Ayden gave him a congratulatory slap on the back as he said, “I never got a chance to thank you for what you did back there.”
“I’m sorry?” asked Ethan, still a little dazed from his first battle.
Ayden added, “When you killed that Drykan I didn’t see behind me. Who knows, if it wasn’t for you, I might not still be here.”
Ethan replied, “Oh… you don’t have to thank me, I’m sure you had everything under control.”
Ayden laughed as he replied, “Well… maybe. Where did you learn to throw like that anyway?”
Ethan smiled as he looked down at the sheathed dagger, and said, “My father taught me everything I know.”
“It’s very impressive. I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name,” said Ayden as he held out his hand.
The teen shook it as he replied, “Ethan.”
“Well, Ethan, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Ayden.”
Ethan’s eyes lit up as he said, “Ayden? As in Captain of the Kain’s Guard?!”
A little surprised, Ayden answered, “Why, yes. How do you know who I am?”
Ethan eagerly shook his hand as he said, “I know all about the Kain’s Guard! I want nothing more in this world than to join the recruitment, and train with the Keeper Sadja!”
“Why don’t you then?” asked Ayden. “You are more than qualified from what I can see.”
Ethan’s expression saddened as he replied, “It’s not that I can’t, it’s just that my father needs me more, with the running of the village and all. He’s getting older and can’t do everything himself anymore, and my brother and sister are too young right now to take my place.”
Ayden gave him one last pat on the back as he said, “Well, if it was up to me, you’d be on the front lines… but I understand.” He then turned and noticed Alandra walking into a nearby building by herself. “Anyways kid, I must run, I just wanted to give you my thanks. Go and celebrate with your friends, tonight is your night. You’re only young once.”
“Thanks, I will,” replied Ethan as Ayden stood up and followed the Keeper.
Daane went around and personally met with each and every member of the community. He listened to their stories of struggle and grief, and was told of distant relations that resided in different villages throughout the northern territory. He reassured the people of Greenglen that they would soon be reunited with their loved ones, and that they will see peace in their lands once again. Many of them wanted to meet the Keeper of the Bow, for most of them have only heard stories of her. Alandra wasn’t fond of public relations and would often escape social events, for she was more comfortable alone. Ayden noticed her discomfort as she met the townsfolk and reassured them of their fears, all the while forcing a smile. He followed her as she escaped to a nearby empty shop.
Alandra immediately turned around as she heard the door open behind her, and said, “Oh, it’s just you.” She turned back around, ignoring the young Captain.
“Yup, just me,” replied Ayden, “and what exactly does ‘just you’ mean? Does it mean that you’re comfortable enough with me that it’s a relief to see me and not some stranger, or does it mean, oh, it’s him, what does he want now?”
He smiled as Alandra turned around, appearing annoyed.
“It doesn’t mean anything, it means exactly what it means.”
“Why are you so hard on me?” asked Ayden in a flirtful tone. “Either you’re intimidated by my rugged handsomeness, or you really don’t like me, which, by the way, I would find hard to believe. I mean, we did just win a battle together. The least you could do is rejoice in our victory.”
Alandra slowly lowered her guard as she replied, “I… don’t… hate you, necessarily, you just get on my nerves. I’ve never had a man show so much confidence in his plight for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s flattering… but annoying nonetheless.”
Ayden laughed as he replied, “Oh, you think that I have a plight for you? Interesting… maybe I’m just nice, did you ever think of that, or are you so wrapped up in yourself that you think everyone is creating ‘plights’ for you?”
Alandra’s face turned to anger as she threw him up against the wall.
“Ooww, just how I like it,” sarcastically replied Ayden as he stared into her eyes and smirked.
“YOU… ARE… the most frustrating man… I have ever met!”
She looked on furiously as he just smiled, and continued to look into her eyes. She just stared back, unsure why she can’t look away. Her rage slowly started to fade as he inched his head towards hers. She retained a firm grip on his neck, but allowed him to advance closer. Her angered expression started to warm and turn to nerves as his lips nearly met hers without disengaging eye contact. Her eyes then moved to his lips, where the lingered for a moment, just before she then met them with hers. She held the lock only for a moment, before opening her eyes. She then pushed him backwards as he just laughed.
“What am I doing?!” quietly yelled the Keeper out loud, but to herself.
“Just following your heart for once?” asked Ayden.
“I am a Keeper of Kain! I do not fraternize with its locals!”
“Locals?” replied Ayden, feeling slightly insulted, “I’m not just a…”
“…And besides,” she continued, interrupting the Captain, “you’re not even that good looking, and you’re annoying, and you’re… you’re…”
Ayden smiled as he said, “…And you’re running out of excuses, my Lady.”
Alandra was speechless from confusion and anger. She threw her hands down in a fit of rage and stormed out of the dwelling as Ayden followed her with his eyes. After she slammed the door behind her, Ayden just leaned up against the wall and slid down, rewinding their kiss over and over in his head.
Back in the village’s center, Baron approached the King.
“My Lord,” he said, “my men have captured an escaping Dragonkin soldier. He awaits you in the community room.”
“Soldier? What soldier?” asked Daane.
“He won’t give his name, but he appears to be important based on his markings. At least, to the best of my knowledge. I don’t know very much about the Dragonkin I’m afraid. My men caught him trying to escape through the back door of the community room where he appears to have been hiding.”
“I must see him at once,” replied the King, “no one else but me is to be in the room. I need to question the prisoner myself.”
“Yes, my Lord,” replied Baron as he led him back to the community room.
Once arriving, Baron motioned for everyone in the room to leave. None of them wanted to leave, and stared at the Drykan in disgust.
“Leave now! Our King wishes to speak with the prisoner alone. And besides, there’s a lot of cleaning up to do,” said Baron.
With these words, the Baron and the men exited the building, leaving the King alone with the prisoner. Daane paced back and forth at first, staring at the emotionless Drykan. He continued to stare as he tried to find the right words to say. After pacing for a few more moments, he stopped and approached the soldier. The man wouldn’t look at Daane, and just glared at the wall.
After a moment, the King shouted, “Look at me!”
The Drykan slowly turned his head and locked eyes with the King of his enemy.
Daane lowered his voice and spoke calmly, “I am going to ask you a few questions, and how you answer will determine your treatment. Unlike the barbaric manor in which your kind conducts matters of war, the Kain are a little more civilized. Tell me what I want to know, and you shall not be harmed. Don’t tell me what I want to know, and you will be tortured until you can’t bear to take one more breath. Do we have an understanding Drykan?”
The man said nothing as he slightly tilted his head without disconnecting eye contact.
“For your sake, I will take that as a yes,” said Daane. “What is the status of the capital of Kain? How far have your armies stretched outside the capital?”
The man’s expression did
not change as he responded, “Why do you bother yourself in such matters? Are you not wise enough to accept the inevitable? Can you not see that you have failed as King, and that your people will never again see freedom?”
Daane showed no reaction as he calmly spoke, “I think you are forgetting you are sitting captured and defeated in the domain of your enemy, and that the people you so confidently see as ‘defeated’ slaughtered your entire charge.”
The soldier’s expression remained expressionless as he replied, “My charge was but a fraction of the Dragonkin’s army. You will never succeed in reclaiming your fallen capital. You may have imprisoned me, but the great Generals will eliminate the Kain’s existence from this world. You will watch helplessly as all that you know is destroyed.”
Daane stood up and calmly turned around, facing his back to the captured Drykan.
The soldier continued as he intensified his voice, “You will helplessly watch on in horror as you witness the lifeless body of your son hang from the iron spires next to your dead wife!”
Daane closed his eyes for only seconds as the sound of the Drykan’s threats faded from his mind. Upon opening them, he took out his sword, and in one fluid motion, wheeled around and removed the Drykan’s head from his body. Daane immediately placed his sword back in its sheath, without even cleaning off the blood, and walked towards the door. As he opened it, the Drykan’s head rolled several feet before stopping. Baron, who was waiting outside, noticed the headless corpse behind him. He then looked at his King with a sense of shock, and pride.
Daane looked at Baron and said, “I understand that your people will have cause to celebrate tonight, which is well deserved, but in the morning, we must leave for Riverton with as many strong men as we can. Work quickly to dispose of the bodies, and cut the heads off the drakes. Place them on pikes around the village as a sign to any and all, that Greenglen and the people of Kain will NOT stand for this travesty anymore!”
Baron smiled as he replied, “As you wish, my King.”
For the remainder of the day, all chores and duties of the village were put on hold as the cleanup began. At least eighty Drykans were slain with only five casualties for the Kain. Fifteen drakes were killed, mostly by the Keeper of the Bow, and many of their bodies came crashing down on the village’s weak buildings. The streets will forever be stained by the Drykan’s dark blood, and it will take quite some time to repair the damage, but they are thankful, each and every one of them. The outcome could have been much different if the Keeper and the Kain’s Guard had not been nearby and heard the screeches of the Drakes. At first, Baron wasn’t sure what to do with the vast number of bodies, so he started by having them piled up outside the southern gate. He also did as the King instructed and removed the heads of the drakes and propped them up around the wall. He didn’t want to burn the bodies for fear of attracting a retaliation, so for the time being, there they sat until a mass grave could be dug. The drakes were too large to move by hand, so they used several draft horses to move them with the rest of the Drykan bodies. Once all the bodies were moved, Baron allowed the women and children to come out of hiding so that they may celebrate together. The women cooked a large potluck dinner while the men drank and got to know the members of the Kain’s Guard. Alandra didn’t care to partake in the festivities, and chose to instead patrol the outskirts of the village on lookout. The sun was nearly set as the villagers finished their meals and turned to the drinking of ale and dancing in the community room. Ayden and Nathian wasted not a single drop of ale as they joined in on many types of drinking games, some they knew and some they didn’t.
Some ways to the north of the village rests a small and intimate pond with an old wooden dock. The sun has nearly set as the Keeper of the Bow walks onto the dock and sits on one knee as she overlooks the calm water dotted with lilypads and cattails. The air is cold and a thin layer of ice has begun to circle the edges of the pond. It feels as if it could snow any day, though fall has not yet transitioned into winter. As she looks to her left, she sees a white stork scratching at the barley formed ice in search of food. Just as she was beginning to feel relaxed, something drew her attention from behind. She didn’t hesitate as she stood and whirled around, revealing her mighty Bow with an arrow at the ready.
The young teenage girl Jessabelle gasped as she dropped a wicker basket.
Alandra released her Bow as she said, “Young girl, you should be smarter than to sneak up on me like that!”
Jessabelle picked up the basket as she replied, “Please forgive me milady, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Alandra recognized her vulnerability, and said in a softer tone, “What are you doing out here anyway? It’s not safe after dark. You should be in the village with your family.”
“I… I saw you leave alone before you had a chance to eat anything. I wanted to bring you this and thank you for saving us.”
Alandra looked at the basket and smiled, “What is your name?”
The teen smiled shyly as she answered, “Jessabelle, but my mom calls me Belle.”
Alandra walked up to her and asked, “What’s in the basket?”
She kindly handed her the basket and said, “It’s not much, but I thought you might be hungry, so I took some bread and salted pork from the potluck. Don’t worry, I didn’t cook it. I’m not very good at cooking, but I try. Mom says it will come to me someday, but I don’t know. I don’t seem to be good at anything really.”
Alandra looked inside and said, “Thank you, but I will save this for later.” She put the basket down as she softly tucked a piece of the girl’s blonde hair behind her ear, and said, “Don’t ever doubt yourself. Everyone is good at something, but not everyone knows it right away. After all, you don’t think I was a perfect shot the first time I picked up a bow, do you?”
The teen smiled as she replied, “I bet you were, I bet you are good at anything you do. I grew up listening to stories about you and the other Keepers. I never thought that I would ever get to meet one, and here you are… in Greenglen!”
Alandra laughed slightly as she said, “Oh, sweet child, this is not my first time in your village, though it has been many years.”
Jessabelle grew bolder as she asked, “So how come you are not celebrating with the others?”
She simply replied, “Celebrations are just not for me. I prefer to be alone most of the time. I would rather have a conversation with myself than some drunken man who only has one thing on his mind. I may be a Keeper of unspeakable power, but to them, I am still just a woman.”
“They aren’t all that bad,” said the teen as she looked down at her feet.
Alandra tilted her head back up and said, “I assume you are not talking about all men in general… what’s his name?”
She blushed as she replied, “It doesn’t matter, because he barely notices me, just like everyone else. It would be different if I looked like you, but I don’t…” Tears started to well up in her eyes as she continued, “…I look like this.”
Alandra was never good at comforting people, but something about this girl reminded her of herself more years ago than she could remember. She then wiped a tear as she said in a kind tone, “You know what I see when I look at you?” She shook her head as Alandra continued, “I see kindness and truth… something you don’t see in many people anymore. If any boy can’t look past what are nothing more than your own insecurities, then he is not worthy of your time. Remember that. Plus, if any of them say or do something that makes you feel ugly and worthless, then you just come find me… I’ll straighten them out.”
Jessabelle laughed as she wiped the rest of her tears away and said, “Thank you… for everything.”
She smiled as she replied, “You’re welcome Jessabelle. I’m glad to have met you. Now, why are you still here talking to me… go find that boy and tell him how you feel tonight. It cannot wait until the morning… GO!”
Belle lit up with a renewed sense of confidence as she said, “You’re right, I
need to tell him right now!” She then turned and started to jog back towards the village. She turned before she was too far away and yelled, “I’m glad to have met you too!”
Alandra’s heart was warmed by the unexpected interaction from the village teen of little significance. It reminded her just how much she cared for her people and renewed her plight to save the Kain. It has been a long time since she has felt needed in the way Kaidian intended, and she knew that no matter what, she and the other Keepers would take back the capital and restore peace once more. It also warmed her heart towards the young Captain of the Kain’s Guard, the one that has so openly vied for her affection. The Keeper once tried love, a long time ago, and was inevitably met with heartbreak. She swore from that day on she would never love again… but something was happening. The more Ayden tries, the more she starts to remember the feel and the touch of another… feeling like your heart was going to pound right out of its chest from just a look. The young girl’s flush cheeks at the mention of the one she wants brought the Keeper back to the realm of mortality. She looks at the now moonlit illuminated pond, and something tells her to invite herself to explore these long dormant feelings. She turns, stops, thinks, and then heads back to the village to find him… find the one.
Back in the village, Daane met with Baron in the local lodge as the villagers continued to quench their victory-induced thirsts. They shared many types of ales and discussed the matter of the road to Riverton, and the well-being of Greenglen. Ayden and Nathian continued to celebrate heavily with the others, ignoring their King’s orders to get rest. Daane and Baron sat at a table in a secluded area away from the bar and all the commotion.
Daane threw down the rest of his ale before clearing his throat and spoke, “I need you to stay here and defend your village in case of an attack. The escaped Captain will undoubtedly report back to the Generals and plan their retaliation. I’m hoping that we will have mustered the army of the Kain before that time.”
The Reclaiming: The Keepers Saga: Volume Two Page 6