Chapter 47 - The Ghost Who Is a Man part 2

Of course, the news I'd brought was bad. Terrible. But the monster was dead, and Ludd was excited about that. He grabbed me by the upper arm, oblivious of the chill of my flesh, and dragged me along the path toward the village.

As we hurried through the fringe of the woods and up the hill toward the campsite, Ludd yelled, "Rise! Rise, everyone! Get up from your beds and attend to us!"

Several guards came running at his cries. Heads peeked out through tent flaps, eyes puffy from sleep—or the lack of it. I heard several of my people shout my name in surprise. I was nervous of being surrounded by a crowd, not too certain how badly I would be tormented by the Hunger, but I did not pull away from Ludd's grasp or silence the excited man. Instead, I craned my neck around, looking over the heads of the gathering crowd in the hope of spotting my wives and children.

"Hurry! Get up!" Ludd exclaimed. "It is Gon! He has returned!"

The growing mob pelted me with questions, everyone clamoring for my attention at once. Several people reached out to touch me, as if to assure themselves that I was real. My father's woman, Yedda, took note of the coldness of my flesh, but she thought it was due to my nakedness and bellowed for someone to bring me some warm furs.

Within moments, I was enveloped in blankets and being ushered toward a large fire in the center of the village. There were fires everywhere, tended by the men at watch. The village was lit from stem to stern. The cliffs reflected that light back, further illuminating the settlement. It was nearly as bright as day.

"Where is your father, Gon?" Yedda asked as she walked alongside me. "Does he still live? No one can say."

It was hard for me to concentrate on her words, or perhaps I was just reluctant to break her heart. There were so many people around me now, everyone talking at once, and the smell of them was maddening. I could hear their hearts beating like a hundred tiny drums. I could feel the heat of their bodies on my skin. The Hunger was tying my belly in knots. My fangs felt very large inside my mouth, and I held my lips over them, afraid someone might see them if I spoke.

"Papa! Papa!"

The voices of my children cut through the roar of the crowd and I felt my icy heart thaw inside my breast. "My babies!" I cried. The crowd parted to let my wives and children through and I held my arms out and pulled as many of them into my embrace as I could. Eyya and Nyala cuddled me on both sides, kissing me on the brow and cheeks. Eyya was almost hysterical with relief, bawling unabashedly, her tears flooding down my face. It was very hard not to cry myself. I did not want anyone to see my black monster's tears, but I could not contain my sobs when my boys clambered onto my lap and my little girls hugged me tightly around the waist and knees. "My babies," I choked, wiping my face quickly lest I frighten anyone. "Oh, my babies, I've come back to you! Papa Gon is home!"

The Hunger had gone dormant. I did not notice it at all.

"Gon!"

The crowd parted once more. Through the corridor of babbling bystanders limped Brulde, my Brulde, supporting himself with a walking stick like an old man, but alive-- wonderfully, unbelievably alive! His face was bruised and swollen, and he could only open one eye, but he was alive! He collapsed onto his knees at my feet and put his forehead on my legs and brayed hoarsely. "You… live!" he sobbed. "Oh, Gon, brother, husband, you live!" Eyya and Nyala released me to comfort him. They patted his shoulders and soothed him as I held his head in my hands and told him that he was right, I lived, and I had killed the fiend that haunted out valley.

"I killed him, my friend," I said. "I killed him and came home to you."

Oh, what a wonderful, glorious reunion!

Don't we all love happy endings?

Except...

It didn't happen like that.