Ryan's head nodded slowly. The gears inside had finally meshed together just as his name had left man’s lips. The barkeep’s face seemed to shatter. The weary, guarded mask he had worn since they walked in didn't just fade; it vanished, replaced by an instantaneous, radiant explosion of recognition between them.

  Jax’s eyes— the same piercing, yet startling blue he remembered, blew wide, shimmering with a sudden, wet brilliance in the lantern light as his breath hitched in a sharp, jagged sob of a laugh. Then came the smile. It was a massive, face-splitting grin that erupted with such force it pulled at the thin, red hair of his beard and crinkled the silver-fleshed scar into a jagged line of pure joy.

  In a heartbeat, the imposing man before him was gone. The heavy, barrel-chested build and the muscular arms of a twenty-year-old seemed to lose their weight, revealing the mischievous, wide-eyed boy Ryan had pinned into the dirt a thousand times. A shock of unruly red hair fell over his brow, framing a face that was suddenly, vibrantly youthful. He didn't just smile; he beamed with a wild, breathless energy that belonged to sun-drenched fields and splintered wooden swords.

  "Ryan!" he breathed, the name coming out as a choked, jubilant rasp that sounded more like the ten-year-old he had been than the man he had become.

  The sound of it snapped the last of Ryan’s restraint. Seeing the wetness of the man-s eyes started a waterfall of his own. He cried out loudly and overflowed with a happiness he hadn't felt in years.

  “JAX!”

  Jax's thick arms were already swinging wide. He looked like a giant who had forgotten his own strength, his face glowing with a raw, staggering joy that bridged the ten-year gap in a single, lung-squeezing second that lifted Ryan from the floor.

  "How've ya been?" Ryan managed to choke out, his ribs groaning under the vice-like pressure of Jax’s massive arms.

  While the two men were lost in a decade-old reunion, the air around them sizzled with a very different energy. Serenity leapt to her feet with the immediate and deadly grace of a huntress; she had pivoted on the balls of her feet the second Jax lunged, her hand clamped tight over the hilt of her sword. Her silver eyes were narrowed to slits, her body coiled like a snake ready to strike as she waited for the "attack" to reveal its true nature.

  Beside her, Tru’s response was one of pure, lacklustering hesitation. Her hands remained frozen in mid-air, her flirtatious pout having evaporated into a look of utter bewilderment. She watched Ryan’s feet dangle several inches off the floorboards, her eyes glancing from Jax’s bobbing red head to Ryan’s tear-streaked face. For her, the "red-haired, grizzled man" had suddenly melted into a weeping giant, and the transition left her mind stalled in a state of befuddled quietness.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  The two elves shared a brief, wide-eyed glance over the boys' shoulders that seemed to say “what's happenin?’—one ready to draw steel, the other simply trying to process the absurdity of the scene.

  Jax finally set Ryan down with a heavy thud that rattled the floorboards, though he kept his massive, calloused hands clamped onto Ryan’s shoulders as if afraid he might vanish again. He took several staggering breaths to ease the heaving of his chest under his tunic, and finally seemed to notice the two hooded figures standing in a half-circle around them.

  His wet, blue eyes shifted to Serenity’s hand on her blade, and his grin faltered, replaced by a flicker of the wary barkeep he had been just a moment before.

  "Easy there, little sis. There's no need for that." Jax chuckled, his voice still bustling with emotion. He wiped the dampness from his eyes and looked back at Ryan, his thumb gesturing toward the women. "I see you’ve picked up some prickly company since you left the granary.”

  Ryan nervously looked around the now empty tavern. It was deathly quiet and the stillness made him uncomfortable. Without a word he strolled towards the door. He lifted his hand and gave Jax a look that hinted, “I hope you don't mind.”

  A candle on the wall flicked as a fresh, gentle autumn breeze entered the room.

  He shut the door behind him and then pulled the shutter closed on the road side window before returning to his table.

  “We can trust him.”

  “Are you certain?” asked Serenity, the cautiousness of her nature dripping with every word.

  Ryan stared at her in silence. She stared back defiantly, determined not to break as easily this time. Ryan just stood there, gazing into her eyes as though searching her soul. His flickered the hint of a smile.

  “FINE!” giving in to him. She stood, followed by Tru.

  Ryan introduced the two elven women to Jax and they lowered their hoods, showing the pointedness of their ears.

  “Elves,” murmured Jax with gitty shock. With his excitement starting to rise, he slapped Ryan on the back, forgetting his strength once again and knocking him off balance. He roared jubilantly, “How did you get tangled up with a couple of she elves this easy on the eyes? You lucky bastard! I thought my Mrs was a looker, but this!”

  “You got married!” The revelation hit Ryan unexpectedly.

  “Yep. Almost two years now. I had to.”

  “What do you mean, ‘had to’?”

  “I planted my seed a bit too early,” he said with a wink and began nudging Ryan repeatedly in the side with his elbow. He gave Ryan that same mischievous grin he had had his whole life.

  “You have a child?”

  Jax's energy shifted from utter elation to a near bitter remorse. His massive hand, which had been boisterously slapping Ryan’s back, suddenly went still, resting heavy on his shoulder like a lead weight.

  “A son.” His eyes welling again. “Named ‘im after your pa. That man was like a second father to me, before he died. I never told you this, but anytime I got a whoopin’ from him, and I got a lot of them,” he tapped his thumb against his chest, “it hurt me loads more than one from my own father.”

  Jax snatched a cloth from his belt, dried his eyes once more before cleansing his nose of the fountain that had sprung forth.

  “It’s good to see you,” he said, his joy returning.

  A woman's muffled voice echoed from the back room that was incomprehensible to all but Jax. His eyes widened. The cogs of his barkeeper’s mind ground swiftly to a halt with the realization he hadn't brought them the food they had requested. His back stiffened at the summons from behind the door. His broad smile and excitement returned to his face.

  “Just wait until you meet ‘em!” he said as he lumbered into the back room.