Empyrean 32: A Hatchling’s Confession (Patreon)

Amelia, here! :)
It's been a little bit, but please enjoy a new chapter of Empyrean's Flight. As always, any and all feedback is welcome. 

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“What do you know?” I asked simply, holding back any emotion as best as I could. I had to give Soren a chance to explain.

My brother sighed and crossed his legs on the bed. He looked at me for a long while before blowing some more air out. I held onto patience.

“I know they were part of Insurgence,” he said. “They told me, well, almost everything about our family’s history. I don’t know everything, I think, but I’m sure it’s more than what Odenna could have told you.”

I looked down at my fingers and twirled them around each other. If what he was saying was true, then all the secrecy and strange reactions he had in the past few days made sense. But it was another lie, another thing kept from me. Does he not trust me?

“Tell me everything you know,” I said. I needed to know what he was talking about before I reacted.

“Just before they died, when I was about thirteen, they sat me down one night and told me everything,” he started softly. “They started by telling me how our family was hunted to near extinction, and that they started Insurgence—in part—to help us have a better, safer life. They needed to remove the grip Arinna had on Mesina.”

I said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

“Arinna, and the Powers at large, were apparently the reason for our family’s near death,” he continued. “And I don’t mean just us, I mean all of our ancestors. We could never meet them because, well, they all died. At the hand of one Power or another. And, the way Mom and Dad talked about it, it sounded like it was intentional.”

I chewed on my nails. Our whole family hunted to extinction was heavy news to take in. “Why did the Powers do that?” I asked.

Soren shrugged. “They never told me why,” he said. “But I suspect it had something to do with Mom having the potential to be a player. I don’t think you having that ability is any accident, either.”

“Why did you not tell me any of this?” I asked softly.

“When they finished recounting this to me, they charged me with looking after you,” he said. “I think they knew their time was coming to a close, somehow, and that one day I would be able to relay this to you. But, until then, it was up to me to make sure you were safe.”

I pursed my lips. I wasn’t happy with that response, as it wasn’t much of one at all. Our parents died eight years ago, and I couldn’t believe Soren didn’t find the time to tell me what he knew in all those years.

“It’s been eight years,” I accused. “What’s the real reason?”

My brother gave me a pleading look, as if he didn’t want to say what he did next. “I was scared.”

“Of what?”

“El, if our whole family was hunted to extinction, surely it would be better if you lived in ignorance about it,” he explained. “And, remember, I didn’t know about your potential to become a player. I thought it was just better if you didn’t know because, well, I knew you would want to find out why.”

“Do you not think I’m owed that?” I asked, a little taken aback by his weak reasoning.

Soren nodded slightly. “The past few days have shown me the error of my ways,” he said. “I need you to know that I didn’t do this out of malice. I was trying to protect you.”

I looked at my brother, trying to understand what he was saying. In this aspect, we were one and the same. We would both do anything to ensure the safety of our loved ones. He was really a child when our parents told him about all of this, and then they died. All he could hold onto was his promise to ensure my prosperity.

A heavy promise.

As I stayed quiet, he continued talking. “That’s why I have been pushing for you to stay away from Arinna, why I said we couldn’t just walk out of the city. If she knows about you, catches any kind of wind of your heritage… I shudder to think of what she would do to you.”

It was unfair of me to think of this reasoning as weak. “I understand,” I said. “Thank you for telling me now.”

Soren let out a long breath and laughed nervously. “I thought you would be angry,” he said.

“I did too,” I said with a sarcastic smile. “But I can’t rightly say I would have done differently in your stead.”

My brother reached out awkwardly across the bed for a hug. I looked at him for a moment, thinking there must be a better way to do this, but obliged anyway. Our arms stretched out, we held onto each other for a while before I pulled away.

“So, what now?” Soren asked.

“I have a few ideas,” I said. “More, now that you have told me our family’s truth. But first, I want you to have a look at this.”

I picked Cantos’ journal up and handed it to him. Letting him read through it, I stared at him intently to see what he would pick up from it. I was interested to see what he thought of the information that lay in it, especially about the dungeon.

It took him a few minutes to browse through it before he closed it and handed it back to me. “Hmm,” he mumbled. “This dungeon’s name…”

Before I could respond, he leapt from the bed and exited the room, leaving me confused. I lifted my hands in disbelief at myself, slapping them down moderately hard on my knees.

“Ada, do you know anything about our family’s demise?” I asked the celestial.

“Nothing,” she said. “This is news to me as well. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” I reassured her. It was a small arrow in the dark asking her, anyway, given that her memory was still in tatters. As much as what Soren told me gave more context to what kind of sacrifices our parents made, it left me with more questions than I would have liked.

Questions I was feeling determined to find the answers to.

Minutes passed, and still, Soren did not return. My muscles twitching from the wait, I decided to go and find him. But as soon as I stood from the bed, the door opened again to reveal his face with a large grin on it.

“What was that?” I asked restlessly.

“I have something here,” he said, closing the door and sitting back down. “Mom gave it to me just before she died. That same night they told me about all of this, actually. Guess what its name is?”

He handed me a small claw. I took it hesitantly, feeling it around in my hands. It looked like it had been chopped off and preserved from a lizard, and it was unusual. It had a strange blue color, almost like the blood had been purposefully drained from it, and it felt like paper on my skin.

I looked at Soren, waiting for him to answer his own question. “Hatchling Claw,” he announced with a proud smile.

My eyes widened. “Do you think this has something to do with the dungeon?”

“A dungeon named The Hatchling’s Trial? Very much so,” he said excitedly.

I studied the claw again, and a smile grew wide on my face. “Well, it fits perfectly into my plan,” I said.

Soren eyed me suspiciously.

“I want to go into the dungeon,” I said. “I want to hunt down Alastair, and now, I want to find out what this claw does.”

“Then I’m coming with you,” he said plainly.

“No, Soren—”

My brother snatched the claw out of my hand and held onto it. “I don’t come with, you don’t get the claw.”

My jaw dropped.

“Don’t look so shocked,” he said. “You have left me behind long enough. I am coming with you, and that’s the end of it.”

I crossed my arms and looked at him indignantly. He was right, of course, but I didn’t want to put him in danger. Dungeons were no place for non-players. But he had leverage now.

“Fine,” I said. “Then we need to prepare.”

“Wait a moment,” he said, holding onto me as I tried to get up. “Why do you want to go after Alastair?”

I rested back on the bed. “Cantos was working with them,” I explained. “This Alastair, I believe, is actually behind everything. Cantos would never had enough power to come after us if he didn’t have the players on his side.” I paused for a moment. “Alon would never have died.”

Soren’s face grew solemn at the mention of our friend. “Are you high enough level to fight him?” he asked. “I don’t know much, but sixty levels seems to be quite intimidating.”

I shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know,” I said. “But Adalinda and I are becoming stronger. I don’t mean to rush in there and immediately kill him. Dungeons should be filled with enemies that will help me level up a bit more before we find him.”

“Even more reason for me to come with you,” he said.

“I am just worried, Soren. If I die, I can still come back. You can’t.”

My brother looked at me meaningfully and took my hand in his. “You and I are in this together,” he said. “Just because I didn’t get the chance to become a player doesn’t mean I have no interest in knowing more about our family. I also want to find the answers I know you are looking for.”

I couldn’t deny him that. I had the option to choose this path, but it wouldn’t be fair to exclude him from knowing more about where we came from. And, from what Odenna and he knew, our parents were hiding something. Something important.

“Okay,” I said. “On one condition.”

“Name it.”

“If, at any point, it doesn’t look like you can handle yourself in a fight, I want you to pull back. Stay out of it.”

Soren rolled his eyes before nodding his head in agreement. “Deal,” he said. “Let’s go discover some secrets.”

✵ ✵ ✵

We left the room and, as usual, were met with the Raccoons chatting amongst themselves. The injured ones I had seen originally were now among the crowd as well, which could only bring a smile to my face. It was a small moment of hope in what had been days of desperation and agony.

Soren and I walked toward Eoman’s room with the intent to tell him about our plan. If anything, we also needed some help, because we had to go through the Devil’s lair to get to the dungeon in the first place. I knocked on the door, and it opened almost immediately.

“Elana,” the leader greeted me. “Did you rest well?”

“I did, thanks,” I said. “May we come in? We have something to discuss.”

Eoman stood away from the door and let us walk in. As I entered the room, I started telling him about our plans. That we wanted to seek out the dungeon, and what we had found in Cantos’ journal. When I finished speaking, the leader was holding his hand to his chin and pacing.

“I thought you were going to come and ask me to help you escape the city,” he said.  “That was our deal. You have met your end.”

“I know,” I said. “And we may still need your help after we have sought out the dungeon. But, for now, this is what we want.”

Eoman stopped in his tracks and gave me a weak smile. “Of course, I understand,” he said. “I will help you with whatever you need. But first, I have some good news.”

“What is it?”

“It seems that our plan worked,” he said happily. “My scouts have reported that, with Cantos’ death, the Devils have begun infighting. It looks like they are falling apart without proper leadership.”

“That’s good to know,” Soren said. “It may make our journey to the dungeon easier.”

“It will, but more importantly, it’s given me an opportunity to reconcile the poor quarter,” Eoman pointed out. “If the Devils are struggling like this, I can take them under my wing…”

I stayed silent, not quite knowing what to say. I had faith that Eoman could be the one to pull off a reconciliation of the poor quarter, but I had no experience to back that feeling.

“But that’s not of interest to you,” he said with a small chuckle. “I just thought you’d want to know that things, from here on, look like they will get better. The poor quarter will get stronger, and hopefully, The Insurgence.”

“If anyone can do it, you can,” Soren said, mirroring my own thoughts.

“Thank you,” the Raccoon leader said. “And thank you both for your help. We could not have done this without you. Your names will be held high among the heroes of the city.”

My heart fluttered at his mention of this, because I was no hero. “Alon’s should as well,” I said. “He died for this.”

“Of course,” Eoman said, growing slightly sad. “All three of you.”

I bobbed my head in approval and held my hand out to the leader. He took it and, gently, held it for a moment. Looking into my eyes, I could see what Cantos’ death had meant to the poor quarter. To my home. And, if only for a few seconds, I felt vindicated.

A soft knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. I turned around to face Odenna, who was holding a small parcel of clothing.

“I just wanted to give this to Elana,” she said. “I found some spare clothes for you. I hope they fit.”

“Thank you,” I said, grabbing the garments.

Odenna gave me a simple nod and smile before leaving again. Turning back to Eoman, I thought about what our next steps were. “Do you think we could make it to the dungeon?” I asked. If anyone knew what the Devil’s territory looked like now, it would be him, and I was hoping for a positive answer.

“You may run into a few fights on the way, but nothing you can’t handle,” he said. “Most of the Devils have left their base. The streets, I would say, are more dangerous. But without Cantos they also have no reason to hunt you. I would just advise caution.”

It was the best I could hope for.

We said our goodbyes to Eoman and I returned to the room to change into my new clothes. To my surprise, they fit perfectly, and they didn’t look much different from my old ones.

I scanned it one last time to make sure I had everything, then with Soren, took my leave from the Raccoon safehouse. It was time to find Alastair.