Reunion

The personnel carrier sped through the rough path of the forest. While the ride was terribly bumpy, it was at least an hour faster than using the proper path. Frey's knuckles were white as he gripped the door handle of the passenger side door. They were approaching the cabin at a fast rate and would arrive within minutes. Rose was busy talking to the knights in the back and the driver was focusing on not tipping the carrier. They had brought medical supplies and the attached medicine knight that most deployable knight squads had. Frey had to hope it would be enough as he had no information on what had actually happened to Kye. Soon, the clearing was within sight and Frey saw two figures standing outside the door.

"Unknown presence sighted near the cabin, prepare for a fight but do not engage until they show hostile intentions!"

Frey yelled into the back of the carrier and gripped his spear tighter. The carrier came to a stop and the knights burst out of the back with their weapons drawn. They surrounded the two figures yet they seemed unphased by the massive military presence. Rose stepped forward from the circle the knights had formed.

"Who are you!?"

Thelos stepped forward but held his hands up to show that he held no hostile intentions.

"Is Frey here?"

When Frey heard his voice, he pushed his way through the knights and stood face to face with the man. He looked into his eyes and opened his mouth in shock.

"Thelos? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me."

Frey turned his head and waved downwards.

"Weapons down guys, he's a friend."

Frey walked up the Thelos and patted him on the shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing here? Do you have something to do with Kye?"

Thelos had a grim look on his face as he nodded.

"Unfortunately yes. Walk with me, Kye's inside on the bed."

The two walked into the cabin and when Frey looked at Kye, he rushed forward to his side where Nadiya was sitting on a chair. Gently, Frey placed a hand on Kye's shoulder and shook gingerly.

"Kye? You awake little man?"

Kye groaned in response and cracked his eyes open.

"Dad..."

Frey's ripped his helmet off, sending it clattering across the floor and brought his forehead to Kye's, firmly gripping the sides of his head with his hands.

"Thank the gods you're safe! Do you have any idea how worried we were!"

"I can explain dad..."

"No, you just rest and let the medicine knight heal you. Thelos can tell me everything."

Frey looked behind him and motioned for the medical knight and Rose to come in.

"You two stay with him while I have a talk with my old friend here. I'll be back shortly."

Rose nodded and the medical knight immediately got to work. Frey got up from the bedside and walked to Thelos.

"How about you explain everything from the start, hm?"

It took Thelos half an hour to explain everything to Frey comprehensively after which all Frey could do is sigh. Once he heard the circumstances, he felt a swelling of pride in his chest that his son managed to do that much to stop the Unbound from threatening the heiress of the Urwani clan. At the same time, he was angry that Kye didn't immediately signal for help once he found them. Although he knew the reason why it still made him mad. Yet that anger slowly subsided as he knew that in Kye's position, he would have done the same.

"So, did you want to come back with us and then head to the Urwani clan?"

"That would be best. I feel as though the young lady will not want to leave Kye's side. She feels very responsible for what happened to him despite my assurances that he would not levy the blame upon her."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because he is exactly like you."

Frey gave a snort of laughter and a smile touched his face.

"Yeah. He really is, isn't he?"

"Scarily so. Perhaps this is karma paying you back for all the stress you put your friends and family through in your youth?"

"In recent times, I've seriously been considering that might be the case."

Thelos gave a smile before returning to a thoughtful expression.

"By the way, who was that woman with the wings? She has quite the venomous tongue on her."

'Vanessa? She's special. Loves Kye like nothing else I've seen. I can't tell you much since it's not within my rights to disclose and the whole situation is rather unbelievable. I'll apologise in her stead if you need me to."

"No, that's not necessary. Just wanted to know what makes someone like that devote themselves to such a young child that hard."

"Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me. Where is she anyway?"

"Kye asked her to protect us. Despite her protests, she agreed in the end and her method of protecting us was to kill those still after us."

"Then, I pity them. She's not someone I would want to piss off."

Shortly after, the medical knight left the cabin and walked over to Frey.

"His condition is stable, the wounds are deep and will require time to heal. Other than that, he lost a lot of blood but we've given him some replenishment medicine that should speed up the creation of new blood cells. The tissue hasn't gone necrotic so no need for any major surgeries, just some stitches and rest."

"That's a relief to hear. Is Rose still in there?"

"Yes, the Knight General is still with the young master. She refused to leave her side and is currently having a talk with the young girl who is also there."

"Was it an amicable chat?"

"Yes, they seemed to get along rather well."

"Well, that's something. I better go in and see them, could you stay here with the rest of the knights Thelos?"

"Sure, take your time Frey."

The two shook hands and split off from one another.

'He managed to dispatch six huh? Maybe I should take a more hands-off approach to teaching him.'

Frey mused on such thoughts as he made his way to Kye's side. Regardless of the future, right now Kye needed to heal.