A Girl and Her Monster (Rune Breaker) by Landon Porter Page A

they were met by two other halflings, a man and a woman, both in grass-weave cloaks and woodsman garb like Bromun. They were accompanied by a trio of huge wolves.
    ***
    Kaiel took care of the introductions; the other halfling male was Bromun's brother, Rolfas. The female was Rolfas's wife, Minarene. He also kindly explained that the wolves were a breed exclusively raised by caravan-bound halfling clans. They served as both mount and battle partner for hunters, who were also the caravan's martial specialists, and were treated almost like full members of the clan.
    The harnesses of hardened leather on the wolves, and the crossbows, weighted chains and wickedly curved kukris the halflings carried spoke for themselves on that fact.
    On the walk to the village, the conversation was light and mostly held up by Kaiel and Bromun enlightening Taylin about Taunaun's banditry problem while the other two hunters ranged off some distance to search for any signs of the enemy.
    Eventually though, Kaiel broached a subject Taylin had been secretly glad hadn't come up yet. “Forgive me for asking and shun it if it insults, but... I've noticed that you don't really strike me as human or elf.” Then he startled her by dropping seamlessly into a painfully familiar language. “Amo 'Taylin ayean hailene-de. Ayes I hailene suras velates?”
    Involuntarily, she shivered at the very sound of the words. Scowling bitterly, she refused to make eye contact. “Aan. Iba ang'hailene. Iba tolos velates.”
    Kaiel's eyes widened with shock and disgust. Tolos velates : one whose wings were taken, as opposed to suras velates : One whose wings were lost. He'd heard of the former, certainly, but always in accounts of historical accounts of the savagery of the early Age of Tragedies and of course, the Hailene War of Ascension. Taking wings was the most cold blooded torture the hailene inflicted upon each other. It was reserved for traitors and those deemed inferior, the 'not people' who didn't fit the hailene ideal, who they called ang'hailene .
    “They still do that?” There was a trace of anger in his voice. “It seems Taunaun isn't the only place where the Age of Tragedies still lives on.”
    “They don't do that any longer?” Taylin looked at him sidelong, hope in her eyes before she realized her mistake. “... I meant: you haven't heard of it being done?”
    “Not in my lifetime. Not for a good hundred years.” He turned to Bromun, who hadn't understood the conversation in hailene-de the native, dialect of the hailene. As much as he hated to admit it, the caravan halflings still knew more about individual settlements in the East than he did. “Have you heard of any groups of hailene that still take wings?”
    Bromun was half leaning, half sitting sidesaddle upon his lupine partner, Gruwluff (which he'd helpfully translated from the halfling language to Taylin as 'Feral Grin'), his feet were firmly standing on loops built into the great wolf's harness. He shook his head.
    “The cliff-dweller tribes still exile ang'hailene , I've heard the tribes like Fellweather and Lightwings even give the children over to the ogres and dragon cults, but they don't cut anybody's wings off. Part of the rules of war for them, actually. I'd wager gold that any of them we deal with hasn't even thought of it since Nov II's abolition crusade ended slavery in the East.”
    So the masters were no longer even masters. Even realizing that almost four hundred years had passed, this was shocking. More shocking than the revelation of the new taboo on attacking wings. She clearly recalled seeing spells employed to blast the feathers from the wings of turncoats that fought alongside of the enemy.
    “Taylin...” Kaiel's voice made her glance up into those horrified, blue eyes. “Who took your wings?”
    She groaned at herself for having given that much away. No one would believe her if she explained and instead of being understanding, they would... she didn't even know what