He came back to find Ava, Autumn, Jaramis, and the twins, Jarrik and Alana.

“You’re here early! I should change to something nicer.”

“You look good in overalls little brother.”

Autumn wiped a little bit of mud from his face.

“Well, I admit, I’ve felt pretty good about working here for a few days. Please, come inside and sit down.”

Jaramis wasn’t bothered much by the relative conditions of his relatives, he had gone through a normal bootcamp, not one of the nicer noble ones.

They sat down and Jaramis decided to speak first.

“I don’t know what you’ve been doing but I heard this ridiculous rumor about you joining a warg pack. I must say it was the funniest thing I had heard in a long time.”

Autumn elbowed him, she wasn’t sure how much rumors bothered him, but it wasn’t exactly polite conversation.

“You hear that? You guys need to find out who is leaking what I’m doing to idiots.”

Harlan spoke to an empty corner, to the confusion of most of the people in the room.

“Apologies, we will look into it.”

There was more confusion as the corner replied back to him.

“Anyway, I helped a Skoll back on his feet so he could kill a hati that took over his pack, healed his leg, chased down a deer and brought it back so he could get his strength back after the healing. I didn’t join the pack, I just helped put an area of the forest under the control of someone better.”

“Something better.”

“Same thing.“

“Let’s not dwell on that, what has you back here?”

“Camp ended early for my group, so I have more free time then I know what to do with.”

Ava got a bright idea.

“Does that mean you can come on a mission with us?”

“I don’t want to do more killing when I am here.”

“Come on, don’t you want to protect your big sister?”

“You already have somebody far stronger than me doing that job, I didn’t hear the details, but you stumbled onto what he can do already.”

The table went silent, Harlan could sense that The Unseen were gathering together, probably to talk about what happened.

“What? You know who did that? It’s been driving everyone crazy, we’ve been just a shred of evidence away from going back to war thinking an ascended somehow got past its limits and came here to kill an archmage.”

“Oh, shit. Yeah. I don’t know who they are, just that the Darkness sent him to watch over you, Cecht had been messing with her sight and putting all of us in danger. She solved it but she has been very upset over fighting her brother.”

Dahlia burst through the door uncloaked and looking for answers.

“What happened, is what I heard right?”

“Well that depends, what did you hear?”

“You know who that archmage who killed the blood coven leader is.”

“I mean, kinda? I don’t even know what he is, let alone who, I just know that he is keeping an eye on Ava.”

“How long have you known?”

“The day after it happened I guess? A messenger who said he worked for The Dark Mother told me I would be getting letters from Ava and Breken and Balor and that I should tell Sepul he was going to be alright.”

“Then you know what caused the dark days?”

“Cecht had been messing with her sight for a while, they fought, he was hurt really bad, so light magic was weaker for a while.”

“Wait, what? I didn’t even start writing that letter until 3 days after it happened.“

“Well, she can see the future, so she probably just knew you would write it before it happened.”

All hell broke loose at that point.

Harlan was questioned on every aspect of what he knew, if he could see the future like her, how much could she see, how much he could be told if he asked.

Harlan told them as clearly as he could that she saw thousands of possible endings for everything, that he had no idea how or even if he could see the future, but that she wasn’t likely to teach him in the first place because of her sink or swim attitude.

Dahlia would’ve liked to requisition a truth potion, but the brewer was none other than Sepul, they gated Harlan back to the academy and Sepul nearly took Dahlia’s head he was so upset with her.

“You will take him back to his family, you will leave him alone for now, The Darkness doesn’t tell anyone anything, to try and pull information is pointless, and if I hear this blows back on him for being honest with you people there will be bright days ahead.”

It sounded less like a threat and more like a hopeful statement of things getting better.

Those that knew his history on the other hand shuddered, his bright days in the war were the times when only he was fielded and it was too bright for people to get close, miles of land had been turned into glass during those battles.

Everyone found themselves back in Harlan’s home, well over a thousand miles were crossed with Sepul having barely made a movement.

Dahlia was in shock, she wanted too much to keep looking into it, to find threats before they were even threats, but between a pissed off archmage, THE pissed off archmage, and whatever a god might do, she didn’t know how to respond.

She sulked out of the house and went to write a report, after she found that mole at least, Harlan had already had enough trouble, this getting out wouldn’t help, and she couldn’t be sure what blowback meant when Sepul said it.

“So, about lunch, we should probably start soon. That took way too much time.”

“You… I mean… Nevermind.‘

“I think what my dear husband meant to say was WHAT. You can keep your secrets, but please don’t let out really big ones like they aren’t world changing if they were used the right way. You’ve done enough to change things little brother. How about you be an uncle for a while?”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“First off, I want to hold Alena, I haven’t had the chance yet. Secondly, is there anything else that I should know about? Maybe I know something important without even realizing it.”

“For starters, how? She is already almost a year old. Second off, no, there hasn’t been anything else I can think of that you might know even an inkling of.”

“Good, and I’ve been busy and you never want to give her up, I think I’ve seen you without her in your arms twice since they were born. Once was because mom and dad wanted to hold her.”

“So, wait, when you told me that you were talking to a god that one time, you were…”

“Yes, I was talking to her.”

Ava leaned back in her seat and let out a deep breath.

“Let’s spar, I don’t want to think about this. Does that mean that Reino is right about their gods?”

“No, they- You know what, I am not even going to say it, it doesn’t matter. I want to hold my niece for a little while before we fight, after lunch then?”

Autumn and Ava hadn’t helped their mother cook in a long time, so they found it somewhat refreshing to be back in their little kitchen.

It was thin cut steak sandwiches for lunch with a side of tomatoes from the garden.

Alane seemed to like Harlan much more than Jarrik did, she was constantly giggling and grabbing at his face when he held her, then she fell asleep in his arms.

Harlan couldn’t think back to the last time he was this happy, probably when he first came back, before he realized Jaramis hated him, before he snapped, before… Before a lot happened.

He started crying, quiet as he could, he didn’t want to wake her up.

“Harlan, are you ok? Do you need me to take her?”

“No.. I… I’m just happy, this is nice, coming back was nice. I should come back more often, bring my friends so you can meet them.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice, why don’t you tell me and Jaramis about them.”

Harlan wasn’t even bothered when he got the same speech about Adina again, Ava lightened the mood by saying he already had too many friends spying on him.

He dried his eyes and got around to eating the sandwich that had long since gone cold as he talked and held his niece, then it was time to hand her back.

“Ava, do you still want to spar?“

“Always.”

As he walked behind her, just before reaching the door, he noticed it, years had passed without it changing, but at that moment, he could see it.

“Ava, stand still.”

“Ok?”

He raised his hand to the top of his head, then he moved it over to hers, then he repeated the process in reverse, when going from her head to his, he stuck the top of his own head, then and there, she knew what had happened.

“No fair, you're already getting your growth spurt? But I’m the big sister, I demand you stop growing.”

“Sorry, can’t hear you from down there.”

It was half an inch at most, but he was starting to grow faster than her, the 7 month headstart she had didn’t matter anymore, not that he actually knew what month he was born in.

She played along with his jokes until they reached a small spot inside the walls, it was between the home and the barn; They left the area open as a place for loading and unloading, but for now, it would be for fighting.

Harlan waved his hands around and they had a 20x20 arena marked by slightly raised ground.

“It doesn’t seem right to use Lugh, we should have some training swords around here somewhere.”

It didn’t take long for a guard to point him in the right direction, they had to keep sharp with training like anyone else, not counting the golems at least.

Jaramis and Harlow had come out to watch, Autumn and Aida were cleaning up before they came out.

“First to strike?”

“How about first to hit the ground?”

“It’s all the same to me.”

Ava was still as aggressive as he remembered, but she was faster, each hit carried more weight, she wasn’t as predictable, when he tried to hit her she reacted faster than before.

Harlan thought back to Selen telling him about the world of glass, he had been holding back without realizing it for years, but now he could feel it.

He pushed past that mental block when fighting Kleon and now Ava couldn’t get close to him, the force of their wooden blades striking stung her hands.

If they hadn’t been enchanted for durability they would’ve shattered at the force of it all.

A few guards came by to watch, no one chided them for slacking, for they too were watching it happen.

Harlan’s eyes narrowed with each passing moment, he was here for the fight now.

He shouted out where he was attacking from each time to give Ava a chance to react, something was clicking inside him, he felt great, this was just a spar, just a training match, it didn’t feel real

Then he realized, it wasn’t real, and he truly understood it, a weight fell from his mind.

After so long stuck halfway between always ready to fight and being at ease, he felt normal, he truly knew what a fight to the death was, to see the end before him, he knew when that death wasn’t in front of him now.

Before his last hit could strike her Harlan stopped the blade, she was panting from just keeping up with him.

“What… What the hell was that?”

Harlan reached down to help her off the ground.

“I think I found peace.”

“I thought you were about to take my head off. Where is the peace in that?”

“Because I wasn’t going to, I never even had the thought cross my mind, this was just a spar. Nothing about this was real.‘

“Ok?”

“Ava, it didn’t feel like a fight, I’m blowing off steam. I don’t feel that drive to hurt people. I just had fun with my little sister.”

Harlan ruffled her hair before she slapped his hand away.

“Big sister you mean.”

“Right, sorry.”

The workers felt a little awkward having been witness to a heart to heart like that, one of them at least vowed to be a better brother to his younger siblings.

“Jaramis, would you mind stepping in the ring?”

He handed Jarrik off to Harlow and stepped inside, Ava handed him the practice sword she had been using.

“I must warn you, I have no intention of going easy on you.”

“Ava, make a noise to start us.”

Jaramis was a thruster, less of a slasher, it wasn’t something Harlan often had to deal with.

He went full speed from the very start, narrowly avoiding the multitude of stabs and feints from the much more experienced fighter.

Ironically he was on the back foot without magic despite his physical power, the only reason he could keep up was the height difference made it slightly awkward for Jaramis to stab him because he was avoiding Harlan’s face.

3 minutes passed with Harlan unable to counter attack once, but Harlan was perfect for long fights, while Jaramis was getting complacent due to Harlan’s passiveness Harlan was waiting for that one slip up, it came in the form of Autumn coming outside and catching his eye.

The switch was instant, once he got in just one close hit the battle shifted to Jaramis on the defensive, every strike was parried and deflected.

He was having some fun with it, but he wanted to sit back with Autumn, he had lied before, he wasn’t going all out, restricting himself to only his sword.

With the next deflection he closed the distance, placed his arm around Harlan’s and placed the wooden blade under his armpit.

“It was a good fight, even if you didn’t put your all into it.”

“I must earnestly apologize to you, what I said before, and what I said at Blackstone’s party, those were unacceptable.”

“Water under the bridge, the past is the past. I’ve got too much future to look forward to.”

Harlan spent his nights on small jobs for the adventurers guild, taking out pockets of goblins that were bothering farmers, he wanted to avoid taking the payments, but the guild wouldn’t be too happy about missing their commission on quests, instead he paid back the farmers with the quest money, the guild kept their cut, the farmers paid a reduced rate.

He felt like he was finally unwound.

He returned to the academy with newfound peace in his heart.

Though he was still waiting on that talk with Breken, apparently their mission with a merchant acting as a fence was part of a larger crime ring that was trying to expand and he needed to cut the head off of it.

----------------------------------------

The Darkness watched them, her heart felt lighter to see Harlan so genuinely happy after so long.

The Shadow wanted to vomit at the saccharine display.