Return To Sky Raven (Book 2) (31 page)

I knew Fern was not his real name, but it was what I called the man that I could only describe as my best adult friend while growing up. I still don’t remember what his real name actually is. Yes, he was an adult back then and had some gray in his hair now, but he was still a great man, almost like a second father or an uncle to me.

His eyes shot wide and he wheeled smoothly to look at my face when he heard that name. “There’s only one family that calls me that. Is that really you, Alex? Ha, it is! I would recognize those eyes anywhere!” He clamped an arm down on my shoulder and gave me a firm handshake. “What are you doing here?”

Ollis made a coughing sound to get Fern’s attention. “Sir, Alex and his friends here were the ones that broke the undead back lines.”

Fern looked at me in a new light and examined my armor. “Yes, I just heard about it. Sorry I missed the action; I was in an emergency defense meeting. So you’re the apparition in white that my cavalry commander was raving about who saved half of his command. Well done! So, Alex, you finally learned how to use a sword then?”

I smiled. “Not quite.” I unsheathed my hammer off my back. The elf guards stirred uneasily, and he waved them off. “I’m more of a smashing kind of guy.”

He eyed the hammer. “I can see that, spikes and all; but where did you get all this? I know dark elves aren’t the best with metal craft, but I have never even heard of white metal.”

“Long story; best kept in private as well.”

He smiled. “Of course, but we need to find Mrs. Fern. She would kill me if she found out you were here and we didn’t call her.” He turned to lead me away, but it didn’t take much to stop him.

“Um, sir, hold on a second, I need to introduce everyone.”

He looked back with an embarrassed nod. “I’m sorry; yes, please do.”

“The two warhorses are Kaima and Somnus; they are well…. pretty unique.”

“I can see that. It’s not every day you see a pair of unicorn-armored flaming white horses, let alone a horse even close to their size; those two are big. Where did you get them? And why do you have two of them?”

I laughed. “Yes, they are big. They were a gift from a close relative and I have a partner running around here somewhere who rides the mare. You see Fern…I met this girl…”

I saw regret and sadness run across his face as he paused momentarily, but he immediately recovered and cloaked it in a broad smile and slapped me on the back. “That’s fantastic, you’ll have to bring her by to meet us sometime. Mrs. Fern is going to be so proud to see what you’ve become.”

Fern looked around absently for a second and then called out a pair of names. Within seconds, two young boys showed up with their hands behind their backs and their heads down as if they had been caught doing something wrong. Fern squinted down at them, the deep laugh lines set in his face. “If you two are going to slack on your duties just to see a bit of the action, I’ll put you to work myself. Take these two fine horses to my stables and tend to them. Food, new bedding, and a good rubdown for both of them, got it?” They both grinned, thinking they might have dodged punishment for what they did and happily got to work. Back in the village, it was severely frowned upon for a child who hadn’t passed his or her adulthood trial to participate in or even witness battle. I chuckled as I watched the boys eagerly take the reins from the girls and lead the horses down the road. They reminded me of the stable boys from Sky Raven and I longed to return there.

“And who are your friends?” Fern asked.

I brought the girls forward. “This is Lin and Julia; they’re druids from Xarparion.” The girls performed a modest curtsey, and from the way their eyes danced, I knew they were stuffing down a giggle somewhere.

Fern looked at me incredulously. “Druids?” He walked up to them and performed a long, formal bow, then took their hands. “Young ladies, I can’t tell you how pleased I am to meet you. You honor our Capital with your presence. If there is anything I can do to entice you to stay with us longer,” he gave them both a fatherly wink, “you just let me know. In fact, I think I might have just the thing!” He turned and shouted up to the wall. “Ollis, could I borrow your daughter this evening for an assignment vital to the interests of the city? These two druid girls could use a dedicated guide to show them around.

Ollis stuck his head over the wall above us and looked down in confusion, then his face suddenly lit up with understanding. “Of course, my King; she would be very happy to show them around, especially if it gets her out of her calligraphy assignments. Just give me a few minutes to have her fetched.”

Fern looked back at the girls and released their hands. “Ryllis is one of our brightest young scholars and I think you three will get along famously together. She will take you on a tour of our city’s libraries. If I’m not mistaken, there are a large number of old druid volumes that probably haven’t been cracked open in centuries.”

I think the girls nearly toppled over from shock and glee; in fact, I had to put a hand on Lin’s back to keep her upright. “Your…your…your libraries? she stammered, her eyes shining. “We get to see the archives of the druids of old?” Julia was practically hopping up and down as well.

Fern just laughed. “I see no reason why not. I’m sure the scholars would absolute love the chance to actually talk with some real druids. Alex and I are just going to catch up on some old times, so he can tell me about the past years. It would be rude of me to force the two of you to sit though that.”

I don’t think they heard any of that nor do I think they cared; all they did was bounce around and giggle. I looked at Fern and pointed to Nia on my shoulder. “Fern, I would like to introduce Nia. Aside from obviously being a pixie, she is a powerful wizard in her own right, also my bodyguard and best friend.” Nia preened at the introduction but still kept her eyes on Fern as if daring him to try and separate us. “She’ll be coming with us. I don’t think you will have any luck convincing her otherwise.”

“Wizard Nia,” he chuckled and performed a formal respectful nod, bringing his eyes to her level. “Of course, you are welcome to come with us. My wife, Renalla, adores pixies and she would love to meet you.”

Somewhat mollified, Nia smiled brightly, but then a look of confusion crossed her small face. “Mr. King, sir, is Renalla a common name among your people?”

Fern frowned slightly in thought. “Why no, Nia, I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of another Renalla anywhere. Why do you ask?”

Nia stammered slightly before replying, “Um, no reason…it’s just such a pretty name and all.”

“Well, let’s go find my wife before she finds us, then we’ll have to catch up on old times over a meal. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving!” I laughed to myself; he always seemed to get that line in somewhere every time he came to town to visit. Smiling and happy to be welcomed, I followed him through town with a strangely agitated pixie on my shoulder.

When Fern had gotten a few steps ahead of us, Nia stood up and walked over my shoulder to whisper in my ear. “Mister Alex, do you remember what I told you the first time I met Maya? About what a great girl she was, but if you ever messed up, she was going to kill you, burnt to a crisp?”

“Um, yeah,” I said, concerned.

“Well, you’re a dead man all right,” she giggled softly.

Just then, we rounded the corner of one of the larger buildings and I heard the trailing end of a conversation, “Mom, you haven’t listened to a thing I’ve said for the past hour and a half…the thing is…I met this boy…” said a voice I would know anywhere. Abruptly, we ran straight into Maya and…Mrs. Fern? Wait, what?

“Maya!”

“Alex?”

“Maya!”

“Father!”

“Father?”

“Alex!”

“Ok, I’m confused now!” I admitted aloud, as Maya and I unconsciously moved next to each other, and the Ferns stood together talking frantically between themselves. I turned to Maya as she looked equally confused. “You know them?” she asked.

I nodded. “Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Fern are old family friends; I’ve known them all my life.”

She placed both hands on my shoulders and fixed me with an icy stare. “Alex, those are my parents!”

Well, I didn’t see that coming, but Nia obviously did as she leaped off my shoulder and was doing hysterical figure eights in the air above us. Mr. Fern, or I guess I should say Faeron, scooped up his daughter, or at least tried to before resorting to just hugging her to death. I even saw tears running down his face, and Maya was just as ecstatically hugging him back. “I am so glad you are all right! We heard about the attack on Xarparion and feared the worst.”

Maya wiped away tears of joy. “I know, Mother told me.” He let her go and held her at arm’s length as he looked her over. “You’ve grown in seven years. You’re no longer the little girl I remember and now are such a beautiful woman.”

Maya blushed and turned away. “Please stop, you’re embarrassing me.”

Renalla came over and gave me a hug as well. “It’s so good to see you again, Alex; you’re so big! I’m sorry we had to miss your last seven birthdays; I hope you can forgive us.”

“Lady, believe me, we will be asking a lot from you here very shortly,”
I thought. Now that I saw them together, the resemblance between mother and daughter was striking. I don’t understand how it never occurred to me before.

“It’s fine, Mrs. Fern, I mean Renalla.”

She chuckled and hugged me again. “You can call me whatever you like, my dear. Besides, coming from you, Renalla just sounds off. Now tell me, what are you doing here when we are under siege? This is not a safe place for you, young man.”

Faeron and Maya joined us, Faeron still with his arm around his daughter. “Oh, I’d say based on the amount of armor the boy is wearing, I think he knew exactly where he was going,” Faeron grinned.

“Actually, Mother, Alex was the one leading the group of reinforcements I mentioned.”

She sighed, “So help really did come. Maybe we can hold out then.”

Faeron snorted, “The battle’s over, dear. Alex and his two druid friends, two warhorses, a stone giant, and this pixie practically wiped them all out single-handedly!”

“It’s over?” she questioned incredulously, “and what pixie?”

Realizing Nia had finished her aerial acrobatics and snuck back into hiding, I was forced to grab her from her sanctuary in my armor to present to them. Although once dragged out in the open, she instantly did her best to look cute as she always does, and Renalla fell right into her trap. After a few minutes of adoring the pixie, she got a hold of herself. “You three simply must come over to the house! And I won’t take no for an answer, either.” The look on Maya’s face made me think she was actually contemplating something violent.

Winya popped into my mind and she seemed very happy too. “
Just so you know, she is going to kill you for this - just saying!”

“Thanks for your moral support,”
I sent back with no small amount of sarcasm.

“
No problem, happy to be of service!”

The group of us walked with Maya’s parents and entourage through the city. Along the way, Renalla was trying to make conversation with me and a very uncomfortable-looking Maya in tow. “So, I would say it’s safe to assume from the similarities in armor that you two know each other? Did you both join the same knightly order or something?”

“Mom, I told you, we’re not paladins! But, yes, we met and know each other from Xarparion,” Maya muttered through clenched teeth.

“It’s no matter, dear; I’m sure we’ll hear all about it when you tell us your stories over dinner. Besides, we’re almost home and you two need to get cleaned up, that much armor has to be horribly uncomfortable.” I found that to be rather funny because neither of us particularly wanted to shed our protective shells at all.

The house was built on a small knoll in the center of the city, with a shallow decorative moat running around most of it. The late afternoon shadows were starting to creep across the grounds but a number of glowing orbs kept it muted, but cheerful. I couldn’t help but notice there was a small contingent of guards patrolling in pairs around the outside. A wide stone footbridge arched over the moat to the front door, and a smaller one led from a path to what looked like stables in the back courtyard. Other than just being very well-made and nice, there really wasn’t much on the outside to distinguish it from the other nice homes in the immediate vicinity. It certainly didn’t fit my image of a King’s palace. Once we were inside, the place became much more impressive; rich wood finishes covered every square inch of flooring and sidewall. Huge, louvered panels brought the breeze into the structure, but there were few windows. Renalla stopped us in the main foyer and made Faeron remove his boots with a wag of her finger.

“Ok, let’s get you out of that armor.” Renalla beckoned to Maya as she started looking her over. “If I can ever figure out how to get you out of it, that is. Who in the world made this? It almost looks like it was painted on you.”

I couldn’t help but snicker as Maya fixed me with a murderous glare and then looked away from her mother, blushing. “I can take it off myself, Mother,” she grated and started to undo the latches that held everything in place.” Renalla gasped and swatted her fingers away from the process. “Don’t take it off here in front of the boys! We wouldn’t want them to see you naked!” She grabbed one of Maya’s arms and led her away to another room

Winya snickered in my head, “
Well, one of them does!”

Faeron watched his wife’s mother-hen impression and beamed. “You have no idea what having Maya back means to my wife. Come on, let’s get you out of your armor as well. The sooner you’re both clean, the sooner we can all eat!”

He led me into one of the back rooms that dropped down a few feet and had a dirt floor. The walls were lined with a modest number of weapon racks holding various weapons; sadly, none were even close to Darroth’s quality of work.

“Small, I’m sure, compared to wherever you both obtained your impressive weapons, but this is all l need.”

I nodded and looked around, spotting a war hammer on the wall similar to the one Maya and I had found in the training shack back at school. I picked it up and gave it a few swings, and I would say it’s almost exactly like the one from training.