.” A sad smile pulls at the corners of his lips. “We ‘ad two children this year… our second litter. Both possess the beauty of their mother – her sunny character, too.”

He swallowed but continued on with a quiet voice. “These days, we’ve been thinkin’ of movin’ tae Sun Mote Copse... Tis a lush, bonnie place… I bet ye ken it well.” It was the place of his generation’s birth. The place of his and Meerkat’s childhood. “Och, tha wide river… fish jumpin’ from it. An ‘ow sunlight comes through the treetops….” Njord did his best to paint a beautiful, peaceful picture for Bronco.

But then – finally! A Brecheliant woman arrived. Njord prayed that more would soon follow.

Quickly, she drew near Bronco and Njord backed away. The tenderness of her touch alluded to a strong relationship between them. “T’was some kind of… hellcat… the likes of which Ah’ve never seen,” he explained in a grim voice as he measured the life left of the fallen man.