Before the Captain could finish his thought, Alandra turned around to face him. Her previously emotionless face revealed a much more vulnerable side that has rarely been seen by others. Alandra stared at the voice stricken Captain as moisture began to grow in her eyes. She felt her nose twinge as the moisture in her eyes began to form into soft and long overdue tears. More thoughts ran through her head than she knew what to do with as she stared at Ayden, thoughts that brought pain… anger… and hatred… as well as confused feelings of love towards the Captain that stood silent in front of her with a presence of genuine compassion. Instead of replying with the words that she could not find or decipher, she walked up to the young Captain and placed her shaking nervous hands upon his face. She stared deep into Ayden’s cloudy eyes and felt the beating of his heart increase as his lungs hastened. A solitary tear broke loose as it streamed down her drought cheek. She then gently pulled the Captain’s face closer to hers and felt as both their hearts began to beat harder and harder. As she pulled Ayden’s face the final inch, they both closed their tear-filled eyes as they felt the moisture of their lips combine. The last fading golden ray trickled over the now solid black silhouette of the Karn Mountains, leaving the sky illuminated by the bright blue stars that now painted the backdrop as the Captain and the Keeper shared their first ‘real’ kiss.
CHAPTER 9
A FAMILY DIVIDED
Blackness is all the patriarch Caegan can see, though slight splinters of light occasionally bleed through the musty rag that covered his eyes. He can only guess at how many hours it has been since he was taken captive, along with three of his children. He was an expert at flying, and by guessing at how long they were in the air, he approximated their location. He can feel the wood he walks on, and the shallowness beneath it. Clearly a bridge of some sort. By the length of the bridge, he deciphers that it must be crossing a river of some sort. The only river close to where they were captured is the Andwail, which means only one thing… they were in the City on the River, the first city the Drykan King attacked a millennium ago. He was taken to the birthplace of the war between the Kain and the Drykans. His mouth was tied, so he couldn’t speak, not that he would risk it either way. He carefully listens to the footsteps around him, trying to detect the distinctive sound of his kin. Three Drykans walk with him, from what he can tell, but where was the fifth? After the winged man threw him back with a force not of this world, and just before the blindfold, Caegan saw his youngest son hiding behind a rock with a look of utter terror on his face. A small part of him hopes that his son Briev was not taken captive, but the rest of him worries. He does not trust that Briev can control his thoughts enough to follow them, but at the same time, hopes he can’t. Either his son can focus on following them, inevitably getting captured himself, or he loses control over his mind, and becomes lost in a place he doesn’t know. So many thoughts consume him, but from outside his main objective… save his captured children from execution. He was blessed when the Keeper spared their lives, would he be granted the same kindness from his soon to be deciders?
The ground beneath his feet starts to leave him. Just a step, and another. Stairs. The echoing of their steps reveals narrow walls. Turning, turning right. Spiral. More steps in a spiral, going down, getting colder. The Moisture in the air thickens, and grows more damp. More steps, and more. Time is irrelevant, for all there is to see is darkness… darkness behind the blind. Now the ground is even once again. The space opens into a new, larger room. He stops. Steps walk past him, then comes the sound of metal. Metal doors opening. Rusty hinges creaking. He’s moving again, until he feels cold metal brush against his arm. The ties around his wrists are removed. The sound of moving metal through rusty hinges, then fading steps. One last door closes, and a bolt latches… then silence. His hands are now free, but his blind remains. Does he remove it?
Caegan carefully moves his hands to the cloth tied around his mouth and unties it. He holds it for a moment, waiting for repercussion, and after receiving none, drops it. He waits for a moment before he moves his hands to the next barrier… his blind. He’s almost scared to remove it. What will he see? He doesn’t hear his children around him, so are they safe? Is Briev safe, or will his mind get the best of him? Is he ready to face the new world that surrounds him outside of the darkness? He takes in a deep breath, and unties the blind behind his head with shaking hands. As the rough cloth falls from his face, his eyes struggle to adjust. There is stone all around him, with only a splinter of sunlight peeking through a small crevice in the ceiling. He then sees the blurred shape of his child. Kendraa… she’s alive, and there is Beirvin… but where is Prin? He knows that his youngest Briev wasn’t captured, but Prin was, so, where is he?
Somewhere else in this foreign city of wood and stone, Prin is forced to sit down on what he thinks is a chair. With his hands still tied behind his back, the cloth over his eyes is brashly removed. Before he can adjust to his suddenly revealed surroundings, a gulping slash of ice old water strikes his face. His eyes instinctively close as the piercing cold ravages his face. A large amount of the water enters his mouth, as he coughs up what was swallowed. He then blinks his water-laced eyelids, ridding them of the intrusion. The images that make up his surrounding becomes clearer with each forced blink. Three men and one woman is all that he can make out.
The woman, with pale skin and white hair, then speaks, “Do you hear me, Drykan? Do you understand what I say?”
Prin shakes his head as he tries to compose himself, then answers shakingly, “Yyyesss… I under… understand you.”
The woman, who’s appearance becomes sharper with each blink, walks closer, “Do you know where you are young man?”
Prin, still trying to comprehend his situation, replied, “I… ah… I don’t know, whhh… who are you?”
“Who do you think I am?” asked the heavenly woman.
Prin stuttered as he answered, “An Ela?”
The woman’s face was stoic as she added, “Just an Ela?”
Prin wasn’t sure what to say as he nervously replied, “The… the Queen?”
She smiled as she said, “Yes young man, my name is Kalorah, and I am indeed the Queen.” She then gestured towards the two men and added, “This is Tylandrius, he is the Lord of this city, and this is Glammdreing, who you have already met.”
Prin looked at the three of them, trying not to show his true feelings to remain strong for his family. He then asked, “What do you want from me?”
Kalorah replied, “We want to know why you and the others, I am assuming your family, were preparing to cross the Separation? Why were you in the Karn Mountains so close to our realm?”
Prin wasn’t sure if he should tell the Queen the truth that the Keeper let them live.
Glammdreing was beginning to grow impatient as he said, “Come on boy, we don’t have time for you to figure out whether or not to speak, for we can get what we want out of you with or without your help. ‘With’ would be better for you.”
Kalorah, taking a softer approach, knelt down to be eye level with the clearly terrified Drykan and said, “Can you start with telling me who the others with you are?”
Prin looked in her beautiful blue eyes and felt comfort, as he quietly answered, “They… are my family. My father, sister and brother.” Soft tears, which he struggled to keep from falling, fell as he asked, “Are you going to kill us?”
Kalorah replied, “I am sorry, but that is not for me to decide. The King of Kain will depending on how you cooperate. If he feels that the information you and your family give us is beneficial, then your lives might be spared.”
Prin then said, “Can’t you just see for yourself? Can’t all the Guardians read minds or something like that?”
Kalorah smiled as she replied, “Yes, but Drykans are different. Your minds are much harder to infiltrate. Now, you can start with who sent you, and what your mission was.”
Seeing that he was struggling to speak, Glammdreing then walked towards h
im and said, “We don’t have time for this!” He then kicked Prin hard in the chest, causing him to fly backwards, breaking the chair he was sitting in.
Tylandrius, a little shocked by the Angel’s candor, said, “Was that necessary? He was about to talk.”
Glammdreing replied as he grabbed the coughing young prisoner, “Drykan minds are easier to access if they are scared.” He then picked him off the ground and slammed him against the cell wall.
Prin pleaded, “Ppp… please, I will tell you everything!”
Kalorah stood silent behind Glammdreing.
“Like I said, we don’t have time for that,” said the Angel as he once again threw him across the room.
As Prin hit the floor, his face met with stone and cut deep. Dark blood began running down his face as he struggled to sit up with his hands tied behind his back.
Tylandrius, who is fonder of peaceful interrogation, said, “Enough of this! You are in MY city, and you will do as I command. Stop this ceaseless violence!”
Kalorah turned to the Lord and said, “No, he is right. This is the only way to see the truth.”
Glammdreing kicked Prin in the stomach as he coughed up blood and yelled, “You scared yet you worthless Dragonkin?!”
“YES! YES! Please… just stop!” pleaded Prin as tears freely fell from his bleeding face.
Kalorah walked behind Glammdreing and placed a caring hand on his shoulder as if to say, ‘that’s enough.’ She then knelt down and untied Prin’s hands and helped him sit up.
As she raised her hands up to each side of his head, she said, “Just close your eyes, and try not to think. Let your mind leave you. This won’t hurt, I promise.”
Prin nervously nodded as Kalorah grabbed his blood-soaked head and closed her eyes. She struggled at first to penetrate the young man’s memories. Then, as if the gates opened, she was in. She began as far back as his childhood, most likely because that’s what the frightened Drykan was thinking about right now. She sped up, stopping once she saw the Generals. She felt Prin’s mind slipping away, so she concentrated and grabbed what information she deemed important as she paced through his most recent memories, but there was one that made her stop. Kale. Her eyes opened wide once she saw the Keeper allow them to live. She dropped her hands as she stared into his scared eyes. Prin knew what she was seeing, for he could see exactly what she saw. The feeling made him sick to his stomach and lightheaded. He could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness, as he suddenly fell to his side. Kalorah helped him fall and laid him down softly. She then stood up and turned to face Glammdreing and the Lord of Riverton.
“Kale found them first,” Kalorah said as she tried to shake the boy’s consciousness out of her own. “They were forced to go to war by the Generals. They ordered them to find the prince, and return him to them. Before they could, Kale found them, and was going to kill them all. It was because of the old man Brownly Bill that he didn’t. Kale spared their lives and told them to go home. I felt no malcontent towards the Kain, or the Ela, least not from this one.”
Glammdreing then asked, “Did you see anything that can help us with the battle to come?”
Kalorah shook her head as she turned to look at the unconscious Drykan. “They just want to go home. Their people were not part of Calthrog’s army. They are peaceful, and just want to be left alone.”
“Do you think we might get any better information out of the others?” asked Tylandrius.
Kalorah turned back to them and replied, “I do not believe so.”
Tylandrius then said, “This will not please the King… what am I supposed to tell him? His hatred for the Dragonkin will blind his judgement. He expects to learn something that will help with the war. If he believes them to be useless, he will have them executed.”
Kalorah showed a look of contemplation as she said, “Glammdreing, please take this one back to his cell. Put his brother and sister in with their father. If these prove to be their last days, allow them to spend them together.”
Glammdreing picked up Prin’s limp body and carried him out of the room.
Tylandrius then asked, “What do you want me to tell the King?”
Kalorah watched Glammdreing walk away, carrying the innocent Drykan, as she answered, “…The truth.”
We now travel to somewhere in the wilderness of the Andwaith Forest several miles to the north of where Caegan and his children were captured by the Angel of Might. A woman in her late twenties sees to a fire that she has created to keep her warm during a sudden onset of freezing rain. She is average in appearance with curly blonde hair tied up, with no makeup and neutral colored clothes. Next to her and the struggling fire lays a special breed of dog known as a Halfgray. The breed comes from the mix of a Grayhide wolf, and a common house dog. This particular dog, named Cami, is smaller than a Grayhide, but has much more fur. She has two pointed black ears, a white face, and piercing blue eyes. Her back is black like her ears, with her neck and belly being whiter. She has a unique formation of fur on her forehead that almost looks like she was kissed by an Angel. The woman, who goes by many names depending where she was, is making her way back to her home in the northern Shorelands. She is not married, has no children, and has spent most of her life in seclusion, as she prefers.
As she stokes the fire, she hears a branch snap from not too far away. There is only about a half-hour left of daylight. Her dog Cami begins to quietly growl as she faces the noise.
“What is it girl?” asks the woman to the dog.
Another branch snaps as Cami lets loose a soft bark.
“Sshh,” says the woman, “stay here.”
As she carefully stood to her feet, the woman slowly drew a long dagger from its sheath. She used her free hand to signal to Cami to lay down and stay. The dog reluctantly obeys as the woman sneaks behind a tree to investigate the noise. As she looks around the tree, she sees a young dark-skinned boy, shirtless and unarmed, walking through the woods. She grips her dagger tight as she focuses her eyes. The boy, tall for his apparent young age, walked slowly and awkwardly. He looked exhausted and cold as his body shivered in the freezing rain. She can see his eyes closing and opening as he struggled to remain afoot. He then stopped, and slightly swayed back and forth. He wavered for a moment before his knees gave in. He rested on them before his eyes closed for good and he fell to his side. The woman waits and watches for a moment as Cami began whining behind her. The woman then slowly walked towards the half-naked young man. As she grows closer, she begins to wonder if the boy was of the Kain or not, for his skin color was much too dark. She walks up to the unconscious boy and kneels down next to him. She then pulls his shoulder towards her so that she could see his face. As he rolled on to his back, she quickly removed her hand and took a step back.
“He… he’s a Drykan!” she said as she suddenly raised her dagger, ready to kill him.
Before she could strike down, a soft paw rested on his chest. Startled, the woman sees her dog sitting next to her. Cami stared up at her master as her paw rested on the boy’s chest. It was if she was begging her to save his life.
“Cami, get out of the way,” said the woman, “he’s a Drykan! He can’t be trusted!”
Cami disobeyed her master as she then laid down on his chest and began to whine. The woman has seen her dog act this way before, and knew what it meant. Cami could tell the good from the bad in people, and the woman trusted her judgement.
She lowered her dagger as her face softened. She then looked at the boy, clearly a teenager, as his chest slowly moved up and down. His skin was cold as ice as his purple lips quivered. He was only wearing a pair of cloth pants, and had nothing else with him.
“Ok… ok…, you win,” said the woman as she snapped her finger, “now get off him.” As she put her dagger away, she whispered, “I’m going to regret this, I’m sure.”
She then put her hands under his shoulders to begin dragging him close to the fire. She was surprised how heavy he was for his size, and struggled to
drag him back to the fire. Once she got him there, now with her own heart and lungs pounding, she positioned his body close to the fire. The sun was almost completely set as darkness blanketed the forest. The rain had subsided, but it was still getting colder by the minute. She took her only blanket and wrapped it around his freezing body. She then took a sturdy rope and tied his hands and feet tight in case he woke up and tried to attack her. Cami then curled in a ball in front of the Drykan teen and closed her eyes.
The woman shook her head as she stared at the boy and her dog, and said, “What have you just gotten yourself into?”
Back in Riverton, Dathian and his two new friends spent the entire day exploring the city. Ethan and Biix have never been to the City on the River and wanted to see everything. Dathian has been there many times, seeing how his grandmother Evelyn lived there, and it was where his father and uncle were born. He knew the city quite well, and showed Ethan and Biix to as many sights as possible. As the day drew to an end, the prince led them back to the Badger’s Paw Inn.
As Ethan and Biix started to make their way towards their room, Dathian said, “And where do you think you two are going?”
Ethan turned around and innocently said, “Um, to the room?”
Dathian shook his head as he pointed to three chairs near the bar and replied, “No… no you’re not. Go sit down, I’ll be right there.”
Ethan looked at Biix, who just shrugged his shoulders as if to say, ‘why not?’ They then walked over to the table and sat down.
The Reclaiming: The Keepers Saga: Volume Two Page 15