The Huntsman of Adamos (Quartet)- draft

CH BROKEN BUT DETERMINED

Fleur took a sip of water from the bottle she had filled at the river, she always kept one tucked in the inner pocket of her cloak when she went for a walk, grateful from the habit she had developed when she was still human. The bread was slowly consumed one bite at a time until she had fallen hard, and her ulna had snapped with a sickening crunch, afterward the pain made her too nauseous to eat. She was grateful for her habit of nibbling like a mouse, or she would have vomited. Both Kaleth and her Yuri had teased her about it, claiming her pinch and nibble eating habits were the reason she stayed so small, it was a happy memory that soothed her. She tucked her water back next to her bread and never missed a step. She could feel the Huntsman’s back ahead of her, beyond the grayish white fog of her blind eyes.

The sun moved in the sky above as Fleur counted her heartbeats and footsteps. Her arm throbbed from the tips of her fingers to her shoulder, and her knee felt like it was on fire. But she gritted her teeth and hugged her cloak around her body as sun-warmth faded and the wind started blowing again. The tree groaned in echo to her buried misery. Yurieth didn’t even hesitate when it started snowing, or when she slipped and fell again. Pain seared her resolve as she pushed herself up and continued forward, counting each step with the methodical accuracy that only someone with OCD could manage.

Twenty-five thousand, eight hundred, thirty-six steps after they left the place where Yurieth said he would never love her, he led Fleur across a footbridge over the river.

“Welcome home, brother, Lady Fleur.”

Abrieth called out in greeting and Fleur almost wept in relief, but she kept her passive mask in place and her emotions buried. She would never reveal her weakness to Yuri's rage. Yurieth could not break her, she had been broken a century ago during the war by someone far stronger and more malevolent than him.

“Lady Fleur, I have brought you a change of clothes,” Oren announced. “I am happy you survived your ordeal.”

“Thank you, Lord Oren,” Fleur said coolly. Without acknowledging Yurieth, she turned in Abrieth’s direction. “Is there somewhere I can change?”

Abrieth stared at her for a moment, he had the strangest sensation that he was speaking to a computer simulation or magical illusion. He felt nothing from her, nothing at all. “Umm, there is a guestroom. Oren, can you show Fleur?”

As they walked toward the house, Abrieth and Yurieth noticed she was limping. Yurieth frowned when Abrieth demanded, “What happened to her legs?”

“I do not know; she fell several times but said nothing of hurting herself.”

“Perhaps because of your harshness toward her,” Abrieth growled.

“Do not eavesdrop on me, brother,” Yurieth answered in a warning tone.

“If you don’t want me to hear then perhaps you shouldn’t broadcast your rage for the whole family to feel,” Abrieth snapped at him.

“I did not...” Yurieth started, but Oren interrupted.

“My Lords, we need to get Lady Fleur back as soon as possible. I cannot heal her injuries alone. I... I made her sleep without her consent.”

“What’s wrong with her?” Abrieth demanded hotly.

Oren shifted nervously on his feet, then explained, “She has broken her arm and two fingers, and torn the ligaments in her knee on her right side. Her left wrist and ankle are sprained. I cannot explain how she is still walking, but from the swelling, it happened at least an hour ago, possibly longer. Her right arm and hand injuries are several hours old. She is bruised from head to foot, I... I will need the healing beds we built for the Tear.”

Abrieth turned viciously on his brother. “What were you thinking? She’s blind and you made the trek from the forester’s cot at the base of the falls in half a day without helping her?!?!”

“She never complained,” Yurieth defended himself, but hearing how damaged she was and his brother’s accusation, he felt ashamed for letting his anger push him to punish her. He had been surprised that she had kept his pace as she followed him through the forest and not once asked for help or rest, even when she had stumbled. He realized neither had spoken since dawn.

Abrieth clenched his fists as he glared at Yurieth. “She shouldn’t have had to ask. Why do you hate her? She isn’t responsible for their deaths; she fights the Darkness as hard as you do.”

Yurieth seized the front of his brother’s vest, “Do not mention my family and that dark siren in the same sentence again. You saw what the Darkness did to her, she’s one of them!”

Abrieth shoved his brother away with brutal force. “Fleur is no more a siren than Serapha. She will never be one of them and you are a fool to believe that.”

They stood glaring at each other with hostile intent, finally Yurieth gritted out. “Take her and go, little brother.” He turned on his heel and started to walk away.

“This is about last night, isn’t it? I felt you revive, brother, and what happened later after she revived. You cannot tell me you do not love her, not after that,” Abrieth declared.

Yurieth spun to face him. “So, you are playing Mother and Father’s game too? Well, ask her to show you what happened in the water temple, when she chose to keep her darkness and attacked our brother. I will forever curse the day she came here and hate myself for my weakness because loving her betrays my honor and everything I believe... She belongs to the Darkness, when we are finished with her, let it have her back!”

Oren just stood there staring at the warring brothers, he was from a family of mages, healers, techs, and oracles; such animosity between family members shocked him. He felt strange interrupting the arguing warrior. “My Lords, please. She is sleeping but I require a healing bed before she wakes, or she will be in great pain.”

Yurieth snapped at the timid healer. “Good, shadowed ones deserve to suf...”

Abrieth punched Yurieth in the jaw hard enough to send him flying backwards into a drift of snow. “That is for taking out your hatred on a person who loves you, brother. She is your sealed one, and everything you have done this day betrays your honor. You are the one who is Darkness, not Fleur.” Abrieth pronounced then he stalked into the lodge.

Moments later, Abrieth walked out carrying a sleeping Fleur. She was wearing a chocolate colored dress, its richness made her seem all the paler. Yurieth hated that he thought she looked beautiful and because he felt jealousy that his brother was holding her instead of him. He stood by the spot where he had fallen, rubbing his jaw as he watched them fly away. Later that night as he sat alone in his home, brooding, and Abrieth’s words came back to taunt him. It made him wonder and he began to sort through the new memories he had acquired from her.

Fleur woke slowly, aware that she was lying in a healing bed and Oshay was holding her hand. She could feel him reading her memories of her last day with Yurieth.

“Say the word and I will kill him, Daisy,” Oshay promised viciously in the language of her birthworld.

“You can’t, we need him in the last war, Shadz,” She murmured in reply. “You feel too weak. You need to go home. Oren and I can finish the Tear when the weather clears.”

“My lady...” He said as she sat up and swung her legs over the edge and climbed out of the healing bed that was shaped like a sarcophagus.

“No, you’ve stayed too long. I am sending you home and the first group from the list. Odini and Adamos can go with you.” She announced firmly. “Tell your grandfather its time, I just need to check the calculations.”

“My lady, what of Lord Yurieth? He will be waiting your return,” Oshay asked, but his deep monotone could not hide his anger.

“The Huntsman we have met here, is not the one we know. Perhaps the memory loss they suffered changed them...” She pointed out.

“But Lady Serapha and Lord Abrieth seem unchanged,” Oshay counter-pointed.

“I am sure there is an explanation, an event we have not experienced yet. Be patient, we know that he regrets losing track of her, I mean me, and believed me lost. But perhaps it was not as he perceived. When I get back, I will help them all remember.” Fleur smiled with a confidence she did not feel, she was unsure if she wanted her Yuri to see how cruel he had been. She also did not know if she would make it back, remembering something Yurieth had once accused Demona of and the way she looked in one of his memories.

Oshay walked beside her in silence, then he reached out and touched her arm. “Daisy... what if... what if they have remembered this whole time and the memory loss of the future is a con to make sure you come back here to save the Tear?”

She looked at him with a bemused expression. “If they were lying about remembering and faking amnesia, Asha or I would have detected it. You can’t hide memories from oracles and healers, or obscured them the way they did the tech of the healing beds, Shadz. That’s not a kind of magic we ever read about.”

Oshay, rubbed his scruffy red-colored beard thoughtfully, “Perhaps... perhaps you are correct.” He stumbled slightly, and she caught his arm.

“That’s it, you’re going home as soon as I finish the math,” she declared firmly.

Adamos told his family he was going to support Lord Odinus while his nephew passed into the Light and no one thought it odd that Fleur went with him, because she seemed very close with the young soul-sick mage. Adamos stood amazed, watching the golden box with a clock face on the top, turning to watch Fleur as she paced around it, placing energized golden plates over red-glowing energy stone. A pulse of light shot into the sky.

“Why did you do that, my lady?” Lord Odinus asked, staring up at the swirling clouds.

“It is a signal to my daughter that the Relic is coming.” She smiled broadly, “Asha knows as much about the Relic as her sealed one. Shadz knows how to correct for any drift during the trip, the amplifier will take care of the power requirements. You will only need to shield yourselves and the children through the event horizon of the cataclysm. Admos’ glyphs on the outside, then Odini’s, and Oren will be healing you all within. You will land in the bailey yard of the Southern Castle, the Relic will remain for one hour then return. If you are not on the jump pads when it fires to return, I will have to immediately come forward for you, or irrevocably damage the timeline. But the extra trip means no more children will be saved. The Relic will only return to a When two times during an orbital cycle.” Fleur was adamant. “Do you understand?”

“Why not?” Orion asked as he examined the Relic closely.

“I honestly don’t know,” Fleur admitted, “One of my students, Oshay’s friend Vole was a mariner and navigator, he believed it had to do with universal drift and that the bridge between times can only be opened four times before breaking. Two round trips and that’s it. We stretched the math by making a one way trip... if the cataclysm comes too soon...” She frowned, then revealed softly, “There was a year I tried to return to more than twice and it refused to take me.”

Orion looked at her curious, “Which one?”

Fleur’s lips made a thin line, “It doesn’t matter, the mechanics don’t support the math.”

Yllumina called out her name and Fleur turned with a smile, and was surprised to sense Queen Eonae, Prince Xeus, and Guardian Regulus. Fleur bowed to the Royals, “Your majesty, I wasn’t expecting you to join us.”

“This is the day you begin to save the children of our people. I would not miss it,” Queen Eonae said graciously and Fleur was reminded of her Queen.

As she arranged the sixteen children on the plates, two per plate, leaving one plate each for Odini, Oshay, Oren, and Adamos. Oren helped Oshay out of the small tent they had set up. He looked gaunt and pale against his false red hair and beard. Fluer took his face in her hands and kissed his forehead.

“I love you, tell my children I love them. Tell Karstien... tell him, I tried,” she sighed and took a deep breath. Her tears revealed her uncertainty about her return to their future, and he weakly hugged her.

“We still need you, War Oracle,” he whispered brokenly as her power flooded into him, charging his magic with hers for the trip home. She stepped back suddenly.

“Go, it’s time. Can’t run late,” She smiled at him lopsidedly in jest, and he choked on a sob or perhaps a laugh as he stepped to his place.

Adamos and Odini held out their hands and shield glyphs appeared around them, some of the children cried, others waved. Oren glowed gold within the dome. Turning, Oshay passed his hand over the ancient controls, then there was a flash and they were gone. Rain fell softly on the gathered families, one of the mothers touched Fleur’s arm as she walked toward the tents to wait for Odini, Oren, and Adamos to return.

“Please, Oracle, will they be safe?”

“Yes. In the future, is a castle build by the last guardian. His and my daughter, our master healer, and my son-by-sealing, a mage, run a school for magically gifted children. They will be loved and cherished and taught in the ways of the Light. I have a list of those who will go with the Remnant, and the Queen has been diligent in finding those gifted ones to send beyond the coming cataclysm.” Fleur explained gently.

“But can’t you stop it, you see the future?” another demanded.

Fleur turned toward her with a sad expression, “No one knows the hour or the day, our enemy will destroy their star, or how; we only know that it will happen, and we do not have the means to save everyone. Find solace that your children will live.”

A large man wearing the orange of the miner’s guild stepped forward. “Thank you for saving my youngest, Oracles.” Many echoed his sentiment, but tears ran from Fleur’s blind eyes.

“I’m so sorry, we can’t do more,” Yllumina said as she hugged Fleur to her. Once they were back inside, she pressed a kiss to Fleur’s temple. “You have done well, daughter.”

Fleur sighed as she wiped her tears, “But it isn’t enough.”

“King Karstien! We got a ping. The Oracle is coming back,” the excited tech huffed as she rushed into the Royal Council room. Everyone turned to stare at her.

“Where?” the king demanded.

“The Southern Castle.”

It took less than twenty minutes to mobilize, everyone who was to aid those who were coming through time to escape the Great Cataclysm. Guardsmen and healers rushed around. King Karstien stood next to his pregnant half-sister, the master healer, High Lady Asha. She looked more tired than he had ever seen her, even during the war. He placed his hand over hers to stop her fingers from nervously drumming on her belly. Their younger brother had not yet arrived.

“He’ll be fine, Daisy wouldn’t have let anything happen to him,” Karstien assured her.

“I can’t imagine, how hard this was for him.” Asha smiled wanly up at him.

“Asha, why didn’t you tell me what Daisy was planning?” Karstien asked again as he looked down at her.

“She knew you would want to go, and she was worried it might be a one-way trip. The kingdom needs you, Kars. We are still recovering from the war, and Uncle Yurieth’s huntsmen are still chasing after Damien’s creatures. The kingdom needs stability, especially after all the humans went home to Terrearth or moved to Jura. Our people are just beginning to settle into who they are after the war, many are returning to the old agrarian ways. The people are craving simplicity and stability. Those who want adventure can explore beyond our four worlds to the colonies the humans left behind or join the space fleet.”

“Except me,” he scowled looking up at the sky, clouds were starting to swirl.

“I know you’re bored, big brother, but soon you’ll be an uncle, and sooner than...” Asha was interrupted by a shout.

“They’re coming.” Their Uncle Abe called out to them.

There was a flash of light, four men and over a dozen children stood inside a dome of flickering shield glyphs. Asha was already running forward. The glyphs vanished and a red-headed Shadz managed two steps before dropping to his knees. Asha glowed gold as he hugged her belly and sobbed in a very uncharacteristic display of emotion.

“Father, Lord Odini, Lord Oren, what... why did you bring Oshay?” Abe’s voice trailed off as Shadz looked up at him, then he swore, “By the light, it was you who helped Daisy finish the Tear!”

As Asha helped her sealed one to his feet, Shadz glared at him, snapping viciously, “We had always suspected that you remembered. Does your brother remember the shameful way in which he treated the Oracle?”

“Yes, Shadz, I do,” Yuri said from behind him. Kalen looked confused at his side.

Karstien glanced between them, “Shadz, he told us what happened.”

“And you dared enter my home?” Shadz sneered.

Asha put her hand over his heart, “Mine, he made things right with her before she did the enchantment.”

“Why didn’t they just tell us after the war? Daisy would have gone back, she wouldn’t have hesitated,” Shadz demanded as his grandfather came to stand beside him.

“That would be my fault,” Adamos announced. “I have spent many nights soothing her sleep. I saw that you all believed that my sons did not remember and so I ordered them to say nothing to preserve the timeline.” Adamos appraised the changes in his sons' appearances. Their time as ghosts had changed them, even their souls felt different and yet the same.

“You mean to keep the secrets of the Oracles,” Yuri said coldly to his father.

“Yurieth, I know that you did not approve of the deceit and the obscuring magic for your memories, but it needed to be done,” Adamos declared, he turned to look at Asha, “We did not expect you to discern the truth, granddaughter.”

“Lord Adamos, Lady Daisy will be very upset if she discovers this deceit in your time. She...” Shadz announced, when he hesitated Asha and Karstien looked at him with concern. “Lady Daisy believes that she will die in the past because she was told Lady Fleur did die in the past. ”

“Why would she think that?” Asha demanded.

“Lord Yurieth once accused Princess Demona of killing her,” Karstien said quietly.

“But Demona was only deceived and framed for killing her,” Abe blurted out. “Daisy didn’t die.”

“Perhaps you should have been honest with Daisy and she wouldn’t be so willing to sacrifice herself,” Shadz snapped. “She will let Demona kill her if she believes that is what happened.”

“Grandson, we will find a way to save her,” Odini stated firmly.

“You don’t understand, my lords, once my mother is determined accomplish something, she will,” Asha replied softly. “She will stay behind to save just one more, if she believes it is her destiny to die Then.”