Limerick’s Grand Sentinels, an incredible team of Knights within the Coven of the Fianna who reigned absolute only a short 15 years ago. Amongst the group stood a man unrivaled by his peers, a man heralded as the “Reincarnation of Llewellyn the Unifier.” Yet despite their overwhelming might, they met their end as quickly as their rise had occurred. However, in the shadow of their legacy a new generation had risen: a generation of unfathomable potential. And chief amongst them stands a lone light from an unremarkable village, a boy who would one day fell a calamity.
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A flock of birds shifted their eyes to a sudden rumble deeper in the forest. It was a calm day with a light overcast of gentle rain- weather rather standard for this dense part of the Scars internal untamed jungle. The rumble was followed by a loud crash, and then another as a tree toppled over. The flock took the sky the moment a massive beast collided with the tree that they rested on. The beast in question was a six and a half foot tall feline with an additionally large four foot neck and a slightly longer tail. Cloaked in a thin pale yellow coat of fur with dark stripe and dot patterns across. An additional thick orange-gold stripe of overgrown fur ran down from behind its face and down its neck and back before terminating shy of its tail, only to reappear at the tip where it formed an almost flame-like cap.
The creature charged into another tree head first and crashed through it. Behind its head was the struggling redhead who was hanging on only thanks to the knife he had jammed deep into its back. With a roar it kept charging and Kieren, in turn, continued to desperately try and gain some sort of control over his situation. “A little help!?” He shouted. Multiple yards behind Grian continued to sprint after, moving through the debris and unsteady ground while trying to keep pace.
“Why is it so fast!?” Grian shouted out in frustration while vaulting over a fallen trunk.
Kieren swung his body and grabbed a handful of the feline's fur with his free hand. “C’mon!” He barked at himself. Pulling his knee up he slammed his heel into the creature's back, earning a violent jerk from his mount before it went through another tree, knocking him almost off in the process. He repeated his process and took a heavy breath. Verifying his hold on the fur was tight he yanked the knife free and with one fast and precise motion drove it higher up the felines back. It cried out and Kieren did this once again. He was moving close to the neck, closer to the end. And yet when he next pulled the knife free the big cat bucked and slammed his body into a series of trees in rapid and violent sucession. He was flung off, knife in hand, and watched as the prey became the hunter and turned its blood red eyes to his falling body. “Shit-”
“Kieren!” Grian shouted. Before he could even take another step a shadow flew past him. The feline turned and raised its paw to strike all while opening its mouth to release the sea of drool. Kieren had nowhere to go. All he could do was pull his knife to ready himself for the coming strike. Before the two could clash, Kieren felt a gentle touch on his ankle and watched Rhiannon spin her body and throw him out of the way and then meet the creature's strike with a momentum backed kick. Kieren slammed into the ground and rolled into a brief tumble while Rhiannon landed softly on her feet. The feline took two paces and snarled. She lowered her head and narrowed her deep red eyes. Having finally caught up, Grian helped Kieren to his feet and the two watched the woman systematically take down their prey. She moved like a phantom, breaking and shattering parts of his body with nothing more than her bare hands and clever movements using the surrounding trees- before finally dealing the killing blow with a decisive drop kick on its nape. She released a breath and the two looked on in bewilderment. “How…?” Grian muttered while Kieren tightened his fists. Again, they had failed.
A month had passed since leaving the basin. In that time the group had ventured deep into the wilds of Scar. During this journey, they had become very acquainted with the nature of the Scar’s inner depths. Unlike the basin, the local fauna was as diverse as it proved dangerous. Ranging from giant canine with poisonous claws, to stealth aquatic creatures with natural electric discharges or even combustion generators- the group had struggled heavily with the rapid increase in difficulty, with a lone exception. While the three worked tirelessly to improve and try to keep pace, Rhiannon had adapted with little issues- conquering everything they had come up against.
“Welcome back!” Mona exclaimed as the three entered their cave based camp. In the past month Mona had made a strikingly swift recovery. Not only was she able to freely move now thanks to regaining the muscle she had lost, but she had also fully taken hold of her role as the group's anchor and motherly support role. With the other three being heavily combat oriented, she acted as the base and ground of the group. Chief among her responsibilities was keeping Kieren and Grian in high spirits, something she was thrilled to do. On this day, like with many of their hunting trips, she immediately noticed the atmosphere the three held. Rhiannon walked in front while Grian and Kieren pulled the beast's body behind them. She tossed the wood in her hand onto the fire and shifted her full attention to the group. “What happened?”
“I messed up.” Grian admitted immediately.
“Not just you, bud.” Kieren added.
“Yeah, but I was the one that startled it.”
“And who needed Rhiannon to save him?” Kieren raised a brow. “We both botched it.”
Rhiannon planted her foot on the stone and turned back. She wanted to say something, anything really to help them, but couldn’t figure out how to word it in a way that wouldn’t sound rude. Instead she let out a small and defeated sigh before returning to her pile of furs- only adding to the air of false disappointment.
“Think she’s mad?” Grian whispered.
“Hard to tell.”
“I’m not.” She raised her voice.
Kieren and Grian exchanged a look before lowering the creature. Kieren then turned back to her and just added a “Sorry.”
“For what?” The girl raised a confused brow.
“Always causing problems.”
“Yeah, I bet you didn’t have to deal with these when you were alone-“ Kieren quickly elbowed his friend to stop him. And again, she simply chose not to answer instead of risking saying something worse. Grian let out a small sigh at the lack of a rebuttal or even acknowledgement and turned to Kieren. “Let's just cut the thing up.”
“Sure thing.” Mona handed them both a pack knife and they began to get to work. He knew what Rhiannon was doing, and while Grian had come to accept her distinct lack of real people skills, the route of least resistance isn’t always the optimal route. Her desire to try and prevent misunderstandings had become just that, like sandpaper against the psyche.
Each time they had messed up she usually chose to withhold critique or offer a lesson out of worry of upsetting either of them. That could work for some, but each of them were eager to learn and grow and desperately wanted those key lessons and insights. Having botched the hunt for a massive winged beast only a few days ago, Kieren had pressed her for tips on how better to handle it in the future, to which she simply replied with a: “You’ll get the hang of it.” A response he took rather poorly, further rifting the two. Mona truly was, at least at this point, the glue binding them all together. Grian and Kieren got along swimmingly, but Rhiannon mixed with them about as well as oil and water. They were missing something and none of them truly knew what that missing ingredient was.
Kieren tossed a log onto the fire while Mona positioned another skewer of meat to cook. His emerald eyes lingered on the flickering flames for a moment before shifting to Mona. “I know this is sudden, but mind if I ask yah something personal?”
She hesitated out of pure confusion at the sudden question before indulging. “Sure, I guess.”
“I dunno how best to ask this, so don’t get mad if I miss the mark but… why did yah come here?”
“That’s sure out of the blue.” She chuckled.
“Gotta agree with her, why ask now?” Grian fell to a seat next to the fire with a thud.
“Well I was thinking and well, we’ve been with each other for a bit now and I still feel like I don’t know anyone all that well.” The redhead shrugged. “If we’re going to stick together, why not try and figure out what makes each other tick.”
Grian gave an excited smile. “Oh I get it! Get in each other’s head so we can synch up better. That might help prevent some embarrassment, huh Rhiannon?”
“Maybe.” She answered with her own shrug as she walked past. “I’m going to do a quick patrol.”
“So much for synching up I guess…” Grian’s disappointment was palpable. “So Mona’s up for story time first, yah?”
“I guess I am.” She gave a slightly nervous chuckle. “I don’t really have any grand reason to be here, not like either of you I bet. I just wanted to figure out what I wanted to be.”
“Kinda like soul searching then?” Kieren asked.
“Mhm. I grew up in a big house and I was the oldest.“
“So you were the big sis for a bunch of little ones? No wonder you’ve always been good at this stuff.” Grian chimed in with a smile. With a little chuckle Mona gave a nod. “Nothin’ wrong with any of that, especially since you’re so good at it.”
“Yeah, that’s true. I guess I wanted to see if I could do anything else.”
“Nothing wrong with trying something new.” Kieren smiled. “I think that’s admirable. Once I stop messin’ up all our hunts, I’m sure Grian’ll love to take you out on one. See if yah like it.”
“That sounds fun!” Her eyes glimmered in excitement. When she was with Tarbh, she was often nudged to never leave the camp. She would be able to force Grian to come out with her, or sneak out to collect some food, but outside of those instances she never had a chance to really experiment in other roles. Learning to hunt and fight were always things she wanted to do, and the thought of Kieren and Grian taking her out to learn those very things made her nearly jump for joy. “Now that I think about it… I don’t think we ever asked each other this before.” Her words trailed off as she turned to Grian.
“You’re probably right.” Grian laughed. “Looking back it was pretty impersonal.”
“Yeah, almost like a job…”
The redhead gave a smile. “Then we’re all learning. Same question for you then.”
“Little ole me?” Grian pointed at his chest.
“Well duh.” Mona rotated the meat and continued to monitor the cook. “What makes our favorite jokester tick?”
The boy leaned back and looked up at the flickering light bouncing off the cave ceiling. “Well I didn’t have a big family or anything, but I always kinda wanted one.” Swinging his arms he sat back straight. “I wanted to get out of here and make a name for myself, earn one of those fancy family names like you have and start one of my own. I don’t need to be some crazy hero, just famous enough to get a name.”
“Earn a name?” Kieren blurted out without so much as a hint of hesitation.
“Yeah. They’re kinda important.” Grian's smile was still strong, but he could tell Kieren had a genuine lack of knowledge on the subject. This wasn’t exactly uncommon. Most folks he interacted with didn’t even have a family name, better yet understood the fancy intricacies of it. “Only real way to get one is by getting famous with the Fianna and impressing some Lord. I don’t know the full ins and outs of it, but I know where I need to start. You already got one, so someone in the past must’ve done something to earn it.”
“Huh.” Kieren blinked a bit. “Then what do people use if they don’t have one?”
“Mac and then their pops or moms name, usually the dad. And that’s even if they wanna. I don’t know my parents so I can’t even do that.” Grian turned to Mona. “What about you?”
“Mona mac Blair.” She answered with a proud smile.
Grian chuckled and turned back to Kieren. “Simple, right?”
Kieren folded his arms and thought for a moment. “Guess I didn’t know how much it meant, the whole family name thing I mean.”
“No biggy, lots of folks just don’t care. So then what makes the junior hero wanna tackle this place?” A silence fell over the cave. Mona pulled some of the skewers from the fire and handed one to each of them. Grian immediately began to eat while watching Kieren spin the skewer. “Cat got your tongue?” Grian asked with most of his food still in his mouth.
“I wanted to follow in my dads footsteps, I guess.” Kierens voice was on the softer side, accented by a half smile. “Everyone holds him in such high regards and, well, I didn’t want to let him down.”
“Did he want you to come here?” Mona asked as she took a small bite.
“Maybe?” Kieren answered. “He seemed excited about me doing it, but kinda worried at the same time.”
“Sounds like a parent.” Grian tore another bite off.
“At least one that cares.” Mona added.
Kieren took a bite and gave a smile. “It’s neat that we’re all here because of family though.”
Grian paused and then gave a big food filled smile. “That’s true, we are!”
“Kinda meant to be then.” Mona smiled.
Giving a quick look outside the cave, the redhead finished with a simple: “Yeah, maybe it was.”
The three continued their conversation around the fire, while outside in the cold dark night Rhiannon leaned against the rock. She was close enough for her ears to catch everything they had been saying, but far enough to make sure they didn’t know she was here. The girls eyes lingered on the barely visible stars. Her steadfast isolation was something she was constantly struggling with. She wanted to make friends, desperately so, as if to fill the connections she never really had. And yet she found herself feeling like she was always the one causing the group problems, unaware of what to do to fix it, or how to ask for help. She gave a silent sigh. “I’m the one that’s sorry.”
Kieren pushed deeper into the brush. As with the previous day, the trio were once again on a hunt. This time, rather than something vicious, Rhiannon had chosen something she perceived as a much simpler target. This particular creature, which Kieren was now able to make out as he pulled some of the shrubbery away, was a tall two-legged creature with four stubby wings and two heads seemingly connected to its obtuse body without a neck. The central body and heads were clad in thick brownish blue fur that extended across the rear of the wings, the tail, and down most of the incredibly long legs. The animal lowered itself, seemingly folding its legs into its body and resting itself flush with the grass in order to bring it low enough to drink from the spring.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Above but slightly out of the way was Grian who was carefully maneuvered from thick branch to branch- careful to avoid making any noise. The boy took a deep breath while drawing closer. The plan Rhiannon had devised was simple: When signaled, Grian would pounce down on the bird and upon startling it, Kieren would emerge from the bush to cleave off a leg with his knife. Without a leg, the two would quickly be able to finish it off and return home. To aid in this, they intentionally staked out a spring with a single easy entrance for a creature of this size. Kieren tightened his grip on his knife. The two boys had yet to execute one of her plans effectively and it was painfully obvious she was making them simpler and simpler each time in order to account for the failure. “This time will be different.” He thought to himself as his eyes met Grian’s.
As with all of their hunting expeditions, Rhiannon sat on a branch slightly deeper into the treeline- just out of sight of the boys. She wanted them to act as if she wasn’t there, and this was effective. In the back of their minds, they knew she would swoop in and save them, but the absence of her presence, thanks in large part to her seeming ability to hide herself completely, leant well to crafting a feeling of isolation. She had been making the plans simpler, and their targets weaker, but she was doing so unaware of how the boys were perceiving it. Her reasoning had simply been to try and find an adequate place for them to get their footing and expand. Trimming the difficulty was the best way to find that in her mind. The failures never mattered so long as she eventually found something that worked, so she continued to watch them in hopes of them finding that footing, ignorant to the frustration and desperation she was accidentally sowing.
The boys nodded in unison.
Grian lept from the branch sending out a cascade of noise that roused the bird from its calm drink. The creature shot up and intercepted the boy mid fall and immediately began to try and buck him off. Kieren pushed slightly forward as he watched Grian shout and yell as he struggled to hold on for dear life. The bird leaped, thrust, and jerked its body around in violent and unpredictable movements. Kieren held back for a moment but immediately dove out of the bush once he saw the genuine fear on Grian’s face.
Rhiannon let out a small sigh.
The moment Kieren emerged the avian swung its body wide and charged at him, instinctively hunting for escape as it perceived itself to be cornered. Kieren flourished his knife and then ran towards the creature. “Grian jump!” The boy shouted and the other listened, letting go and trying to kick off- and yet the creature reacted far too quickly. As Grian’s fingers released their grip on the fur, the bird bucked its body one last violent time and sent the boy soaring skyward, narrowly missing collision with the jagged branches that made up the canopy.
Kieren froze. His eyes watched his friend fly while his body demanded movement. He had the chance to succeed: to cleave off a leg and claim victory from the back of a string of failures. And yet he couldn’t bring himself to take that step. Ignoring the hunt he continued the charge, leaping over the bird and intercepting Grian as he fell towards the ground. He couldn’t risk his friend's injury, not now. “If we win-“ He turned and dove with everything he had, swinging the knife at the bird's ankle. All he needed was a deep enough wound and they won. He needed this, no, they needed this. “C’mon!” The knife carved through the air and narrowly missed the creature while Kieren came crashing face first onto the ground. Lifting his face from the mud, grass, and rocks concoction, he watched the bird run off- taking the words he wanted to say with it.
Once again, they had failed.
The streets of Connacht were quiet. Streets of ornate brickwork were beautifully maintained and snaked across the city, serving as both footpaths and transportation roads. The city itself looked like a storybook, no cracks or damages as far as the eye could see. It felt too perfect, and to an outsider like Killian, it could even give off an eerie impression. The man had only been here for a few hours, and yet he found himself wanting nothing more than to leave. He was fond of many of the southern regions' provinces, but found himself always dreading visits to the Isle’s former capital.
As with most days, the streets were bustling with the local city dwellers. Due to the location of Connacht, it saw trade by both the land and sea, allowing the great island city to sport a massive interwoven market that spanned multiple layers of the cities central and portside districts. Via the train station, merchants and travelers alike would have to cross the Union Bridge, a massive multi lane marble bridge that sported an equally majestic statue of the Unifier himself in its center. The city proper was built around and inside of a single mountainous island. The roads and buildings carved their way across, inside, and around it while always making sure to allow the beautiful pink trees to breach the overall gilded and ornate cityscape. It was a city of pride, of culture, and deeply complicated and frustrated history.
Killian found himself moving through one of the tunnel roads that connected the various districts. His goal was the Overlook Estate that served as the home of the governing Lord. He could arrive whenever he wanted, but his relationship with this Lord in particular left a lot to be desired. He rarely came to Connacht, so he felt he should at least take a little time to see the city and procure a bottle of its heavily sought after local brew. It would, at the very least, be a fantastic way to celebrate his son’s triumph when he emerged from the Scar. The thought alone put an ever so slight pep in his step.
Upon entering the upper bazaar, he immediately noticed some of the patrolling guards watching him. Wayward Fianna were common across the Isle, but security in this city in particular was always high. To avoid a disturbance, he chose to mingle with large moving groups of people. Whenever he saw his prize he would simply leave the group he was in, buy the drink, find another and ride that wave out before finally making his way out. It was a simple plan, and it should have worked. And yet, for seemingly no reason Killian found himself constantly being followed by the guards- always at a pregnant distance from him. He was starting to get annoyed, so he broke from the group and moved into the thin opening of stalls and into an alley between buildings.
The guards followed. It was a group of two and they moved through the alley with quick purpose. Had it been any other city, he would have allowed them to continue their blind search. But this was Connacht, and Killian wasn’t about to be on his best behavior for his least favorite Lord. He descended with frightening speed, grabbed the first guard by the neck and slammed him into the wall with a revoltingly strong force for such a swift action. The other guard hardly had time to react, and before he could, he found Killian’s hand pressing softly against his lower jaw. “There a reason you’re tailing me?” Killian questioned with pure annoyance.
“We-“ The free guard spoke before Killian’s fingers pressed harder against his jaw.
“I ain’t talking to you.”
“Lord Eochu is expecting you.” The guard currently being held off the ground by his neck spoke rather calmly, despite his situation.
“Swell.” Killian released his grip. “Guess I’ll go see him then.”
Only coughing once, the guard looked up at the man and quickly added “We’ll escort you-“
“No need.” Killian cut him off. “I know the way.” And as quickly as he fell upon them, he vanished without so much as a sound. Making sure his fellow guard was unhurt, the one who had thankfully never been attacked aided his partner to his feet, took in a quick breath, and then both took off in a sprint. Their mission had changed in frenzy from an escort to a warning. The Red Lion was on the loose
“You awake?” Grian whispered into the darkness. Following their return, Rhiannon had left on another nightly walk, and shortly after they all went to sleep for the night. They usually assigned a lookout for the night, a precaution born from the fact three of the four were attacked at this very time not long ago. Tonight it was Grian and Kieren’s turn. Grian would take the first half and Kieren would wake up, or be woken up, and assume watch for the later half and into the morning. It kept them all feeling much better about their situation and safety without any one person having to sacrifice days of sleep.
“Still waking up.” The readhead responded with a yawn. “Am I late?”
“Nah, I was just thinking about what we talked about the other day.”
Kieren scratched the back of his neck and gave yet another yawn. “The stuff about why we’re here?”
“Yeah.”
“What about it?”
“Well… I kinda. I didn’t want to bring it up around Mona, but I left something out.”
“Tarbh?”
“Yeah.” Grian answered immediately. “Earn a name, make some friends, and kick his ass. And it’s a hell of a lot more of that last one now.”
Kieren moved to the edge of the cave where Grian sat. The stars and moons lit the sky above the canopy and cast just enough light through to see his friend. “You haven’t told her you don’t have your coin, have you?”
“Nope.” He looked at the redhead. “I was hesitant to tell you. But since we’re in the same boat, I figured you deserved to know.”
“We’ll get them back and we’ll make it out of here. It’ll be a good story to help you get that name.”
Grian gave a quiet laugh. “Yeah it will. But first, we gotta impress Rhiannon. I don’t feel like she’ll start working with us fully ‘till we show her we’re worth the effort. Mona’s already done that, so now we need to. Can’t keep causing problem, y’know?”
“You got a plan?”
“About that…” He trailed off before shooting a quick wide grin at Kieren. “I do!”
Kieren met his friend’s excitement with his own, shooting back a wide grin and a simple order. “Let’s hear it.”
The Warden of the Scar stared at the man sitting before him. It was by no means surprising this had happened, but its origin is what caused him confusion. “Your request is…”
“Unorthodox?” The guest questioned. “I am aware.”
“Then you should be aware that it may not be-“
“I am sure it will be.” The Warden hated the smug grin on the messenger’s face. “You need assistance with the coming crisis, correct? Your liaison has been rather busy asking on your behalf. And yet I find a distinct lack of help here.” Before his next words he shifted his eyes about the room. “Even on our ascent I never once saw another Crest.”
“The support we have received has been financial.” The Warden barked back. “Supplies take time to arrive, I’ll be sure to show you when they’re ready- since you seem so curious.”
“A lovely offer, I must decline. Back to the topic at hand, a speculative threat does sound harder to justify dispatching one's men for.” The messenger gave a small chuckle. “Though, I believe we can fix that. After all, once one Court dispatches its men those on the proverbial fence will be more likely to contribute as well. It just takes one-“ His words were cut off by the Warden violently slamming his right fist onto the table.
“My Scar will not be bribed and threatened, especially in my own office.”
The silence following the display of resistance never once broke the messenger’s smile. “Let me be clear.” He crossed his legs. “This is no threat. You will receive aid; Sligo understands the threat and our Lord has already promised financial assistance, like plenty of others. However-“ His smirk widened into a grin. “He has also sent this offer. You are free to turn it down and still receive the already promised assistance.”
“But for the bodies I need accept.” The man let out a sigh.
With a nod the Messenger continued. “Precisely. A simple deal that fits within the rules you govern ‘your’ Scar by.” The emphasis on that word was like a subtle yet deliberate jab at the Warden’s previous outburst.
“Bring him in.” On the Warden’s queue the door opened, and a group of the Scar Guards brought in a single boy clad in black hooded robe. A nod of approval was conveyed by the guard and the Warden reached for a coin. With the same rehearsed precision, he gestured for the boy's finger and plucked it. “He will be forced to play by the Scars rules, is that understood?”
The messenger shot a smile and a look to the boy. “Of course. Those shouldn’t be a problem for you, right?”
“Yeah.” His voice was monotone and the overall lack of respect in that single word earned a small eye twitch from the messenger who brought him.
With a miniscule chuckle the Warden shook the coin and glanced at its center. A swirl of light blue and clear fought for ground like a beautiful hurricane, earning a raise of his brow. “Another bizarre one.” He thought to himself before reaching out to hand the coin to the boy. “Let’s go over the rules.”
“Already know them.” The boy answered with the coin dancing between his fingers.
“Doesn’t matter, we’re still going over them.”
The boy paused before lowering his head. “Sorry.” A brow raised and the Warden looked at him curious. He expected him to be far more hostile and yet he seemed… pleasant? Gently shaking his head he turned to the messenger and motioned for the door.
“He will be admitted, you may go and inform your Lord.”
“Wonderful!” The messenger rose to his feet. “I’m sure he will be pleased, and I’ll be dispatched soon to coordinate your aide.”
“Wonderful.”
Before leaving the messenger placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and lowered himself to speak softly and quietly. “Remember your reason for being here, Brân.” The boy's head lowered again, giving off a faint signal of a nod. Under his breath, as if to confirm the confidence of his guardian before he departed, Bran recited his sole objective while inside of the Scar- the mission that eclipsed his own survival.
“Kill Kieren Albho.”
The two boys raced across the forest floor. Back in the basin the night sky would illuminate much of the surroundings with starlight. Now in the depths where the sun would at times struggle to break the canopy, the stars all but failed to illuminate anything. At first the group had struggled to adapt to the complete darkness that night provided, but thanks to Rhiannon’s coaching, Kieren had acclimated rather quickly. Grian took a little longer, but with some extra coaching and assistance from Kieren, he also grew used to the change. Thankfully the cave they made their camp was just far enough from the treeline to be able to readily take light from both the sun and the stars, though it still found itself struggling at times.
Leaping over small creeks and maneuvering through foliage and shrubbery, the two moved at quick speed. What was once scary and unknown was little more than standard practice to them at this point. Thinking back to the end of their discussion, Kieren couldn’t help but accept that their plan was eerily stupid. “We need to prove we can take something big down, right? Well who said it had to be during the day?” Grian’s words echoed in his mind as they moved through the darkness. Find something huge and “preferably strong” according to Grian, take it out while it’s asleep, and then get it home before sunrise. Shockingly simple and akin to something Rhiannon would have given them.
“You sure this is gonna work?” Kieren questioned, causing the two to slow to a brisk walk.
“Nope.” Grian answered quickly. “Better than doin’ nothing though, right?”
Kieren shrugged to his friend, realized he couldn’t see, and then added “As long as we both make it back, yeah I guess.” The two boys gave a chuckle. That night had been frigid, but not freezing. Wearing hooded fur ponchos over their clothes, the two hardly felt the wind chill. What they did feel after running, jogging, and walking for over an hour from camp, was an odd warmth starting to slowly creep in. “You feel that?”
“Yeah…” The two scoured the darkness and froze in as a faint orange glow off in the distance pierced the darkness.
Kieren was about to speak when he heard the distinct sound of his friend's footsteps not moving away, but going towards the glow. “Grian!?” He quietly called out in distress. After hearing another step his hand shot out and grabbed his friend's shoulder, jerking him back as he did so. “Hey!”
Grian blinked and then shook his head. “S-sorry about that. Should have said I wanted to check it out.”
“Why!?”
“It could be people.”
“Again, man, why!?”
The silence that followed was decorated by Grian’s multiple attempts to answer before finally shaking his head again and looking back to where they came from. “Yeah, good call. Let’s- uh, lets head back.” He was clearly recovering from some kind of daze. Kieren was well aware of the oddities of the boy's words and actions, but was elated by the decision nonetheless. The two turned back and began to move, Kieren insisting Grian take the lead so he could make sure his partner wouldn’t dart off. They moved in silence for roughly half an hour, leaping back over the same creeks and moving through the same flora they had conquered earlier in an disturbed silence. Landing after a creek, Kieren froze in terror as an odd warm breeze hit him. He looked up and faintly saw Grian’s outline before he turned to the direction his friend was staring and was overcome with dread.
Off in the distance, the faint warm orange light flickered.
Before even allowing Grian to act Kieren grabbed a hold of his partner's wrist and ran. The plan didn’t matter anymore, the mission didn’t matter anymore. They were either being followed or had the single worst coincidences imaginable, and he was not keen to figure out which was true. After another few minutes of terror fueled sprinting the adrenaline faded and Kieren came to a stop. Panting and gasping for air, Kieren turned back to Grian and he saw his friend also panting. A wave of relief came over him- followed immediately by a warm breeze. Grian looked up and Kieren slowly turned his head to the direction they had been running.
Not far off in the distance, a warm orange light flickered.
Crunch.
Kieren heard a footstep and shot a look back to Grian as the boy sprinted past him toward the glow. “Grian!” A visceral shout left the boy's mouth. His body, ignoring every sign of danger and panic, took off after his friend and the two dove into the light.
Finding himself on his knees, the redhead looked up and blinked in confusion. Before him was a well built and maintained stone cottage. Between the two and the home was a winding thin trail lined with rounded rocks and small wooden supports to prevent runoff. The light they now bathed in originated from inside and escaped via the moderately sized windows on each side of the light wood door. A chimney on the left side bore free of the straw and wood roof and served as the origin for a small plume of smoke.
Kieren turned to Grian who seemed utterly captivated by the cottage. “H-hey! We need to go!”
Grian took a step forward and Kieren grabbed his ankle. Yanking himself free the boy took the path and arrived at the door, raised his hand, and knocked. Kieren kicked off the ground and charged at him, took his wrist, and pulled as if to take him away, only to freeze in place as the door opened and drowned them in light.
“What are you both doing out there?” A familiar voice came out. “Come on, get in here.” Kieren turned his head and blinked in confused terror. Grian smiled and pulled away, leaving Kieren alone outside to stare at the person greeting them. Once again, his body defied his mind and begged him to run, and his mind confusingly refused. The warm air was calming and worked like an elixir to dispel any of his worry and fear, eroding his natural instincts. He had no clue how long he stood in that doorway looking at the man, but eventually he stepped in.
“That’a boy, welcome home.”
Killian smiled as he shut the door.