Unraveled Homecoming

by J. L. Shelton

  She made a point to struggle a bit, but eventually her head landed on his shoulder. Her sobs broke Mattie’s heart as she relaxed into his embrace. Stroking her hair, he whispered into her ear. At first, the private words were having the same affect as the ones he gave to Dougal, and her tears began to slowly subside.

  The final thing he said, however, brought her wrath back to the forefront! The speed of the change was almost magical. One minute she was sniffling, then she let loose a vicious growl the next. She pushed him away from her, slamming him rather violently into the nearby wall! Garin cringed in sympathy as his brother’s skull hit the stones.

  Rubbing his head, Emory only stood there in utter shock when Selina screamed, “You’re an asshole!”

  A sound that seemed caught between a snarl and a sob left her lips before she ran out the front door, leaving the poor wooden thing hanging wide open. Dougal jumped up and grabbed Emory by the arm before he growled, “What in the hell did you say to her!?”

  A sad twinkle entered Emory’s eye when he swept a hand towards the open entryway. “Perhaps you should go ask her yourself.”

  Dougal snarled one final time at Emory before he rushed off in search of the emotional girl.

  Garin was beyond pissed! He rose from his place at the table and stood in front of Emory, glaring. “You better explain what in the hell just happened!”

  “An unexpected reaction.”

  “Reaction to what!?” Gregory sharply asked.

  Emory ran a hand through his red-hair, his eyes focused on the empty doorway. “All I told her was that she should never doubt the fact that she is loved more than she ever knows”

  Garin reached out and clasped his brother’s shoulder, an expression of weary understanding now on his face. “Probably not the best time to have said that.”

  The youth sighed. “True, but it was my last chance.”

  “I could always bring you back after all this is done.”

  Emory quickly shook his head. “No. While I enjoyed the time here immensely, it wouldn’t be fair to anyone.” The youth then looked his brother right in the eye when he added, “It’s time for everyone to move on.”

  Grief was starting to fill Garin’s heart while Emory made a beeline for Mattie. She went to stand up, but the shade waved at her to sit back down. His hug came from behind, giving her an extra squeeze before he whispered in her ear:

  “I’m glad my brother married you, Mattie. Keep him from getting into too much trouble, will you? At least, keep pulling his ass out of whatever fire he lands himself in.”

  Garin was staring at the two of them with a furrowed brow, and she heard Emory softly chuckle. “That protective streak might be the death of him yet. There’s one thing he doesn’t realize I know; there’s much one can learn while on the other side of the veil, after all. Like the fact my brother made a horrific deal just so he could get back to you, to save you, in those northern dungeons. Don’t ask him; he literally can’t tell you about the extent of it. Leto might be your best shot at discovering whether or not that agreement is as irrevocable as everyone thinks.”

  The confusion written all over Mattie’s face was bothering Garin, but she still had to quietly ask, “How?”

  “Because the Draconian made a similar one when he helped empower the Dragon’s Heart. His knowledge would at least be a good place to start.”

  Mattie just sat there stunned while Emory gave her a peck on the cheek before taking a step away. Her blank expression caused Garin to use their bond to inquire if she was all right. He didn’t believe Mattie when she said that she was fine. He could feel that her emotions were all over the map now—but he didn’t press the issue.

  Emory’s voice soon snapped Mattie out of the turmoil when he gently said, “I’m ready to go, brother.”

  Enraged sorrow from the bond hit Mattie like a lightning strike, twisting her guts into pieces! Garin wasn’t ready to do this, and she didn’t think he ever would be. His steps were reluctant when he approached his brother. After letting loose a remorseful sigh, he placed a hand on Emory’s shoulder. The misty tether between them quivered as if in anticipation.

  When her husband understandably hesitated to do the deed, Emory tried to reassure him, “It will be okay, Garin. You’ll be okay.”

  Garin’s voice came out like a croak as he fought the tight sob forming in his chest, finally able to say the one thing he never had a chance to do before, “Goodbye, brother.”

  Emory’s smile was one of relief. “Live well.”

  Garin brought his hand up and made a strange gesture with his fingers. Suddenly, the tether snapped as if it had been cut by a pair of invisible scissors. Emory nodded his approval as his form began to fade. Garin pulled his arms tightly about his own middle, as if keeping himself from dragging his sibling back.

  The last thing the couple heard before the youth left this world for good was a faint and heartfelt, “Thank you.”

  Chapter 46

  Garin finally plopped himself on the cold ground, out of breath and feeling like his right arm was about to fall off. Staring at the tree he had almost stripped completely bare with all the stones he had thrown at it, he bent his knees and brought them to his chest. His attempt to collect himself after the day’s events had been a failure. And the new aspect of the bond with Mattie wasn’t helping matters because he couldn’t totally shut her presence out anymore. It had been comforting at first, but now it was an irritation.

  He lifted his head to the sky and quickly prayed to whoever was listening that Mattie couldn’t feel his annoyance about that particular change. Out of all of them, she had readily understood why he had needed to wander off by himself. That woman was truly a gift he did not deserve, especially after today.

  You’ll be okay. his brother had said.

  Well, he wasn’t okay! Not by a long shot! While Emory’s first death hadn’t been by his hands, this thing that felt like his brother’s second death sure as hell was! It didn’t matter if it was something the youth had wanted or was something that had to be done eventually, he still felt guilty about sending the boy back to the veil.

  It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes after Emory was gone before Garin had fled to the back of the estate. Once he had made sure he was truly alone, grief had nearly crushed him completely. Temporarily blinded from the onslaught of tears he couldn’t stop, it didn’t take long for him to fall to his knees and curl up into himself as the emotional pain overcame coherent thought. All that was left was a hole in his soul, and he was freefalling into darkness. Once the racking sobs subsided, his roars of anger at the heavens had chased off all the wildlife, none of which had yet returned.

  Why had he been given the power to reconnect with his brother only to go through this hell a second time!?

  Then he had picked up a stone while he had gotten back on his feet. After tossing it up in the air a few times while thinking about how unfair this universe was, he had violently hurled it at the trunk of the thickest pine tree. The resounding strike had made him feel only slightly better, so he had done it again and again and again. Each throw an outlet for his growing rage; each shattered bit of bark a representation of his tortured sanity.

  A nearby twig suddenly snapped, bringing Garin’s attention swiftly back to the present. He didn’t rise, not even when his body reflexively tensed up, knowing the intruder had to be someone from the house. His assumption was soon proven correct when he saw Dougal enter the clearing. The black-haired youth appeared to have been attacked by furs, considering he was not only wearing a cloak but also struggling to carry another.

  The young voice was almost muffled when he stated, “You left this at the house.”

  Garin’s eyebrow rose in surprise before looking down at himself. He hadn’t noticed the lack of the warm covering at all. Despite each breath turning to icy mist in the cold air, he only felt a slight chill as if he was standing in an early autumn’s breeze. Troubled by that fact, he rose from the ground and quickly r
etrieved the garment from Dougal’s arms.

  “Thanks,” he muttered while he shrugged on the cloak.

  Dougal nodded a response before tilting his head to the side. The corners of the youth’s mouth slightly turned down before he let out a sad sigh. “Looks like you don’t need any help pulverizing a tree with some rocks.”

  Garin heard the disappointment, making him realize the kid had wanted to return the favor from the other day. Perhaps try to have another heart-to-heart talk in the process. When Dougal started to shuffle his feet back and forth in an uncomfortable fashion, Garin suddenly realized that he had yet another thing in common with the boy. While it hadn’t been at the hand of his own damn mother, Dougal too had been a terrorized victim of foul magic.

  It was this strange bit of kinship that made Garin quickly offer, “It’s not the only tree in the woods.”

  Dougal brightly smiled at the unspoken proposal to renew their friendly competition. “True. But I know the others are getting anxious about the time. When I left the house, Mattie was ready to gag Leto for complaining so much.”

  Just the image alone caused Garin to bark out a laugh. “She would at that.” Feeling like a weight had lifted off his heart, he reached out and lightly patted Dougal’s shoulder. “And as much as I would love to give her a chance to restrain him, we probably shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

  Soon the youth and the man were silently trudging their way back towards the house, carefully winding themselves around trees and potential pitfalls. Allowed to grow wild with every intention of being a natural obstacle course, the woods held some hidden dangers for the unwary. Luckily, the manmade traps were easy for Garin to spot, while Dougal’s harsh training helped the boy to identify them as well.

  It was just after they sidestepped an indentation lined with sticks when Dougal took in a shaky breath. The hesitancy came out like a stammer, “I—I’m sorry about Emory.”

  So am I, kid, in more ways than you’ll ever know. he thought harshly to himself. Aloud, he softened his answer and politely muttered, “Thank you.”

  Dougal stopped moving, causing Garin to turn around and face him. The features on the youth’s face were twisted in a fashion often found on those trying not to cry. “I didn’t say that just because it’s what everyone expects at a time like this. You’re not the only one who will miss him, you know! He…he was the first friend I ever had. Who wasn’t all grown up like you and Mattie, I mean.”

  That comment brought a whole different kind of guilt down on Garin. After all, with whom was Emory going to spend his time while his brother had been so busy these last few days? It should have been obvious that the shade’s first choice wouldn’t have been any of the adults. No wonder Dougal’s initial reaction to Emory’s decision to leave had been anger. And Selina’s actions made a great deal more sense to him now.

  The two were as emotionally torn up as he was.

  Damn, I’m a selfish bastard.

  But with his own emotions still raw and bleeding, Garin had no idea how to comfort the boy. Unlike his sister, Gertrude, he was pretty sure Dougal would not appreciate any kind of hugging right now. Then the answer came to him from out of the blue; at least, he hoped it was the correct one.

  It was with a quiet voice that Garin gently said, “Selina’s your friend too.”

  The boy wittingly stammered, “Se—Selina?”

  Garin’s responding nod caused a blush to creep into Dougal’s cheeks. The youth quickly bowed his head and shook it before storming past Garin and muttering, “I don’t know about that.”

  Realizing he had chosen the best distraction, Garin smiled before catching up to the kid. His curiosity was genuine when he asked, “Why would you say that?”

  Dougal let out a frustrated huff. “She confuses the hell out of me!” he grumbled. Without missing a step after he easily jumped over another indentation in the ground, he continued on in the same annoyed tone, “She acts like a normal person one moment, and then she does something completely crazy the next! Like today, when I went to help her…she angrily said that she didn’t give a damn if Emory was leaving. But she was crying the same time she was cursing up a storm. Then when I moved closer, she screamed at me to leave her alone. When I actually began to do as she asked, she started yelling that I didn’t give a damn about her feelings!”

  Garin used a hand to cover the wide grin on his face. The girl kept reminding him of Mattie as each day went on. Somehow he managed to keep the humor out of his voice when he said, “I can see how that would make things difficult.”

  “I gave up and left her there,” grumbled Dougal, pulling his cloak tighter around himself. “And I have no idea if that was the right thing to do.”

  “Only time will tell.”

  “Be honest, Garin,” pleaded the youth as he stopped walking and turned a pair of weary eyes the man’s way. “Are all women that insane?”

  The chuckle couldn’t be hidden this time. “I’m afraid they all are, in one fashion or another. But the right one is worth every ounce of aggravation.”

  Dougal’s face and tone were crest-fallen. “I am so doomed.”

  “It can seem that way,” agreed Garin as he placed a hand on the youth’s shoulder. “But you have a few more years before you need to truly worry about that.”

  The boy let out a noise of frustrated disbelief and looked out into the woods. His hazel eyes then grew wide for a quick moment as if an epiphany had hit him. A young brow furrowed soon thereafter.

  “Only one tree?”

  Now Garin was the one to look confused by that question, so for clarification he asked his own, “Did you think I would’ve started stripping the bark off a second one by the time you found me?”

  Dougal quickly shook his head. “No. It’s just that…” He let out a frustrated puff of air before he continued, “With the way everyone was whispering before I left the house, I’m surprised the only damage I saw had been done with nothing but rocks.”

  Garin couldn’t help but to back up a step, his eyes the ones widening now. With all his rage and grief, his magic should have exploded! When Dougal’s expression turned into one of alarm at Garin’s reaction, the man took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

  Garin did a quick internal inspection. Yes, every bit of his power was still there, though he wasn’t sure whether to be grateful for that fact or not. But it was no longer madly swirling around as if it were a storm ready to break. Something had calmed the arcane energy down, considerably. He had a few suspicions as to the possible cause for this unusual happenstance, like the unexpected merge with Mattie’s powers or the breaking of a curse that had been sleeping inside of him for nearly half his life. The only thing he knew for certain was that he had finally gained a modicum of control over his magic.

  “Garin?”

  The man opened his eyes to a very concerned youth. He gave Dougal a wry smile, “It’s just been a weird day all around for me, kid. I’ll be fine.”

  “You better not be patting me on the head,” said the youth in a snarky tone, crossing his arms and glaring at the same time.

  Garin clapped him on the shoulder, looked him in the eye, and sincerely said, “I’m not. If something truly troubling was going on, I would have told you that I couldn’t talk about it. Believe me, I know better than to outright lie to you.”

  Dougal tilted his head sideways for a moment, giving the man a dubious look. “After that, I have to ask—do you really think this plan involving the Watchtower is going to work?”

  “You really take that proverbial inch far beyond the full mile, don’t you?”

  “And my sister doesn’t?”

  Garin couldn’t help but laugh at that. “She most certainly does,” he said jovially. Then he released a quick sigh before he frankly said, “But as to the plan—Dougal, I honestly don’t know if it’s going to work out the way your father expects it to. All I can say is that I hope it will.”

  Chapter 47

  “Mattie, come and see i
f I’m right about this!”

  Garin was crouching down, glancing intently at something on the snow-covered ground. Amazement flowed out of him, both through the bond and from the contagious nature of his awestruck expression. After today’s earlier and heart-breaking events, his sudden excitement made Mattie readily comply with his request. Anything that had lifted the heavy weight of guilt and rage that followed him around was worth investigating.

  As she trudged through the ankle-high carpeting of white and cold fluff, gratefulness enveloped her. The snow appeared to have fallen around the repaired and scrubbed-down Watchtower shortly before their arrival; the pristine landscape not yet disturbed by anything save the trio, helping to ease any worry about not being alone up here. Leto’s timing when it came to using his teleportation orb had been perfect; the snow had not crusted yet and was still a light powder, making it relatively easy to navigate.

  Now Mattie watched in wonder as Garin placed his hand a few inches over the snow. A slow stream of wisp-like magic came from the hovering appendage while he used the element of Air to gently brush a clear view to the ground beneath. When his face wasn’t starting to pale as it usually did when he performed that spell, her eyebrow rose. Between using his power instead of his hand for something so simple and recovering easily from being whisked between far-flung locations in a matter of seconds, Garin’s comfort with magic had obviously grown in a very short amount of time.

  And she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

  “Look,” he said once Mattie was behind him, nodding his head towards the shallow hole in the snow.

  She crouched down, her curiosity in overdrive. Then confusion filled her after she got a good view of the ground. Why was Garin so jubilant about thick tufts of yellowing grass?

  He frowned at her lack of excitement. “Mattie, don’t you see?” he said in exasperation. “Orla and Jacques’ healing magic worked! The land is truly recovering; I can feel it!”