30. Welcome Home
Welcome Home
There was quiet apprehension among them as they neared the path at the edge of the woods.
There were no unfriendly snarls or shadows as they walked, only the chirping of birds and crickets.
Davy still did not know what came over him, and Flora was either too alarmed or too ashamed to explain in much detail.
Warily, Noec touched Flora’s shoulder. “Are you alright?” he said, his touch falling away. “I was worried about you,” he said gently.
Flora nodded, but she couldn’t summon the courage to speak.
What evil had she brought into the world in exchange for her brother’s life?
She didn’t know, and while it pained her to keep secrets from Noec, she didn’t care.
She wouldn’t tell a soul, not if that meant risking her brother’s safety again.
“I’m safe,” she said quietly. After some silence, she reached for Noec’s hand, but, knowingly or not, he shifted it away.
The muddy ground below had become a solid stone floor beneath the black leaves, and up ahead, the darkness transitioned into a foggy light.
As the cloudy sunlight overcame the darkness, Flora could see the convoy of a dozen or so intimidating soldiers around her, many scarred and rugged, carrying heavy blades and bolted crossbows.
Each wore a red band around their arm, stitched with the emblem of the Asilian Realm.
On their wrists, they were branded with a tattoo earned in blood—a simple black triangle.
So, Flora thought, these were the King’s Hunters.
She glanced back, where a towering behemoth of a man flashed a smirk that made her stomach turn.
Flora dodged his eyes and fixed forward.
She swallowed, suddenly feeling very small, even despite her newfound power.
There would be no greater nightmare than to encounter them in the wild as enemies.
They were legends for their prowess in battle, sure.
But what they were really legends for was their brutality.
There was no mercy, no remorse among their ranks.
Flora inhaled shallowly. For now, she reminded herself, they were operating at Heron’s service.
But with a shift in the wind, Elizabeth had warned, the fire that warms her now might someday burn.
Heron slowed his pace, waiting for Flora. “Flora, was that the man behind these scythe attacks?” he asked her quietly.
Flora shook her head. “No,” she replied. “That’s her son.”
“Her—” Heron’s eyes went wide. After a moment, he nodded. “I see. I’m glad you’re alright.”
They entered the familiar meadow, where the spring had been washed of most remnants of death. Still, the grass was matted where the bodies had lain, and each colorful glimmer of the falls was a memory of suffering.
Davy gasped and pulled his sister back as a dark creature circled overhead.
“It’s alright,” the fiery-haired hunter assured him. “She’s one of ours. Been waiting to report back to the city.”
“Go on home, Noec,” Heron instructed. “Bring them to Elia.”
The beast flurried the browned autumn leaves as it landed before them, talons piercing the earth.
“We’ve retrieved Florabelle, unharmed,” Heron reported. “The Shadowkeeper remains... at large.”
“The crown honors your service, Commander Eldon,” the polychrome said, her voice low and rasping. Noec led Flora past the group, and the hybrid watched her with distrustful eyes as she passed.
“I saw that your brother’s corpse had gone missing,” Noec began.
“Hey,” Davy said, indignant, as he jogged up next to them. “Watch it, snake-eyes. Corpse is a strong word.”
“You were... very dead,” Noec replied, and his words were a chilling admission.
Davy swallowed. “I’m having a hard time believing that,” he said. “But I’m having a hard time believing a lot of the things I’ve seen here.”
“And what was that, with your eyes turning yellow? And the whole trying to rip my throat out thing?” Noec asked, his arm still hanging rigidly near his blade. “You acted like you were still in your twenty-four hours.”
“I don’t remember that,” Davy replied, brows furrowed. “I just remember being on the ground.”
Flora looked away, worried she might give something away if they could see her face.
“So, are you gonna tell us about your dark and handsome forest ranger?” Davy prodded, poking at Flora. “The one with the jawline that puts the border of Kansas to shame?” Noec scoffed as Davy added, “You’d best believe I have some questions for you, young lady.”
“His name is Siren. What else do you want to know?”
“Ranger Siren.” Davy looked off wistfully. “Not complaining, but why the hell was Mr. Siren so invested in saving me? And why did the witch lady in the well get so pissed when I woke up?”
“What witch lady?” Noec asked, alarmed. “And what... well?”
Flora glanced at Davy and furrowed her brow.
“It’s alright,” Noec said quietly. “You don’t have to talk about it if you’re not ready.” Noec reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, then sharply retracted it a moment later. His cheeks flushed, and he turned away.
Davy raised his brows at Flora, but she just rolled her eyes. “Never enough—” he whispered, but Davy was cut off by a sharp kick to the shin. Flora hated him, but it was a blessing to be sick of his shit.
The rest of the way, they were quiet. Flora glanced at Noec, but he seemed to be actively averting his eyes. There was a distance between them, even greater now that she was back at his side. She just hoped it wouldn’t last.
They walked through the mossy gateway and down into the village. Familiar faces halted their shuffling through piles of rubble as they caught sight of them.
“Florabelle!” the twins said in harmony, running to greet her. Thaola was at their tails, with a new scar cutting into the orange-red hairline above her ear. The girls strangled Flora with bouncing hugs, and for a moment, she started to remember who she was.
“Welcome home,” Thaola said, greeting her with her own gentle embrace. “We thought we might never see you again.”
“I worried the same,” Flora said with a smile in her eyes. “But I’m here now. I’m home.”
On the first day back in the village, Flora was torn between relief and lament.
Rachel had perished in the attack, though Old Zet somehow survived.
He claimed to have slept through the whole thing.
While much of the village was in ruins, the villagers smiled and laughed as they nailed together their broken pieces, grateful for everything they still had.
Davy found himself entranced by the way Thaola’s hair fell over her shoulders, insisting relentlessly that he help reassemble the porch of her family home.
Still, Flora couldn’t put her feelings into words.
She would approach Noec, then be so horrifically awkward that hardly anything of substance came out of her mouth.
When it became clear that she was incapable of normalcy, Noec grew distant.
And by the end of the day, Flora was becoming desperate for even a passing glance or nod of acknowledgement from him.
“He hates me,” Flora murmured, overwhelmed with guilt as she looked out at the broken village.
“No one hates you,” Elia said, placing a bowl of food down as Marco weaved between her legs. “Noec is just trying to give you space.”
Flora closed her eyes and sighed. “You sure ‘space’ doesn’t have anything to do with me being the reason his whole village is in shambles?”
Elia sputtered a chuckle. “I think it has more to do with him trying to give you a hug and you turning it into a high-five.” Flora grimaced at the reminder. “Can you blame him?” Elia added, patting Marco’s head, then straightening herself. “You’ve barely said a word to him since you came back.”
“I don’t know how to say what I want to say,” Flora replied.
“He just wants his friend back,” Elia sighed. “After risking his life to keep you, he’s worried that he lost you anyway.”
“Of course he hasn’t,” Flora said quietly. “Your son is everything to me.”
Finally, Flora met Elia’s eyes.
“Tell him that,” Elia said. “He needs to know.”
“Noec, I’m sorry,” Flora said, finally finding him where he leaned against Sona’s hut, throwing stones at the stream. “I’m sorry, and I missed you, and not a second went by where I didn’t think of you. I even got to the point where I needed to use Siren to help me let go.”
“You what?” he blurted.
“Fuck.” Flora facepalmed. “Not like… that…”
“Flora,” Noec said, the green glare of his eyes cutting though her. He opened and then clenched his hand, grumbling, “It doesn’t matter. You’re here now, and you’re safe. Nothing else matters.”
“Noec, it’s?—”
“Stop,” he said, and he pulled his hand away again when she reached for it.
“I don’t want to hear about how much fun you and your new friend were having, while I was pulling bodies out of the spring and fighting my way through the Forest to get to you.
” He exhaled a seething sigh, then cleared his throat.
“Please,” he said. “Just... don’t go back. Stay here, where I can keep you safe.”
“I’m not going back,” she promised meekly. “And if I had it my way, I’d never leave your side again.”
He exhaled with a nod as he looked away, but the silence that followed was deafening. She missed her friend. She needed her friend.
“You’re everything to me.”
Noec scoffed. “Sure didn’t seem that way when you were protecting the man that killed our friends, our family.
” Noec threw the last stone he’d been holding, but it went far past the stream and disappeared into the grass.
“I confess my… I lay down my life for you, and then you off and disappear for days with the same guy that tried to kill you, and now you won’t even talk to me,” he finished nearly shouting.
Flora felt the blood rush from her face. Stunned, all she could think was that her greatest fear was coming true.
Noec covered his mouth, clipping his eyes tight as he fell back against the wall of Sona’s hut. “Sorry… I’m sorry…” he murmured. “I shouldn’t speak.”