CHAPTER 34

Hey Everyone. Thanks for all the comments and sorry about not posting for a bit. I meant to get this up earlier, but I've been busy trying to get to the finish of this story! With that said, I need to get back to writing, so enjoy reading!
Here is Chapter 34.

CHAPTER 34 ~ THE VOICE

TWO YEARS SEVEN MONTHS

AND TWO WEEKS AFTER BANISHMENT

AIDEN

The traveling plans were simple, stay far enough into the mountains to avoid the weather at the top, but close enough to the edge that it was possible to get out of the range if it became necessary. Of course, we would have to cut in eventually to get to the village, but we wouldn’t do that until we could do it as the dragon flies or at least close to it. I figured we still had a day or two before that happened.

Unfortunately, I remembered to late into the trek that I had promised to slit my own throat before crossing the barren landscape of drab gray rocks yet again. What was almost worse was that I couldn’t even do that now since my mission was solely to save my brother’s life from whatever noose he had gotten it stuck in. Still, the mountain range was just as I remembered it from passing through the first time: god forsaken awful. If ever a land represented the cruelty of evil it had to be the mountain ranges that forced a man to stare at the same gray rock and rubble color for days on end and never bothered to provide enough good meat to fill a dwarf. As if that wasn’t enough, I had to worry about two extra people, a small dragon, one panther, and a large appetite griffin as well. None of which I was happy about.

That wasn’t really the truth.

The thought entered my head, though I wasn’t sure where it had come from. I wasn’t happy that I had to take care of them all, but then again, at least I wasn’t traveling through the wasteland on my own. Travon and Kristalyn kept up a steady conversation for the most part and when I got tired of hearing them, I simply handed over my reins and climbed on Magnar’s back. The griffin talked less and he proved to be a good distraction.

Still, they didn’t annoy me as much as they would have only a year ago and the thought was a disturbing one. Some of their discussions were interesting, though I could do without all the ones on Deus, listening Kristalyn talk about the Hunter was informative. In doing so, she gave as much information about her as she did about him, though I knew that wasn’t her intent. I found myself listening for the clues she would give about herself too often.

I didn’t want to care about this girl, who she was or where she came from. She was here only because she felt I needed help, which I didn’t, some loyalty to me she probably didn’t fully understand herself. I had to be able to focus on the mission at hand and she was not part of it. Yet, I couldn’t deny that I did care about her. I had admitted it when I believed I would never see her again. That would still happen, we had only delayed the separation.

What was so wrong about caring for her?

I wasn’t sure where the question came from, but for once instead of brushing it off, I thought about the answer. It was simple really. She was a distraction from my mission, she always had been. But I could not afford to be distracted from finding Arnan or destroying Duard. That was all I existed for, if I allowed myself to care about Kristalyn I would be defeating my own existence, pitiful as it was. The same could really be said for Travon as well. Magnar was the only one who I could come up with vital reasons to keep around. The others… I simply wanted them there.

The thought caused me to pull my horse up short and he snorted at the unwanted tug on his reins. I frowned, but gave him his head. I had to be wrong. I couldn’t possible want them around. I didn’t have a heart to want anything except revenge anymore. Right?

The last time I could remember wanting anyone around was right before all my siblings had been split apart. We all loved our solitude time, but right then I wanted nothing more than to keep them safe and in one place forever. But I hadn’t been strong enough for that and my failure had caused a betrayal I could not recover from, even if I did manage to bring them all back to Braedoch Forest.

“Aiden, I caught it!” Travon’s excited voice reached my ears from somewhere behind me.

I turned to find the youth proudly holding an arrow above his head with a straggly possum attached. The animal looked like it must have been half dead before he shot it, but Travon looked to be oblivious to that fact. Kristalyn caught my eye from behind the boy. Her look was extremely clear. She could have been shouting ‘praise the kid now and like it.’

“Good job, Travon. Looks like supper,” I called back. A puny supper, but it was better than nothing, which had been the current food choice of late. We were conserving supplies as much as possible, just in case the weather decided to hate us.

The boy’s face lit up with a huge grin as if I said he’d caught the prize of the land. Kristalyn nodded her approval. I studied her for a moment. She had been giving me odd signals over the past two weeks, mostly around the boy. She had yet to confront me directly about it, which was unusual for her, but I figured she wanted me to think this one out on my own. Apparently, Travon needed more attention or something than what I was giving him.

The youth remounted and the others road up to me. Travon was suddenly frowning.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s small,” he replied.

“Yeah, but that’s the best you’ll get around here, unless we find much larger prey,” I responded.

“At least it’s not the stripped meat we’ve been eating,” Kristalyn put in.

Travon nodded. “Aiden, can Arnan hunt?”

It was the first time he had been so direct for a question about my family. I frowned as I realized I wasn’t sure of the answer. Had he improved his ability in the last two and a half years?

“He is passable. It’s possible he’s improved since he’s been gone.”

“What about your other brothers?” Apparently, this discussion was not going to go away.

Did it matter anymore? I had kept my siblings a secret for so long, that it was odd to think of talking about them. But I didn’t really have a reason to keep them a secret. At least, not anymore. Kristalyn had been prying information about them out of me for a while now. I had been reviling more and more to her the longer we were together. And they were both helping me to rescue my brother.

So much had changed, even in just the last three weeks. But had more than just my attitude towards my traveling companions changed? If I told them about my siblings now, what else would I end up revealing? There were some things no one should ever find out about me. If I thought about it, Kristalyn had figured out much already, but she didn’t know everything. And I wanted to keep it that way. I had no illusions about what I was, but somehow she still did and I didn’t want her to lose them, to somehow figure out how unworthy and repulsive I really was. I hadn’t cared about it before, but lately…

I wasn’t sure why things had changed and I didn’t know if I really wanted an answer to the question either. If I told them about my family, my life before I became what I was, would they leave the rest alone? If I did tell them of my past it meant thinking about the family I had left behind. The family I had once loved. With the small form of acceptance, thoughts of each of my siblings flooded back.

“Well, Taerith is more quite and ready to read things he finds and Sam knows how to fight, but it’s rare that he let me see him do it, though I know he can. Neither one was very into hunting down food, that was left to me and some of my sisters.” I glanced up. The sun would be setting soon. We would have to make camp before then.

“Your sisters?” Travon’s voice was incredulous.

“Almost all my sisters fought better than most of the Hunter’s men,” I replied.

“I think not,” Kristalyn responded smartly.

“Yeah, there’s no way!” Travon shook his head, disgusted at the suggestion.

I laughed at them both. “You’d be surprised. Ilara could hit anything she threw a knife at. I remembered that a little too well.” I thought back to the tree she had mutilated before we had split.

“What about Zoe?” Kristalyn asked. Somewhere along the line she had found out that it was Zoe that kept me from killing the last of my soul as I had killed others. As long as she never found out she had taken Zoe’s place I didn’t care. But her knowledge made her more interested in my Little Firebrand.

“She would often practice with me. I would trust her to fight by my side. Knowing Firebrand she’s kept up her skills and improved.”

Where was Zoe now? Was she free? Happy? Had she found the adventure she always wanted? I would give anything to know she was safe and not in danger as Arnan seemed to be.

“Firebrand?” Kristalyn’s face showed she was impressed by my description and still interested in my little sister.

Zoe’s young tan face framed with her flaming hair and dark green eyes swam, just as I remembered it, into my mind’s view. At least, it wasn’t an apparition again! This Zoe stayed quite, but her eyes held the deep sadness I had last seen in them. Looking at her face once again, made me want to break Daurd’s neck for tearing us apart. If I failed in all else, I would find Zoe again.

“Zoe had red hair and green eyes, but she also had a fire and determination that no one else could match.” I shook my head as a few of her finer moments flashed in my memory. “She was so little, but her ‘take me on’ attitude caused me to nickname her Little Firebrand.” I shrugged. “It stuck.”

Kristalyn grinned. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what she was thinking, but she was obviously greatly amused. Travon glanced at both of us then posed his next question.

“What about your other sisters. Wait! How many do you have?”

“Five.” The ridge dipped low and we followed it further down. We would be able to find a cave down here where we could camp for the night.

“Wren, Aquila and Daelia are the three you received letters from,” Kristalyn commented helpfully.

“Thank you,” I muttered. “Yeah, they are the other three.”

“Are they good enough to join the Hunter?” Travon questioned.

“Wren is. Her skills are more subtle, like the missions Kristalyn does,” I thought out loud.

“You mean like when I took you out?” Kristalyn smiled sweetly. I wasn’t fooled or impressed.

“I don’t remember anything along those lines. I do recall putting you in your place,” I responded.

“Your memory is faulty,” Kristalyn shrugged.

“Should we ask Magnar? He beat Kurioden after all.”

“Just what battle were you in?” Kristalyn spouted.

“The one I won.”

“You ended up with an arrow in your shoulder!”

“You did?” Travon looked at me with wide eyes.

She was ruining any respect I was ever going to get from the kid.

“She couldn’t shoot me when I was facing her, so she waited till I turned away. The fight was over.” I muttered.

“You told me never to turn my back on an opponent,” Travon said, with a very confused look.

Kristalyn laughed out loud. “Some instructor you are.”

Had I actually thought I wanted these two along? They both needed to be dropped off a cliff! Good thing I had plenty around. I just had to pick one. “You shouldn’t turn your back on an opponent, especially one with a nasty attitude and bad aim. I gave her too much credit at first.”

“You didn’t give me any!” She protested loudly.

“Wren wouldn’t have made the same mistake.”

“What mistake was that?” She asked in a very tight voice.

Quite suddenly, I was tired of the foolish fight. “She wouldn’t have let me get out of the house, but then she wouldn’t have turned her back either.”

Kristalyn stared at me for a moment, her eyes locking onto mine and I saw understanding pass in them. She nodded her head and smiled, accepting the bow out.

Travon watched us for a moment and I wondered what he was thinking, but he quickly shook his head and whatever his thoughts on our fight, it passed with a new question.

“What about the other two?”

“Daelia’s work with a knife is in carving, though she can cook up anything we find and Aquila prefers to leave the fighting and hunting to others, at least they use too,” I answered, forcing myself to calm down.

“Were you close?” Kristalyn asked.

“To each other? We all preferred times of solitude in our forest, but we each had one sibling we were closer to.”

“Like Zoe for you,” Kristalyn supplied.

I nodded. “Yes, Wren could also usually tell what I was thinking. Though it was Arnan she was closest too. And Zoe has a twin Sam, so they were close.”

“Zoe is a twin?” Travon asked.

I nodded.

“Oh,” he said, before asking, “What is your forest?”

Did I really want to tell them that? “Braedoch Forest.” Apparently, I did.

Travon shook his head. “Never heard of it.”

“It’s on the other side of the mountain range and a few weeks travel.”

Kristalyn glanced at me. “Will you be returning there?”

“That’s where Duard is,” I answered.

Kristalyn nodded and said nothing.

The sun was setting more quickly now. It would be dark soon, but my thoughts were fixed on home and my siblings now.

“Travon, I think there’s a cave up ahead. Let’s see if we can use it to camp tonight. Kurioden, scout ahead.” The panther leapt to the front and Kristalyn urged her horse after him. Travon glanced at me before following.

What were they all doing now? What if I managed to defeat Duard and they didn’t want or need to come back? I had never considered the option. I had changed so much from the boy they would remember, but what about them?

Taerith was the smart one of the family, more into stargazing and finding out facts. Only he and I had a personal challenge from Duard. He had set out to find answers. Had he managed to get them? Our past was a mystery and Duard even more so. Was Taerith smart enough, had he become so? Or had he gone the other way? Followed my path and become a warrior who didn’t care either way?

Daelia would always be our eldest sister, the mother many of the younger siblings never really knew. She had a teacher’s heart and the gentle touch, but an inner strength that caused her to stand up for everything she believed in, unless of course it was against Duard. She had found other ways to fight then. The last I heard from her, she had mentioned nothing of her circumstances, but her faith had remained strong, even to the point of being upset with herself for not encouraging me more in the past. That had been a while ago. Was she still strong or had her surroundings finally beaten her down?

I reached the cave and saw that Kristalyn and Travon had started making camp, even Magnar was helping. I ignored them as I untacked my horse and my thoughts stayed centered on my siblings. The others left me alone.

Ilara had been so angry when we had parted. She was ready to take on Deus himself. She had been questioning everything and with a determination that she too would find answers somewhere. Had she found them? She had skills with the bow and arrow and the knife that would make anyone worry about their life. Had her fighting spirit grown harder or softened? What if she had grown the opposite of me? What if she had learned to temper her strength with gentleness? What would she think of me when she saw I had done the opposite?

Wren had been the latest one to write me, but her letter had been more cryptic than explanation of what she was doing. She talked of finding peace in the quite of the day and she mentioned a ‘we’ but did not explain who. She sounded as if she were learning lessons she never thought possible, that would change my sister quite a bit. Had it made her calmer and more accepting, but then Wren had always been that way. Meeting challenges not with angry determination, but rigid and almost fierce calm. She saw what everyone missed and she knew the meaning, was she still that way? Could she still read me? She seemed to be able too.

I finished with my horse and gave him food and water, before settling down at the fire. The two others talked quietly, but still left me alone. It was just as well.

Aquila was so small and quiet. She had always seemed to need more protection than the others. For some reason, I always thought of the quite stream by our house, when I thought of her. She always had big dreams, but was so timid in carrying any of them out. What troubles had she met with? Was she strong enough to stand up to them on her own? She had written to me at one point asking advice about a man who had entered her camp. Was she safe from him? Had she followed my advice to trust no one or had he led my little sister astray? What if he did something dishonorable to her? I would track him down and kill him. He would know the true meaning of the word ‘trouble’ if he had hurt my sister. But, as with the others, I had no way to know.

Sam had always been filled with a quite curiosity and a sense of wanting to know more. He preferred loving the land to hunting in the wild. Though he was Zoe’s twin the two were as opposite as could be and that suited them both just fine. They were more amused by the fact than anything else and somehow it drew them even closer. He didn’t have the confidence in himself that Zoe had, and yet I had seen him accomplish more than most in situations he had been placed in. Had his confidence grown as he traveled or had someone squashed his pride? What about his curiosity? What had he discovered on his long travels? Had he been able to find answers? He had been on the verge of discovering his many skills when he had left. What had he found out about himself? Only Sam knew now. I wasn’t even sure he had kept in contact with his twin.

Zoe, my Little Firebrand. Where was my youngest sister? How had she changed? It was hard to think of her as anything, but the way I knew her before. Had she too grown up? What lessons had being on her own taught her? Was she still my Firebrand or would I not recognize her when I final met with her again? Of all my siblings, that thought hurt the worst. I wanted more than anything to protect her from the dangers and hard lessons out there, to not let her become what I had. But I had let her go towards the mountains and now I had to fight to get her to return home to the forest. Would she even want too? My little sister, so strong even when all she wanted was a hug and to cry, her spirit then had been unbreakable, I had to believe it was still so, for if I lost Zoe, I had lost it all.

Across the fire, Travon laid down to sleep with Egan curled up by his head. Kristalyn stood, stretched, and headed to the cave entrance to keep watch, Kurioden at her side. Magnar plodded around the fire and folded his wings, taking his now usual place at my back. I rested against him and thought of my final brother.

Arnan, alone, I knew was in trouble. How much, I wasn’t positive, but if I didn’t reach him soon, he might not be alive to bring home. I had to track him down and quickly. I could only hope he was in Cequelet and I got to him first. We had many things to discuss, he and I, but first came his safety. I would not fail my brother, not ever again. Despite what he had done in the past and perhaps to the king and queen, he was still my flesh and blood. I had done worse and I would not judge him for that. He had to survive too, if he did commit the deed, it was because he felt he had no choice. But I would not believe such a thing until I heard the truth from him. Still, the fact that he was being hunted, told me much about my mischievous brother and how he had changed.

The Romany’s were a strong clan with strength tested only by Duard’s cruelty before we had left. Now, we had been on our own for two years and seven months, if I was counting right. It was odd to think of my siblings changing and growing up and yet I knew they must have. Otherwise none of them would have been able to survive and someone would have known if that happened. Somewhere out there each Romany sibling was alive and learning how to stay that way. What new skills had they acquired? Each of us had left looking for answers and freedom. Had the others found it? For the first time since I had said goodbye to each, I wished I had contact with them all to find out.

For a moment, the thought amused me. I had spent the better part of my time, pushing them away and trying to forget they even existed, it seemed I was still changing. Which way was better? My concentration was clearer if I forgot about them, if I didn’t care. But, the entirety of my life was based on extracting revenge on the man who had caused my betrayal and bringing them back together. In truth, even if I allowed my mind to forget about them, I existed for them. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the irony of it all.

Magnar ducked his head against my shoulder and I glanced up at him. “No more think now. Rest. Rise again sun tomorrow will.”

Yeah, the sun would rise again tomorrow and each of my siblings would start anther day wherever they were. So would I.

***

We had cut deeper into the mountains a few days ago. In the lower regains of the mountain range, trees and wildlife were in slightly better supply, but pickings were still scarce. Fires were easier to build and keep up and tonight we had a nice one. The chill in the air was getting worse. Winter was well on its way and it looked like it might be a bad one. By Kristalyn’s judgment, we had a day to a day and a half and we would reach the village Arnan had taken refuge in. Hopefully, I would be able to extract him from whatever mess he had created before the bounty hunter’s used him as a golden fleece.

Travon tossed another branch onto the fire and poked it with a stick.

“You know if you make it any higher, it’s going to be a pain to put out,” Kristalyn commented from her spot next to Kurioden.

Travon grinned. “Magnar can just use his wings!”

The griffin snorted at the thought and bucked his head against the boy.

“I’m kidding! I’m kidding!” Travon laughed, before giving the griffin a rub down.

Magnar purred with pleasure.

“Magnar!” I called.

The griffin looked at me, then grinned, and stood to walk over and plop himself down behind me. I settled back comfortably. Kristalyn shook her head at us, but said nothing.

“It still doesn’t make sense. If he did love us, then Gidryon and the whole village would be alive,” Travon returned to the conversation that the fire poking had interrupted.

I sighed. I’d enjoyed the brief respite from the never ending conversation.

“Really? I’d say Deus took a really bad situation and turned it into something good,” Kristalyn responded confidently.

“How can you figure that?” Travon asked, poking the fire absently.

“What would you have done if nothing happened to the village?” Kristalyn asked instead.

Travon shrugged. “Nothin’ I guess.”

“Think a little,” Kristalyn urged.

“I woulda stayed there and everyone would be alive.”

“So you never would have left the village. What else?”

“I dunno. Life woulda kept goin’ I guess. I mighta married this girl I knew and raised something. Taken over Gidryon’s house maybe when he died.”

I closed my eyes as I listened. Travon’s speech was reverting back to his old ways as he thought about that life and concentrated less on his actual words.

“Okay, so you would have led a pretty quite normal life. But you did leave. So, what are the differences?” Kristalyn continued her questions.

I glanced at Travon and caught him looking at me.

“I met Aiden and Magnar. I grew up real fast. I learned weapons…” Travon’s voice trailed off.

“You did a lot of things you wouldn’t have done otherwise. You also tracked Ricald and saved many villages from suffering the same fate as yours,” Kristalyn pointed out. “Your actions helped hundreds of people and by following the Hunter’s lead, you helped even more. Do you see the connection now?”

Travon was silent for a moment and then shook his head. I was beginning to and I didn’t like the implications she was coming up with.

“Evil is all over our world. And yes, Deus could have stopped Ricald from taking that village, but instead, He decided to use that awful act to put you in a position to not only leave the village, but save hundreds of others. He gave us the ability to make our own choices and very often we choose the wrong way. Deus, however, can take our wrong choices and still use them for good.”

“But couldn’t he do that without killin’ everyone?” Travon asked, still confused.

He didn’t care enough to save their lives. I wanted to answer, but I stayed silent and waited to hear how Kristalyn would work her way out of this one.

“Deus could do a lot of things. He could have taken away our free will and force us to do whatever He wants. But He wants us to be able to make choices and follow Him without being forced. Take Magnar and Kurioden. You want them to do what you ask, right?” She waited until Travon nodded. “But would you force either of them to talk to you and do what you ask or would you rather they did it because they love you and want too?”

Travon reached over and patted Kurioden on the head. “The second way.”

“It’s the same with Deus. Long ago, He decided He wanted us to follow Him because we love Him, not because we are forced. But we decided we didn’t trust Deus and wanted to do things our own way. That meant instead of choosing the right path, we picked the evil one. That’s the path Ricald chose and his choice had consequences not only for him, but for those he hurt too,” Kristalyn explained patently.

“But it wasn’t our fault he was bad,” Travon protested.

“No, it wasn’t. But it wasn’t Deus’ fault either. He lets us choose how we want to act and those choices, good or bad, have consequences.”

“What if you don’t like the consequences? Why should you have to suffer for others?” I put in.

Kristalyn glanced up at me. I could tell from her look she was impressed I’d been listening, but not surprised. I wondered how much of her conversation with Travon had actually been for me.

“That’s justice for you. You made the choice and you have to live with the consequences. Your choices never affect just you, but most people in today’s world don’t care about that.”

I scoffed. “That’s not justice.”

“Not perfect justice. Dealing with your own consequences is a form of it though. The fact that others have to pay for your mistakes is part of the world we live in. Be glad that Deus is still in control despite the choices we make,” Kristalyn said, her voice containing the pain of past experiences.

“That makes no sense!” Travon exclaimed, throwing his stick fiercely into the fire. It popped harshly and sent a shower of sparks upward, coming close to Egan, who was resting in the tree above.

The little dragon clacked angrily, leaping from his perch and letting those of us below know just what he thought of the hot sparks. Travon called up an apology, but I was just sorry they had missed him. Roasted pseudo-dragon would have made for a quiet trip and probably not to bad of a meal either.

Travon looked back at Kristalyn. “If He’s in control, then no matter what choices we make, He should have saved the village and still made everything turn out good! He messed up!”

I agreed.

“You think so?” Kristalyn asked, as if she was considering the possibility. “Remember it was our choice in the very beginning to not trust Deus and disobey Him. That’s why there is evil in the world at all. We chose it.” She was quiet for a moment and then pulled a branch out from the fire and used it to draw in the dirt. “Okay, look at this chart. You have a starting point and you have an ending point and all of the paths in-between start at one spot and end at the other. No matter what path you take, you come out at the same ending. It’s up to you to choose which path you take and you can choose any one you want. But in the end, the result will be what Deus planned from the start. There is really only one question. Will you take the path that Deus picked out for you or will you choose to try your own path? Ricald and Duard chose their own path and look what it brought them and those around them. Destruction. But you have a choice too. Will you choose a path of your own making or follow the solution Deus has in mind for you?”

Gidryon’s voice rang in my head. “Deus has a special solution in mind for you.”

“What Aiden?” Kristalyn asked.

Had I spoken out loud?

“Nothing,” I answered quickly.

But it wasn’t ‘nothing’ and I knew it. From somewhere deep within I heard the words. And this time, I could not deny the voice.

I have a path, a solution, for you, Aiden. Will you take it?

What should I do?

***