Outside Harl’s house, Dagg lowers the violet-flamed sword. His knee and shoulder ache as Harl and Tovin disappear down the lane, while Rusk remains beside the door.
Dagg Nabbitt
The boy at Vellstead has your name, Vale. Is he kin to you?
Rusk Vale
Oren is my younger half-brother. His mother left our father when I was grown, and I never knew where she took him. I learned of Oren only recently, through your household’s records. We have blood between us, but no shared history yet.
Rusk stays in Crendo to deliver the surrender and disbanding order. Dagg rides toward Nabbitt Farms with the border collie close behind, his injured knee protesting until the familiar ranch roofs appear.
Merrin Holt
Back at last. Let me see that knee, then I’ll check the stock. The animals have been restless without you.
Merrin checks Dagg’s knee and shoulder, then walks the pens and water troughs. Finding the animals sound, he leaves Dagg to the porch as evening settles gold across the fields.
Dagg settles into his wooden rocking chair and lifts the wooden acoustic guitar. Familiar chords drift through the dusk while the border collie rests nearby, until a raven lands quietly on the porch rail with a fresh message tied to its leg.