Sentria: The War for Askeran (Book 3)

Chapter Fourteen: Hurting

Night fell on us while we were sailing down the Argon River. Thankfully it had straightened out enough and Princess Ilya rested. I volunteered to stay up and sail the boat now that we were on a straightaway, but Eldwyn refused to sleep, wanting to control the winds to guide us. I agreed, but we didn't speak much. We stayed quite through half the night until he finally broke it with his soft voice.

"It's a lovely night, knight," said Eldwyn.

"That it is," I replied, keeping my hands on the lines to guide the sails.

"The stars are shining bright and the moon is almost full. It fills my heart with gladness."

"That is a good thing."

There was another stretch of silence, then Eldwyn stood up next to me. "Say what you feel. If you are angry at me, please release it. I can take whatever hatred that you feel."

I turned to him. "It is not hatred, Eldwyn, I could never hate you. I am just...hurt."

"I'm sorry that I've hut you, but know that some known things cannot be changed."

"If I had known that Lucas was destined to die, I would have left him in Loria and continued onto the Mountainlands. He would have never been taken by pirates, and he would have never—" I could say no more. The pain was too great.

"That is not how destiny works. Whatever path we chose, Lucas would have died. That's what Bronte says."

"That's what Bronte says? Sometimes he speaks to you, sometimes he does not. He is the wind, the water, the fire, and the rock, and his messages shift like the wind. Bronte cannot always be trusted. How do you know what is true and what is not?"

"I know."

I sighed and looked up at the night sky. It was a beautiful shade of dark blue, but I couldn't fully appreciate it. "It isn't fair, Eldwyn."

"I know, knight." He stepped behind me and held onto my shoulders. "None of this is fair, but you have to forgive yourself. As hard as it is to understand, destiny has its own path."

"But I'm meant to carve my own path, Eldwyn. That's what Muros taught me. If I do what I'm meant to, I can create the world I want to see. A fair and just world. A world where Lucas, an innocent is slaughtered before my very eyes is not—is not a..." I trailed off and started to cry. I wanted to beyond these feelings, like the stars themselves, but it was too hard. "I want him back, Eldwyn."

Eldwyn turned me around and embraced me tightly and I wept in his arms. I didn't like for him to see me this way. I wanted him to feel protected by me, but I needed this and I knew that he wouldn't judge me. I loved this relic and the more that I opened up to him, the stronger I was. Yet again, Princess Ilya was right.

In the morning, we made port near the water relic village at the south end of the Winding Forest. Princess Ilya awoke bright and early and we committed to making breakfast.We hadn't had any for a full day and we were properly starving. Eldwyn used the wind to lift up a few yellow cass from the Argon River and Princess Ilya and I ate them over an open flame as Eldwyn searched for berries.

"You are much brighter than yesterday," said Princess Ilya on the other side of the small fire by the edge of a trail. "I can only assume that you've made amends with Eldwyn."

"You are perceptive." I wiped my mouth with a large bayleaf. "We had a conversation as we sailed through the night. I still don't full understand his Bronte and how his wind works, but he says that it had to happen."

"What don't you understand about destiny, Prince Darren?"

"The idea that we are at its mercy and yet we are to choose our own path. I could have easily returned to Stargon and stayed out of this war. If I did so, would that alter destiny, or keep it on track? Do we have any choice in this life?"

"I see destiny as a calling, not a right or wrong answer. You were called to save Askeran, you could have ignored it and it would continue to call. Destiny would find some way to bring you back to your rightful path, and that pain that you feel is what's necessary to win this. Destiny is all the things at once, even what the gods seem to have abandoned you, you are never alone."

We finished our fish and I stomped out the fire, but Eldwyn had yet to return and I was getting worried. I looked at Princess Ilya and I could tell by her expression that she shared the same concerns. I turned to look at the trees and I heard rustling.

"Eldwyn?" I asked. Suddenly, Eldwyn fell out of the forest and onto the trail up ahead, bloody and unconscious. "Eldwyn!" I ran to him. My vision went blurry as I worried for the worst. Then two Cordathian soldiers emerged in front of me and I stopped.

"High Prince Darren," said the first soldier. He was stocky with a dark grin.

"We didn't think we'd ever get to meet you personally," said the other soldier. He was lankier and smirked slightly. "It's one of those things that you think about, but you never imagine that you'll really meet the High Prince himself."

"Move away from him!" I said, drawing my sword and pointing at him.

"Him?" said the lanky one, looking back at him briefly. "He's as good as dead."

My eyes lit with rage and I ran at them, slashing at them back and forth. First one and the other over and over again as strong as I could. They backed away from Eldwyn's body and they circled me.

"Prince Darren!" screamed Princess Ilya.

"Stay back!" I warned her. I knew that she wanted to help, but this was no place for her. The stocky soldier swiped at my knees and I jumped over it and kicked him in his head. As he fell back, I spin and swiped the other solder, almost clearing him of his head, but he backed away. I spun again and kicked him in the chest, pushing him against a tree. Before he could retaliate, I ran him through the stomach with my sword and growled in his face.

I heard the footsteps of the living soldier run up to me and I turned, hitting his sword away, then stabbed at him, pushing him back. These weren't killing strikes, I cut his arms and the sides of his stomach until it became too hard for him to withstand and I cut into his heart.

"You hurt my heart, I hurt yours." I lifted my leg and pushed him off of my sword with my boot. I went to Eldwyn's side, coming to my knees just before Princess Ilya did. He wasn't moving. I turned to Princess Ilya. "Is he dead?" I asked her.

She placed her hand on his heart, then removed his shit to see how badly they had cut him. There was more blood than skin.

Princess Ilya looked up at me, with watery eyes. "Not yet...but he doesn't have much time."