The rest of the meeting went by in a haze. Victor spent some of the time muttering strategies under his breath while my father had gone back to his normal seating. I refused to meet his eye as I gazed pointedly at the wall across from me.
What was I going to do now?
There was no clever plan that would get me out. That route had been a failure from the very beginning. I just needed to prepare as well as I could and fight with everything I had. 4 days from now.
The thought made me sick. Like an executioner’s axe that loomed over my head. And all because I refused to do the smart thing and just step aside. But I suspected I would have regretted that, and a life of perpetual regret is arguably worse than an honorable death. Maybe. I could still back out, after all.
I was still wrestling with questions that 15-year-old boys had no business dealing with as the meeting quietly disbanded. Much of the audience shot me looks of pity as we all filed out. Victor walked alongside me in silence now, and I felt my father step in beside me as well as we made our way back to the Argentum family home.
When we finally got back, we found a grim silence that permeated the household. Isaiah and Al were talking in hushed tones at the dining room table while Lynn sat with them looking sad. Ann sat in the other room on the couch, staring broodingly into the fire while Hope sat next to her, and Julia paced behind her. The whole household had heard the news, thanks to Al and Robert attending the meeting and leaving early. When I opened the door, mom drew me into a hug. I fought a valiant and mostly unsuccessful battle against tears.
We stayed like that for a while before eventually moving to the table. All the Clements and Argentums had quietly taken their seats at the table already, and they mostly just sat there with me for a while. Finally, my father spoke:
“The odds are long but your choice for weapons improves them. We can talk strategy for the next few days and do some accelerated training. It’s better than nothing, but—"
He was interrupted by a curt knocking sound from the front door. We all looked at each other with some confusion. Who would be visiting at this late hour? Father swiftly stood and strode over to open the door, only to receive a tongue lashing when he did.
“Looks like old mistakes have come back to bite you, Adrian. I told you that you would regret failing to make peace with David.”
Old Lady Corona shuffled into the house, to the surprise of all of us, father most of all. He spluttered a bit before responding:
“That’s not fair, Anna. Making peace with an Aurelius would be like signing a treaty with the Neidyr. There is nothing to work with!”
She was already shaking her head:
“It wasn’t always like this. Gilbert was a good man, and his son could have been as well. David has walked his own path, of course, and bears final responsibility for his actions. But you could have dealt with him more diplomatically. Healed wounds before they became scars. But the past is the past. It’s not worth dwelling on further.”
She finished her speech before scanning all of us. Robert offered her his seat, but she waved him down.
“Sit down Robert. I won’t be here long. It’s past my grandson’s curfew so I’ll be taking him along soon enough. I’m only here to give you all a message then bring him home.”
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She considered us stoically for a moment before continuing:
“I believe that the village is in mortal danger. Not just because of this whole foolishness with the duel but because of something even more dangerous.” This prompted another, slightly less confident pause before she continued, “No, I can’t tell you exactly what that threat is or how I know it’s coming. My abilities are complicated, and it could be nothing after all, but I felt that all of you should be warned. Keep a lookout for strange looking purple-green fire and be prepared for some sort of problem.”
She looked around at our confused faces and sighed a bit, “I know this sounds strange and cryptic, but trust me when I say that I am nearly as confused as all of you as well. Just seriously consider my words and be prepared for something drastic. Now come along, Alfred, it’s very late.”
Mechanically, Al stood up and followed her to the door. But before she left, she turned to look back at us at the last second:
“Actually, there is something that you could do right now. Just in case…”
…
After a bit more strategy talk and consolation, we shooed the young married couple and the Clement women home. It was getting late and there wasn’t much they could do for us tonight. Hope was ushered off to bed by her mother, which left only my father, me, Isaiah, Robert, and Ann still awake and brooding in the kitchen.
We didn’t stay brooding like that for long, though. Eventually, we exchanged a few looks and wordlessly stood up, moving in unison. Our first stop was in our home’s storage larder, where we grabbed the four largest packs that we could find and filled them to the brim with supplies. Firewood, food, water, a pot, bandages, 20 sets of extra clothes, 6 one person tents, 6 warm animal skins, 2 pickaxes, a compass, 6 pouches of Firelily powder, 4 lanterns, and 80 whole Gleanberries. On top of the six that we had saved from the trip, that put us at a new total of 86. I also kept the blue spikes from the Arthus that we had killed and the glands of the firebreathing Neidyr.
Moving then, through the darkened and mostly quiet streets of Bryn, we made our way toward the quiet smithy. Mr. Smith was fast asleep but were lucky that his son was awake to let us in after a bit of wheedling and cajoling. We then quietly purchased two iron shields, three swords, one spear, and one axe. Gwyniron weapons were hard to find these days. The old haul had sold out, and the smith had yet to use our most recent batch of Gwyniron to make new ones. Isaiah would have to deal with a normal iron replacement and extra.
Our last stop was the laboratory, where Victor met up with us after seeing his wife off to bed. He had already unlocked the doors and we slipped in and grabbed two packs of the most important item. Glasrock.
We took our bundles of supplies and weapons and trundled south, to the edge of our village and beyond. Upon reaching the elevators, Isaiah and father went to work, setting down their packs and approaching the wrought iron cages. Father held the chain while Isaiah lifted the cage and held it over the precipice, before leaving it there and retrieving his own pack. Robert had picked up Father’s pack while I opened the door, and we all piled into the now open cage before being lowered into the dark cave below.
As we descended, I thought back to what the old lady had said earlier on in the night.
“If things truly get ugly, you may need a backup plan to retreat from the village totally.”
This sparked a wide array of protests, but she held up her hands placatingly.
“I know that you grown fighters won’t ever abandon the village, but you should at least consider leaving the young ones a chance to escape if things get too bad.”
I found all of this more than a little hard to believe but Father was nodding along to what she was saying:
“If the omens are truly that bad, it may be best to have a backup plan.”
Much of that conversation was quite bizarre, but I trusted my father’s judgement enough to be lowered down into the most dangerous place in the village in the middle of the night. I would have to trust the old lady as well.
We contacted the ground in pitch darkness, and both Isaiah and I lit the lanterns that we had brought. We made our way to the back of the cave and, after a bit of fumbling, found the secret compartment inlaid within the cave wall that Father had described to us beforehand. Isaiah and Robert stood guard as the rest of us loaded our gear into the hidey-hole. If nothing happened within the next two months, we would have to retrieve them before the next Hunt.
“The old man really likes his hidden compartments, doesn’t he?” I mused internally, thinking back to the place where he had stored the Lightcore. “How many more of these are scattered around?”
Idle thoughts over and task complete, we piled back into the cage and turned off two of our lanterns, leaving them with the packs. We tugged on the indicator chain, letting Father know to pull us up.
As we rose back up towards the surface, a worm of anxiety started to wriggle around in my stomach. I hadn’t thought of this as much more than a final errand before getting some much-needed sleep. But now that I had time to question it, I was more than a little disturbed at the implications. What had Corona been talking about? Didn’t I have enough to worry about as is?
Hopefully it all came to nothing, after all.