54. Chapter 54
CHAPTER 54
Von
M any things happened at once. Klyde wrestled the boy free from the Norrlen Guards and they disappeared into the hall. The sorceress and the Lycan followed, leaving Dyna to profusely apologize to Lady Aerina and her son before following them.
Von didn’t move. He couldn’t.
His vision was spinning and there was no air in the room. It couldn’t be, it was impossible.
“That was strange,” the fairy princess with butterfly wings murmured with a huff beside the teapot on the table.
Von blinked at her, not able to form words yet.
Raiden glowered at them. “I take it you know this intruder.”
“Yes.” Cassiel set his napkin down on the table as he stood. “Pardon us for the interruption brought to your home, Lady Aerina. The boy is Klyde’s nephew. While his arrival is unexpected, but I assure you it’s not a matter for concern.”
She smiled at him politely. “Oh, right, of course. It’s all right.”
“No, it’s not.” Raiden rose to his feet as well, his eyes narrowing on Cassiel. “I must frank with you, King of Hilos. We have had more than enough interruption in our home as of late, and I do find it very concerning that a human found his way here past our borders.”
Cassiel leveled him with a look. “Should you find his presence disagreeable, shall I pass on your complaints to my wife?”
Raiden’s expression shifted because he had him there.
“Please excuse me.” Cassiel strode away from the table and went out into the hall.
A small swirl of gold dust swept into Von’s vision as Keena flew up to him. “Shall we follow?” she whispered. Without waiting for a reply, her little yellow wings carried her away.
Von had to consciously make himself stand and force one step in front of the other. His heartbeat was pounding loudly in his ear as he grew closer to the hallway. Distant voices echoed through it, leading him to the gardens.
Von came to the glass doors where Princess Keena lingered. He came to her side as they looked out.
Dyna, Zev, and Cassiel stood back, silently watching. Klyde had the boy by the fountain, his voice so strung with anger, he was nearly yelling. “What are you doing here? How did you find us?”
“I-I’ve been following you since the Bridge…” he replied in a small voice.
“The bridge?” Klyde’s face went red, his fists bunched, his chest heaving as he struggled to speak. “You know how dangerous troll territory is and you risked it anyway. I told you to stay home and you deliberately disobeyed me! You could have been killed!”
The boy lowered his head. “I’m sorry, uncle.”
“All right let’s calm down,” Lucenna said, placing a hand on Klyde’s arm.
The mercenary rubbed his face, and his shoulders heaved with took a deep breath.
A Norrlen guard came forward and handed Klyde the reins of two horses. One with a black coat and the other was Coal, Von’s horse.
“I found Onyx in Argos,” Tavin said sheepishly. “The other in the woods… I brought them with me when crossing the mountain.”
Klyde shook his head. His next question came out ragged, his voice strained. “What if something had happened to you, Tavin?”
The boy’s name rang in Von’s head, and he recalled an old memory, so faded, he could barely remember the details. It had been a warm summer day. His sister sat in a chair by the open window with the sunlight gleaming over her brown curls. She smiled at him, resting her hands on her round belly. “He will be called Tavin. A name to honor the two men I love the most in this world. His father and you.”
Von had to brace himself against the wall. How could this be?
Klyde took the boys shoulders, making him look up. “Can you imagine what it would have done to your mother if you never came home? She would be devastated.”
Mother? But he had no mother…
Unless she somehow survived as well. Von’s mind flashed with a memory of Aisling laying in a puddle of blood, her empty eyes staring at nothing. No…she was dead. He couldn’t make sense of any of it.
“I know, uncle. I’m sorry.” Tavin lowered his head. “But I am ready to join the Skellings. I proved it.”
“Gods, Tavin. This is not the right time.”
“Then when?”
Dyna glanced back and met Von’s gaze. Her expression saddened knowingly. The others turned to stare at him one by one. They had all known, hadn’t they?
Von’s feet moved on their own, stepping out slowly onto the terrace. As though getting any closer would somehow solidify this new reality. The movement drew the boy’s attention, and he glanced up, fixing Von with those pale blue eyes.
The exact color of a brutal winter.
A chill washed through his body, and everything was suddenly all clear.
Klyde spotted him on the steps. His expression darkened, sharp and cold as the blades at his hip. It carried a silent but deadly warning to stay away. Tension wove through the silence in the garden as everyone watched.
“Who is that?” Tavin asked.
“No one,” Klyde replied tightly.
Those two words set Von back into place. He turned away and strode back into the estate, letting their voices fade behind him. They may share blood, but Klyde was right.
He was no one but a stranger.
Von wasn’t quite sure why he was here. Still breathing. Why had he decided to follow Dyna to Greenwood? Tarn was dead. He had served his purpose by enacting his revenge. So why keep going now that he had none? Even if he went after Sai-chuen, that wouldn’t bring Yavi back.
The waves had called to him, yet somehow, some impression beyond comprehension told him to stay.
Perhaps it was due to the boy he hadn’t known existed until now.
Gripping the reins of his horse, Von squinted past the drizzle to the riders ahead of him. The Norrlen Guards flanked a fine carriage making its way on the forest game trail. The large wheels squelched in the mud, leaving tracks of puddles behind. The girls had taken shelter with Lady Aerina and her son inside.
Klyde and Tavin rode at the front with Eldred and the king’s elite forces. The boy refused to go home, even if his uncle dragged him back, he threatened to follow him again. They had no other recourse than to allow Tavin to stay.
Cassiel had vanished behind the rain clouds some time ago, presumably following from above. Von stayed at the back of the procession by choice. He didn’t exactly feel welcome, regardless of being a Guardian. A flash of black in the thick green bushes reminded him of the large wolf following in their wake.
The drizzle changed into rain, pattering loudly on the leaves. The first couple days on the road were spent wet and tense. While Von avoided everyone, Dyna avoided Cassiel, and Zev avoided the wary elves who distrusted a wild Lycan.
They at last reached the end of province by the evening, marked by the view of a large river in the open clearing. The clouds had at last cleared as well, casting last rays of the sun over the glittering surface. Beyond it rose the distant silhouette of mountains and flowering knolls.
“Ah, now there is a sight,” Eldred said as they came to a stop.
“Let us hope the rains will give us reprieve or we may have a problem,” Camsen said as he studied the hills around them. “We will stay on high ground when we can, but it’s best we reach Avandia as soon as possible.” To his men he announced, “We will camp here tonight.”
The carriage door opened, and Raiden stepped out. He helped his mother out first, then Dyna appeared at the opening.
She took Raiden’s offered hand and stepped down. “Where are we?”
“The River Myst. It serves as a border between Sellav, Erendor, and Avandia.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“Isn’t it?” Aerina smiled brightly.
“Are we to cross the river tomorrow?” Lucenna asked as Keena came to sit on her shoulder.
“Yes but not here,” Raiden said. “There is an old bridge a day’s ride up the river at the Melodyam Falls.”
“The ruins there are lovely as well. It’s quite a sight,” Aerina told Dyna, taking her arm. “Come with us to the river. You simply must have a drink. There is no other water like it in all of Urn.”
While they left to do so, the elites quickly set up a perimeter as the Norrlen guards began to unload supplies and build tents. It was a sight that reminded Von too much of his time as a Raider. He dismounted and began unbuckling the saddle from his borrowed elvish horse. Best to find a dry place to sleep under a tree somewhere, far away from the others.
“I find it incredible that he managed to track us all the way here on his own,” Von overheard Keena say. The fairy and Lucenna had lingered by the carriage, watching Klyde and Tavin gather wood.
“Tenacity runs in their family,” Lucenna murmured thoughtfully.
It certainly did.
Von walked through the camp, taking a roll of bread from the reserves as he wandered off into the woods. He found a dry enough spot beneath a tree and set down his bed mat with the rest of his belongings. A rattle from the branches had him glancing up, expecting to perhaps see Cassiel landing in the trees, but he was suddenly flipped onto his back. Gasping for air knocked out of him, he met Klyde’s glare.
The mercenary had him pinned to the ground with a knife at his throat. “Do you recognize me now?” he asked through clenched teeth.
Von sighed. “Aye, I know who you are … Dale. I think I always knew.”
The signs were all there.
Tarn’s reaction to the description of the mercenary’s fighting tactics were what gave it away. The mercenary fought like Lord Morken because he was his son.
Klyde grit his teeth, tilting the knife with enough pressure to make Von wince. “I don’t answer to that name anymore.”
There was enough venom dripping from his words to feel the utter hatred inside of them. Years of anger and resentment had settled in the lines of his face. Von could see it clearly and he didn’t blame him. “I thought you were dead. I thought everyone was…”
Scoffing, Klyde rose to his feet. “Is that what Tarn told you?”
Von looked away, hearing an echo of the words that had haunted him since that day. You did this. You. They are all dead because of you...
“So you left without checking for survivors.”
The accusation left him stumped. He had left without checking on Tarn’s orders. Without thinking of anything else but all the death he had caused.
“I … I saw the bodies.” Von sat up, rubbing his face to ban the memory away. It didn’t work. “Or what remained of them. I … didn’t have the heart to search for more.”
“Well,” Klyde replied derisively, “If you had you bothered, you would have discovered a slew of orphaned children in the manor—with your mother among them.”
Von stared up at him. His throat dried, his voice a mere whisper. “She’s alive?
“Aye.” Klyde sheathed his knife. “If not for Edyth, perhaps many more of us would have perished.”
Von worked up the nerve ask the question circling in his mind. “Did he know?”
Tarn had returned to the manor that night for coin and food. Von hadn’t inquired about it and Tarn hadn’t mentioned finding his brother alive.
At the long silence, Von glanced up. Klyde’s blue eyes were the storm of a hurricane, and it was answer enough. “I’m sorry. If I had known…”
“If you had, would you have stayed?”
Von had no answer. He had been newly sworn to his Master. He couldn’t say what he would have done, but they both knew.
Sneering with disgust, Klyde turned to go.
“The boy…”
Klyde halted with his back to him.
Von had many questions but he dared only ask one. “Did Tarn know of him, too?”
“No.” Klyde met his gaze over his shoulder. “And I thank the Gods every day for that.”
They both looked at the camp where Tavin was speaking with the elite soldiers. The last rays of the evening sun caught his hair, an excited smile on his face. It was the same smile of his mother. Bright and warm.
Untainted.
An echo of Aisling’s laughter surfaced in the next passing breeze, and it made Von’s chest ache.
What would the boy have been molded into if Tarn had raised him?
“Stay away from him,” Klyde said as he turned to go. There was no anger in his tone this time, only mere idle fact. “Speak to him and I will kill you.”
With all the blood on his hands, it was logical to stay away. He was a bad man and he had served an evil one.
“I remember…” Von murmured, looking down at the knives strapped to his chest. “You asked me once if I remember the people I have slain for Tarn. I remember every life lost because of me. I remember when I close my eyes at night and every morning I wake up. They haunt me in the wind, and in the faces around me. Especially in his.” Von glanced at his nephew. “The boy doesn’t need me in his life. And I have no interest in being a part of it…”
Attempting to have any family would only end the same.
With death and regret.
Klyde studied him a moment then turned away. “Go have a wash. You’re proper sour.”
Von watched him walked away, sensing somehow that some of the hostility between them had diminished. Albeit only a little.
Sighing again, Von’s nose curled at the tell-tale scent of sweat and wet mildew oozing from his clothes. He really did need to bathe.
Von went into the woods, in search of a secluded stream. The chatter of wildlife and the rustle of leaves kept him company until he heard the trickle of water.
He passed through the bushes came upon a creek, but another had found it first.
Zev rose from the surface and wiped the water from his face. Von froze. He had avoided the Lycan since joining and didn’t expect to run into him now. It wasn’t only seeing him that rooted Von in place, it was the many horrid scars burned onto his large form. The outlines of chains, the bite marks, and tracks from claws.
But the scar Von had expected to see in his abdomen was not there.
Spotting him, Zev’s eyes flashed bright yellow, claws extending at his fingertips.
“Ah … I … pardon.” Von quickly turned to go.
Water splashed as Zev climbed out. “It’s fine. I was just leaving.”
Von hesitated at the gruff response. By the time he turned around Zev was already dressed. “I can come back another time.”
“Get in the water,” Zev growled. “Your stench is becoming unbearable. I can hardly smell anything past it.”
Blinking, Von let out a weak laugh. “I suppose I can’t argue with that.”
As he removed his coat and bandoliers, Zev sat on a boulder to put on his boots. Von placed several feet between them before stripping off his clothes and stepping into the chilly stream.
The sensation hit him with memories of a winter night, blazing flames, and screams.
Von’s entire body jolted with the urge to retreat onto dry land. He hated the water now as much as he feared fire. But he forced himself to move towards the middle of the creek and sank beneath the surface. His world darkened. The two gold rings tied to the cord on his neck floated up and glinted against the last of the evening light.
You have always been free, Von.
Then why did he feel trapped?
The dark ocean held him captive as much as his duty had. Yavi took all the brightness with her.
Von stayed beneath the surface until his lungs burned. Standing, he cradled the rings in his palm as water dripped from the wet tangles on his face. If he had perished with Tarn fifteen years ago, what would have come of Yavi’s life? Von tried to picture it but all he could see was her tearful smile when he kissed her for the last time.
Zev was still there. Locked in place, his eyes fixed on Von’s back. He was staring at the scars left over after Tarn had whipped him.
Zev’s brow furrowed and he scratched at his neck. “Why are you here?”
“I had nowhere else to go,” Von answered honestly. Glancing down at his reflection, Von didn’t recognize the pale bearded man looking back at him. “I have no other skills other than to kill and fight. Perhaps Dyna could use that.”
Nodding as if he understood Zev looked away. “I left you some clothes there,” he murmured, motioning to the folded pile on the boulder. “The other ones need cleaning.”
“I owe you an apology,” Von blurted before he could leave. “For nearly killing you.”
Zev paused a moment and seemed to find that amusing. “I suppose it was my turn to hear such an apology.” He picked up his pack and headed in the opposite direction of camp.
“Not staying with the others?”
“No, not tonight.” Zev glanced up at the darkening sky. “Full moon is coming. I can feel it. Best to find a good tree far away from here.”
“Right. I heard you use silver chains.” Von stepped out of the water and began dressing in the offered clothes.
“Aye, I do—” Zev froze, and his eyes widened with horror. He yanked open his pack and stuck his hand inside. His arm flailed around inside wildly, searching for something. “No…no, it can’t be.”
Von frowned. “What’s wrong?”
Zev stared blankly at his bag. “I forgot them.”
“What?”
Zev’s hands shook, his chest heaving with ragged breaths and Von felt his own pulse quicken.
“What did you forget?” But Von could already guess.
“Commander …”
“Yes?”
Zev’s fangs grew, his claws extending as fur began to sprout on his skin. His frightened yellow eyes stared back at him.
“Run.”