Vol.8 Ch.212- Parting Gifts.

Kaladin Shadowheart's POV.

"Thank you for seeing us so early, Lady Paine," I said with a short bow.

"There's no reason to be so serious, Kaladin. It's only natural to help one another in times of need," she said with a warm smile.

Lady Paine let her eyes drift to her daughter. "Besides, it's not like I can tell her no, right?"

Lin frowned slightly, which just made her tired face look even more angry. I just chuckled and said, "Even so, watching our family on such short notice…we appreciate it."

Lady Paine waved her hand dismissively and said, "Please, we are already watching Rosemary on behalf of Bowen and Jess, so what's two more friends in the mix? I think Rosemary would enjoy spending time with Dallin and Mila."

"We agree," I said.

In truth, we could not bring Dallin and Mila to Curia. It was simply not going to happen. But with the majority of us leaving for Curia, that opened up a vast problem that required an immediate solution: Someone had to watch the kids.

Bowen and his wife were far too busy with everything happening in the capital to watch Mila and Dallin. Their situation is even worse because they have an infant child to take care of on top of the mountain of issues. My father was also an option as he decided to stay in the capital and handle things with the remnants of the Shadowclan.

But I can't let my father handle all that business while being responsible for the two children at the same time, especially since my parents decided that one would stay in the capital and the other would go with us as a part of the main force. Our options were slim; friends like Varnir were coming with us as well, and we couldn't ask his family either. Lauren and Ren were an option, but they weren't in the capital yet and would join us as soon as possible at Curia.

So, naturally, that only left one family. A group of people strong enough to protect the two children, supply them with care and shelter, and not drastically impact the group in doing so. The only people who fit the bill for that were Lin and her family. Thankfully, they readily agreed and were even housing Rosemary for the time being; it was as good an outcome as we could hope for.

"You both will be staying here with Aunt Lin and her family until we return," I told the two children. I looked to Dallin specifically and said, "Dad will be around as well when he has free time."

Dallin looked up at me with a determined look in his golden eyes and nodded firmly. He was rather brave for such a young boy. Perhaps he just understood the gravity of the situation. On the other hand…

"What's wrong?" I asked, rubbing the top of Mila's head.

Her cheetah print tail was tucked beneath her, and her usual perky ears lay flat against her head. "How long will you be gone for...?"

I continued to rub her head and said, "Hopefully, not long at all. I promise that Mommy and I will be back as soon as we can. So make sure you behave and have lots of fun with Rosemary and Dallin. Be nice to Aunt Lin and her family."

Sylvia bent over and embraced Mila in a full hug. "We will be back before you know it," Sylvia said softly.

My eyes met Lin's, and she gave me a firm nod. I returned it and was about to start leaving when somebody sprinted down the stairs. Sylas had rushed down, completely disheveled in appearance. His school uniform was littered with random stains of unknown substances, wrinkles, sweat marks, and just a general dose of grime. His hair was tousled in every which direction, and he looked up at me with bloodshot eyes.

"I—I—don't leave just yet," he said in between pants.

Sylas reached out with his hand to drop something in mine, and I accepted it. Three rings of various sizes and appearances clattered against each other as they rested on my palm.

"The two silver ones have crates of medical supplies…boiled bandages, herbs, whatever else I could find. It's not much, as it's just our personal extra stockpile that's about to expire, but it's something," Sylas explained.

I put the two silver rings into my pocket and said, "Thank you. I'm sure these supplies will help someone. But what about this bronze ring?"

The ring itself was rather unimpressive. Full of blemishes and marks, it was clear the ring had been through many owners over the years. Despite its appearance, it was still a Spatial Ring. And Sylas just handed me three…it was common for noble families to have a few rings stockpiled, but handing three of them off must not have been a common thing.

"Crates of alchemical fire bombs I made a few years back. They are volatile; they can explode with enough force to remove a limb and burn hot enough to bend iron, so leave them in the ring for as long as you can and keep them away from any flames," Sylas said.

Should I ask him why he is stockpiling crates of dangerous explosives? And why was a young Sylas making fire bombs in the first place? Maybe Lin's family is just as weird as mine.

"These will no doubt be useful. Thank you, Sylas. But should I be wary of these and not hand them to average people?" I asked, dropping the final ring into my pocket.

"They are equally dangerous for everyone…you just need another source to explode them. Most fire magic will do…and I wouldn't set them off in a forest or around any homes," Sylas warned.

"I'm surprised these aren't more widely available yet, then," I commented, giving Mila one final hug before letting her run off to Rosemary.

"Bye, Daddy! Bye, Mommy!" Mila waved.

Sylvia and I waved bye to her, and when Mila, Lin, and Lady Paine went out of sight and around the corner, Sylvia frowned deeply while nervously rubbing her own hands.

Sylas rubbed his scratchy neck and shrugged, and before I could ask him anything, he answered, "They are too expensive to be used often. Every unit has at least five or six large silver worth of resources, and it takes a long time to make. It took me months just to get a dozen crates done."

Five or more large silver per unit? No wonder I've never seen something like this before in a shop or around town. That's more than what most large families make in a month for a one-time explosive unit. It's probably just as good to take a bottle of cheap alcohol and make a Molotov…or use magic.

"Should we compensate you for this?" Sylvia asked.

Sylas shook his head. "It's the least I can do…I'm useless in a fight, and I'm needed here in the capital. You can pay me back by burning every undead you see and saving the people of Curia."

"Either way, we are thankful. Stay safe, Sylas," I told him.

Sylas smirked and let out a long sigh before giving Sylvia and me a stern look through his tired eyes. "You two need to be a lot safer than me. I swear we will protect Mila and Dallin while you are away, so make sure you come back. I'm too young and not insane enough to adopt an orphan."

I extended a hand, and Sylas shook it. "It won't come down to that. We will see you when we get back."

Sylvia and I took our leave as we had to rendezvous with everyone else in just a few hours. We started walking to the meeting point when I noticed Sylvia still looked nervous from earlier, so I asked her, "What's the matter?"

Sylvia looked hesitant to tell me at first, but she bit her lip and looked up at me. "Are we making the right choice? What if all of this isn't true…or what if it's even worse than we think? Should we just take everyone and run somewhere? How do you know what to do, Kal?"

"…I don't know what exactly I should do," I said honestly. "But one thing is certain in my mind: I don't want to abandon this place with all these people we've grown close to over the years. We call this kingdom home now…and if it were to burn down, where would we go? Can you and I hide anywhere in this world anymore?"

Sylvia averted her eyes. I could understand why she was concerned. Fighting a monster or even delving into a dangerous dungeon was easier to understand than an impending war. There was much to be afraid and uncertain about. It was only natural.

"Before…all of this...I fought because I was created to and was told to do so. This will be my first war where I'm fighting for the people I care about from the start. And it is my choice."

"I'll make them regret ever choosing to fight us."

—

We arrived at the take-off point near the palace while everyone gathered their things and said their goodbyes. It was Sylvia, Cerila, my mother, Varnir, Tsarra, Padraic, Squeaks, and myself. We would be rushing to Curia on the backs of Gryphons once more, and hopefully, we would meet up with the scouts Lin had sent in advance to get a read on the situation.

It was only a matter of time before the undead rose from the Iron Citadel and began to spill out. We had to be quick if we were to save the city.

I walked over to the handler holding what would be Sylvia and my Gryphon first, and the beast immediately began to pull at the reins, letting out a low guttural sound. The handler quickly got the creature under control, and she looked over at me nervously.

"S—sorry, Sir. She normally never acts like this. I can get another if—"

"It's fine," I interrupted. "This isn't the first time."

Like most animals or creatures of this world, they seemed to fear and hate me genuinely. It wasn't like I was doing anything to bother it, but even a well-trained monster still reacted to my presence.

Unlike most pack animals, Gryphons were dangerous, strong, and prideful monsters with lethal claws and powerful muscles. Even the ones used for carrying urgent messages and moving people quickly were all far bigger than a horse. Even so, I didn't have time to form a bond with this creature. I just needed it to get me to the next destination.

I approached the monster, and it started to pull away from the handler again, so I just blasted it with my bloodlust. The beast let out a low whimper and collapsed to its knees, along with its handler.

I grabbed the reins from her and told her, "I can handle it from here."

The Gryphon was more manageable now, and I quickly mounted it and locked myself into the saddle. Everyone else finished what they were doing and mounted their beasts with a lot more ease than I. I looked up at the sun, and it looked as if we would be leaving just before midday, as planned.

"We are flying to one of the forts, then to another. It's going to be a long few days," I said to everyone.

Everyone gave me firm nods of agreement, and with that, we spurred the monsters into action. The Gryphons only needed a few steps to launch themselves into the air with their powerful wings. I wondered how such large creatures could lift their own body weight and still fly, but I had long since just taken it as a matter of fact. It was hardly the time to be wondering about the anatomy and physics of a monster.

We launched into the air, and the monsters did all the work. There was no need to guide them, and within a few moments, we were soaring through the air. We quickly made it through the first nauseating barrier and into the open sky.

—

After a full day of flying, we made it to the first fort. We rested for a few hours, got some sleep, and then immediately left for Curia. The sight outside the fort on the main road was saddening. Columns upon columns, what was probably a hundred civilians, were slowly marching toward the capital. All of them were most likely refugees from decimated towns.

Reports from around the kingdom were trickling in. The Holy Kingdom and its insurgents targeted not just major cities but also small farming towns and villages. There probably wasn't a single place in Luminar that didn't seem to have some type of fight in the last few days. And not all of them had soldiers to protect themselves.

We flew another half a day, where we saw another caravan column of civilians in the distance. We were about to fly over them when Sylvia perked up and focused on the road.

"Kaladin, I smell blood," she said over the roar of the wind.

I focused my Dragon eye so I could see all the way down to the road, but I didn't need to investigate any more than that because the boom of a spell echoed around. There was a large explosion, and the caravan burst into panic. A horse-drawn carriage ran off the road as people scurried to get away.

A wave of people ran out from the woods, weapons in hand, wearing white robes. The civilians were under attack.

"Kal, do we—"

"We are defending the civilians! Attack the bandits! Padraic and Squeaks just stay in the air!" I ordered loudly so everyone around me could hear.

Sylvia kicked the Gryphon, giving it the signal to lower itself to the ground. These creatures weren't bred for battle, but they were still monsters. Firing some magic off of its back shouldn't hurt.

I launched a Fireball from a distance straight into a pack of white-robed archers, decimating them and setting the others ablaze. Tsarra started picking off others with powerful balls of water, and Cerila launched spears of ice at the rest.

Once we were right over the caravan and closer to the ground, I unhooked myself and leapt off the beast as Sylvia yelled my name. Of course, I wasn't in any danger. Once I neared the ground, I altered my gravity with magic. My body lurched as I started to slow, and I cut the magic off and landed amongst a group of white-robed men.

They looked on wide-eyed as I pulled my new spear out from my Spatial Ring and thrust it through one of their heads. Their hesitation was all I needed, and with mana-enhanced limbs, I began to cut through them all. There weren't any soldiers amongst their ranks. They were just a group of bandits with a single mage backing them, preying on weak and fleeing civilians.

My spear burst through a man's heart as another group was obliterated by ice magic. The Gryphons landed near me and let out fearsome screeches. The bandits, numbering in the high thirties, had been reduced to only ten.

"Leave no survivors. We don't have room or time for prisoners," I said as the others dismounted.

Varnir, Sylvia, Cerila, and I rushed to the last group while my mother sprinted off to guarantee the safety of the civilians. They instantly turned tail and started to run, but we cut them down with magic and weapons rather quickly. The final man died to Cerila, cutting him down the middle with Hubris. The dirt was stained with blood and littered with bodies. But there was another problem…

Varnir and Tsarra were staring blankly at a pile of bodies. It must have been their first time killing a person, and it seemed to have shook them up. It was a sudden thing to happen. They were just put into a position to defend people, and in order to do so, they had to end the lives of other people. It was something I never understood, but…I was aware that wasn't the case for most people.

<Cerila and Sylvia, safeguard the civilians heal them if you can,> I signed as I walked over to the other two.

The girls rushed off to help the people, and I stood next to Tsarra and Varnir. I let them brood for a few moments before I spoke.

"If you two want, you can go back home. Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. I will be asking you to kill other people in the future…" I said.

Tsarra was actually the first to turn to me. She knit her brows and looked down at her hands before squeezing them tight.

"No…I'll continue to fight," she said quietly.

Varnir ripped his spear out from a corpse and flicked the blood off. "It's okay. I'll keep going until the end. These are the same people who sided against my family…if it's not these scumbags, then it might be me or my family in the future. I'm not going anywhere."

I see…they've already steeled themselves. Then there is no point in bringing it up again.

"Then, let's get moving. We still have a long way to go."