That's how Nord found his young nephew the next morning. He sat staring into the fire's coals as it died down. Nord waved, drawing Lov's attention from the burning embers.
"Anyone home?" He asked taking a seat next to the young half-elf.
Lov smiled at him and said, "My mother's alive."
Nord smiled, happy to see his nephew in better spirits. "I'm sure she is, Lad. I've seen that mad woman bring herself out of worse situations than what we saw."
Lov looked directly at his uncle and began to ask questions. Ones that had never occurred to him before last night. It was as if a spell had lifted, a veil removed.
"Why has my mother never told me any stories about her adventuring?" Lov all but demanded. He didn't mean to ask so forcefully, but his hunger continued to push him.
Nord frowned, not sure how to react to his nephew's attitude. "I'm not really sure, Lov." He said, stirring the coals of their dying fire. "I can't attest to someone else's motives. What I can attest to is what she asked of me. She asked me not to tell you any stories of our adventures. At the time it seemed silly, but who was I to argue with a young mother." He shifted a bit, trying to get more comfortable. "Not to mention, your father tended to stick up for her a bit more when we were younger." He smiled lovingly at his nephew. "You really mellowed both of them out."
Lov considered his next question, thinking over last night. He quietly asked, "What's a Wyrm?"
Nord shuddered, past wars running rampant through his mind. Fighting wingless dragons deep in the earth. "They're the ones who want to destroy the world. A thousand years ago, the Tuthan, a lizard-like people from across the world, attempted to bring death and destruction to everything. It had been a terrible war of earthquakes and volcanoes. It morphed the face of the world, leaving a scarred continent that your own great grandfather gave his life to save.
"Wyrms were what manipulated the Tuthan in order to shatter the world. They're dragons twisted and consumed by their own greed. The Wyrms convinced the Tuthan that their hunger could be fulfilled if they broke the world and its people. Reshaped the planet and its people in their own image.
"Dalanar was the dragon who saved us." Nord felt his eyes fill with tears. "You see, the Wyrms fight us by manipulating our reality." He took a deep breath, readying his mind to dredge up one of his first battles. "For instance, they can shape the very matter of this world. You'll charge at them, sword in hand, only to have it disappear."
"How do you fight that?" Lov asked, unable to picture any defense to that kind of assault.
"Me? I think I grabbed a stone club and just bashed its head in before it got me. But you beat them by making your reality more real." He pointed at Lov. "You have this power, as does every other living thing in this world. Remember, whatever happens to you in this world, only happens because you let it.
"Dalanar gave his life reshaping reality for this, the world he loved. He calmed the raging tempest that thousands of Wyrms sent. He froze the mountains and landslides they forced upon us in their tracks. He forced the Wyrms to turn aside while he kept the armies that fought beside him safe. Heart was built where he died. In a last heroic act, he poured his will upon the earth and shaped the beautiful city that lies there. All over the course of this one battle, the great Wyrms tried to force their reality upon us. We watched the world outside of where we were protected be reshaped over and over." He shook the old battle from his head. "Dalanar sacrificed himself though. In a last tremendous burst of power, he pushed us all through a...I'm really at a loss of words here, Lov. I experienced ten lifetimes in that short minute of Titanic power. We, who were protected came to where the desert now starts to turn green. In the distance, we saw a temple rising from the land, and everything near it was green with vibrant life. We were hundreds of miles away, yet we could spot the towering shape.
"As we approached, we saw a city had formed, as if cut from the very land itself. Beautiful and smooth as polished stone. Life sprang, trees and flowers, vines and bushes, they were everywhere. And walking amongst them, were the ogier. Our brothers and sisters of the earth, they are the ones that keep Heart green. Without them, it would be nothing but bare stone."
"At the heart of the city was a jewel, the Breath of the Titans. The Titans were created to be servants of the Titanbringer, and help our warriors get back to farming, as the Wyrms fell back in defeat, unable to shatter Dalanar's reality."
Nord smiled at his nephew, "That was a sad time, but it's heartening to remember where you come from."
Lov roared in frustration. "I don't know what you mean!" He all but screamed, glaring at his uncle.
Nord's face grew cold and distant, a look unfamiliar to the young half-dragon on his uncle's face. "You will learn one day that you need to be careful who you yell at. As it is, we both have had a rough few days. What with your father dying, and your mother's whereabouts unknown," Nord's voice lowered in pitch, becoming quieter and more menacing, "and our city, our home, ransacked like a well stuffed larder. Jewels and precious metals collected, everyone healthy enough having their ears cut off and being dragged away. I can only assume they're being sold as slaves. Probably to the orcs, they love elf slaves." Nord came back with a start. "But there's nothing we can do until we have more intelligence. Which is why we're going to meet my friend, Jaxon." He finished, brushing off his hands and walking to where they had set the horses and mule to graze. He pulled the last of the deer out.
They started their journey with a lot of meat, but with the pace Nord had set, Lov's appetite had picked up. Not unexpected from one so young. He tossed a piece to Lov and tore into his own chunk.
"We should reach there in a couple hours, if we continue at a hard pace." He sighed wearily as he chewed. "I don't know about you, but something other than deer meat sure sounds good."
Lov nodded, agreeing that deer meat was getting old. Nord grabbed the pack mule's reins, and they mounted their horses, taking off towards Hobton.