Toman Grudal was sitting in his office, puffing on his pipe. A massive cloud of smoke lazily made his way toward the open window. On the other side of his desk, his brother, Glem, was reading a report. He lifted his head pensively as Toman interrupted his thoughts:
“That’s a huge blow to our forces and reputation.”
- 38 deaths including Budres, that hurts.
- And two progenitors in the air, probably kidnapped.”
Glem grunted: “around 700 refugees from the village, that’s around 80% of the villagers. We’ll need to find them shelters, we can’t send them back.”
Toman didn’t respond immediately, he kept thinking for a few minutes while his brother kept reading through the report. The more Glem read about how the event proceeded the more he became suspicious of treasons. But that’s what it was, suspicions, he didn’t even know who to suspect yet. Once again Toman broke the silence:
“There will be downfalls but we might salvage some benefit, two of the progenitors were rescued, we already know about Tyros, what do you think of the kid ?
- I met him this morning, in the training area. He seems eager to learn martial arts, and if what he told us about how he escaped the Plateau is true, I think he has the willpower to become a good fighter. The boy seems prudent, from what I understood his mom raised him alone so it’s safe to assume that she is the one that taught him the trait. She will be the one we need to convince if we want them to stay in Hillshire. Let’s learn a bit more about the mom and facilitate a migration in the city. From what is in the report, the second kid lost his mother in the attack. Only the father is left to raise the kid, We don’t have any information on them.
“I see… let’s hope their abilities will be helpful for Hillshire, but that's for the future. Right now we need to start thinking about how to deal with the aftermath of this attack. We’ll wait for the other nobles to make their move, if there is a snake among them, we might get some insight this way.”
Glem grumbled, refilled his glass and got back to reading the report.
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“Your mother, Lady Cierra, was rescued by our soldiers and escorted to one of our camps. She has a broken arm, but otherwise is fine as can be in those circumstances.”
Tyros felt all the anxiety filling his stomach melt like ice in the sun. He cried and went to hug the old butler, who awkwardly tapped the boy on his back.
“When will I be able to see her ?
- She will be brought to Hillshire tomorrow. You can expect her arrival by the end of the day.
- Thank you so much”
As the butler was making his way back to the castle Neza hugged the kid happily rejoicing for the good news.
“Let’s get back to the game, the Odrel was winning, it wouldn't be fair to quit now” Neza told him while guiding him by the hands. The rest of the afternoon went on quickly, now that the weight in his chest was lifted, waiting for his mom was way easier.
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The next day went on quickly and by the end of it, the trio Tyros, Neza and Odrel were walking toward the west gate of the city.
“When your mother arrives I will have to leave and go back to the lord country house.” Neza said pensively
“Can’t you stay a bit longer , my mom will love you.
- Thanks Tyros but what use will I be ? I am here to guard you while your mother is away, my role will be done once you are reunited.”
The kid’s head slumped down dejectedly as they kept walking. When they arrived by the gate, a squad of soldiers and civilians both were waiting for the refugees to come in. They were here to organize and accommodate the now homeless villagers.
They waited with the welcome party as temporary lodging was being built quickly near the wall of the city.
The time ran its course until the sun started to set at the horizon where you could discern the dust swirling around as the caravan of refugees was making its way toward.
The wait was almost painful for Tyros as he could see the group making its way slowly, still too far away. Finally there was only around a hundred yards he was about to run toward the caravan but was stop before he could by Neza:
“Wait, there are a lot of people, you might miss her if you go running around like that, come with me we’ll watch the caravan pass by the soldiers. This way you won’t miss her.”
The boy was starting to have trouble keeping his feet in place but accepted Neza’s proposal as it seemed logical. Neza and Odrel were watching the villagers passing with a hint of curiosity while Tyros was staring at each passing face. He recognized some villagers he knew, passing by. After a while he recognized Nici walking with his dad. They looked dreadful, their faces were full of dust, their eyes sunken and unfocused. Tyros rushed toward them, and greeted them. Nici didn’t answer and simply cried while hugging his dad's leg. Hezol, Nici’s dad, Smiled sadly at Tyros:
“I am glad you made it boy, your mom will be relieved
- What happened ?
- Kaitlyn didn’t make it.”
Tyros felt like he was hit by a stone. Once he learned about the survival of his mother he didn’t think further. He didn’t expect this kind of news at all.
“I am sorry Hezol”
Hezol’s nodded toward the kid, not able to speak anymore about his now passed wife.
“ Your mom was behind us I think, you’ll find her further in the caravan.”
Tyros muttered his thanks and went back to his waiting spot near Neza and Odrel.
He wasn’t excited anymore, the reality of what happened finally hitting him hard as he saw the result. The refugees were ragged, full of dust and looked tired. Some of them were outright crying, some were relieved most were simply exhausted.
After waiting a few more minutes he finally noticed his mother. Like the other she looked tired and ragged, unlike the other, she had a wooden plank strapped to her left arm. Tyros rushed in her direction. Realizing that the kid running in her direction was Tyros, Cierra beamed and ran toward him with watery eyes. Sher winced when her kid hugged her tightly:
“Tyros, my boy, I missed you too. But could you be softer…my arm..”
Tyros didn’t even answer but he softened his embrace as he cried silently, his face hidden against his mother’s legs.
They were soon joined by Neza and Odrel, quietly standing next to them and waiting. A moment later the group of four was getting back in the city and got a carriage. Cierra was briefed very quickly while in the outpost near the frontier, that's how she knew that Tyros would be here. Nevertheless she didn't have a full run down of where they were going, that's why Neza explained her the situation. On the road, Cierra and Tyros exchanged about their adventures while being separated. When she got hit by the horse, Cierra hit her head on the ground and her arm got broken. She was woken up by a soldier of Waedor, once the battle was over the soldiers swept through the forest to find potential villagers that ran too far.
A few minutes later, they were back in the castle. Aldwin let them stay by themselves for the evening as Cierra was too exhausted for niceties with strangers. They ate together in the room and after a simple but short evening they went to sleep. They would have to find out how to set up in Hillshire and find lodging, but all of this could wait for the next day. And for the first time after the attack, both mother and son slept peacefully.