Chapter 7: The Divine and the Delusional

  The Silver Meadow

  Miles away, the atmosphere was the polar opposite. Ren and Duskbane sat by a crystal-clear stream that cut through a forest of ancient, silver-leafed trees. The water hummed with a soft magic, and the air smelled of wet moss and starlight. It was peaceful—until Duskbane spoke.

  “Alright, let’s go,” Duskbane said, standing up and dusting himself off. “There’s a other reason I was actually looking for you. I was hoping you’d be cooperative and helpful, but I guess you’re just small and scared.”

  Ren looked up from the ground, blinking. “What do you even need my help with?”

  “A dragon,” Duskbane said flatly.

  “A dragon?!” Ren’s voice jumped an octave.

  Duskbane rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re scared.”

  “If it’s a dragon we have to fight, why wouldn’t I be?!” Ren stood up. “I…I can’t dal with stuff like that are you insane, dra…dragons that stuff would kill me.” His mind racing through all the Tv shows he watched where dragons were this all powerful beast’s that could kill everything that stood before it.

  “Relax, we aren’t fighting it,” Duskbane waved a hand dismissively. “It’s an egg. We just have to retrieve it. It’s a favor for a friend of mine.”

  Ren let out a long breath of relief. “But won’t… it’s mother be there or something I I can’t I, can’t deal with stuff like that.”

  Duskbane looked at Ren, “Don’t worry I’m sure you’ll find some sort of power to use to take it down.”

  Duskbane didn’t move. Instead, he turned and stared at Ren with an intensity that made Ren want to hide. “But first. I need to know something.”

  “Sure. “Ren replied.

  “Is your mother… Seraphina Elara Aurelia Sinclair?”

  Ren froze. “Huh?”

  Duskbane’s eyes went dreamy for a split second. “Seraphina. She is a beautiful, amazing, strong, and intelligent lady. She’s the Grand Arbiter of the Neutral Territories. Every time I asked ‘Ren One’ if he was her child, he always dodged the question.”

  Ren tilted his head, thinking back to the breakfast table. He then thought about his mother and not the one he met in the mansion.

  “She…she’s not my mother.” Ren muttered softly.

  Duskbane then replied. “Huh speak up I can’t hear you.”

  “It…it’s nothing. And if you talking about this a classy blonde lady from that house that I spoke with then maybe, I…I don’t know.”

  “I knew it!” Duskbane suddenly lunged forward, grabbing Ren by the shoulders and shaking him violently. “Not everyone has matching surnames! And plus why would original Ren dodge the question if it wasn’t true?! You have to take me there! Right now!”

  “Okay. Okay. But please stop shaking me please.” Ren said while his head was spinning. “We can go I guess I would rather deal with here.”

  Duskbane stopped instantly, dropping his hands but looking determined, as Ren then began rubbing his shoulder Annoyed by what Duskbane did.

  “Yes the egg can wait. We have to go now. I may be young, but I’m sure she’ll fall for my charms.”

  Ren stared at him. “Young? Uh… I don’t think you’re that young. She was relatively young I guess but, you’re a bit… old.”

  Duskbane looked offended. “What? What do you mean? I’m twenty-one!”

  Ren stead at Duskbane with a look of confusion. He looked at Duskbane’s rugged, scarred face, his messy hair, and his weary eyes.

  Twenty-one? Ren thought, a cold sweat breaking out. There’s no way. He looks like he’s forty-nine pushing fifty! What kind of life has this guy lived?!

  “S…sorry then, I didn’t notice. Ren replied out loud in an awkward sense.

  The minty wind of the Silver Meadow began to settle, Ren looked at his singed gauntlets and then at the scarred knight.

  “Okay, Ren. Let’s leave,” Duskbane said.

  “Oh, right. Sorry. But before we leave I wanted to ask you something about ‘Ren One.’ Do you actually know what kind of skills he had? Or magic? Maybe if I knew his moves, I could use them too actually protect someone.”

  Duskbane rubbed the back of his head, looking thoughtful. “Well, he was never one for explaining his secrets. I don’t know much about his full magic capabilities, but… there was something he mentioned once. Something he said he could control. He called it ‘Quasars?’”

  If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Duskbane looked at Ren. “He never told me what it was. Do you have any clue what that could be?”

  Ren stared at his palms, thinking of the terrifying, light-devouring void he’d unleashed in the forest. “No… no clue.”

  “Well, there’s no use standing here thinking about it,” Duskbane sighed, gesturing to the fading light. “Let’s go.”

  “Yes,” Ren muttered. He then raised his hand. He didn’t know the math or the logic, but his fingers moved on their own, tracing a pattern in the air as if his bones remembered a path his mind didn’t. The violet-black rift hummed open—a perfect tear leading exactly to the Sinclair estate. As they walked through and came out the other side, Ren’s breath hitched. Looking up at the towering white marble and the sprawling gardens of the Sinclair home, he couldn’t help but think: Damn, this place is really amazing… and huge.

  “Let’s go,” Duskbane whispered, his voice trembling with a weird mix of excitement and nerves.

  They walked up the grand gravel path and reached the massive front door. Duskbane straightened himself, smoothed his messy hair, and knocked.

  “Finally,” Duskbane murmured, a dreamy look on his face. “Finally, I get to meet the wonderful Seraphin.”

  The door creaked open.

  Duskbane’s sentence cut off mid-air. His expression froze, his jaw hanging slightly open. Standing in the doorway wasn’t the Grand Arbiter.

  It was Aliza—Ren’s older sister.

  She looked down at the soot-covered knight, then her sharp gaze flicked to Ren. Her face didn’t show relief. It showed a cold, simmering fury that made the air in the foyer feel ten degrees colder.

  “Ren Ryu,” Aliza said, her voice like a snapping whip. “What are you doing? Are you an idiot or something?”

  Ren’s heart jumped into his throat. He stared at his sister, his face pale with shock. He didn’t say anything; he just looked at her in pure fright, like a rabbit caught in a trap.

  “You can’t just stay away like that!” Aliza hissed, stepping out onto the porch. “You’ve been gone for three days. You’re lucky I was able to convince Mother not to send yet another search party out just to find you. She was worried sick! You can’t just do this all the time, Ren!”

  Ren’s mouth opened. “I… I’m sorry, I—”

  “Sorry isn’t going to beat it!” Aliza snapped.

  Ren’s head jerked and he looked straight to the floor as he started hyperventilating.

  Aliza let out a long, exhausted sigh and rubbed her temples. “Mother isn’t here right now. She had to leave on a business trip to the Silver Kingdom. She’ll be gone for three days.”

  Duskbane let out a long, audible sigh of pure sadness, his shoulders slumping. He’d risked a dragon for a date that wasn’t even home.

  Aliza ignored the knight and pointed a finger at Ren’s chest. “You are staying home. You’re staying here for the next three days until she returns and then you’ll stay for another three days while she is here. Do you understand me, Ren Ryu?”

  “Ye… yes. I will,” Ren stammered.

  “You promise?” Aliza demanded, her eyes narrowing.

  Ren looked at here, averting his gaze at her and looking at other things. “Yes. I promise.”

  Aliza finally looked past Ren to the hulking, scarred man standing awkwardly on the porch. “Now. Who is this old guy with you?”

  Ren flinched. “This is… Sir Duskbane. He’s a friend.”

  “Well,” Aliza said, her voice flat and final. “Your friend is going to have to leave.”

  Duskbane stepped forward, a desperate glint in his eyes. “Sorry, but… can I stay? Just so I can meet the Grand—”

  “Leave,” Aliza interrupted.

  Duskbane opened his mouth, saw the look in Aliza’s eyes, and immediately shut it. “Okay.” He turned around without another word and began the long, lonely walk back down the path.

  Aliza turned back to Ren, her expression softening only a fraction, but still firm. “Ren. Get rid of that armor and that stuff. Then come inside.”

  Ren watched Duskbane vanish into the shadows of the garden, then slowly began to unsummon the void-plate armor and the blindfold that was still wrapped around his eyes, feeling very much like a high schooler who had just missed curfew.

  The Farmhouse

  At Mia and Kael’s home, the wooden table in the farmhouse felt like it might collapse under the weight of the silence. Vex sat leaning forward, her eyes fixed on the two siblings.

  “So, Kael… Mia,” Vex started, her voice unusually soft. “Your mother. How long has she been this way?”

  Kael stared into his empty lap. “She’s been like this for a while now. About three months.”

  “And do you know what made her sick?” Vex asked.

  “No,” Kael shook his head. “The first signs showed up right after she came back from a trip. She wouldn’t tell us where she went. At first, it just looked like a normal cold. We called the High Temple Apothecaries, and they gave her some medicine, but…” his voice cracked. “It never worked. The month after that, it got worse. She started coughing up blood. And now, she can’t walk, talk, or even move. She just… lies there.”

  “The Apothecaries told us to go to the Priests at the Temple,” Mia added, her voice a small whisper. “But they were too expensive. My father… he wasn’t making enough to buy the healing services we needed.”

  Lyra looked at them, her heart breaking. “So that’s when you decided to become adventurers?”

  “Yes,” Kael said, a spark of frustration in his eyes. “We started with the giant sewer rat exterminations. But they only pay a few bronze coins. It wasn’t enough. It was never enough.”

  Elora frowned, her mind calculating. “How much does the Temple ask for their help?”

  At that moment, the door creaked open. Thorne, their father, walked in carrying a tray with steaming cups of tea. He set it down on the table with a heavy thud.

  “Ten thousands gold coins,” Thorne said.

  The group froze. The air seemed to leave the room.

  “TEN THOUSAND?!” they shouted in unison.

  Sela slammed her hand on the table. “With that amount of money, you could buy your own small forest! That’s a king’s ransom!”

  Thorne gave a tired, bitter smile. “That’s the exact reaction I had when they told me.”

  Juno turned to Elora. “Elora… can’t you use healing magic?”

  Elora bit her lip. “Well, yes, I can. But remember, I’m only a Mage. There’s a limit. My healing magic isn’t as powerful as a Cleric’s divine blessings. I can’t rewrite a body’s health, I can only nudge it.” She looked at Mia and Kael, seeing the desperation in their eyes, and her resolve hardened. “But… I will try. I’ll give it everything I have.”

  Kael’s mood lifted instantly. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

  “Please, don’t say thanks yet,” Elora said, blushing slightly. “I haven’t even done anything.”

  “Drink your tea first,” Thorne insisted, pushing the cups toward them. “Before it gets cold.”

  As they sipped the warm brew as the sun began to set, Lyra looked around, trying to lighten the heavy mood. “Hey, Sela? How about you and I go buy some ingredients to make some nice curry for everyone tonight? What do you say?”

  “I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t,” Sela replied, standing up.

  “No, please,” Thorne protested. “That would be asking way too much of you.”

  “You aren’t asking,” Lyra said with a wink. “We’re offering. And we insist. We want to do this for you.”

  Thorne’s eyes glassed over with a mix of gratitude and shame. “Thank you… truly.”