"So Solomon wasn't lying...." He sighed softly. "I really thought he was..." Pinching his brow, he sighed.
Erik chuckled deeply, smoke puffing out of him like a chimney. “Don't get so upset. You haven't slept well in days."
"That's because I want everything to go well!" He said defensively. "If I don't do this right...I'll let everyone down..."
Erik stuck his cigarette between his lips and put both of his hands on his son's shoulders, looking him square in the eyes, "Mathieu, we are the only stick by which we can be measured. Your mother used to say that." Then he let Mathieu go, "May I tell you something about her?"
"...Yeah."
"Your mother was a feisty, smart, beautiful woman. I met her when I was just a kid. She, Darcia and I all lived in the Outer Zone."
Mathieu's jaw dropped, "Darcia?"
"Yeah. Good ol' Darc. When we were twelve, he started living with Zanika and Zerieve. But that isn't the point. There was a village at the base of our mountain back then, and I liked to go down there. Darcia lived in an orphanage, like you, while your mother lived in the streets. She did alright, though.
"The first time I met her, she was wearing this blue dress with a white sash. We were six. I was all but obsessed with her, even as a kid. I started sneaking food out of our home for her and I used my family name to bully some people into giving her somewhere to live.
"We got older, and she was mine. I loved her more than the suns love each other. I was already planning on marrying her when she told me she was pregnant. I had never been happier in my life. I was almost eighteen. But I knew that you and her were all I was going to need out of life."
Erik sighed softly, lost in the past, "We tried to hide it from my mother, but word travels fast. You were the first of your generatiom in our family, Vincent the second. I told my mother to give your gift to Vincent, which is what happened anyway. But at the time, Anastasie said she'd hunt us down and take you by force.
"Anita and I were terrified, but I swore to her that I'd find a way to protect her. Where I was going, however, she couldn't go because she was pregnant. I took her into Unith and hid her Zurn. Somehow, though, I knew something was wrong. I never should have gone. But Darcia and I went anyway, going to find Enak." His finished, his tone clipped now.
"Ma sounds pretty amazing..."
Erik gave a short quirk of the lips, "She was. Mathieu, I've wanted to ask you something for a while now..."
"Okay."
"It's just that...I've wondered...do you hate Anita and I? I heard from the others about the orphanage and then living with Avian..."
Mathieu gave a shake of his head, "No…I don't hate either of you. I thought I did, but the first time I saw Mom, I could have cried. She was so beautiful, and she was my mother. All I felt was sadness and love when I saw her. And then you. For a long time I blamed you for how I turned out. But seeing you interact with the people here, and getting to know you, it's really helped me understand. I get it, losing Anita wasn't easy, and I was gone, too. I know that if I lost Solomon, a part of me would go with him. So no, I don't hate you. Not as Erik, and not as my father." Mathieu didn’t point out that he wasn’t sure how close they could become, though.
"That means a lot to me, Son. It really does." Erik ruffled his hair, "The hair is growing on me, by the way." Then he went inside.
It was only a moment or two later when Mina and Solomon emerged from the forest, making a beeline for him. Mina gave him a polite nod before going in, but Solomon hung back, wrapping his arms around Mathieu.
"We didn't want to interrupt," he said, "it looked like you and Erik were having a pretty serious conversation."
"What can I say, we were discovering that I never really hated my parents." He laid his head against the hard muscles of Solomon's chest.
The blond held him like he was a glass figurinre, "I would go into hiding like he did if I lost you.”
"Thanks, Sol. But we should head in and get some sleep." He twined their fingers together, smiling. Since they had mated, all of their squabbles and spats had dulled, seeming stupid and pointless. All that mattered was that they were together.
~*~
It was less than an hour until darkness fell on the day that the invasion was set to start when Banin finally arrived with the army at the meeting place just outside of the Outer Zone. They were nothing like Mathieu had envisioned, nearly four hundred in number.
Mathieu had thought that perhaps the army would all be hulking men like Banin, or maybe a pack of wolves. But they weren't; however, it was difficult to say exactly what they were. From afar, they looked like a group of teenagers milling about, all thin and lanky. But up close, their eyes had a dead quality to them and their movements were just slightly off, as if they had to think about every move before they did, or their reactions were slowed. Also, their hands were clawed, and if you stood near one, you could hear its joints clicked as they moved.
He couldn't be sure what they were but they put him on edge. He stuck close to Solomon, although his attention was on Banin and Erik. The tension between them was palpable as they waiting for dark and Anastasie.
The boats were ready to go, the plan being to sail up the river through the Outer Zone and take Zurn first, along with the guard outposts. Mathieu watched as Vincent, who had been standing by his father, turned towards him, making his way in a swaying fashion. His cousin came to stop in front of him, his body slowing after his feet.
"Mathieu. Father and I have talked it over. I shall go into the thicket and change before we set off. Okay?"
"Sure, Vincent. That's fine." Mathieu found it was easier to just give the kid what he wanted.
"And I was supposed to tell you something..." Vincent begun to away again while he thought, "Oh yes, Luca is already with your unit labeled 'Rear', so he will not be joining us..."
"Thank you for telling me, Vincent."
"Okay." His cousin gave off a little giggle before skipping off to the thicket. By the look of those nearest to the bushes, his change was just as grotesque as Banin's had been. It took Vincent far less time than his father to finish his change, emerging as a greyish wolf with a black stripe that started with his left ear, went down his neck, side, and left leg, then ended at his paw. He nearly came up Mathieu's waist.
Lione whistled lowly, and Jo gasped, "That's amazing!" Vincent shook out his fur before trotting over, curling up around Mathieu's ankles.
"Uh...good boy?" Inquisitive golden eyes peered up at him, but he shook his head. Vincent snorted and put his head back down. It wasn't long before Solomon nudged his shoulder, nodding toward the west where two figures were slowly growing larger on the horizon."That'll be Anastasie." Mathieu said and stretched upward, his shoulder popping.
Erik yawned, "Then we can get this show on the road. Once that cow gets here, you can explain the plan to her, then we'll go."
"Yeah, good idea." Mathieu yawned. Night was coming quickly. He closes his eyes and the next time they opened, Anastasie was waiting for him.
"You're awake."
He grunted first, then let lose another yawn. "Yep.I 'm up. Listen, we're about to leave."
"That is fine. My army and I shall follow you."
"About that, you're going need to divide your forces into three. One to follow the river up and take the mountain towns, one to cross the Hills of Hart, and one to go south into the Desert of Denk."
Anastasie nodded, making a short hand motion. "It will be done. We shall also help you take the capital. How long until you reach it?"
"Hm...we'll meet in Thorn and Rosen to take them the third morning, rest, then go for Ateri on the morning of the fifth day."
"That is sufficient. We will see you then." Anastasie gave Erik and Solomon each a look in turn, one promising death while the other promised violence.
"Phenomenal." Mathieu rolled his eyes and turned away from her, snapping once to get Vincent's attention. "Everybody, load up!" He took Solomon's hand and headed for the boat at the fron
t. His unit climbed into it, Jo sitting at the back with the small motor. It wasn't silent, but Mathieu would be able to wrap them in energy and dull the sound.
Once his squad and Avanon's started the attack, silence wouldn't matter any longer. "All right, forward we go." Mathieu sat back and leaned against Solomon. He had never been on a boat, but the moment it pulled away the bank, swaying slightly, he knew that he hated it.
He groaned as it rocked, closing his eyes. "Sol, tell me when I need to work."
"I've got you." Solomon's arms tightened around him. "No worries."
Mathieu was quickly discovering that whether his eyes were open or closed, his was equally nauseated. Taking deep gulps of air, he did the math and realized that he'd be on this boat for nearly an hour. If that wasn't making him panic, the realization that the invasion was actually happening, and the sheer impossibility of it would. In his infinite wisdom, he had decided that Zurn was the best place to start because it was accessible by river, isolated by the dense forest around it, and was the main supply line for the officer outposts in both resources and people. What he hadn't thought of was the practicality of it. Zurn had the second largest population in Unith, it was an impacted city due to the restrictions of the forest and river, it had one of highest concentrations of military personnel. Taking it with only seven fighters would be completely undoable; but they had to.
Turning slightly in his seat, he could see Avanon's group in the boat behind them. While they waited for the suns to rise in the forest, the forward group would use the cover of night to approach Zurn while Avanon’s unit would position themselves around Dirve with a group of Anastasie’s fighters. A separate force of Anastasie's would take the lower guard posts. In theory, all three attack points would be hit at once, crippling Unith's military force and leaving their rear flank relatively secure against surprise or retaliatory attacks.
Solomon touched his shoulder as the first guard post came into view.
Mathieu nodded and stood, lifting a hand into the air to signal Ayame to cloak the boat he was on, then planted his feet, wrapping their boat in protective energy. They moved against the far bank, but slowed slightly to help dull the motor further.
The guard post was about halfway to their disembarking point. Fortunately, this level of energy manipulation was simple and mind-numbing for Mathieu now, making it easy for him to stay alert as they passed. Enak reached out and put a hand on the boat, muttering softly under his breath. Mathieu wasn't sure what the boy did, but the boat began to cut through the water faster with no change in the noise level.
They kept the boats cloaked until they were a fair distance passed. Sighing, Mathieu sat back down beside Solomon, still not liking the way the boat swayed.
Chapter
Twenty-Three
Mathieu sat on the floor of the Forest of Zurn with Solomon. They had scratched out a rough map of Zurn from his memory, even though he’d only visited once. It had been during the time he’d spent with Avian, but he could clearly recall how at the center there was a large, square building with a courtyard; it was the building that the military force lived in, making it the primary target for the attack. The rest of the city was a giant shanty town of share-walled houses and chain link fences. He was pretty sure that if they could get passed the shanty town without getting boxed in, they could use the courtyard in the military compound to their advantage, drawing the forces in without hurting any civilians.
Sitting back from their makeshift map, he looked over at Solomon who had been sharpening his hooked swords as they spoke. He smiled softly and lay back on the ground, closing his eyes; there was only a limited time to sleep before the invasion started, and not hurling while on the boat had taken a monumental effort. Yawning widely, he reached out with his mind to find his Shadowriders, checking the status of the other groups. Things were shaping up properly on the other fronts, so he let go of the strand of thought he’d been following and fell into a light doze. His sword was on one side of him, Jo on the other.
He found himself in the middle of a long hallway, the walls glowing faintly. Looking both directions, and each being equally dark, he started down the hall to his right, fingers brushing the walls as he went. It was slow work and the hallway didn’t change, except for the occasional stuck out stone of the uneven walls. Mathieu was ready to turn around and go the way he’d come when he caught sight of a dimly lit room not ten yards from him. As he moved towards it, he began to sweat, and a sudden stitch in his side forced him to stop. Looking back at the room he took a step back in alarm, looking up, up, up to where the room had gone. Then he looked around in a full circle. Initially, he had thought that the floor moved, tilting until he was walking up the wall. But no, the area he had stood was sunk down and it was a steep climb up either side. He wasn’t sure he had the energy to make it.
Taking in a deep breath, and regretting it with the stitch in his side, he started towards the room. He’d be damned if he’d stopped now. Something was pushing him to reach that door. He knew something worth having was right there, if only he could reach it. Mathieu’s progress was slow, and many times he had to use the odd rocks on the wall to pull himself along. Eventually, he was reduced to crawling to make it up the incline. But now he could hear voices. Familiar voices.
“The sun will rise in less than ten minutes. We should wake him.” Slightly tart, with the slightest hint of arrogance. He would recognize Enak’s voice anywhere.
“We can’t invade right away, anyway. Remember what he said, the guards don’t change in the morning, they go back to the compound for breakfast.” Lighter, like soft bells, but tinged with sadness. That would be Jo.
“Let him sleep for ten more minutes.” Protective, calm, unyielding. Erik.
“Oh yes, ’wake up, the invasion is starting’. You think he won’t have a cow?” Enal pointed out.
Mathieu was scrabbling as quickly as he could up the steep ramp, wanting to see what all the commotion was about when he heard an unmistakable voice.
“Leave him be, Enak. I will wake him up when I’m damn good and ready.” His Solomon’s voice. Deep and rich, filled with the soft undertone of the accent from his home land.
Blinking, he looked up at the lightening sky, a few stars still clinging to the muted darkness. With a groan he did his best to suppress, he sat up and looked around. Less than a foot to his left, Solomon, Jo, Enak, and his father sat, still absorbed in their now meaningless squabble over waking him up.
It was Vincent, however, that got their attention with a short yip. His head was placed on Mathieu’s shoulder, nuzzling slowly.
Jo slapped Enak’s arm, “See what you did with all your incessant talking?”
“Relax, Jo.” Mathieu got to his feet and popped his back, then stretched upward, “It’s good I’m up. You cats can’t get along for five minutes alone. Where’s Kiev?”
A branch on the tree above give a light shake and some leaves fell as the woman fell to the ground. “I’m here, just keeping an eye on the city. The guards are talking about ‘knocking off early’, whatever that means, and in the lower area, there isn’t a soul in sight.”
“That’s because it’s Hollow’s Day.” Mathieu said with a yawn.
There was an awkward silence between the group before Solomon said, “And that is…?”
“Hollow’s Day is the holiday that only comes around once every eight years. It’s the day that there is only one sun in the sky, and the custom is to sleep in, eating with friends and neighbors, and generally shirk your responsibilities.” Erik answered in a bored voice, “People celebrate the belief that when they only see one sun, it’s a sign that the god are blessing them for another eight years, not cursing them with plague or something of the like.”
Kiev laughed, hands on her hips, “Mathieu, you cleaver dog. You planned specifically for this, didn’t you?”
“I do have a trick or two up my non-existent sleeves.” Most of them chuckled. He had regulated an outfit to be worn for his whole
unit: a close cut, dark green tunic, dark brown pants that were practically painted on, soft leather boots, and fingerless gloves that came up to the elbows. He wasn’t going to have anyone die because they couldn’t move in their clothing. Mathieu pinned his hair back from his face, then took a deep breath and scooped up his sword. It was time.
~*~
Dawn is the most fickle time of day. Sometimes it bursts from nowhere, illuminating everything within its path until it vanquishes the darkness back to its void. Other times, like that morning, it slowly creeps across the landscape, taking languid strides over the land from the horizon. The light that morning was moving at its own, unhurried pace, dancing into the sky on its lonesome journey. It approached from behind Mathieu’s unit.
Mathieu was standing at the edge of the forest, still cloaked in the momentary darkness. The plan was simple. Once the false light that preceded the real tendrils of yellow illuminated the area around them, they were to make their move. A single sun provided a nice glare to hide their approach behind, should anyone be up. He really doubted it, however.
Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) Page 38