Keither knew that he should be crying, but he wasn’t. He just didn’t have it in him. And Kovos wouldn’t have wanted it that way. He wouldn’t want people sulking over his death. He tried to calm his cluttered mind but couldn’t. The last thing he said to his brother was that he was selfish, which was something Keither knew to be untrue. He knew what his brother had done for him over the years; kept him from getting hit with arrows, saved him from being trampled by animals. It was too hard to think of the number of times Kovos had saved him from harm if not death. But what had he done for Kovos? What had he done for anyone? There wasn’t much that was for sure. He always had great intentions of helping, but when it came time to do it he wasn’t there. It should have been him that had been killed by the Iumenta, should have been him that had made the ultimate sacrifice for the group. All of the others put in effort, but he was just along for the ride.
Wasn’t that the way that he lived his entire life? He never thought about a trade, never cared to learn his father’s, never tried to do well at anything. About a week into their journey he had turned fifteen. They would have celebrated, but that was right after their run-in with the Royal Guard and by the time he thought of it he didn’t care. Still, fifteen years and nothing to show for it. Yes, he was young, but that was no excuse. By this age most of men in Salmont had picked a trade and were actively engaged in it. What was he going to make of his life?
Arkin rode ahead of the others, trying to fight back emotion as he went. Yet again he had failed as a protector, first with Legon’s mother and now Kovos. He knew that the effect of his death would carry farther than anyone could ever understand. Most didn’t see the connections that all men have. Not only had Kovos’ life ended, but his brother, parents, and an innocent girl back in Salmont had been hurt as well.
“No, our actions are far reaching,” he said to himself. He kicked himself. He couldn’t afford to wallow in self-pity at the moment. There would be time for that later. Now he needed to get them all to safety and to the resistance. Legon had brought them to within a few days of the border. Never had he heard of someone using magic to that extent. Well, at least not a person. A dragon yes, but not a person. Still, a small part of him was happy. It must be true now that he was an Elf, wasn’t it?
The land that they were in now was far more barren than they had yet seen. Thankfully, the area was hilly so they could rest for the night. The sun was almost to the horizon when Arkin found an area for them to camp. Legon was still out cold on Phantom and Arkin instructed them to leave him in case they needed to leave in a hurry. Their camp was surrounded by trees but he still didn’t feel comfortable starting a fire or using magic to make light. It would be easy for scouts to see and infinitely worse, dragons.
No one was hungry or talking. Arkin walked to the edge of camp and knelt, projecting his consciousness out. After hours he finally felt something on the other end. It was a new person that he didn’t know, but he had the right passwords so he passed on his report. He didn’t leave anything out, but most important he told of Legon’s transfiguration. That one got his attention. The person on the other end was shocked; Arkin figured the man wasn’t high enough ranking to be in the loop on Legon. He was instructed to head straight south and to move fast. They would try to send help if they could, but it was doubtful. Arkin made it clear that he understood and broke the connection.
Something was nudging at his mind. It was Sasha. She was trying to reestablish the network. He allowed the connection, and the first thing she wanted was a damage report.
He returned to them. With Legon out it was going to be up to him to heal any wounds. He’d enhanced their bodies during the conflict only enough to stop major injuries, so only Sasha and Sara were spared from minor cuts and bruises. The cuts he would heal to prevent them from infection, but he couldn’t waste energy on the bruises in case there was another attack.
Sara was cleaning up Keither. He hadn’t been hurt all that bad in the fight, but the tree had left a nice cut on his head. Even with Legon healing it there was blood caked in his hair and on his face.
“Sara, I can do this you know,” Keither protested
“I know that, but you don’t have a mirror and you don’t want to miss any.”
She wasn’t just doing it to make him look more presentable for the horses, but more because she was worried about him. His brother just died, and Keither had killed for the first time as well, but there was no emotion in his eyes. Shouldn’t he be wailing or something? She would have been if it were her brother. Or was he in shock? That was more likely. She was having a hard time looking at him the way she did before. He was always a harmless boy, but now he wasn’t. He was like his brother in some ways, especially in the way that enabled him to go out of his mind with rage and kill. That trait was one that she didn’t like. Or did he kill indiscriminately? He didn’t hurt them when they had pulled him back to leave. Phantom snorted off to her right and she chanced a glance at the Everser Vald. As she looked, she felt warmth bloom in her chest.
Sasha looked intently at her friend. She was staring at Legon in an odd sort of way. Not in a bad way, but almost lovingly.
“Sara,” she said.
Sara looked at her and she saw longing in her vibrant green eyes. “We should get Legon down and clean him up, and look for injuries,” Sara said in a timid voice.
That timidity was odd for her. Sasha studied Sara carefully, looking at her in the ways of the Jezeer, trying to place her sudden change.
“I suppose so, but I don’t think that he is hurt,” Arkin said.
How would he know? Legon and the Iumenta had moved so fast that they wouldn’t have noticed him getting cut or something. Yes, Sara was right. She started toward Legon. When Keither passed her walking to Phantom, the horse shied away from him. The constant mental contact affected the horses, and she wouldn’t say that they were smarter but they knew a thing or two about their riders. This was made apparent in towns and co-ops. Their horses responded to people as their riders generally felt, even if they didn’t show it. Ghost, for example, had no reason to fear men; she never acted oddly around them until they started networking their minds. Arkin told them that making a connection with your horse was a good thing to do so that they would understand each other better. It wasn’t possible for them to communicate the way people did to each other or even the way they did to one another, but emotions could cross the rift. Arkin facilitated most of the links so that the horses could come to know their riders. After about of month of this, Ghost had become increasingly apprehensive of large men. Not necessarily fat ones but ones with big muscles. Sasha hadn’t figured out why until she felt Sara’s emotions one day in a town. It wasn’t that Ghost was frightened of the men, but rather that Sara was, and Ghost picked up on it.
Now Phantom was shying away from Keither because Legon thought of the boy as clumsy. Sasha tended to agree, but this wasn’t the time to ostracize him. She sent calming thoughts to Phantom, who stopped moving. Keither came up to his side and patted him lightly.
“It’s ok, Phantom. I wouldn’t drop him. Remember, there is muscle under this fat. How do you think I walk around?”
He worked himself under Legon and began to hoist. Sasha looked at Arkin, who should have at least offered to help. What was wrong with him?
“So, you need help?” she asked, now giving Arkin a stern look. Keither answered with surprise.
“No, I don’t. He can’t weigh more than either of you,” he said, and then corrected, “Not that you’re heavy. You’re not at all. Legon should be close to two hundred pounds but he can’t weigh more than one ten. Arkin, are you doing anything to me?”
“No, I’m not. He is an Elf now, and they are made of different stuff than the rest of us.” He paused but forestalled questions. “We will wait until he is awake before I explain. Forgive me, but I don’t want to repeat myself.”