Path of Shadows

by Ben Wolf

  But he didn’t. The second soldier sheathed his sword, bent down, and helped the first soldier up. They limped away together.

  Mehta’s thirst screeched at him, trying to bury him emotionally, but he paid it no mind. He’d gotten good at ignoring it over the last few months, and he wasn’t about to stop now.

  Even so, a battle still raged in the center of his village, and he needed to ensure that it came to a swift end. His thirst would gladly help with that, so he shook the blood off of his knives and hurried back toward the others.

  Kent smiled as Garrick grabbed Falna from behind, pulled her out of the house she was burning, and hurled her across the street. She tumbled to a halt against the side of another home, unconscious, as Garrick stepped into the burning house.

  Kent looked up at Aeron, who still rode atop Wafer, and nodded. Understanding passed between them, clear as day: Garrick had flipped, and they needed to help him with the people in that house—if any of them had survived.

  Though exhausted from fighting Garrick, Kent forced his aging body to run toward the burning house. He had an idea, and if it worked, it could help save the people inside.

  As he drew closer, the heat from the flames hit his face, intensifying with every step. Falna had gone much too far, as she had back at Aeron’s house, but this time, Kent could help. He dug his hands into a mound of snow near a tree and dumped magic into it.

  That mound of snow stayed still, but he called forth the powder that covered the branches from the surrounding trees. Snow shot toward the house in white clumps and landed on the flaming roof, hissing and steaming upon impact.

  It wasn’t enough to stop the flames, but Kent continued to direct more and more snow to the house—through the windows, through the cracks and holes burned into the walls, and even through the front door.

  Meanwhile, Aeron and Wafer flew toward the house’s roof, now no longer burning, and crashed through it with a few good stomps from Wafer’s legs. Wafer dropped into the house and quickly flapped his way up again, this time with a brown-skinned man clutched in his hind claws.

  Almost at the same time, Garrick burst through one of the house’s burning walls with a young girl wrapped in his arms. If Kent had to guess, he figured she was about six or seven years old.

  Black splotches of soot covered the villagers and Garrick, and sweat streamed down their faces. The girl coughed and clung to Garrick, but she was alive.

  Aeron and Wafer carefully set the man down on the street and landed beside him. He lay there with his eyes closed. Were they too late to save him?

  Kent glanced at Falna again. She still lay there, unmoving.

  When Kent turned back, Mehta was standing next to Aeron and Wafer, looking down at the man. Kent had no idea where he’d come from, but Mehta’s sudden appearances and disappearances no longer surprised him. He’d even started to expect it to happen, to some degree.

  Mehta crouched next to the man and checked him over.

  “Is he breathing?” Kent said as he approached.

  Mehta shook his head. “No.”

  Beside them, Garrick still held the small girl. She hadn’t let go of him, and he hadn’t tried to put her down. Her face was buried in his chest.

  If this man was the girl’s father, and if something were truly wrong, then it was better if she didn’t see what transpired.

  Kent had received some basic medical training by virtue of once commanding a large portion of Muroth’s southern army, but it had been ages since he’d dealt with anything severe. With something like this, he wasn’t even sure where to begin.

  But Mehta jumped in and knelt next to the man. He made a triangle shape with his hands, positioned them on the center of the man’s chest, and began pumping at a steady, even pace, about once per second.

  By that point, a small group of villagers had surrounded them, staring and gawking while the ruins of the burning house smoldered in the background.

  Kent had no idea what he was witnessing, but within less than two minutes, the man awakened with a faint gasp, coughed, and then gasped and coughed some more.

  “Water?” Mehta asked the villagers around them.

  A boy ran off and returned with a wooden cup of water. He handed it to Mehta, who helped the man drink it. He got about half of it down before coughing again and sputtering some of it back out.

  “Easy,” Mehta coaxed. “Try to drink some more.”

  The man drank the rest of the cup and asked for more, and Mehta sent the boy running again.

  “Where’s my daughter?” the man asked.

  At the sound of the man’s voice, the girl in Garrick’s arms turned toward him. “Papa?”

  “I’m here!” he cried.

  Garrick set her down, and she ran to her father and embraced him.

  The boy returned with more water, and the man made his daughter drink it instead.

  Kent smiled. Decades earlier, his only child had perished in childbirth along with his wife. Even so, he could still admire the selflessness of a man who’d nearly died to offer water to his daughter instead.

  Kent’s father would’ve done such a thing for him, too—more, even. But the thought of his father filled him with regret that soon gave way to musings about revenge against Fane. He stuffed them back into the dark recesses of his mind where they would lurk until the time was right, and he refocused on the beautiful scene before him.

  The girl searched the crowd. “Where’s Mama?”

  Her father blinked at her, then he looked up at Mehta.

  Mehta turned to Garrick, and Garrick solemnly shook his head.

  The man saw it, and tears filled his eyes. He pulled his daughter close again and hugged her tightly, and they both cried together.

  Kent’s fists clenched. Falna had gone much too far.

  He turned toward where she was laying again, but this time, he didn’t see her.

  She wasn’t there.

  Kent turned back to Aeron and Mehta. “Falna’s gone.”

  Aeron’s eyes widened. “Kallie!”

  Chapter Eight

  Aeron and Wafer shot toward Mehta’s house, only to find the door hanging open. Were they too late? Had Falna already found Kallie?

  He practically leaped off Wafer’s back and nearly botched his landing on the uneven ground, but he recovered and rushed inside with his spear at the ready.

  Caution screeched in the back of his mind, telling him his spear would be too long to effectively fight inside the small home, but he didn’t have any other weapons with him. He would make do. All that mattered now was Kallie.

  Inside, he found Palomi, Grandfather, and Ferne huddled near the fire, covering themselves with blankets but peering up at him and trembling. Aeron’s heart stuttered until he realized that a second blonde head had emerged from underneath the others.

  Kallie. They were shielding her.

  Relief cascaded through Aeron’s body and spirit as Kallie looked up at him with those familiar blue eyes.

  Scraping sounded from the door behind Aeron, and he whirled around with his spear raised. There was no one there. He flashed back to when Falna had blasted into his parents’ house and taken Kallie, but the memory fizzled when he heard Ferne’s voice.

  “Mehta!” she cried.

  Aeron turned back again to find Mehta amid his blanketed family and Kallie. Ferne clung to him, and he embraced her in return.

  How had Mehta gotten past Aeron so quickly? Must be a Xyonate thing.

  Then Aeron noticed the back door was open, too, and he got his explanation.

  “Where are the others?” Aeron asked.

  “Outside,” Mehta replied.

  “Wafer and I are gonna try to find Falna. If she escapes, she’ll just come back for Kallie. We need to put an end to her. Watch over Kallie.”

  Mehta nodded, and Aeron charged back out toward Wafer.

  As he mounted, Aeron noticed that Wafer’s anxiety had diminished just as Aeron’s had. He hadn’t had to tell Wafer that Kallie
was still safe; Wafer had gotten the impression through their bond the instant Aeron saw her inside the house.

  Reinvigorated, they lifted off together, united in purpose to find Falna and any of the other soldiers who’d fled.

  To Aeron’s dismay, a multi-hour search of the rest of the village turned up nothing but the dead bodies of the two soldiers Mehta had killed.

  They’d widened the search radius into the surrounding trees, and Aeron and Wafer had flown in calculated arcs over the valley in search of Falna and the remaining soldiers, but they hadn’t found any sign of them.

  Back in the Govalian Wyvern Knight Corps, Aeron would’ve been searching with at least seven or eight other wyvern knights. With that many sets of eyes in the skies, sneaking away would’ve been nearly impossible.

  As much as Aeron wanted to put an end to Falna’s pursuit once and for all, he couldn’t afford to push Wafer any harder—especially in light of what had happened the last time he’d done it. So they headed back to the village to rendezvous with the others.

  Wafer landed in the small garden behind Mehta’s family house, and Aeron dismounted and headed inside.

  Garrick and Kent stood in one corner of the house, off by themselves, talking in hushed, yet sharp, tones. The sinister flail and battle-axe that Garrick had been wielding leaned up against the wall next to him.

  Mehta stood guard, as usual, but this time he held his knives in his hands and frequently glanced between both doors and the windows. He also cast occasional glances at Garrick, too, and Aeron didn’t blame him for it one bit. Aeron was still determining Garrick’s role in all that had happened, too.

  Ferne sat off to the side, playing chess with Mehta’s grandfather on a wooden board with pieces carved out of pine—except for the rooks. Those were just pinecones.

  Kallie lay near the fire, swaddled in blankets and staring into its flickering void, and Palomi milled about the small kitchen area, preparing food for, presumably, all of them. If she’d been mad about allowing Aeron and Kallie to stay, how did she feel now?

  Aeron felt bad about intruding. The house had been small with just Palomi, Grandfather, and Ferne living in it. Cramming in Mehta, Kallie, Aeron, and now Kent and Garrick, too, must’ve really irked her.

  At least I didn’t try to bring Wafer inside, Aeron mused.

  His musing faded quickly, though. The artificial peacefulness of the situation unnerved Aeron.

  Falna was still out there, still plotting ways to recapture Kallie for Lord Valdis. His friends all acted as if they couldn’t be bothered to find her and put an end to her once and for all.

  Aeron knew that wasn’t really the case, but that knowledge did nothing for his peace of mind.

  Kent noticed Aeron standing there and broke away from his tense conversation with Garrick. “Any luck?”

  Aeron shook his head. He inhaled a quick breath and cleared his throat to regain his composure. “Trees are too thick. Even in broad daylight, we didn’t see anything definitive. If I had more wyvern knights, we could’ve found them.”

  Kent nodded, somber. “Then we are due to have a conversation, the four of us.”

  Aeron didn’t like the idea of standing face-to-face with Garrick and having it out, but it did need to happen. “I would say so.”

  “Preferably somewhere more private, if possible.” Kent motioned toward Ferne and Kallie with a nod.

  “I understand,” Aeron said. “Maybe out back? There’s a small garden, if you could call it that, enclosed by several trees. Probably our best option.”

  “Get Mehta. Garrick and I will meet you out there.”

  A moment later, they all stood in the garden behind the house.

  Aeron could sense Wafer nearby—he was hunting for some breakfast. Maybe if he got a large enough deer or elk, Aeron could get a leftover piece of it from him.

  “I want to start by apologizing,” Kent began. “I owe each of you an apology, and for different reasons.”

  He turned to Aeron and Mehta, who stood side-by-side, facing Kent and Garrick.

  “I am sorry for not supporting you in your time of need, back at Valdis Keep,” Kent said. “Had I known then what I know now, I would have joined you immediately.”

  Aeron and Mehta glanced at each other, and then they both shrugged. Neither of them could really fault Kent for staying out of it. It had been a shrewd move on his part despite an impossible situation.

  “Yet I am also glad that I did not.” Kent turned to Garrick, who stood there with his arms folded. “Over the last several days, as we’ve traveled with Lord Valdis’s men, I tried to influence Garrick to join us. It seems to have worked. Even so, Garrick, I am sorry for going back on my word and not fully supporting you when I had the chance.”

  Garrick gave him a curt nod. “I guess I need to apologize as well.”

  Aeron steeled himself and folded his arms to match Garrick’s posture. Garrick had tried to kill Aeron, Mehta, and Kent in the service of Lord Valdis. It hadn’t mattered that Aeron’s sister was involved. Now an apology was supposed to somehow make up for all of that?

  “I was wrong to side with Lord Valdis,” Garrick continued. “Completely wrong. He’s evil, and I should’ve known better. But I felt like I didn’t have a choice. I’m sorry he’s after your sister again. I really am.”

  Aeron didn’t respond. He couldn’t deny Garrick’s sincerity or that he’d definitively changed sides and tried to help. But with Falna out there somewhere, Kallie was still at risk.

  Garrick turned to Mehta next. “I’m also sorry for nearly killing you both.”

  Mehta shook his head. “You didn’t nearly kill me.”

  Garrick scoffed. “That’s not how I remember it.”

  “You remember wrong,” Mehta said.

  “Maybe you just didn’t realize it.”

  “No.” Mehta shook his head.

  “You want another round so I can show you exactly how close you came?” The edge had returned to Garrick’s voice again, and his arms lowered to his sides with his fists clenched.

  Before Mehta could respond, Kent stepped forward with his hands up. “Enough, both of you. We are exchanging apologies, not inciting further conflict. Stay focused.”

  “I was done anyway.” Garrick folded his arms across his chest again.

  Silence hovered between the four of them for a long moment, and Aeron’s thoughts ran rampant through his mind. Finally, he blurted, “Your apology isn’t enough.”

  Garrick shifted his attention to Aeron, and his eyes took on a familiar ferocity. “What else do you want? I can’t undo the past. What’s done is done.”

  “You were gonna hand my sister over to a man who wanted to sacrifice her as part of a ritual!” Aeron fired back. “Nothing about that is acceptable.”

  Winter’s cold hung in the air, but Aeron continued to heat up as the conversation continued.

  “I know that,” Garrick snapped. “That’s why I apologized.”

  “But you went along with it anyway.”

  “I changed sides. And I’m apologizing for being on the wrong side to begin with. And you intentionally deceived me—” He glanced between the three of them. “—all of you, before we finished the job.”

  “That’s not the point.” Aeron stood before Garrick, far closer than he’d ever wanted to get, and glared up into his dark eyes. “My sister’s life was in danger because of you and your master. And for whatever reason, they’re still after her.”

  “What else do you want?” Garrick held out his hands. “I screwed up, alright? Lord Valdis would’ve killed me if I didn’t go along with it. Kent was there. He knows.”

  Aeron and Mehta looked at Kent.

  “That is true,” Kent said. “I initially agreed to go along with the plan to recapture Kallie as well. We were both under duress. Lord Valdis gave us a choice… but not really. Our demise was implied, had we declined the opportunity to bring Kallie back.”

  Aeron digested that for a moment. “So from the be
ginning, you were only doing this because Lord Valdis was going to kill you if you didn’t?”

  Garrick bristled. “Not entirely. Truth is, I was doing it partly because I wanted to restore my reputation. Too many jobs had gone wrong recently. A merc who can’t deliver is worthless.”

  Aeron started to say something in response, but Garrick spoke over him.

  “Needless to say, I had the wrong motivation. I know that now, but at the time, I couldn’t see it,” he said. “If Kent hadn’t been there to show me the error of my ways, I may never have seen it.”

  “What made you change your mind?” Mehta asked.

  Aeron and Kent had been there when Garrick had flipped, but Mehta hadn’t witnessed Garrick’s change of heart.

  “When Falna stormed into that house and started to burn it down—and that woman died—that changed it for me,” Garrick replied. “I couldn’t be a part of that. I won’t be a part of anything like that, ever.”

  Another long, silent moment followed. Garrick had done wrong by Aeron and Kallie… right up until he decided to try to make things right. It had happened later than Aeron would’ve liked, but Kallie was still safe, so what harm had Garrick really done?

  If he were being honest, Aeron had failed Kallie just as much. They could’ve fled instead, but he’d chosen to fight, and then he’d shifted his focus to helping the villagers get out of that house instead of keeping track of Falna. If he’d focused on her, Aeron could’ve stopped Falna for good, and Kallie would be safe indefinitely.

  “Look,” Aeron finally said to Garrick. “I don’t care about your reputation. I don’t care if that’s why you were doing this. I don’t care that Lord Valdis said or implied he was going to kill you.

  “When it’s all said and done, he still wants her back for some reason, even though I smashed his dragon egg. Nothing’s going to stop him from coming after her. Keeping her safe is all that matters right now.”

  Kent raised his forefinger. “That makes for a good transition to the real conversation we need to have. I recognize that trust must be rebuilt and wounds need time to mend, but Lord Valdis is the real issue.