The Reclaiming: The Keepers Saga: Volume Two

by Dillon McNaight

  One of the guardsmen at the southern gate noticed Ayden, and shouted to the other guard, “It’s the captain, open the gates!”

  The two men rushed to open the gates, and barely had them opened as Ayden and his company rushed through them, kicking up snow packed with dirt and rocks as they raced past the guardsmen. One by one, Ayden and his company raced up the many levels of the city, with city folk sticking their heads outside their doors to see who was riding with such urgency through the city streets. As they reached the final level, Ayden brought his exhausted horse to a stop. As he attempted to dismount, he fell to the ground out of utter exhaustion from the nonstop journey from Deer-Run. He quickly rose to his feet, defying his body its desire to give in, and ran towards the doors that led into the Royal Chambers. Just before he reached them, he tripped and fell over himself, face first into the cold snow. Again, the nearly collapsed captain rose to his feet and threw himself into the doors, bursting them open, with the sudden noise of the doors colliding with the opposite wall startling Malthius and Kalorah. They turned to investigate the sudden and unannounced intrusion. Ayden struggled with every inch of his forfeited body to prevent himself from collapsing but failed to do so as he fell to his knees. Through his blurred vision, he saw Savannah rushing over to his side, catching him before he fell completely over.

  He tried to mutter out a few words, “The King… my brother, is in… is in danger...,”

  The sight before him cause his words to desist, and through the fog that served as his vision, he saw someone else wearing the crown of the King. He forced his tired eyes to concentrate as Dathian came into focus. Just as the prince began to make his way over to him, the rest of the world through his utterly exhausted eyes turned dark, causing him to blackout.

  Ayden slipped into a dream, a timeline of his life. He saw his mother and father preparing dinner when he was only a small child. He saw his brother Daane walk through the door of their modest home after working the fields all day. He saw the day that his older brother Daane left to become a member of the Kain’s Guard when he was only sixteen years old, and the day that his father found out that he was sick. He saw the day that his mother laid her husband to rest and the day that he became the head of the household, left to take care for his mother. He saw the day that Daane and Alendria gave birth to his first nephew and the day that Daane was named King of Kain. He saw the day that he first laid eyes on the Keeper of the Bow and the day that he saw the Dragonkin fleet fly towards the capital. He saw the day that the combined forces of the Kain and the Ela took back their city, and when Bargokk was exiled to the Frozen Isles. He saw his bother Daane be overcome by grief and drink his sorrows away. He saw the face of the captain Krog as he asked about the King and the black blood that ran through his veins, and the last image he saw was that of the young prince Dathian wearing his crown. He then woke suddenly.

  As he sat up, and the sudden blurred vision of reality came into focus, he felt a hand on his. He turned, expecting to see his love, but instead saw Kalorah. She was saying something to him but it sounded nothing more than mumbled words. He turned his attention away from her as he surveyed the room. The Royal Chambers were in full commotion, all of which could not be translated into actual words, for to Ayden, it sounded like nothing more than a melody of meaningless words and emotions. He saw Nathian leaning against a wall with his head in his hands. He saw the rest of the Kain’s Guard that traveled to the capital with him pacing around the room, trying to make sense of some tragedy. He then heard a constant sound coming from the left of him. The consistent mumble slowly became clear as he finally heard the word, “Ayden!”

  Ayden turned to Kalorah, as she said, “Ayden… can you hear me?”

  He finally regained his ability to speak, as he locked onto her eyes, and said, “What… what happened? Where is Daane… where is my brother?!”

  Kalorah seemed momentarily speechless as Ayden watched her search for the right words to say.

  “Tell me!”

  Though seemingly reluctant, she finally said in a soft tone, “He’s dead.”

  Ayden threw her hand away from his in disbelief, and rushed to his feet. Kalorah tried to grab his arm, but he just brushed it away and walked towards the center of the room, and a large round wooden table with a map of Kranos etched into it, with several pieces of marble carved into buildings and small armies on top. He grabbed one side of the table with both hands, and in a fit of rage, threw it upside down, sending the pieces of marble flying through the room. He then let out a terrifying scream as a flood of emotions filled his body, causing his face to turn bright red. Everyone in the room turned to look at the frightful captain.

  Ayden then yelled into the air, directed at no one, “WHERE IS THE KING?!!! WHERE IS MY BROTHER?!!!”

  No one knew what to say, or how to react, for none of them have ever seen the captain react this way. Ayden looked at each person in the room, looking for an answer as his tired knees quivered while trying to keep his body from falling over.

  Finally, after several seconds, which seemed like hours had passed, a voice erupted, “MY FATHER…” Ayden turned to face the origin of the voice, as Dathian continued, “MY FATHER… THE KING… IS DEAD!!!”

  Every eye in the room quickly turned and focused their gaze on the emotional prince in utter disbelief. Savannah stood speechless by his side as she contemplated on whether to try and calm him down, or let him be. Kalorah also contemplated intervening in the growing conflict between the captain and his nephew.

  Dathian started to walk towards Ayden with a combination of anger and sadness, with tears freely falling from his red eyes, as he continued, “My father, your brother, finally freed himself from the weight of his burdens. We can either stand here and deny the truth, or move on. He is not coming back this time, and I’m not sure that if I was him, I would not want to. We haven’t won anything. Our people are starving, and our city is in ruin! Only WE can rewrite our history… WE who lived it… who SURVIVED it!”

  Dathian continued to walk towards the enraged captain, who slowly began to lower his guard, and allow his seldom witnessed emotions to surface.

  Dathian continued in a softer tone, “I just lost my last living parent, and I am now an orphan of Kain. I have NO family…” Dathian reached the captain of Kain and stopped as his emotions remained restrained behind his struggling eyes, and he ended with, “…except you.”

  Everything that Ayden wanted to say faded from his thoughts, for he now only saw the small child that he used to play hide and go seek with on the rare occasion that he was in the capital. He now only saw his only nephew in a moment of strength through vulnerability.

  In an attempt to not undermine the prince’s strength and authority, Ayden said, “I am sorry for your loss. I shall allow you to grieve properly, and I ask that you allow me to do the same.” Ayden looked around at the Kain’s Guard, who stood guard around the prince, who they saw as their King now. Ayden added, “So, am I allowed to leave on my own, or do you have to excuse me first?”

  Dathian, holding back his snap anger, answered, “Do what you want, you always have.”

  He then turned and walked back towards Savannah as he nodded to the surrounding Kain in appreciation for their voluntary obedience.

  Kalorah then turned and walked towards Ayden and said, “We need to talk. Come, you don’t need to see your brother like he is.”

  She led the captain to a small room down the hall, and closed the door behind them.

  She then turned to face Ayden, and said, “You traveled with such haste, tell me why? What have you seen?”

  Ayden then told her everything that had happened from the moment they approached the village of Deer-Run, to the capture of Krog.

  Kalorah then said, “Where is he now? Where is the Drykan captain?”

  Ayden replied, “Ethan is bringing him here.”

  “Alone?!”

  Realizing that he left Ethan to perform an impossible task for someone with his expe
rience, momentarily regretted his decision.

  After a moment, he then retracted his doubt, and said, “Yes… alone. I would trust the boy with my life if need be. He will be here shortly, then you can have your prize, seeing how that is your only concern.”

  Ayden then brushed past the White Queen, and left for his own home to begin processing his grief. He, however, won’t be staying there for long. He does not believe that his brother could kill himself. No… he was murdered, and Ayden was sure of it. He knew deep in his heart that Alandra was not going to return to him, but that seems like a distant memory at this point. His entire focus has now shifted to finding his brother’s killer… at any cost.

  CHAPTER 20

  THE HARLOT, AND THE SOLDIER

  Back in the village of Deer-Run, Ethan was preparing to leave now that Talliel had finally arrived. He knelt and pinched the hide behind Talliel’s right front hoof causing the mare to raise her foot, and allow Ethan to cradle the elevated foot between his legs. He held on to her foot with his knees as he took out his dagger, and carefully, but thoroughly, cleaned out the packed snow and gravel from her frog, then released her foot and gave her a pat on her shoulder.

  “That’s a good girl,” said Ethan as he walked around to pick up Talliel’s left front hoof.

  As he ducked down under the mare’s neck, he ran his hand along her chest, scratching as he went. Talliel licked her lips in satisfaction at the well desired ‘good scratch.’

  Ethan stopped and laughed, as he concentrated his scratching on one spot, and said “Is that the spot girl?”

  He continued to scratch the mare’s itch, causing her to stretch her neck out, and raise her head and front lip into the air. He simultaneously combed his fingers through her partially frozen and tangled mane.

  “I know girl, I’m ready to go home too. Well… my new home that is.”

  It was nearing sundown in the silent village of Deer-Run. It has been nearly a full day since Ayden left with Nathian and the rest of the company, leaving the task of delivering the captured captain to the capital. Ethan made sure that Krog was well secured, but he was not cruel. He gave him adequate water and food. Krog said nothing to the teen, and would rarely look him in the eye, even when accepting his offerings.

  Ethan has not seen the woman that he released from the Drykan’s bonds. As soon as she regained consciousness and was released from her ties, she ran away from Ethan, and out of site. He continued to clean out the rest of Talliel’s hooves, and comb out her icy mane and tale with his fingers. The woman that so quickly escaped from him, now walked towards him, holding her hands nervously together in front of her. She was a pretty young woman with tangled, but still silky reddish-brown hair tied back in a loose, but tangled ponytail.

  Ethan looked up and noticed her approach, and said, “There you are, I’ve been looking for you.” He let loose of Talliel’s tail, and continued, “Are you alright? I was worried when you ran off like that. I didn’t have a chance to tell you that you were safe.”

  “It’s not your fault,” she said, “I… I was scared, and… and didn’t know what else to do.” She paused for a moment as she looked down at her feet, before looking back, “By the way, my name is Melody.”

  Ethan walked up to the young woman with his hand outstretched, and said, “Well, it’s nice to meet you Melody, my name is Ethan.”

  He held his awaiting hand as the shaking young woman reluctantly held out hers, and nervously placed it in his, as he then gently shook it.

  “It’s, um, it’s nice to meet you too,” said Melody shyly, quickly pulling back her hand.

  Ethan wasn’t sure what to say to the obviously sensitive and grief-stricken woman.

  A moment passed before Ethan broke the silence, and said, “So, did you have a family here?”

  The woman quickly replied, “No, I haven’t had a family since I was a child. I was just here on, um, business.”

  She shyly looked down as if embarrassed.

  The ignorant Ethan then said, “Business? What business?”

  Melody reluctantly replied, “Um, I, ah, give myself to men... for money.”

  She waited for the noble Guard to immediately dismiss her in disgust.

  Ethan paused for a moment, before he said, “Oh, well it’s a good thing you didn’t have anyone here that you loved, because you were the only survivor.”

  A sense of sadness that everyone was dead overwhelmed the young woman, mixed with the feeling of joy and tenderness at the Guard’s acceptance, and absence of judgment.

  She then said, “What are you going to do with them?”

  “Well,” Ethan replied, “I haven’t given it much thought. I didn’t think it was my place to decide. If it was up to me, the village would be burned along with the bodies of the innocent that resided in it.”

  “I think that’s a great idea,” flirtatiously replied the woman, “I mean, a noble idea. It’s what they would’ve wanted… I think.”

  Ethan was shocked at the young woman’s response.

  After a momentary lapse in speech, he replied, “Then it is settled. We will cleanse the village before I travel back to the capital.”

  Later that night, with Krog securely tied to a tree outside the village, Ethan and the harlot, Melody, prepared the village to be cleansed. They gathered all the dry wood they could find, and placed it around the beds of all the homes within the village. Ethan took his time in making sure that all the dead were properly displayed on their beds, with eyes closed and arms folded. Ethan fought to contain his emotions as he picked up small children lying on the floor, especially the girl he found on the floor near the front door, still grasping onto her doll as she tried to escape. It was nearing dusk as he placed the last piece of wood around the last bed. He was able to find some dried straw as fuel to light the fires. After he opened the gate to let the survived horses out, he lit the end of a stick with straw tied around the end, and began to light the wood piles. One by one he made his way through the village, igniting the wood piles inside their homes. After he lit the last fire, he took the harlot by the hand, and led her outside the burning village to the top of a small overlooking hill. Once there, Melody said that she needed a moment to herself, and walked towards a nearby thicket of trees. While she was away, Ethan took an elk skin rug that he found inside one of the homes, and cleared an area in the snow to spread it out. He then sat down on the rug and pulled out some dried meat from his satchel, as he waited for the girl to return.

  He watched as the smoke inside the homes turned into bright red flames as they began to engulf the buildings, growing brighter and brighter. He couldn’t help but think about the countless dead within the village, and if they could have stopped them from dying. If only they had arrived just a few hours sooner, maybe they could’ve been save. His thoughts also dwelled on the King, and his friend Dathian. Although he had seen so much death and tragedy in such a short amount of time, he still tried to remain strong and sane. He missed his family, and so desperately wished he could see them again. His thoughts were interrupted as Melody approached from behind. Her eyes were puffy as though she had just been crying. He motioned for her to sit down beside him.

  “Sorry,” she said, “I just needed a minute to myself to gather my head around all of this.”

  “It’s ok,” replied Ethan, “it’s a lot to take in. I’m still not used to seeing death, though I have seen so much of it recently. I’d like to think that they are all in a better place, free from this world.”

  Melody just stared at the teen in disbelief at his infinite optimism.

  She said, “Have you always had such a positive outlook on life?”

  Ethan was a little taken aback by the question, but answered, “I guess so. I think I get it from my parents. I remember growing up, when the fields didn’t yield what they needed for us to meet our quotas, my father never seemed worried. He would always say, ‘As long as we have each other, and food on the table, we will be fine.’ I guess that just always
stuck with me.”

  Melody said, “Well, you are a better man than most, trust me, I know. I’ve seen all sorts, and most are bad at heart.”

  Ethan didn’t know what to say at the mention of the woman’s past, but finally said, “So, why do you do it?”

  Melody was taken aback by the question.

  Ethan rushed to add, “I didn’t mean any offense, it’s just that, well, you are a very beautiful woman, I just think that you could do anything else, that’s all.”

  Melody started to tear up, as she said, “No one has ever called me that before. I mean men have called me pretty, and other things, but never that. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” shyly replied the teen as he began to blush.

  After a moment, Melody said, “You’ve… never been with a woman, have you.”

  Ethan tried to hide the fact that she was making him nervous, and replied, “It’s not that I couldn’t have, it’s just that I haven’t met the right one. Well, maybe I have, and I just don’t know it. There was this one girl, but she, um, I never really had any time to actually think about it, the family business kept me busy most of the day.”

  He couldn’t bring himself to look at her, and continued to stare down at his feet with his arms resting on his knees. Melody took her hand and gently pulled the teen’s face towards hers.

  She said, “There’s always time for love.”

  She then slowly slid her hand down from his face and on to his chest, then moved her body closer to his.

  As her hand reached his heart, she stopped, and said, “You feel that?”

  Ethan nervously muttered, “Feel… feel what?”

  Melody then took his right hand and placed it over her heart, and said, “That…”

  Ethan could feel her heart beating just as fast as his.

  She then said, “That is what love feels like. When your heart is pounding so fast that you think it could just jump right out of your chest, and there is nothing left in the world around you besides the one staring into your eyes.”