“I know you don’t want to discuss this—” Zayden began over breakfast. “But you know it will still be a few weeks before your mother’s return home—”
“Father, we really don’t have to.” Seth cut in. “We know we’ll be waiting longer. It’s okay.”
“But I know it’s not and you have every right to feel what you do. We just thought it would be okay to get a jumpstart on things that your mothers don’t have to be here for.”
We were getting curious now.
“What?” Dirk asked. “We already redesigned the armor. You said that would take months to have made.”
“Yes.” Darius said. “This is something else. Something that will take just a few hours but you deserve it and we don’t care what your mothers think.”
It started to sink in and I just became overly hopeful before I even knew I was right. “Really?!”
My father laughed to my enthusiasm. “Yes. You want it, don’t you?”
“Yes!”
“What are we talking about?” Dirk asked.
“We’re getting our marks!”
He and Seth actually smiled at each other now that we seemed to all be on the same page.
“When?!” Seth asked.
“Very soon.” Zayden answered. “The tradition is to endure the process of it so I’ve asked someone I know who has the experience and talent down to perfection. He’ll be here momentarily through the portal.”
“The portal?” Dirk wondered.
I was still excited about this and it didn’t help that I knew who it was immediately. “Uncle is coming?!”
“Who else?” Trever came through the door with a wooden case and I jumped right up from my seat to greet him but I wasn’t the only one. Seth and Dirk were right with me. “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.” We stopped before reaching him and he put down the box. “Okay. Bring it in.”
We hugged him like we always used to do but this time it nearly knocked us all over.
“I’m glad you’re not too grown up.”
“The occasion called for it.” Seth said. “When do we start?”
“It’s good to have food in your stomach so whenever you’re finished.” We rushed back to the table upon his words and began shoveling food in our mouths. “But don’t rush it! This isn’t a rushing process. In fact, you shouldn’t be so excited because you’ll soon find it to get quite boring.”
“We’ll deal with that.” Dirk said. “I’ve already been bored for months.”
Trever laughed. “Yes. I suppose you would be the expert however there will be some variations when it comes to doing yours.”
“How do you mean?” Darius asked. He was looking at Trever like he didn’t trust him. I knew there was something dark between them but we never knew what it was.
“Funny you should ask, Darius. Have you forgotten that needles can’t penetrate your skin which means they can’t his? The mark won’t be on his face.”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
“How are you going to get around that?” Troy asked. “Can you?”
“I can’t, no.”
“What?!” Dirk shouted.
“But—” Dirk paused long enough to listen. “I know someone that can.”
“Seth, stay calm!” Zayden snatched.
“Why?”
“I’m why.”
Ryon appeared standing next to Trever looking like we’ve always remembered but this was the first time since we found out he’s always been dead. It’s been nearly two years.
“Uncle.”
“Hello, Seth.”
“You came.” Seth got up and hugged him.
“I’m sorry we didn’t get to tell you.”
“No. I understand why you didn’t. It’s okay. I’m just glad you didn’t stay away forever.”
“There’s no way I could. I missed you too much.”
“So, what are you here to do to me?” Dirk asked.
“Well, since the process is part of the achievement, we just have to get your skin penetrable.”
“How?” Darius asked.
“We have to take his strength.”
“What?!” Dirk didn’t seem happy about this but he didn’t light on fire or anything. I think he may have been more concerned. “How can you do that?”
“It will be easy for me since it’s not fully attached to you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You were conceived before your father got his gift. Your mother just didn’t tell anyone but she still wanted you to have both their gifts so she drank a potion that would attach to you. You were born with it, yes but it’s not necessarily in your blood like with your brothers which makes it easier to take out.”
“You can put it back, right?” Darius asked, looking across the table at Dirk’s worry.
“Of course I can put it back. You won’t have to worry about that either.”
“What will happen to me while it’s gone?”
“No physical damage. You might not even feel anything since you won’t be moving around.”
“Okay. I guess I don’t really have a choice.”
“Only unless you don’t want proof of your greatness.”
“Of course I want that!”
“Then you’ll be fine.”
“Finish up.” Trever said. “We’ll go set up. Seth, we start with you. It will take a few hours.”
“More waiting.” I said to Dirk. He rolled his eyes but we should have known Seth would be first. He’s the natural leader.
“Where have you done this before?” Seth asked.
“Well, I began when I was younger than you. Firstly, working on Kole then moved onto one you can see.” He looked at Ryon. “Care to show them?”
Ryon smiled and started to lift his shirt while turning his left hip towards us.
“Whoa!” We said in reaction to seeing a howling wolf head climbing up his side.
“I want that one!” Seth said.
Ryon laughed while dropping his shirt. “This first then we’ll see. With permission of course.”
He looked at Zayden but Zayden didn’t really seem to like the idea.
“I’m a grown up.” Seth said. “I don’t need permission.”
“You do from your superior if it distracts from your destined greatness. You were never supposed to be a wolf, Seth.”
“Is Rift okay?”
Ryon smiled. “Yeah. He’s with his family again. He’s happy.”
“Good.”
Chapter 4
Zayden
I know how my son was when it came to talking about Rift. He loved that wolf. I did too but he was just a kid when his time came and he took it harder than I did. I hated hearing him talk about him because I knew he still missed him.
“That’s good. I’m glad.”
“He misses you too.” Ryon said. “But I sense that it would be too painful to have him come here so we’re going to leave things the way they are for now.”
“No. Yeah. I completely get it. It’s fine.”
“Good. Why don’t you go up to your room and we’ll meet you?”
“Okay. Come on.” He signaled to Bryce and Dirk and they left with him but Trever and Ryon stayed with us.
“I’m sorry that was even brought up.” Ryon said.
I held up my hand. “It’s okay. He asked you.”
“We’ll go get started.” Trever said. “Or distract them for a few minutes. As I understand it, Kole wishes to speak with you.”
“Why?” Troy asked quickly.
“Just hear him out. It won’t take long.”
I nodded and they proceeded to leave and tend to the boys.
“What could he possibly want?” Darius asked.
“I don’t know.” I said. “But we’ll hear him, won’t we?”
I looked right at Troy to make sure that he understood and he nodded. “I suppose.”
“I am sorry for appearing like this.” Kole was by the table now and truly did seem sorry.
“Wha
t is this about?” Troy demanded.
“Troy, don’t be a stiff.” Darius said. “Good to see you, Kole. How the fuck are you?”
“Well. Thank you. I came with a gift if you choose to accept it.”
“What a coincidence, we love gifts.”
“I know it’s really none of my business and not nearly close to being my place but I know you haven’t chosen a weapon for Bryce yet.”
Troy tensed and he was sincerely holding off lashing out. “I’ve already agreed to let him have your bow.”
“I understand but for his character, it’s not enough.”
“What do you have?” I asked.
“Zayden!” Troy shouted.
“What? It’s true you haven’t chosen anything yet. Bryce is already sixteen and should be carrying it now. If Kole can help him be less disappointed when the time comes then I say let him.”
Troy sighed but he took heed to my advice and asked the question I did. “What do you have?”
A long wooden case appeared in Kole’s hand and he placed it on the table. “Thank you for agreeing to see them. They’re truly one of a kind.”
“They?”
He unlatched the box and lifted the lid. The three of us rose to our feet just to look inside and only at first we didn’t quite know what we were looking at. It appeared to be two swords, each about two feet in length but the blades were black.
“What are they?” Troy asked.
“I’ll give you another second to figure it out.”
Troy lifted one to show that they didn’t really shine like metal and I knew. It could only be one thing.
“Your spears.” I said.
Kole showed a slight smile. “You remembered. Good.”
“But you said they were unbreakable.” Troy said. “How did you get them into swords?”
“Why does it matter?” Darius asked, taking the other one. “These are amazing and so light.”
“Don’t worry they grew back.” Kole said. “It was no problem for me to make them.”
“Why do you really want to give these to him?”
“There is no hidden agenda here, Troy. He’s been spending a good portion of his life training with two weapons like his mother. Someone must have known he’d adapt easily.”
“And what am I supposed to say to her as to where I got these?”
“Just tell her you got them from Trever. You don’t have to say you saw me.”
“You mean lie.”
“Then tell her. I don’t care how. I just want Bryce to have these. They’re unbreakable to anything that exists here even Dirk. I trust he can take care of them.”
Troy took a moment to take it all in while keeping the room quiet. “Fine. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”
“You don’t have to tell him where they came from either if you don’t want to.”
“He should know something about it. He’ll know they’re not metal.”
“Whatever you want. I’m just glad he’ll have them. I should get back.”
“We understand and Kole—”
He stopped from turning away.
“It was good to see you.”
Of course he joked, it was always Kole’s nature. “Don’t get mushy about it, Troy. It’s always great to see me.”
He left when there was finally a smile on Troy’s face.
“He hasn’t changed.”
“No he hasn’t.” I agreed. “But thoughtful about the gift.”
“Yeah.” Troy still held one and looked it over more. “I just have to figure out how to explain them to Jaylyn.”
“You could just tell her.” Darius said. “She’s not going to emotionally crumble because Kole has been here.”
“Maybe. What do you think, Zayden?”
He tossed me one and I finally got to hold it; a very well balanced weapon. “It’s nice and it is light.”
“I told you.” Darius said.
“I know you thought that but I thought it was just because it was you. This isn’t like holding a metal sword this size.”
“He’ll like them for sure.”
“Any weapon at this point.” Troy sighed.
We knew how he felt. We all felt it. We didn’t want our boys to have to wait another day to be seen as equal men. They more than proved they deserved it.
“They’re doing well with it.” I said. “It could have been a lot worse.”
“I think today helped even if he had to come here.” Darius sneer, hating even having to bring up Trever.
“I only wanted it to be him because I knew we’d need outside help when it came to Dirk. We don’t need to let everyone know about the dead coming here.”
“I know why, Zayden.” He snatched. “But I don’t have to like it.”
“Come on.” I got up, handing Troy back the sword. “We can see how they’re handling it.”
I finally got his mood to change and Darius laughed. “Yeah. We should bring Seth a drink. He’s not exactly used to having to deal with constant pain.”
I couldn’t believe I didn’t think of that before. We were used to it when we got ours done. We grew up normal but Seth always had Bryce right there or Jaylyn even to heal him. He was definitely going to need something to distract him.
We grabbed a few things and headed upstairs to see how things were going. Trever was still preparing so he hadn’t started yet.
“Ready for this?” I asked.
Seth didn’t look nervous before while talking about it but after seeing Trever set up this table of needles, he was beginning to seem unsure about his decision. “I seriously doubt it.”
“You’ll be fine. It really isn’t as bad as it looks.”
“Of course not.” Trever assured him. “I’ll be gentle. Have a seat.”
Seth did so but slowly.
“Here. I brought you something.” I held out a bottle of rum and a glass but he only took the bottle, drinking straight from it.
“Thanks. I’ll definitely need this.”
“So, do we have to stay here or can we do something else for a while?” Bryce asked.
“Why wouldn’t you want to stay here?” Troy replied. “You can see how it’s done.”
“Oh, I get the idea. I just don’t want to see him hurting.”
“But that’s going to make it fun.” Dirk said, pulling up a chair so he could get a good view. “Seth actually being hurt. It’s going to be hilarious.”
“Thanks a lot.” Seth sighed. “Just wait until they have to take your strength away. You’ll feel it every bit as much as me.”
“I know. You can joke to me about it then. For now, I get to do it to you.”
Chapter 5
Dirk
This was great. Just the look on his face was enough. I was right in not wanting to miss a second of this and it went on for hours. The results were looking nice though. Trever was almost finished with his first initial then it would be done and I was next.
“How’s it coming?” Zayden walked back in after being away for an hour or so and Trever was just cleaning up.
“Well.” He said. “He’s finished.”
“How do you feel?”
I laughed before Seth even said a word because he got out a long groan first. “How long is it going to burn like this?”
“Few days or week even.” Trever said. “Depends on how well you heal. Just don’t pick at it.”
“Bryce!”
“No!” Zayden said. “He can’t heal you, Seth.”
“Why?”
“It’s the process.”
“I just did the process.”
“What happened?” Bryce asked coming into the room like it was urgent. “Are you okay?”
“No.”
I laughed again. “You still can’t help him.”
“Quit laughing.” Seth said. “You’re next and he won’t help you either.”
“I think I’m more okay with that than you are.”
Seth just gave me a glare.
; “All right.” Trever said. “Seth, rest. Dirk, we’ll take it to your room.”
“I’m ready.”
“Hopefully.” Ryon said.
Was I supposed to worry? I tried not to but I had no idea what it was going to be like without my strength. I guess I’d just try not moving a muscle until I got it back.
Everything was set up in my room next and my father was right there to oversee what Ryon was going to do to me. I was glad because the tension of it was distressing in itself.
“Just lean back and relax.”
Whenever someone says that, it really only gives you means to panic more.
“It’s all right.” My father assured me. “It won’t be gone for long.”
“If you say so.”
I tried to be as relaxed as possible but my nerves just went up again when Ryon reached for my head. I just closed my eyes but he did have a relatively good grip on my skull. Then his hand started to move away and I felt something being pulled from me. I can’t explain it better but it was like he was taking my soul right from my body.
“Dirk, open your eyes.”
Trever’s normal voice was reassuring and I started to open my eyes.
“Are you okay?” My father asked.
“Am I supposed to feel different?”
“It’d probably be best if you didn’t move unless you want to find out.” Trever said. “Now, let’s test it.”
He brought a needle to my skin and I watched it puncture me like I was this soft mushy thing but the pain wasn’t that much.
“Good. You ready to get started?”
“Yes. I am ready for everyone to know how awesome I am.”
He smiled and turned back to the array of needles. “Of course you are. Save all of that enthusiasm for explaining it to your mother because her mindset these days are not on you growing up this much.”
“You see her?” My father snatched suddenly before I could have gotten in a word.
Trever turned back, ready to get started and had this smile that wouldn’t go away. “Calm yourself, Darius before you hurt yourself. They had to come to Dorlin so we could assign the new Assassins to their test missions. They’re there now, waiting for them to return.”
“How much longer will they be?” I asked.
Autumn Dawn (Fate's Intent Book 11) Page 2
