Chapter Twenty Four: Introductions

“Reporting to the Guild Master! All members whole and accounted for!”

A brick wall of a man stood at attention, shouting as Dilly and Rook approached the group of people gathered in the forest.

As Rook and Obi had suspected, Dilly had a detect skill, one much more powerful than Rook’s was. Long before he saw anything appear on his map, The old woman was shooing him down the hill and into the forest to meet the approaching guests.

“Oh, ye brat! I ain’t the master anymore. Not for a long time. Can’t ye just call me Ma?”

“Affirmative! Guild Master Ma!”

The cheeky response came from a second walking monolith. Just a hair smaller than the lead giant, the second man stepped out from behind the leader to respond.

Dilly rushed ahead of Rook and attacked the lead giant. She could barely reach his waist even after jumping up, as she gave him a giant bear hug while hanging off of him.

After a few moments, she released the first man and gave the second giant the same treatment.

Rook was taken aback by the emotional greeting. He looked closely at the two large men, and the resemblance was plain to see. They were definintely siblings, not like the pair in Presia’s team who couldn’t have possibly looked more different from each other. He wasn’t as sure about their resemblance to Dilly, however.

Then, the words of their greeting sank in. Guild Master?

Was Dilly… the Guild Master?

No, she said that she wasn’t any longer. But she was, in the past? That would mean she used to be one of the most powerful people in the city?

Rook was so distracted that he failed to catch when Dilly introduced him to her sons.

“This is Simon, he’s been staying with me these days as this old woman has no family who cares to keep her company in her final years.”

Her two sons snorted laughter as they moved in to hug their mother again with giant grins on their faces.

Seeing a close family like this was awkward for Rook. He had no memories of his family at all. Everything before the ranch was a fuzzy haze, so he never longed to see his parents. He couldn’t remember their faces, or anything at all about them. All he knew was that they were likely dead.

“Hi, Simon. I’m Teeva, and this is Teepo,” the lead brother said, his hand outstretched.

This time, Rook was the one who choked back a laugh.

Teeva’s giant grin faltered at Rook’s response. Rook, realizing that he just offended the giant man, quickly tried to recover.

“No! I mean, sorry… I mean, nice to meet you… Sorry!”

Teeva now looked confused, but took Rook’s hand and clasped it firmly.

Rook looked over at Dilly for help, but the old crone was ignoring him now and walking over to greet the rest of the mercenaries.

“It’s the dogs… Teeva!” Rook cried, and the white and brown dog let out a loud bark.

“Ahh, Ma! Ye didn’t do it again, did Ye?”

“What are ye talking about?” replied Dilly innocently.

A tall woman with long red hair tied into a single braid across her chest, stepped out from behind the men and bent down to look at the dogs.

“Hey Teeva! Hey Teepo!” Both of the dogs let out happy barks and moved over to receive pats of affection from the young woman.

“Ma! Why do ye always name yer dogs after us?” Wailed one of the brothers.

“What’r ye talking about? I’ve had dogs longer than ye two ungrateful boys. I named ye after them, right? Anyways, yer all my boys, so get used to it, ya?”

Everyone was laughing, and the two brothers put on fake scowls as the other party members reached up to scratch them behind their ears and pat their stomachs.

“Aye! Fennic! Ye grow more lovely every time I see ye. What are ye doin following these lumbering oafs around? I thought I taught you enough to find a decent partner,” Dilly embraced the red-headed woman with another bear hug.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

When he heard the name, a distant memory was triggered in Rook. A girl with short red hair, yelling at someone.

He realized he was staring at the woman when she turned to look at him. As soon as she saw his hair, her eyes went wide.

“Rook? Is that you? Are you… Rook?”

The woman ran over and grabbed him by the shoulders, examining him from every angle.

Then she grabbed his hand, turned it over, and examined the mark on his palm.

“Oh, my heaven. How? It’s you, it’s really you, Rook. You’re alive!”

As she held his hand and spoke excitedly, more memories came flooding back. Angry people, yelling at him and kicking him. The girl with red hair was standing above him, protecting him. Another memory of the girl washing dirt from his face with tears in her eyes.

Fennic. He knew that name. He knew this woman. But how? It was all so cloudy.

Dilly came over and gently pulled the woman away, speaking to her in whispers while looking at a shocked Rook staring at his own palm.

“Alright, enough dallying in the forest. Get back to the house and clean up. We have a feast ready!” Dilly yelled, and the group of mercenaries roared.

During the short walk back to the house, Dilly and Fennic stayed close to each other, whispering. Once, the woman turned to look at Rook, and he thought he saw tears in her eyes.

Rook walked back in silence, trying to recall more of the memories. How did he know this woman, and from where?

There were seven people total in the mercenary party, and the house that had been a quiet and restful place, soon became a loud and cheerful home. It was not crowded, but Rook realized that this was how the house was meant to be. It was now alive, with the energy that had been missing.

After the food and drink was set out, the hungry travelers dove into the meal. Rook watched while standing off to the side, appreciating the smiles and levity borne from a group who had traveled far, and worked hard, now enjoying a safe and hospitable environment to return to.

Dilly came over to him and grabbed his arm, leading him out the front door to sit on the covered porch.

“So, Simon,” She used that sarcastic tone to say his name again.

“How is it ye know my disciple then?”

Rook turned and responded with his typical blank and confused look.

“Aigh, as taciturn as ever,” she complained.

“That pretty young thing. I met her on the streets of Stormhaven seven years ago. A tiny scrap of a piece of a bite of toast she was back then. Scraggly hair and sticks for arms. She could barely walk, but came right up to me and grabbed my leg.”

Dilly smiled wistfully, as if lost in a happy memory.

“Was a dark day, though. A very dark day. Some bad men were moving illegal cargo through the port. The guild got involved. Turned into a nasty scrap, it did. In the end, we caught them, and opened up the cargo. I think ye might be able to guess what we found. Damned Imperial scum!”

Dilly scowled and spat on the ground in front of the house.

“So this poor little thing, she comes and grabs onto me. Wouldn’t let go. What could I do? So I brought her home. She was about the same age as my boys, but so much smaller, even then, before they ballooned up like that. She’s followed me ever since. I still remember when she declared that she would become a mercenary, a scout, even. Nothing I could say would change her mind. No magic to speak of, could barely even use her soul space proper, but when she said something, she never wavered, not for a single moment.”

Rook rubbed his palm, the skin on his sigil itched. It was starting to come back to him. The memory.

There was a girl at the ranch, back when he had just arrived. An older girl. This was when the mistress was still alive. Rook hardly remembered there even being a mistress of the house.

Back then, the ranch wasn’t so dilapidated. The mistress took care of the house and her son. Rhaegun was kind of cute back then.

Rook had only been there a short while before… What had happened to the mistress? He struggled to remember.

Slowly, the fog was thinning. He was remembering details of things he had long ago forgotten.

Rhaeger and his wife had gone out. He didn’t know where, but she never came back to the house after that. Rhaeger, that was when he was hurt. When he lost his eye. Something bad happened, and that’s when things changed.

Rhaeger started getting angry all the time. Hitting and kicking him and the other children. Back then, the kids slept in a room in the house, but he threw them all out, and they had to sleep in the stables.

Fennic. She was the oldest one. She would protect them when Rhaeger was drinking. Taught them how to hide so he wouldn’t find them. Then, one day, she was gone. He never saw her again. She was kind.

Rook realized that he was crying. he hadn’t done that in a long time. He wasn’t even sure why he was crying. Water was just coming out of his eyes as though he had summoned it with his skill.

Dilly saw his tears and held him against her shoulder.

“I’m sorry. It’s not Simon. That’s not my name. It’s Rook. I’m sorry, Dilly. I’m Rook.”

“Of course, ye are ye, little liar. I’ll give ye a good smack later for that.”

There was nothing but kindness in her voice as she scolded him, and the tears flowed even faster.

The was a noise as someone exited the house. The young woman knelt in front of Rook with a deeply sad look in her eyes.

“It is you, isn’t it? Rook? I’m not dreaming again, am I?” She turned to look at the old woman cradling his head.

“Dilly, Ma, how? Where did he come from?”

“I don’t know. I found him out in the wilds. He’s a sharp one. Was all by himself. He… he lost his party. I think he walked all the way here.”

“No, Ma! That’s not possible. I don’t know exactly where that village is, but it is on the other side. No way he could have walked all the way here, alone.”

“He’s sharp. Never seen one as clever as this boy.”

“Ma… I… No, I’ll tell you later,” Fennic grasped both Rooks’s hands and held them tightly.

“Rook, Look at you. What happened? How did you get so big and strong? How did you make it all the way here? I’m so sorry. I never thought… I would never have left you there if… Oh, Rook, I’m so sorry.”

Suddenly, Rook felt a burning in his chest. He clutched the front of his shirt as the burning increased.

“Obi! What’s wrong? Obi!”

The voice was silent. In place of the voice of his companion, Rook felt a fire ignite inside him. Filly and Fennic both felt the heat as well as they let him go and stepped away from him.

“Rook! Are you okay? What’s happening?”

Rook struggled to his feet. The burning now covered his whole body.

It wasn’t fire. It was… anger. Rage. So much rage. Not anger at someone, or something. It was rage against everything and everyone. The hatred was burning him up from the inside.

“Obi! What… Why? No, Obi! Stop! Please Stop!”

As suddenly as the episode started, it subsided. The heat stopped and cooled. The fire in his heart flickered, then went out.

Then Rook crumpled to the ground, unconscious.