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Chapter twenty-one

  Viren stood in the shadows, watching Drew, who was searching the small forest grove. “Wow,” Drew said. “I can’t see you at all!” Viren said nothing. “Uh, Viren? You’re still here, right?”

  “I’m here,” Viren said. Drew whipped around. He squinted in Viren’s direction before walking closer. He was two feet from Viren’s hiding place before he finally spotted him.

  “There you are!” he exclaimed. Viren smiled and stepped out of the shadow of the tree he was hiding under. “So,” Drew continued, “It’s not total invisibility.” Viren nodded.

  “Yeah. And the effect is kind of ruined if I make lots of noise or move around too much, so there is some skill involved,” he said. Drew nodded eagerly.

  “It’s still amazing,” he said. “I’ve never met anyone with a shadow affinity before.” Viren grinned.

  “What am I, chopped liver?” Drew rolled his eyes.

  “I meant other than you.”

  “Hey! Guys!” Rickson jogged into the clearing. Drew waved. “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Playing hide and seek,” Drew informed him. “Mage addition. Viren’s shadow affinity is incredible!”

  “Wow,” said Rickson. “Sounds like you two are getting along well.” Drew sighed.

  “Yes,” he said solemnly. “It’s been too long that I’ve had to survive as a lone mage,” he continued dramatically. Rickson snorted and pulled Drew into a half hug, patting him hard on the back.

  “Well, now that you have a buddy you can stop complaining about it,” Rickson informed him. He turned to Viren. “That’s the real reason we hired you,” he said with a grin. “To get this fellow to shut up.” Drew scoffed, and Viren chuckled.

  “Anyway,” Rickson continued, releasing Drew. “The real reason I came to find you was because we’re all sparring.” Drew’s eyes lit up with excitement.

  “Oh, nice,” he said. “Those are always fun. And Jobe owes me a rematch.” Rickson nodded.

  “You don’t have to fight if you don’t want to,” he added to Viren. “It’s usually pretty casual, and always lighthearted, but you can just watch if you want.” Viren nodded. He didn’t know how sparring worked amongst the Tigers, but he was willing to bet it was nothing like he had… previously experienced. For that reason, it was better to watch and learn.

  They all started back to the camp, Viren walking behind Rickson and Drew. They were talking about different types of weaponry and how they compared and measured up to each other. It was a topic Viren was familiar with, thanks to his reading, but he didn’t join the conversation.

  It was less than a fifteen-minute walk to camp, and when they got back Viren saw that some of the mercenaries had made a makeshift practice ring out of sticks and small rocks. They were all laughing and talking, though when they saw Rickson with Drew and Viren conversations quieted. Some of the mercenaries let out a small cheer.

  “There you are,” one called. “Took forever!” Rickson shook his head with a smile.

  “Well now that I’m here,” Rickson said, “We can get started!”

  …

  Viren sat on a log with his chin resting in his hands. There had already been over fifteen bouts. At least three of the bouts had been Drew vs. a man named Jobe. As he suspected, the Tigers sparring was much different than sparring at Kastra’s castle, but there wasn’t much of a surprise there. With a sigh, Viren lowered his head and closed his eyes.

  “What’s got you feeling down?” Viren looked up at the sound of Drew’s voice and saw Rickson standing beside him. Rickson was sweating; he had just finished a bout.

  “Don’t know,” Viren said shrugging one shoulder. He looked back out over the mercs, patting each other on the back and celebrating together. He shrugged again. “I wish I had grown up like this.” Rickson and Drew were silent. Then Drew spoke with a hint of a laugh in his voice.

  “You will,” he said. Viren looked back up at him, frowning.

  “What Drew means,” Rickson said, “is that you still have your entire life in front of you. If you choose to, you can grow up like this.” He looked Viren in the eye, and Viren stared back. “You’re life isn’t wasted, Viren.”

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Viren looked down, and for some reason he couldn’t swallow the lump that was suddenly there. Instead, he nodded silently and looked away.

  …

  “Welcome!” enthused King Treion, spreading his arms wide to greet the elven ambassadors. Khastri hid a smile at his father’s welcoming attitude. The visiting elves were far more reserved.

  “Greetings, your majesty,” the head ambassador said with a nod of his head. Khastri stepped forward.

  “Greetings. We have your rooms prepared for you,” he said, nodding to a servant. The servant stepped forward.

  “Ah, many thanks,” the head elve said. “However, we had hoped to begin the meetings immediately? I trust you are eager as well.” Khastri resisted the urge to close his eyes and rub his forehead. ‘I’ll bet Starla is glad she missed this,’ he thought. They had been planning to start the meetings tomorrow afternoon and were definitely not prepared to start immediately.

  King Treion, in contrast, looked totally calm. “Of course,” he affirmed. “Perhaps you would like to briefly retire to your rooms to freshen up after you’re journey?”

  “Yes,” the head ambassador agreed.

  “Perfect,” Khastri said. He waved the servant forward. The servant once again stepped forward and began guiding the ambassadors to their rooms. “What now?” Khastri asked his father once they were gone.

  “Now,” said King Treion, turning to Khastri, “Now we run like mad.”

  Almost an hour later, just before sunset, they were finally ready. They had frantically set up a meeting room and gathered all the relevant noblemen and officials, who were sending grumpy looks at the ambassadors as they filed in.

  “Finally,” one of the ambassadors complained as they took their seats. “It took us forever to find a servant to direct us to the meeting room.” Khastri exchanged a silent smile with his father. He had ordered all servants to steer clear of the ambassadors until they were ready.

  “Well,” said the king graciously, “Now that everything’s ready we can start the meeting. Refreshments will be along shortly.”

  “Good,” said one of the ambassadors. “Though the topic of conversation is hardly one to be had over crackers and tuna. The primary- and I dare say only- reason for our visit is to discuss what is to be done with the Dark Lord.” The room quickly silenced. Khastri glanced at King Treion, who was rubbing his chin with a vague frown.

  “I agree with you that this is an urgent issue,” Khastri said. “However, The Dark Lord has been a problem for many years.” ‘And he’s been primarily targeting Aureum,’ he added silently. “Why the sudden urgency?” The ambassadors were silent for a moment.

  “Well,” said the head ambassador slowly. “As of late…” He trailed off and looked at the other ambassadors. Another ambassador sighed.

  “The Dark Lord has been giving us trouble,” she said. “Well, not him personally. His minions have been raiding our villages.”

  “Hm,” King Treion said, rubbing his chin. One of the younger ambassadors clenched his fists.

  “Do you intend to leave us to face this threat on our own?” he asked hotly. One of the older ambassadors cleared his throat and gave the younger ambassador a glare.

  “No,” responded the King, “not at all. It’s just, the Dark Lord does not seem to have abandoned the idea of conquering Aureum.” He glanced at Khastri, a question in his eyes. Khastri gave an almost imperceptible shrug. He didn’t know what his father was ‘asking’, but he trusted that his father knew best.

  The King gave a sigh. “As a matter of fact,” he continued, “We’ve heard reports of at least three spies in our borders, though they don’t seem intent on gathering information. We can’t guess the reason for them being in Aureum, but it proves that we’ve not chased Kastra out of Aureum quite yet.” The head ambassador looked thoughtful. Khastri was mildly surprised his father had told the visiting elves about the spies.

  There had indeed been three spotted so far- and in the most out of the way places. One in Edgedale, and two that had been spotted in Tywrene, a smaller trade city. Privately, Khastri thought that they seemed to be searching for something, but he couldn’t think of what.

  “So, Advune will aid in defeating the Dark Lord once and for all?” the head ambassador inquired, bringing Khastri back to the present.

  “Yes,” said King Treion. “Though,” he warned, “It won’t be easy.”

  “Of course not,” the elve said. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have come to you for help. Shall the discussions begin?”

  …

  The bright stars lit up the clear black night, sparkling like the bright sun reflecting against the ocean. Looking up at a night like this had always sparked an overwhelming sense of unexplainable peace in Viren, even in the darkest of situations. He tucked his arms behind his head. The springy grass where he was laying was comfortable, and just a few steps away from camp, so he was close enough to feel safe, yet comfortably alone.

  They were planning on reaching Emreld- the city in Opeali they were traveling to- tomorrow. From there they planned to stay at the noble’s house while doing a few jobs. Brack had said something about a thieves’ ring, which would probably be interesting.

  Viren continued staring up at the night sky. The moon was high in the sky, making it around midnight. Everyone (except those on look-out) was asleep. Usually, such a view of the stars made Viren want to fly, but tonight he was comfortable and not inclined to get up from where he lay. He didn’t have to do anything- he could just rest here and experience the night.

  ‘rest,’ said a whispering, calm voice inside him. ‘you can let go and rest.’

  Rest. What a funny thing- how that living among fighters and fighting for a living, running from a Dark Lord and hiding a true identity, Viren felt more at rest than he ever did when he belonged to Kastra, mostly forgotten except for morning training and the occasional run-in with the dark lord’s attention. It wasn’t an outward rest, but more of an inward peace. A true rest.

  ‘Ok,’ thought Viren, ‘I’ll rest. Maybe tomorrow or next week or months from now it will all fall apart, or Kastra will find me, or something will happen, but today, in this moment… I’ll just rest.’

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