The Emerald Hunt Arc: A Hero's Welcome
A chill breeze washes over them as Gavin gazes down at the young man who just asked to become his apprentices. A stinging sensation seers across the lad's face before Alex can say another word. The clap echoes through the forest leaving the teenager stunned, Maximus roars with anger as his body engulfs itself with electric currents. Seeing how enraged his brother is Alex tries to calm him. "Stop, Max!" but the Max fires a bolt of lightning at the black armoured knight without a second thought, creating a massive explosion. Max's heart sinks into his stomach as he realises Alex was caught in the blast.
"Alex!" he cries.
The black smoke begins to settle, Max stumbles forward into the smoke trying his hardest to see through it. To his relief his vision is greeted by the black armoured knight welding a spiked black shield made out of wood and behind him, his visibly startled younger brother coughing violently. Suddenly black thorny vines emerge from the ground and entangle both his legs and arms, holding him down. Gavin begins to approach the trapped teenager menacingly. Alex does not like the way this is playing out and tries to stop the knight.
"Wait!" he pleads, but vines emerge behind him subduing Alex as well. He is trapped in the sae state as his brother, powerless to escape the vines let alone help Max. Gavin walks up to the ensnared Max, with contempt in his cold blue eyes.
"How did you get, thekwane essence?" Gavin asks as he towers over the boy.
"Fuck off," answers Max angrily. This response earns him a strike to the gut from the knight. Max violently coughs out spit, as all Alex could do is watch. For the second time he is reminded of his weakness and inability to do anything useful.
"Do you know what the cost of recklessness is?" The black knight waits for an answer but Max remains silent. Gavin removes his helmet and turns his back on the lad. He makes his way towards the trapped Alex and looks deep into his eyes, as if he is interrogating Alex's soul. Alex knows Gavin wants an answer to his previous question, but breaks eye contact shamefully.
Gavin smiles, pats his shoulder and makes his way into the pool, making a sudden halt in the middle of it. Max, already agitated by Gavin and Alex's encounter, shouts at the top of his voice, "If you dare touch my brother again I will fucking murder yo-"
"His name was Davion," Gavin finally speaks as he looks down at what remains of the grey knight. "He had a wife and a married child. His daughter is expecting a baby soon." Alex's face twisted with anguish, and the rage in Max's face is replaced with regret. "I was invited by the family to celebrate his retirement today. 'I want to help raise my grandkid' he said." Gavin sighs and turns around to face Max and Alex. "This is the cost of recklessness. Because of you, that baby will never see his grandfather. Because of you, a widow will be burying chunks of her husband tomorrow. Because of you, a daughter will never have the chance to tell her father how proud she is of him. A family will mourn on the day they were supposed to celebrate, and no one else is to blame but you two." Silence deepens the pain Alex and Max feel. I know it's our fault thinks Alex.
"Hey there, Gavin!" a voice calls out from within the forest, interrupting the tension-filled moment. Two hooded strangers emerge from the shadows just as the glimmer of dawn breaks in the horizon. The taller of the two continues, "Seems like you didn't need our help."
"Yeah, but it came at a cost," Gavin points at the corpse.
"Oh…Davion… We'll gather up his remains and inform the family." This statement stabs Alex's heart deeper than what Gavin had said. "Are those two Broin's sons? Alex, Max, do you remember me?" Alex looks at the hooded man and shakes his head as Max lifts his.
"Are you Mace?" asks Max.
"You must be the sharper brother," he grins. "This is my daughter and apprentice, Eclipse. Eclipse say hi." The shorter of the two pulls back her hood revealing her long black hair, dominant cheekbones, pale skin and a disinterested aura, which she reveals as she greets the two with a nod and makes her way to Gavin to help with the corpse. Guilt forces Alex to jolt his attention back to Mace.
"You are the mage from the stories," says Alex.
"Probably," Mace shrugs. "I haven't seen you since you were but a wee sprout. Speaking of sprouts, why do you have your master's children tied up like criminals Gavin?"
"Because they are," Gavin replies. "They're the reason we lost Davion. I'm taking them back to Redwood to face the consequences." Alex bows his head in humiliation. "Perhaps being eaten by the Zheng would have been a better fate."
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After walking through the forest for what feels like an eternity, they see the wooden walls encircling Red Wood. They did not enter the Redwood gates as heroes but as captives bound by Gavin's vines. Crowds of people draw closer with puzzled expressions plastered on their faces. They're probably asking, 'Are these not Broin's children?' in their heads, assumes Alex in his thoughts. 'Why are the Wolf's children bound like prisoners? Did they kill someone?' Gavin cruelly tugs him forward. Eclipse and Mace follow through the gate, before them is a body wrapped in cloth levitating off the ground.
The crowd murmurs and whispers among themselves. Alex looks at his brother, his fiery aura and demeanour washed away from his persona, leaving behind a pale emotionless husk. One by one, each villager drops their task and approach them, causing the crowd to expand and close in on them, concerned whispering growing louder with each passing second.
Finally, they stop at a certain house in the village square with the crowd behind them. Gavin knocks on the door and is greeted by a pregnant young lady and an aged woman. He does not say a word yet they already know why he is there. The women run out the door and rush to the levitating body sobbing loudly, their cries breaking Alex's heart.
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The sunset casts a subtle orange glow on the meadow. Alex and Max drag their feet while Gavin pulls them towards their home on the edge of the horizon. Night falls by the time they reach the house. Their father, The Wolf of Redwood, sits by the entrance of the cottage smoking his pipe with a distant expression on his face, no doubt he has been waiting for them.
"Master Broin, I am truly saddened to meet you under these circumstances," says Gavin. "These two young men cost the life of a patrol knight when they took it among themselves to hunt the Zheng"
"Father, we-"
"Go inside now," interrupts Broin calmly. The vines that had tied them up immediately withered away. Maximus quietly makes his way into the house, Alex following behind. He looks at his father's face with a sad apologetic expression but Broin does not look back at him. Even though he expects this reaction it still hurt.
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Gavin and Broin sit outside the cottage, looking up at the stars in the night sky in silence.
"Do you smoke pipe?" he stretches out his hand with the pipe within Gavin's grasp.
"It's not my thing."
"You have other vices, no?"
"Our guild is my vice,"
"Your guild maybe. Our guild died during Emerald Night," chuckles Broin, "even if they share the same name." Gavin remains silent at this remark; after a brief silence he speaks up.
"The High Knight has selected me as one of the commanders in the Behemoth Coalition." Broin's hand trembles as he placed the pipe to his lips. "Would you like to be part of it? After all it has taken a lot away from you," Gavin looks at his master's missing arm. "Don't you want revenge?"
"…If you had asked me a couple of days ago, I would have said yes without a second thought…" Broin pauses mid-sentence and exhales a grey cloud into the air. "It took my son yelling at me at the dinner table to change my way of thinking. I don't care about avenging what I lost anymore. What matters right now is to live in the present with what I have now; a wife, two rebellious sons, and a daughter." Broin places his pipe to the side and stands up to face his former pupil. "I have not been a good teacher to Alex and Max. Everything that happened in the forest is my fault. I let grief cloud my mind for too long, and what happened today is the bi-product of it. I only have one request from you," to Gavin's horror his mentor and hero bows his head. "Please Gavin, take them under your wing and teach them what I once taught you, what I'm now is unable to teach them." Silence plays its muted melody for some time before Gavin disturbs it.
"Please, don't bow to me Master Broin. I'll always be your disciple." Broin slowly raises his head, tears running down his face. "I will take them as my students under one condition."
"What is it?"
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A dark grey cloud stretches across the sky as the funeral proceedings take place. Alex keeps his head down, but he can feel the dirty looks he and his brother were receiving from their fellow villagers. His one armed father stands before the family with his head raised high as though he is accepting the hate meant for him. This makes Alex feel uncomfortable. The last thing he wants is help for a mistake he made. The village elder stands on a podium and gives a heartfelt speech about Davion and his role in the community. With each word Alex feels his discomfort growing. He looks over at Max who stands next to him with tears running down his face. Even the unwavering Maximus feels the unbearable guilt of their selfish actions. After the chanting of the elder's prayer, the coffin descends into the ground, and Davion the grey knight is laid to rest.
As Alex leaves the procession, a voice screeches behind him.
"After all this, you still won't even apologize to us?! Alex recognises the cries of Davion's pregnant daughter but guilt refuses to let Alex turn his head and face his accuser. "You just go home like nothing happened when you're the reason I will never see my father again. My son will never know his grandfather's face, and it's your fault, Broinsons! Why did he have to die but you get to live? Answer me!" He glances at Max and sees his trembling lips, throwing his head back and stares at the dark sky in an attempt to fight back his tears.
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The family makes its way to their home to find Mace, Eclipse and Gavin waiting for them by the door. Alex is unsure of what to make of the situation. Their mother plants a kiss on both brothers before leading their sister into the house, Broin walks and stands beside Gavin, facing his sons.
"Gavin has agreed to take you as his apprentices if you pass the guild initiation test in the capital. So tomorrow morning you'll leave with him for the capital." Alex feels a fire being lit in his belly, the way his father stood over him was the same way his overbearing legacy stood over him his entire life, his pride couldn't take it anymore.
"No! Like hell I will go to the capital on your terms! I didn't ask for your pity-" Alex feels a choking sensation that cuts him off from speaking; he no longer feels the ground under his feet. He haphazardly gathers his thoughts and processes what has happened; Alex is being held and choked above ground by his father.
"You've already tainted the Wolf's name with your egotistic behaviour, boy. Why would you still think I would respect your decision?" Max opens his mouth but no words came out, he closes it and just observes. "Now, you have two options; Go to the Capital and make a new name for yourself…" the grip tightens on Alex's throat, "…or I throw both of you in prison for the murder of Davion the Grey. And I suggest you go with the option that will not lead me to breaking every fucking bone in your body for letting a knight die under my name!"
"I…will…go," coughs Alex. Broin lets go of his son's throat and walks back to the cottage door. Alex sits up with tears running down his face.
"Things won't always go the way you want. It took me too long to realise you have to keep moving forward." His father turned and faced his sons with a melancholic smile. "Happy birthday Alex, I am sorry I failed you."
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Dawn breaks as Alex and Maximus follow Gavin down the village street, the hateful eyes of the residents firmly fix onto them. Alex looks ahead and sees Mace and Eclipse waiting by the village gate. Gavin looks down at them from over his shoulder and speaks
"Keep moving forward Broinsons, and one day Redwood will welcome you into its arms as heroes." These ho turns and sees a faint smile on his older brother; the first time he had smiled in two days. Alex then looked forward, perhaps it wasn't the first chapter he was hoping for, but a journey had begun