by Billy Wong
She ripped the arrow out of herself with a hiss, and he helped her up to continue their journey home.
#
The twins met no more trouble on the way back to Socht, and entering town sat down just behind the gate to catch their breath. "You did great," Amber said as she caught Jacob looking with concern at the tears in her clothes.
"Thanks. You're just like Mom." He choked back a sob. "We did it, Amber. We finished what she started. But she's not here to see it."
Her own eyes misting, she assured him, "I'm sure that wherever she is, she knows what we did and is very proud of us for it."
"You mean in hell?!" Jacob snapped. He immediately felt sorry for going off on Amber, but their heroic mother really hadn't gotten what she deserved.
They stood and walked to Kild's house in silence, all feelings of pride at their success gone from their minds. They found their father looking as though he hadn't slept in days, perhaps from a mix of worry for them and grief. But though he showed the expected relief for their return, the despondence in Finn's eyes did not noticeably fade. They recounted their adventure and he neither congratulated them nor admonished them for their disobedience, but merely took the news as though it were a matter of course. After dispelling the magic portal he went straight back to bed, telling them in a flat, lifeless voice, "Good job."
The family headed home missing its matriarch and greatest warrior. Finn remained remarkably silent, only speaking when directly prompted and even then with reluctance. When they got back to Kayland, a grand and extravagant funeral, Rose's second one after she'd mistakenly been thought dead in her youth, was held in Gustrone. Many people her children did not even recognize attended the ceremony, and Jacob and Amber sat miserably through the proceedings which seemed far too impersonal.
Speakers gave Rose much acclaim for her great heroic exploits and altruistic deeds, but what of the real woman those who knew her treasured every day? Amber tried to talk about what a good and caring mother, who'd always given her all to protect her children from the hardships of life, she had been, only to break down in tears. Disheartened by his sister's anguish, Jacob hurried through his speech, saying little more than that he loved Rose very much and they would all miss her dearly.
But their father rambled on and on with his tribute, talking more than he had for days as he bemoaned her loss and bid her a loving farewell. He cried throughout, but was able to finish, his raw, pitiful expression of grief sending ice through Jacob's veins. Would he ever recover? When Finn was finished moving the huge crowd to bawl with him, he sat back down still as a statue, perhaps losing himself in his inner world of Rose's memory.
Trying to pretend things would go back to normal soon, the siblings gathered information about Clifford, the knight from Masel who'd been seen in possession of the shield likely made by the Guardians of Salvation. It turned out he was fairly well known among the adventuring set, and they expected he would not be extremely hard to locate if he still lived.
Only a few days passed, however, before both of them grew strongly disturbed at just how aloof Finn had become, spending most of his time now locked away in his room apparently daydreaming of and pining for his lost love. Once, the twins were sharing an everyday conversation over breakfast when crashing sounds and the bellows of a man in a violent fury interrupted them from their father's room. They froze chilled to the bone at the noise, knowing that Finn raged at himself over Rose's death.
Exchanging a worried glance with Jacob, Amber wondered, "What's going to happen to Dad?"
"What do you mean?" he asked fearfully.
"Even in their stories to us about their past, which they always downplayed the more upsetting details of, we've heard of several times Dad almost broke when he thought Mom dead. He had nothing to live for but vengeance in battle then, hiding from his grief by losing himself in bloodshed... what will happen now that Mom's really gone, and there's no one to avenge her on? You can see how bad he already is."
Understanding, Jacob groaned. Finn was heartbroken, and might well rot away until there was nothing left of the exuberant man who had been their father. "We've got to help him through this. At this rate, he's either going to give up and die or go totally insane."
"I agree we need to help him," Amber said despairingly, "but how? We can't bring Mom back. I wish we could!"
Though he had loved his mother more than anyone in the world, he thought her loss might be even harder on Amber if that were possible. But he knew she wouldn't want to talk about her own pain, and said, "We just have to stand by him no matter how hard it is, no matter how saddening being around him gets. Remember the man he used to be, that he still is inside, and hope he can someday get over his pain enough to return to normal life. He's strong, we can't give up on him."
"But can't we do anything for him?"
"Not really," Jacob admitted, "not the way you mean... except to make sure he knows we love and need him." And that might be hard, when a man was as broken up inside as their father. Would their support even register with him?
"Why don't we invite him to join us on our search for Clifford? It could help take his mind off the sorrow."
He scoffed. "Are you crazy? He's in no shape to go adventuring!"
"It's helped us keep functioning, hasn't it?"
Jacob supposed that was a point. If he and Amber hadn't kept busy, would they be as clear-headed as they were now? They might have dwelt on the loss of their mother had they stayed at home living ordinary lives, until every waking moment was filled with the torture of recalling her death. So maybe it was possible that with something else to occupy his thoughts, Finn might be able to look past at least some of his infinite hurt.
"Okay, Amber, let's try it. Anything's better than nothing. Though we'll have to be prepared to babysit him at any time, when he's in this state of mind."
"Well, we always knew the day would come when the children had to take care of their parents." Sadly, she added, "Just never thought it would be when Dad was in his forties."
Coming into Finn's room, they found him staring as usual into space while he reminisced of his happy times with Rose—which relatively speaking Jacob supposed was all of them, now that she was gone—and with faux cheer invited him to join them on their search.
His reply was uncharacteristically soft-spoken, but so firm in its hopelessness that it ground Jacob's heart into dust. "No, I don't want to."
"Why not?" Amber asked. "We need you!"
"No you don't. You can obviously take care of yourselves. Let your old father rest in peace." At the awful words, Jacob fled the room in tears, pity for his dad overwhelming him. How much longer could somebody who suffered so continue to live? And how could he and Amber bear to lose another parent so soon?
#
Fearing for Finn's health, the siblings remained in Gustrone at his side, vainly trying to show him their love with words and gestures that brightened his mood no more noticeably than wind changes rock. But thought he didn't recover, he didn't really get worse either, stagnant in misery until after a few weeks word came which plunged the twins into despair anew. Justin was still alive, and had returned from his trip to hell to finish his destruction of the family which had opposed him for so long.
Now that Rose was gone, the demon lord apparently hadn't bothered trying to rebuild his army, having been spotted traveling south alone towards Gustrone. What were they going to do? Rose had always been the only one capable of standing up to Justin in combat, and now... "Let's find this Clifford and his shield," Amber suggested. "If it was made by the Guardians of Salvation who stopped the previous demon lord, maybe having it will do us some good."
Jacob frowned dubiously. "We have the Guardians' sword and statue and those don't seem like much help. What makes you think the shield will be any different?"
"Hey, the sword is magically strengthened. If we had a shield like that, it would at least provide better protection from his attacks."
Insight bloomed in Jacob's min
d. "And besides, if we're searching for it, we won't be here where Justin will surely look for us first. Okay, let's go."
"Wait, what about Dad?"
They'd have to bring him with them. Even normally, Finn wasn't quite a match for the demon, and even if his vengeful wrath might give him an edge now, they couldn't risk it. "We'll take care of him. First, we need to convince him to move."
They went to Finn's room and told him the terrible news. He replied, "So this is the way things turn out. Your mother dies saving us from him, only to have sacrificed herself in vain as he returns scant weeks after. I suppose it's what happens to warriors in the end—we find an opponent we cannot defeat, and meet our fate."
"You can't just let yourself be killed without a fight!" Amber said. "It's not in you, your warrior spirit would never let you give up so easily!"
"The warrior spirit in me is dead, smothered by a blanket of anguish at your mother's loss. Let Justin kill me, he'll only be freeing me of my misery."
He couldn't mean that, could he? But the truthful monotone of his voice told Jacob he did. "Dad, Mom wouldn't want to you to die just because she did. She'd want you to go on and have a good life, even without her."
"She always did say that, whenever we stumbled onto the hated topic of her potential early death from damage accumulated over the years. But would she say that now if she could speak? Or would she want me to join her, to be at her side forever?"
Jacob had no answer, and couldn't even bear to think about it at length. His mother had fallen into hell; who knew what was happening to her poor soul? Was she being tortured, perhaps by Justin's minions? He shook with the thought, only to hear Amber say, "I think she'd still want you to stay here, no matter what. Nothing could break Mom to the point of wishing ill on you."
He wanted to believe it was true, and gave her his support. "Yeah, Mom would never betray her love for you, ever."
Despite his grief, the memory of Rose's unbreakable strength of will and spirit brought a tiny smile to Finn's lips. "I agree she wouldn't." But he halted the growing of Jacob's hope as he continued, "But I'd rather help her, wherever she is, than keep being a useless old man dreaming of her."
Jacob couldn't find his voice and started to weep, but Amber took their father's hand in both her own and said determinedly, "Dad, no. You're not the only one she left behind—we're here too, and even though we miss Mom, we don't want to die. We want to live, and stop this Dark Justice from ever harming anyone again. So quit being so damn selfish and help us." Anger sharpened her tone. "Do you want your children to die?"
The strong words surprised both Jacob and Finn, and shaking his head firmly the latter replied, "Of course I don't want you to die. But what help can I give you? I'm as useless as a horse with no legs."
"How could you even think that? You're the best warrior in Kayland!" Now, she didn't have to add.
"You didn't need my help when you took down the hell gate."
Jacob cringed at the realization of what he and Amber's final quest in the north must have done to Finn's ego, fragile after failing to save Rose. They had successfully destroyed the portal against his wishes, when he'd lacked the ability both to do the task himself and prevent them from disobeying him. In his irrational state, it must have made him feel useless and like his children no longer needed him, and think that he had no more purpose in this world.
But they did still need him, not only emotionally, but physically as well. "Dad, snap out of it!" Amber said. "Don't you remember you sealed the portal for real, because we aren't powerful enough? We do need you, and more than a little now!"
"Okay, I can close a magic gate. But I can't save you from the demon lord. Seems our line's doomed to die, after all the lines me and your mom ended over the years..."
"You never acted guilty over that before. Stop making excuses to be hopeless and fight, like you always did. Let's avenge Mom together."
That last sentence brought some fire back into Finn's eyes. "I'd love to rip Justin's entrails out and stuff them down his throat until he chokes on them." There was their dad! "But how are we supposed to beat him?"
Good question. Finn was close to being Rose's equal, but not close enough especially with regard to endurance, and in a fight against Justin, the twins would be a near nonfactor. Jacob said, "We're planning to continue our search for the treasures of the Guardians of Salvation. They were working to defeat the demon lord of their time, so we're hoping they left something behind that could be of use against ours."
"But everything we found so far would amount to junk against him."
"Not every magic artifact's created equal," Amber argued. Maybe we'll find the cream of the crop next time. Besides, like Jacob said we'll be harder to find if we're on the move."
"Fine, let's go. I would rather see Justin get his due before I join Rose in eternal bliss."
Chapter 9
The family headed for Clifford's home in the southwest corner of Masel and thus also Kayland as a whole, hoping the knight would be willing to give them at least the aid of lending them his shield until their conflict with Justin was done. He was known for his altruism despite being one of the poorest landed nobles in the country, so they dared to be optimistic. As long as Justin didn't catch up to them before they found him...
Amber felt a little guilty about leaving the magic center in Gustrone undefended, but they had evacuated the place of people and the most important books; besides, the crafty demon lord would more likely procure texts for his own use than destroy them. What worried her more was the possibility of Justin looking for them at the homes of people they were acquainted with, like Derrick among others. Sure, they'd sent letters of warning to everyone they could, but mail wasn't always reliable, and who knew where Justin would go first and how fast he'd get there? She hoped nobody else got hurt for their feud, after so many innocent lives had already been lost due to the demon's desire to kill her and Jacob. It would never happen again, she told herself—they would destroy the monster for good this time, and avenge their fallen mother.
The trip diagonally across the nation took weeks, the tension growing every day as the siblings rode down endless roads ever fearful of hearing Justin's hateful voice behind them. Finn seemed less than frightened at that possibility, and almost appeared to look forward to a final battle with his old enemy. But didn't he want to win that battle? Seeing the intense, grim resolve which filled her father's eyes at any mention of Justin's name, Amber thought that maybe he imagined he could beat the demon by himself, even if he had to die to do it. She didn't want it to happen that way.
They finally arrived in the warm region of Masel and came into view of Clifford's house, an elegant manor surrounded by beautiful meadow. It didn't look that poor, even for nobility's standards... Conspicuously located on the edge of the field was an ugly, battered shack with a fence around it about one whole foot from its walls. Passing by the shabby structure, the group walked up to the thick manor door and knocked.
"Hello. How may I be of service to you?" asked a hefty middle-aged butler.
Amber said, "We'd like to ask your master something. Can we talk to him?"
The butler gave a curt nod. "Boots off. It wouldn't do to dirty the floors."
They went inside the well lit, thickly carpeted home and up spiraling stairs to reach the master's bedroom on the second floor. "You're Clifford?" Amber asked, staring impolitely in disbelief as she laid eyes on the hairless and near toothless ancient seated in the armchair inside. He must be over ninety years old—how the hell had he been able to adventure in the harsh north only ten years ago?
He gave a very reasonable reply. "I'm not Clifford."
"B-but doesn't Clifford live here? The butler said you were the master of the house."
Wearily, the old man explained, "I am. Clifford isn't. Shouldn't everyone know this by now?"
"Sorry, we're from Gustrone, in the farthest part of the country from here. So where is he?"
"He lives in that little
shack down on the field. But I don't think he's actually home right now."
"What?!" The thing looked unfit to even be a servant's dwelling, let alone a noble's. "I thought this was his house, what happened?"
"He gave it to me. I'd been his family's gardener for sixty years and my great-grandson Len really wanted to be his squire, but I wouldn't have it. I was afraid he would get killed considering what dangerous situations Clifford always gets himself into, and then there'd be nobody to take care of me. So he offered me his estate if I let him have his squire—not that he was ever home anyway—and I accepted. The servants, I pay for by renting part of the manor out."
Kind of messed up that he would trade his great-grandson's safety for wealth, but then it wasn't any of her business. "So where is Clifford now?"
"I think he went off to find another adventure with Len."
"Where?"
An irritated edge crept into his voice. "I don't know. You think I spend my days watching him? Go ask the butler or someone."
Leaving the old master in peace, they took their questions to the workers, and to their dismay found none of them knew where Clifford had gone this time. "He's got to have some friends, right?" Finn said exasperatedly after their last possible lead, a young maid with pretty curls, denied knowledge of the knight's whereabouts.
"Maybe he's just a loner like Corn Cob," Amber teased.
"Shut up, Amber," her brother growled. "But if that is the case, maybe we could go ask nearby relatives of his. I'm a loner and I still talk to you. Hopefully he confides in family too."
She nodded. "Good idea. Let's try it!"
Traveling twenty miles to reach the dwelling of Clifford's brother Edgar, they learned the adventurous knight had gone to the hills of eastern Masel in search of some treasure or another. That didn't sound too far, much to Amber's relief. Still, Edgar had no further details. As they headed east, she wondered how they'd find a solitary knight and squire among the hills which spanned over two hundred square miles. She supposed they'd have to ask people, and hope to meet someone who had seen the duo and knew where they were going. Luckily, they'd passed through the first little hillside town the family visited along the way, and the barkeep there pointed them to the mine.
