William Grey

After his farewell, Will made his way to John at the edge of the tree line. While happy to be doing something he was still annoyed at his earlier conversation with John. Everyone told him about how great he was with a sword, and he knew he was better than everyone in the village. Yet still John constantly went the extra mile to keep him safe.

Tom was allowed to head into the city, go scouting with Lont, he even had been on several jobs without John, or Will. Meanwhile John had never let him go on a job without him, and while Will had been on many jobs, and had even fought in battles, it had always been with his adoptive father.

While Will did desire to please his father, he desired to make a name for himself, to do something. John nodded to him and led him into the woods without a word. Raising an eyebrow Will followed, waiting for the older an to explain what they were doing in the woods so near night.

William doubted there would be any trouble finding their way back, the fires from the numerous camps outside the wall would be visible, no matter how many trees separated them. However as they continued further in, Will felt less certain of the fact, until he could no longer take his own uncertainty.

“Where are we going,” Will asked his voice sounding louder in the silence of the dense trees. Though he had asked, Will hadn’t really expected John to answer, so it surprised him when the man replied. “Hunting” John said continuing to walk further into the forest, “hunting for what?” Will asked, more curious now.

“Snow Cat” John said, glancing upwards to the sky, it was going to be a dark night, with barely any moon light. Will snorted, “is this a joke?” he asked the older man incredulously, who shot him a withering look. “Does it sound like a joke boy?” John said in a growling tone which ended any argument.

“No sir, but what would a snow cat be doing this far south” Will said with a grunt, he had seen snow cat’s before, with traveling men or in cities. Though they all came from the mountains, and it was a rare sight to see one of the northern cats. The cats themselves were huge, almost the size of Tom’s hound, and more than likely faster than one.

“I don’t know how it got down here, only that it is, and its been following our traveling party for a while now” John said stopping, looking at something on the ground, and then producing a stick from his cloak. “Not a stick”, Will realized, “a torch” that relieved him somewhat, and when the light filled the clearing, John turned towards him.

“Look here” John said, and Will did what he said, he almost gasped, a paw print was there, larger than a horses hoove, Will had tracked mountain cats before. This paw print looked like on of theirs, only much, much bigger, Will looked up at the man, and nodded sheepishly. “I see” Will said dumbly, with caused John to snort, then turn around, and keep walking.

“Lont told me when we left the first day, and I knew it true for myself the second day” John said not looking back. “How did you know” Will asked, curiosity replacing his embarrassment, “never mind that” John said, “we need to find the damn beast” John said.

“Well how do you expect to kill it with our swords, we need bows to hunt the thing” Will asked, he supposed he may be able to use his relic, but that wasn’t a guaranteed victory. John had his relic, but it would do no good when it came to hunting. Nevertheless, Will felt his hand go to his sword, and uneasiness creep into him.

John snorted, “we’re not going to kill it, I just want you to see it” he said, raising even more questions inside of Will. “Why would I need to see it, and if it’s tracking us, it could be a danger to the villagers” Will said, finally having enough of the silence, he grabbed John’s shoulder.

John looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and Will sheepishly removed his hand from the older man’s shoulder. “Sorry,” Will said looking at the ground, suddenly embarrassed once again, to his surprise, instead of anger, John just sighed to him.

“It’s fine lad, I suppose you are due an explanation” John said, which made Will look at him in shock. John gave a amused grunt at that, and then turned to keep walking, this time he spoke while he walked. “What do you know of the mountains boy,” John said looking at the ground for more prints while he spoke.

“I know its your birthplace, and it’s where my relic, and cloak come from” Will said, waiting for John to speak again, when he didn’t Will realized he wanted him to continue. “Uh, well I know that I have northern blood in me, which allows me to use my relic, and that the old kings used the same relics to fight the dragons,” Will said. John nodded much to Will’s relief, in truth he did not know much about the north, just what everyone in the village knew.

“True enough, though that’s not the full truth” John said, sighing greatly before continuing. “Now tell me what you know of relics” John said, Will sighed, he hated when men answered a question with a question, and this felt a great deal like that.

“They are tools the nobles use to stay in power, they grant gifts to those they bond with, as well as extended life, however a relic can only be used by one – “Will said, using the same explanation that had been used when he learned about them. “Not that damn it, that’s common knowledge boy” John said in a gruff tone. “But you asked – “Will began before being interrupted again, “where do relics come from boy” John said exasperatedly.

Will opened his mouth to answer to stop, of course he didn’t know that no one knew that, not even the dragons. “They just appear I guess” Will said, expecting to be berated again, but to his surprise, he heard John grunt in confirmation. “Exactly, they just appear, no one knows how, but” John stopped as he said the last word, and turned towards Will, the fire from the torch illuminating his face. “A small amount of people do know where they appear,” John said.

Will cocked his head, “what do you mean?” he asked, John turned, and continued his search for the snowy predator. “It is a secret, and one that is kept for good reason, and if you were to go around telling men this secret, you’re likely to lose your head” John said.

“Men with power don’t like their secrets known boy, remember that” John said stopping for a second, studying the ground, and then promptly turning left to continue to walk. Will followed, glancing over his shoulder, half expecting a giant cat to be there, and only finding the darkness of night.

Will turned back to John, who began to speak once again, “some believe that nobles are born with their relics on their finger, but that’s not true. While common relics can be traded, and found in ancient ruins, or even sold by wealthy merchants, it is not the same for a noble relic.” John said. Will knew all the that, everyone did, John, and some of The Lost had common relics.

Will started to get impatient, and was ready to be out of the forest, and away from this predator they were hunting. “That’s all common knowledge, how is that a secret” Will said as they continued walking, John snorted, “that is not common knowledge, nor what I was getting to, now let me speak boy.”

Will fell silent, with a quiet sigh, John continued after a second with a shake of his head. “As I was saying, noble relics always stay in the same family, and that’s for one simple reason. Noble relics find their owner, not the other way around” John said, turning around to look behind him, not at Will but in the trees.

Will raised an eyebrow at that, “how can an object find someone,” Will asked in confusion. John turned back, and kept walking, Will’s feet were starting to hurt from this constant pacing. “Relics are no mere object, if I need to explain that to you, we will be here all night” John said. “When we went to Phelia, it was because I had heard of a northern relic there,” he continued.

Will felt his eyes widen in surprise, “I thought you were there for work” he asked in shock. John gave a sharp chuckle, “how often do we go south for work, even before the dragons started marching” then he sighed. “I had a contact, who told us of a particular ring, a blue gemstone that seemed to shine,” John said with stopping in a clearing of trees, with a fallen long in the middle.

John fully turned towards Will, sat on the tree Will stood, his hand still on his sword, still confused at the older man’s nonchalance. John paid no attention to Will’s unease, and continued to speak, “your relic was the one we were searching for, it was no mistake that you found it, you were meant to” John said with a smile.

“I had expected the ring to choose someone from the north, but we were lucky when it chose you there” John said pride in his eyes. “Say that the ring did choose me” Will said, “why would it do that, and why tell me this now”. John nodded as if he had expected the question, “you see not all nobles get relics, most don’t in fact, it is very rare that a relic user is born” John said looking to the sky, “the older the family, the harder it is to be born with a relic, that’s why marriages are so important with noble families. The older the two families of the parents, the higher the likelihood of a relic users’ birth.” John finished.

“Why do dragons choose their own wives then?” Will asked, John responded quickly enough, “while I’m not completely sure, apparently dragons’ sense who will give them their highest chance of passing on their relic. Even then it is still difficult, the Gold Dragons, one of the oldest line of dragons have three or four dragons at one time. Even in the old Empire, where dragons were allowed to marry anyone, no matter that person’s desire, the highest number of golden dragons would have been around ten or eleven,” John explained.

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Will nodded starting to understand it, “So what does that have to do with me” he asked, trying to get the full picture of what John was attempting to explain. “Simple, the way to tell if a noble is born to a relic, is through their eyes. All dragons have glowing eyes the color of their house, and the same went for the north, except their eyes were all silver,” John said.

Will finally understood what John was saying, “so I have northern nobility in my blood,” Will said with excitement in his voice. “Well, that’s not too surprising, northern kings came down south in the war a hundred years ago” Will said, with a smile on his face, he finally felt like he understood the point of this conversation.

John however continued to speak, “I suspect you do, and even those who claim the royal blood of the north do not possess glowing silver eyes,” he said, causing Will to frown once again. “See in the south crowns pass to their eldest sons,” John said, suddenly sounding very serious, “that is not the case in the north, however. The northern kings, or the mountain kings, are always the next royal to receive their family’s relic” John said.

Will took a second to process what had just been told to him, when he did, he opened his mouth in shock, and let go of his sword. “You mean” Will said with his mouth gaping, John nodded eyes solemn, “many would consider you, the rightful king of the mountains, and their people,” Will, stood in shock at his words.

“I can’t be, I mean I’m a common born, an adopted street kid” Will said with his mouth gaping, his head was spinning with the older man’s words. “Aye, but only two northern kings are alive at one time, an elder, and an heir. Both of their generation died one hundred years ago, all that is left are diluted noble in the north” John said with a shake of his head.

“Why tell me this now, why not when I first put on the ring then” Will asked, almost sounding in a daze as he attempted to comprehend what he had been told. “Even so, even with just your eyes, and the relic I was not sure you had the blood of the ancient northern kings when I took you in,” John said. “Even had you blood of the kings, many would try you if you immediately went north, you would be thrust in a leadership position, you needed training,” John continued.

“That doesn’t answer my question, why now, why tell me this now,” Will asked now, his voice growing louder than he intended. “If this is true, I deserved to know, to learn my family’s history,” Will said, without realizing he had yelled, he felt anger welling up inside of his chest.

Will’s entire life he thought he was street trash, when he bonded to his ring, the most he thought he could be a bastard from an old noble family. Now he was learning he had a claim to a throne, and a ancient family he knew nothing about.

If John was angered by his adoptive son’s outburst he contained it well, and instead he almost looked guilty. “At first it was to see if you were truly what I suspected, so I tested you, tried to see if you had the north in you,” John said with sad eyes, tired eyes almost. “That cloak was the first test,” he said, causing Will to look at his thick grey cloak, the cloak kept the wearer as a cold temperature, rather than keep one warm.

“That cloak is almost unbearably cold to anyone who wears it unless they are of the northern blood” John said, making Will remember when Tom used to try of the cloak, which caused him to shiver almost uncontrollably. At the time Will had laughed, and teased him for it, now Will thought back to it in horror. “The fur of the Winter Bear, another one of your families’ heirlooms, I recovered it when I first came south,” John said gazing at the fur.

“I knew what the fur was as soon as I felt it, I could barely stand it, see the northern kings who were born to relics, they like the cold thrive in it,” John said with a sigh, that seemed to show his age in the torchlight. “Even after that I wasn’t fully convinced, I didn’t want to admit it was true, didn’t want you to deal with the consequences” John said turning to look to the sky.

“Then I trained you with the sword, and I knew” John said with a heavy sigh, “the northern kings were the greatest fighters in the world, said to fight with the ferocity of a blizzard” he said, Will heard a aged sadness in his voice, and what sounded like regret.

“I honestly hadn’t believed it, right up until that day you beat me the first time, and then I was certain, you winning every match after than only served to remind me,” John said with a smile that was mixed between deep sadness, and pride.

“If this is true” Will said thinking for a second, “what does this mean, why tell me now, why walk me out here to tell me,” he asked quietly. John gave him a nod, “I couldn’t risk others finding out, so the woods seemed the best place to tell you, Lain, and Mary know, no one else does though” John said.

“What of the Snow cat, did you make the prints to lure me out here?” Will asked now, John shook his head. “No, that is the other reason I brought you out here, to prove to you what I say is true” John said told him.

“How do you intend that?” Will asked, softly weakly, as if scared of what the answer will bring. “Northern kings don’t just rule the men of the north, they rule the north completely, which is why the snow cat has been tracking us” John said now looking at something behind Will.

“It follows its king” said John, as Will gulped, and turned around. A large white cat with two large teeth jutting out of its mouth approached from the woods. Will stared at the cat fear lacing through him, he stared for what must have been a minute, before he moved to draw his sword. John grabbed his sword than though, and raised it, toward the beast, when it started to walk towards them, Will tried to yank his hand backwards.

John’s grip held still, and Will closed his eyes, scared of the beast, of his father’s words, of the change that this meant if it were true. Yet when something soft, and pleasantly cold touched his hands, he opened his eyes, the snow cat had bowed his head, and pressed it into his hands.

John let go of his hand, and Will did not take his hand away, instead he stroked the cat slowly. Will studied the cat as he ran his hand across its large head. The creature had black marks along its back, and its head was huge, its eyes were yellow with a black slit running down it.

When the cat sat abruptly and cocked its head like Will had seen Black do a hundred times. Will gave a laugh that surprised even himself, Will turned back to John a smile on his face. John smiled back, but his eyes were still the contrasting mix of emotions, “how come none of the other northern animals hadn’t reacted like this when I saw them” Will asked. John only shrugged, “imprisoned animals lose a piece of themselves, that they don’t get back until they are free once again,” Will did not understand, but he had other questions now. One he feared to ask, one that weighed heavily on his mind.

“When you took Tom, and I in was it because of this” Will asked hoping his hesitation could not be heard in his voice. John looked surprised by the answer, and answered hastily, “Initially it was, however I have grown to think of you as my sons over the years, this doesn’t change my relationship with you boys” John said which made Will feel relieved.

“That’s why you would never let me out of your sight?” Will said with realization, “why I had to go with you for every job” he continued. John nodded, “I couldn’t let you die, after I spent so many years of my life trying to find you,” the old man said with a genuine smile this time.

Will realized what he said, and raised an eyebrow, John kept smiling at him, as he answered. “My father, and his father before him served the old winter kings, I came south initially looking for any sign of the blood of the north. Though my life kept me here, that was the initial driving force.” John said with a sigh.

Will still had so many questions, but he struggled to focus on which one to ask, so he asked the first thing that came to mind. “So, what does that mean now?” Will asked, unable to decide if he feared the answer, or if he was excited for it.

“That is part of the reason you must know this” John said in a more serious tone, “when you head north, men will recognize you for what you are, some with try to test your claim.” John said seriously. “Men will want you to rule, I may have put off telling you, but I know longer have that option” he said causing Will to swallow.

“Things will change when you go north, your relic will be stronger, men will try to fight you, or follow you, some don’t want the old ways to come back” John said seriously. “We have some allies who eagerly await a kings return, but not all men wish to bow”.

Will opened his mouth, and then closed it, and then opened it once again, “I don’t want to fight for a throne” he said suddenly. “I mean I used to dream of being a king, but I can’t, I mean I can’t lead men” Will said with a nervous tone. John gave him a mournful stare, “you will not have a choice, my boy, the throne has chosen you” he said gesturing at the sitting beast behind Will.

“I can’t rule a land, I’ve never been too” Will said incredulously, I’ve never even led a mission” he finished, sounding whiny even to himself. “I am sorry my son, I am, but the north needs a leader, the dragons come, and they will need to stand strong” John said to Will, who did not know how to respond.

“Do not worry about that now” John said with a smile, “just know that I will do my best to prepare you for the future” he said before looking up at the sky. Will nodded, though he did not know if the other man saw it, then he turned towards the cat.

“What of this?” Will asked, ready to change the topic of conversation, John looked at him again. “It looks to be a female, males done have saber teeth, when you call her name, she should come when she is in earshot” John said looking at the female snow cat.

Will looked at the snow cat, who stared back at him with intelligent eyes, “Anna” Will said after a character in a story that was told in his orphanage. Anna cocked her head at the name, after that the pair followed back in silence. Anna followed them, and Will almost feared she would try to enter their camp, however when they saw the lights of the fire, she quickly ran off into the night.

Unsure of how to explain it, Will now felt as if he knew the beast was there, ready to come at his command, the knowledge was strangely comforting. When they got back to camp, Will found that Tom was not in their tent, figuring he was out with Elaine, and having a lot on his mind. Will decided not to worry about his brother that night and decided to sleep.

Will did not dream that night.

Will woke up, and stretched, when he looked over, he found his brother was still asleep in his bedroll. Quickly waking his brother up, he explained all that John had told him, in a hushed voice, Tom didn’t believe him at first. Yet eventually after being told twice, his eyes opened in realization at Will’s words.

“You, a king” Tom said with surprise, and disbelief, then he shook his head, following up with a smile. “if this is true, and you have a claim, then you could rule the entirety of the mountain kingdoms” Tom said, a little too loud. Will shushed him quickly, which made him give an embarrassed smile.

Will frowned at his excitement, “I’m not sure I want to rule, I mean what if I’m bad at it” he said, Tom shook his head. “You won’t be bad at it, think about it, you’re a great fighter, and you have been learning how to lead for years, John’s been grooming you to do so” Tom said excitement lacing his voice.

“I just don’t see myself ruling a kingdom, I can barely talk to the villagers” Will said with a fearful expression. “Listen, there are serious benefits to being a king, you get an army, you can protect the village, make new laws, you could be rich” Tom said, staring incredulously at his brother.

Will pursed his lips, “I suppose it would be nice to protect the village, but I know nothing about the other stuff,” he said nervously. Tom laughed, “you will have advisors, people to help you, and teach you” he said in a happy whisper. “I will be there to help, and so will anyone else, think about it” Tom said as if he were a merchant trying to sell something.

Will only nodded, and then after a little more discussion, they left their tent, Lain had already grabbed the goods they ordered from the city while they slept. Soon they mounted their horses and continued their trek north.