Book One: Fate
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Chapter Thirteen: Back on the Path
“One dead female inside, sir, died from a crossbow wound to her lower back. It is most likely that she is the registered resident of this home, Rei Sabre.”
“There’s a person here, a young man. He’s awake, but refusing to move. The victim appears to be his mother. We found him covered in her blood with the murder weapon close by mumbling some incoherent gibberish. We may have to move him by force.”
“Wait, Demon Hunter Sansec has been called. He knows the boy.”
Leon had given Joel a quick update on what had happened on the evening of the previous day and then had left him alone in the room he had given them to stay in. It felt empty without Tylor there as well. By the sound of it, Tylor and his mother had been attacked, probably by Tai. He murdered Tylor’s mother and had done something to his friend. When they found him, over her dead body, he refused to move, even after Leon had got there and asked him to leave the body. In the end, he had to be removed by force. They had no choice but to knock him out to stop him struggling so much.
Since then, Tylor had been kept inside the main castle, in the medical area. He had not been allowed to see him, apparently because the medicines he had been given made him sleep for great length’s of time. Leon had been to check on his status again that morning, and would return shortly.
With good news, he assured himself.
The young boy listened attentively as he heard the main door to the house creak open and closed. Hastily, he pulled the door to his room fully open and ran down the corridor to the main front room. Leon was there, dropping his belongings by the door. Noticing Joel, he asked that they return to his room and then he would give him and update on Tylor’s status.
Sitting back down on the bed he had been given, he watched as Leon entered and stood at the door resting his back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Joel broke the silence and asked how his friend was doing.
“His condition has not improved yet. Apparently, he is suffering from shock and also severe depression. He was caught trying to take his own life. The doctors assure me that he was not in his right frame of mind at the time however. Needless to say, he cannot be moved and will have to remain there for sometime, I am…”
The Demon Hunter stopped, noticing that Joel was no longer listening. They boy was crying to himself. Sighing, he got up and left, closing the door behind him. As he walked down the corridor to the front room, his mind was on what must have happened at the Sabre home. The only person who would have had a reason to do something like what happened was Tai. He was stalking them, after all, but why he had not killed Tylor as well, escaped him. He had thought the worst when he had first arrived at the scene, and despite the horrible murder of the woman, he was relieved that Tylor survived.
It was strange, he had grown fond of the moralist and his young friend, and as a result it was difficult seeing him in the state he was in at that time of his visit. Maybe that was what Tai wanted to happen. Maybe his goal was to completely destroy him emotionally, but could he really be that much of a twisted person? A meeting with Tai was now top of his agenda. Someone with unearthly skill to test his own against, and stop his seemingly sick pursuit of his young companions, were good enough reasons.
A knock at his door broke his chain of thought, a few seconds later he opened the door.
Joel watched the door of his room creak slowly open. Expecting to see Leon once again he peered around, but instead he was shocked to see Karen standing there. Dashing into the room and closing the door behind her, she jumped on top of him, pinning him to the bed, and clamped a hand over his mouth.
“Listen close, no shouting, no screaming, no getting that Hunter’s attention, got it? Just shut up and listen to me. Nod if you understand.”
Startled and somewhat distracted by the fact Karen was on top of him, he nodded slowly. As she began to look around and listen closely to the corridor outside, he began to worry about what she was going to do. Removing her hand from his mouth, she stood up and flicked her hair back.
She began pacing on the spot while talking, “Tylor was attacked by Tai. Tai killed his mother. Rei Sabre did not give Tylor enough information and it’s now my job to fill the blanks for him. He, however, is in no state to listen and because of this we must take him somewhere to help him recover. The voice has instructed me to take him to the ruins of Noctern and the Katerano church within its walls. It will be much easier for me to care for Tylor on the way if you come as well. This is the only time I am offering this, answer, now.”
He stuttered something and then went quiet, thinking over what she had proposed. The voice, which he guessed was the same one that Tylor had talked about, was instructing her as well. And now she wanted to take Tylor to a place which she said was destroyed in a civil war when they first met. Leon had said that their friend should not be moved because of his condition. He was not sure what to do.
“Leon said Tylor shouldn’t be moved… that he…” he stopped and Karen interrupted him.
“I have already moved Tylor. He had a large pouch of money in his belongings so I used that to purchase a horse and cart and also enough food to last us the trip. I am leaving shortly, with or without you.”
He looked to Tylor’s empty bed next to him, where some of his belongings were still scattered over it. He had been in such a rush the previous morning and anxious about the meeting with his mother that he had dressed quickly and just left most of his spare clothes all over the room. Joel remembered waking up some time later, looking at the mess, and laughing because it reminded him of his own bedroom. Tylor was usually much neater. Sighing, he looked across the strewn belongings and then back at Karen.
He missed his brother.
Leon opened the door to be greeted by a knight. Asking what he wanted, the knight explained that he was instructed to let him know that Tylor Sabre had gone missing from the medical unit and was no where to be found inside the castle. It was suspected that he was abducted, as otherwise he would not have been able to get out on his own. One medic had assured the guard that Tylor was still heavily sedated. Astonished, Leon asked the knight to wait at the door until he fetched Joel. After running down the corridor, he swung the spare bedroom door open to be greeted with nothing but an empty room. All the belongings that had been thrown all over the place only minutes before had gone as well.
“What trickery is this?” he questioned out loud.
Rushing back to the knight, he instructed him to get Commander Xeno to contact him immediately and that all gate guards should be given Tylor’s description and not allow him to leave the city. Just as the knight was leaving, Leon stopped him and added that a man named Tai could be responsible and that Xeno should also be told that that was the same person who murdered the knights in Wex. Although slightly confused and alarmed, the knight saluted and ran off towards the castle in search of the Commander. Closing the door behind him, Leon stared at the empty room and sighed.
Tai would not be so subtle…Have you both gone on alone? I have not earned your trust yet, have I?
Tylor looked dead.
If his eyes were closed he might have looked asleep, but at that moment they did not even look around at the scenery. He probably could not see much from where he was lying down in the back of the cart anyway. The cart which Karen had spent their reward money on was hardly of excellent condition and squeaked uneasily with each bump in the road like it was ready to fall apart at any minute. It was slightly longer in width than the one they had rode into the capital on, but was in much worse in comparison. Karen sat ahead of them in the driver’s position, reigns in hand for the old horse that pulled them, moving at best speed (which was not particularly fast) across the country side.
They had left the capital with little trouble. Joel had kept Tylor hidden under an old dirty sheet and only one knight questioned them as they left. It was simply to see authorization for the cart, which Karen presented. When asked where they were headed (during some idol banter) Karen quickly responded that she was traveling to a farm in the country with her brother to pick up some supplies. Her ability to make up such a convincing lie so quickly still surprised him.
They were now on the road, heading from the north gate of the capital towards the ruins of the city of Noctern quite a trek north by Karen’s reckoning. Joel was not sure what to say to his friend, he had tried a few things already, but Tylor would just look at him and not say anything in return. He was so far removed from his usual happy self that it was as if he was looking at someone completely different.
“Tylor, are you warm enough? I could get you another sheet, it is quite cold…” Joel said, tripping over his words as he did.
From up front, Karen looked back at them watching closely to see if Tylor would react, but he did not. Joel noticed that Tylor was still wearing his gauntlet. Examining it closer, he noticed the top side of it was stained blood red. He pulled back from fright, realizing that it actually was real blood. Asking Tylor if he wanted him to remove the gauntlet and clean it when they past another stream, his friend pulled fiercely away from him. Turning his back to Joel, he concealed the arm with the gauntlet under his chest.
“Tylor,” he paused, expecting him to turn and look, but he did not. “If… if you’re upset because you couldn’t save her… there’s nothing you could have done, don’t blame yourself…” he waited for some kind of response, but did not get one. “Tylor, you’ll get Tai one day, you’ll be a hero and get revenge!”
“…I’m not a hero,” Tylor whispered bitterly. “…I’m a coward. Leave me alone, I need no pity, nor do I want it.”
He sighed again. Turning away from his friend and Karen he wiped his eyes and sniffed to himself. He hated seeing his friend in such a horrible state. It was like he had lost all hope, all self esteem, and all reason to live.
And it was all because of that bastard, Tai.
Pulling himself up, he moved to the front of the cart and leaned over to Karen.
“Karen, teach me how to use a weapon to fight, I’ll get revenge for him!” he said, angrily.
She took a short look at him and shook her head, “You would never be a match for Tai, no matter how good you got in any form of combat. Just… take care of Tylor.”
With a sigh, she returned to concentrating on the road. Cursing to himself, Joel remembered something else that he had wanted to ask Karen. Getting her attention again, he asked why the voice that they had both spoken about did not speak to Tylor again and try to bring him back to his senses.
“She has tried, but Tylor’s mind is consumed with too much confusion and hurt. She cannot reach him anymore.”
He had nothing else to suggest. However, he had still convinced himself that he had to get strong, strong enough to be useful. Karen was right to think that he was a burden when they first met, because he was. Tylor had taught him the basics of unarmed combat, but against anyone with any knowledge of the same type he would not have a chance. That had to change. Tylor was in no condition to help him continue training in Zan’s fighting style and Karen had blatantly refused to teach him how to use a weapon, so maybe Leon would train him. To ask, they would need to be back at the capital though, so he silently hoped that they would return there sometime soon.
The trio continued traveling throughout the day until late evening when they had no choice but to stop as it was too dark to see the path in front of them. Karen pulled the cart off road and stopped under a small group of trees. She attached the horse to one of the trees and propped a bucket that was kept in the cart next to it and filled it with feed. The cart rested to the right of the tree next to where Karen had started making a fire. Tylor remained in the cart, wrapped in a blanket. Joel had draped a cover over him when they dismounted and joined Karen at the fire, explaining that his friend did not want to be moved.
They sat in silence for a while as Joel was not sure what to talk about with a person like Karen, a person who had made it clear that she did not like him for whatever reason. He assured himself that there was nothing to be embarrassed about as he had a right to know why she did not like him. Since they had to travel with each other again it would be the perfect time to try and sort out their problems. The only problem with that, of course, bringing it up might makes things worse between them.
“…Karen, why don’t you like me? I can’t think of anything I have done to annoy you, but you still act like you wish I wasn’t here…” he said, talking quickly to make sure he said his piece first.
She did not answer him at first and did not even look at him. She only sighed. Had he made things worse by directly questioning why she was like that? She did break her silence eventually, however, not in the way he thought she would. She began to tell a tale, reminding him of the things that she had told Tylor and him about when she was forced to run away from home. Then she spoke of the band of people that taught her how to be a thief and that they were also brutally murdered by Tai. The people of a church that took her in were all killed too and even the young apprentices and parishioners.
“I do not need anymore lives on my conscience, only Tylor and I should have left that island. You are only putting yourself and Tylor’s well-being in danger by being here. Haven’t you seen how Tai operates? He kills anyone we get close to in order to torture us before death. He has probably seen you with Tylor and now it is only a matter of time before he tries to kill you in order to hurt him,” she stated coldly before turning silent once more.
If he was honest to himself, Joel had never even considered that as the reason for Karen’s coldness towards him being with them. She did not seem like that type of person to take his well-being into consideration, even if it was for the selfish reason of her own conscience. It was true about Tai as well, he had tormented Karen so much that she was terrified of him and now he had begun to do the exact same to Tylor. He could not help but ask what more Tai could possibly do to Tylor, since he seemed to be in the worst possible condition now. He told her that he had even tried to take his own life in the castles medical area.
“Whatever Tai did to Tylor brought him to the edge, he was crazed and in shock, not in his usual frame of mind when he did that. He will recover with time, though. He will recover even faster once we get to Noctern,” Karen assured him. “However…Tai is capable of doing a lot worse to him. He will get under his skin and find out what drives him, what motivates him to live, and will take those things away. It could be possessions, loved ones, an object, or perhaps all three. Whatever it is, Tai will find and destroy it. First, he took my parents. Then, he took my protectors. Then he took my teachers. As he killed them each time he took a small piece of my being away from me as well…”
Tylor also listened from afar, in his near comatose like state, musing over her words.
The night passed quickly after that conversation and soon it was a bright warm morning. The sun rising above the land sent blazing heat over the fields and roads. The group had returned to the cart and was back on the dusty road towards Noctern. Tylor had not uttered a word all morning and had refused to eat as well, simply choosing to remain on his back in the cart. Peering over to him, Joel thought that it looked as though he had fallen asleep. Tylor’s eyes were closed, but his pupils bounced around under his eyelids. It looked as though he was dreaming.
“Leave him be,” Karen called back to him from the riders seat.
“But, he looks like he’s in pain…” Joel insisted.
Leon took long strides across the courtyard of Tentra castle to where Xeno was standing with a group of ten knights in front of him. Pointing in various directions, the Commander gave out orders. The knights saluted, split into groups of two, and parted. Leon called over to him and asked for an update. Tylor and Joel had both gone missing since the incident a day ago. Tylor had to have been taken by force, there was no way he would have been able to move himself in the state he was reported to be in. Joel, on the other hand, could have left willingly, or equally by force. He still did not think Tai was the cause, but it was possible that Karen had decided to take steps.
Since reporting Tai and the criminal acts that he had committed, the knights had been doubling patrols on the look out for him, as well as Tylor, Karen, and Joel. However, as of yet none of them had been spotted. Since Tai was responsible for the murder of official knights of Tentra, Xeno had made the situation of top priority. Nevertheless, Leon had made it clear that Tai should not be taken lightly and not approached without him being there.
“So, is there any news, Xeno?” Leon asked.
The old knight nodded. The murder weapon used on Rei Sabre had been a Tentra issue strum crossbow used by the knights on watch along the walls of the castle and outer city. The specific make, with the king’s emblem embedded on the hilt, was only available to such people. A corpse of one knight had been discovered on the previous day with his neck crushed and weapon missing. It was as if Tai had half heartedly tried to cover up his tracks. The only other news was that there was a possible sighting of Joel on a cart leaving the northern exit of Tentra during the afternoon of the previous day. This, however, could not be confirmed by any other knights on watch at the gate and only one had reported seeing a boy matching the descriptions that had been given out to them all.
“There is no other information to go on. Tai goes where Tylor and his young companion go it seems, but what lies to the north that would interest them? All that is up there now is the Great Forest and… Noctern,” Leon paused. “I shall head north as soon as possible to find them, is that acceptable?”
“Of course, the king has made finding this murderer a top priority. Your official orders are to find him and bring him to justice for the deaths of knights of the realm. If he truly is hunting your new friends then that is where you must go. Meanwhile, the city guard shall remain on high alert until he is found. Good luck, Leon,” Xeno said and bowed to his friend.
With that, Leon saluted his comrade and headed off towards his home to ready supplies to take with him to the north. Usually he would travel light, but because the north was so void of inhabitants and any sort of knight’s presence he would have to cater for himself. The civil war within Noctern had more consequences for the kingdom than the king must have foreseen when they refused to help with the dispute.
The city of Noctern was abandoned now. All that was left was a shanty town which was set up for its few survivors at the southern end of a massive forest which lead to Noctern. The woods were known as the Great Forest for it was the thickest area of woodland in the land and was over six miles in width. Within the woodland was a Dau settlement as well. Hopefully, Tai had headed that way.
The chance to fight someone of such skill was steadily getting the better of him. Things had started to get a lot more interesting. Tylor was still in danger though, and he had no intention of endangering the moralist just to satisfy his urges. Regardless of mission orders, he would make sure he was safe first.
“Commander Xeno,” said a knight, who saluted hastily. “A messenger from the western borders has arrived at the west gate demanding an immediate audience with the king on an urgent turn of events.”
Turning to face the knight, Xeno huffed deeply. Murmurs of something dark from the western Kingdom of L’Carn had been plaguing the border guards for far too long. There had been hints of a war between the native people and an unknown enemy. They had been ordered not to report on it again unless solid proof had been found of possible danger to their kingdom, as they had no alliance or direct communication with L’Carn.
“Very well, send the messenger to the waiting room and I shall speak with the king on this matter.”
Tylor was once again in the darkened room. It was the room with no walls, no ceiling, and no roof. It was as black as night, as black as death. There was no fog again, and no female voice speaking to him. Everything was quiet.
Your hatred grows…
The dark deep voice spoke out. He remembered it from once before. It spoke in the same bitter tone, full of hatred and loathing. It was telling him the things that he was to afraid to except. It was telling him that he hated death, but still wanted to kill Tai. The deep voice was making it clear that he was a hypocrite. Perhaps it was his inner self, a conscience of sorts.
The coward’s way out is not for you, use the anger, feed on it…it will make you strong.
The coward’s way out? What was the voice referring to? The last few days had been a blur to him, faded images and half memories were all he had to go on. He remembered his mother and her body falling from his hands, but after that it was as if he had forced the memories out, trying to hide from them. What had he seen?
For now it is better for us both that you do not dwell on such times. The information that we need is to be found in Noctern. Allow me to purge these memories from your conscience, it will bring you peace of mind and it will restore you to your normal self. Soon, only a little more, and then…
“What…what’s going on? Karen, look!” Joel cried out.
A deep red light had begun consuming Tylor’s body. Karen halted the horse quickly and turned to look, but she seemed as equally confused. The cart began to shake as the red light became stronger. The wood under Tylor’s body buckled and became upturned. Karen leapt into the back of the cart and tried to grab him, but the red light forced her hand away. Turning to Joel, she told him to get out the cart. As he did, she kicked the back packs and belongings out as well before leaping out herself.
The cart exploded into a ball of red light. Wood turned to splinters as they soared into the air, consumed by the bright fire. The horse neighed loudly and galloped off the road into some fields, head harness and burnt ropes still attached to its back and mane. In the middle of the red light, Tylor’s body lay suspended. He still lay in the same position he had been in on the cart before it shattered, seemingly still asleep. Joel franticly demanded to know what was going on, but Karen had no answers.
“Isn’t this something to do with the Destined?” he cried to her over the roar of noise the glowing energy field was making.
“No!” was her reply. “I… I don’t know what this is.”
As quickly as it had appeared, the red field of unearthly fire began to dissipate. It seemed to start when Tylor’s body began writhing around, like he was fighting back against something. The blood red light closed around his body then looked as though it was absorbed back, directly into his weak figure. His suspended body collapsed awkwardly to the ground.
Lying there, Tylor grasped at his head. It was pounding like he had been run down by a horse. Suddenly two faces were above him, cradling his body and pulling him up into a sitting position. It was Karen and Joel, helping him. They seemed to be on a dirt road, open fields spanned the horizon directly in front of him and bird calls echoed in the open sky. He tried to retrace their steps to get there, but nothing came to him. It was as if he had been asleep for a long time, ever since he had been with his mother and was only now waking up. Or maybe what he now saw was a dream, and that was why he could not remember anything of how he got there.
“Tylor, are you okay?” Joel was crying out over and over while shaking him.
Weakly, he looked up to his friend’s worried face and nodded slowly. Helping him to his feet, his companions released their grip and stood before him, giving him time to clear his head (which was still pounding). Karen raised her bare hand to Tylor’s face and grabbed the bottom of his chin. Holding his face straight, she moved a finger of her free hand past his eyes, telling him to follow the finger without moving his face. She watched the reaction time of the eyes and checked for dilation. Karen seemed worried about the results, asking Tylor to state his name, he did so. She then asked him to tell them where they were.
“I... it’s funny, I don’t remember. The last thing I remember was being with my mother, her body falling from my hands… after that… I don’t remember a thing,” he stuttered.
Joel tugged on Karen’s arm and pulled her aside. Tylor looked around in a few directions trying to get some bearings.
“Karen, what happened to him? Why can’t he remember being in hospital or when he was talking to us yesterday?”
“I don’t know. He seemed responsive enough, perhaps this is her work. Never mind, we should count our blessings. Tylor is now not as bad as he was, it is better that we don’t remind him of how we saw him the last couple of days. It would do no good, got that?”
He nodded slowly and sighed.
They returned to Tylor. Karen picked their back packs off the ground and shared the weight amongst the group.
She looked around and cursed, “The cart and horse are gone, so it looks like it's back to walking. There should be a small village before the Great Forest that we can rest in, it should not be too far. Let’s get going,” Karen ordered, walking off along the road to the north.
Tylor was confused.
Had there been a cart and a horse? What were they talking about? Asking his companions, Karen waved his question off, explaining that they should just get going. Joel agreed with her and joined her in walking up the road. Something was definitely strange, Joel and Karen seemed to be getting on well and Joel seemed to know what she had been talking about. Were they hiding something from him? His young friend would not do that, not to him. However, something definitely had to have happened since his mother died. He did not just magically walk from her house in Tentra to the open road. Something happened in between. What was being kept from him?
Tai strolled along, walking in proud large steps up the dirt track towards the Great Forest. Beyond the dense woods was the remains of Noctern, the location Karen was now leading her friends to. A short time ago, he had felt an immense Aura growing a few miles ahead of him. It seemed to die out after only a few short minutes, but in that time it had caught his interest. It had come from the direction and rough location that his prey had to have been at, but none of them had the ability to create an Aura so strong, not even the girl. It could not have been Demon Hunter Sansec either. As far as he was aware, the Hunter had remained in Tentra.
A voice on the wind whispered in Tai’s ear. Stopping on the spot, he listened attentively. The whisper brushed his ear again, colder than the wind. Raising his hand before him he mumbled mystic words and moved his arm in a circular motion before him. A circle of purple energy appeared in the path his hand had taken. Within it a cloud of darkness appeared, within this dark cloud a raspy voice echoed out to him.
“Master, what is thy bidding?” Tai spoke out, bowing to the circle of darkness.
So, you will talk to me directly now instead of sending Elites, how interesting, he silently thought.
Murmurs of sound rippled out from the darkness, like low growls of an injured beast. It was the voice of the one whom Tai served.
“Master, I will have the two Destined dead within the coming days,” Tai explained. “You have expressed the need to conceal my being in this kingdom. Therefore, I could not attack them while they were in the capital city.”
Again, almost animalistic growls sounded from the thick cloud. The darkness in the middle of the purple ring faded away slowly. Tai slashed his hand through the purple circle, shattering it and causing it to fade away into misty specs of light which floated into the air while disintegrating further. If his master was able to communicate without the need to send a messenger, then that meant he was getting closer. The siege on Atra had to be closer to beginning than he had imagined. That meant that the playtime with his victims would soon have to come to an end. Kass was going to arrive within the next two days and his master was already on the kingdom borders.
Tai had no choice; in Noctern he would end it.
The village that Karen had mentioned was no more than a group of run down wooden shacks at the foot of a huge forest which seemed to spread for miles into the distance. Amongst the run down collection of homes, people were grouped around a large fire over which fresh meat was being roasted. There were around twenty people seated around the blaze, adult and children, all of the same race, man. As the trio neared the village, the people around the flames became aware of the groups presence. Children huddled behind their parents and the men amongst them stood in front of the women. An older man hunched and with a wooden staff for support approached them, holding his hand up motioning them to halt.
“What business do you have here?” he asked, examining the group.
“We require lodging for one night. We will be gone in the morning and plan to head towards Noctern. We can pay you for the service,” Karen explained.
The gruff old man repeated what Karen said with a questioning gaze. He seemed concerned that they were heading towards Noctern and asked whether they knew the condition it was in. Karen explained to them that she was originally from Noctern and was well aware of its current state of decay. The elderly man seemed to relax more once he heard that she was from Noctern. He explained that they had no spare rooms, but they were welcome to camp near the large fire for the night and enjoy their hospitality. Thanking the old man, the group walked with him to the camp fire.
People seemed to want to avoid them, perhaps because they were uneasy towards strangers and did not want to converse with them. Tylor raised his hands to the blazing heat of the giant fire and warmed himself. He had felt cold since he woke up on the ground. It was a strange deep cold within him that chilled to the bone and the fire did not seem to help. Joel was asking Karen questions about the village, its origins, why it was so run down, and so on. Karen seemed more at ease when talking to Joel now and quite contently answered his endless questions.
The village, if you could even call it that, had no name. The group of people who lived in it was originally from Noctern. After the wars inside the cities walls they had no choice but to evacuate. Finding no relief in Tentra, they built somewhere to stay with what materials they had available. It was a sad looking place, dull and colorless, nothing like the capital city or the other places the group had visited thus far. She went on to explain that the ones who remained there even to that day were the stubborn ones that refused to have anything to do with Tentra because of their actions during the dark times in Noctern. They got by just fine, nearby streams provided fresh drinkable water and the Great Forest was lush with wildlife to hunt for food.
An old woman approached Karen and asked her full name. After stating that it was Karen Warren, the old lady grabbed her hand and leaned closer to her face. She seemed to know Karen, or knew of her. She explained that she knew Karen’s mother and remembered seeing Karen playing in the streets when she was a very young child. Karen smiled and agreed with her, remembering those times. The old woman then asked if she knew if the rumors were true about Andros.
“I am sorry, I do not know what you mean, he died in the blaze at Noctern,” she stated.
The old lady nodded as she said it, saying that was what she had always assumed as well, but they had recently heard rumors that the new owner of an old mansion in the Great Forest was a young man named Andros. Joel was being as nosy as ever and asked who Andros was and also about the mansion in the forest that they were talking about.
They explained that the mansion, located in the western part of the Great Forest, was built back when the mountain people came to Noctern seeking shelter. They built the Mansion as payment for the lodgings and asylum that they were granted. The original governing body of Noctern was going to use the mansion until the war with the syndicate and the mountain people took over. Karen had almost forgotten that the building even existed since it had never been used in all the time it had stood there. And now, it seemed that a person Karen had known since childhood had taken up dwelling in the mansion. Andros was the same age as her, and lived close to her. They always used to play together, but when Karen ran away from Noctern and watched most of it burn down she had always just assumed that he had died.
“The hunters that get food for us claim to have seen a guard at its gate. There seemed to be a number of people staying in it, but no one was ever allowed entry. They also said that the guard was quite strange.”
Karen did not say anything further and thanked the woman for telling her of the rumors. She warned Karen to be careful should she decide to check, as it may be surviving Syndicate that had decided to move into the mansion, which would explain the guards.
“Are you going to go?” Tylor asked.
“Andros…I thought he was another person I had lost on the way and with his passing I lost part of me as well, he was my only friend back then…but if he is alive…” Karen uttered in an unusually gentle way.
Turning to him, she asked if he minded a slight detour before heading into Noctern. Tylor shrugged, continuing to warm his hands on the fire. Karen seemed disgruntled at his reaction and Joel was concerned. He did not care about that, he did not even know why they were heading to Noctern. His life was being directed and controlled, so why did people still bother to ask what he felt?
Meeting his mother had been the first glimmer of hope he had felt in a long time, she understood the pain he felt, the pressure and the fear, but even she was taken from him. When he watched her die he felt part of himself slip away with her, was this what Karen was talking about?
Maybe the answers to his endless questions would be found in the power that his mother spoke of. Unlocking the power of the Destined would give him the strength to protect the people who gave him hope and reason to live. Karen, too, had to also be seeking more power so that she could defend herself and perhaps that was why they were now headed towards Noctern. Was she just being controlled and led on as well? Regardless, he knew of nothing else that they could to. Their next destination was Noctern with or without the detour to the mansion.
The key to unlocking their strength lay there.
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