Dawn of the Last Dragon Rider - Chapter 082 - The Secrets We Keep (Patreon)

Before they retired upstairs, Kaen and Hess sat in the office with Sulenda.

“I know you know I am nervous about tomorrow, so don’t complain when I give you these things,” Hess stated as he put the pouch with three potions in it back in Kaen’s hand.  “Stop fighting and just keep them.  They are yours, and perhaps one of your new squadmates will need it.”

Kaen finally resigned to the fact he was not going to win this argument and bobbed his head in appreciation as he took the pouch from him.

“I still think it's a waste, but whatever,” he muttered.  “When did you say you are leaving?”

Sulenda shifted in her chair, and Kaen saw the look on her face.

“I leave in about five hours, and she is not excited about you not being there to protect me.”

“That’s a load of goblin shite, and you know it,” Sulenda declared as she glared at him.  “I’m just not happy with all this cloak-and-dagger stuff you don’t want to share, and I know you are worried about Kaen more than you should be.  He will be fine.  If you believe he won’t, we can strap his arse to that chair and not let him go.”

“Woah..” Kaen started to say as he leaned back in his chair.  “What is going on?”

Hess shot Sulenda a look, and she gave it right back.

“We are having a disagreement about something, and I won’t bother you with it,” growled Hess as he went back to his chair.  “Did you have a message for me?”

I… Uh…” Kaen was surprised Hess had asked such a thing in front of Sulenda but figured it wouldn’t matter.  “Seven and one thousand five hundred.”

Leaning back in his chair, Hess folded his arms before he let out a sigh.

“Thank you.  It is what I expected.”

“What does that mean?” Sulenda asked Kaen as she turned her attention to him.

“Beats me,” he responded with a shrug.  “I was just told to pass that information on.”

Growling a little, Sulenda leaned back in her chair and gave Hess another glare.

“Actually, I need to go.  I want to double-check a few more details on my group before I leave tomorrow.”

Hess slowly stood up, trying to act natural, but Kaen knew something was wrong.

“Can I walk you a few blocks and ask a few more things regarding squad fighting?” inquired Kaen as he tapped his temple.  “I want to make sure I have it all locked in here tight so I’m not the weakest link.”

Hess nodded with a chuckle.

“I have no doubt you won’t be the weakest link, but sure, you can ask a few questions.”

Both stood, and Kaen waved at Sulenda, who was watching the two of them leave.

As the door shut, she wadded up a piece of paper and threw it across the room in frustration.

“Blast that man!” she cursed as she leaned against her desk.  “I swear I’ll wring his neck if he doesn’t come back to me…”

Glancing down at her desk, she saw wet marks on top of it, realizing she was crying over a fear she couldn’t shake.

“What am I missing!?” Kaen demanded as they left the inn and started down the street.  “Pammon won’t tell me, but I can feel he is hiding something!”

Hess shrugged and kept his eyes ahead.

“I can’t say.”

“Can’t say or won’t say?”

Hess stopped and turned and pulled out his gold token from his shirt.

“I cannot say because of this,” Hess answered, frustrated by a promise he knew he had to make.  “If I could, I would share more, but I cannot!  Just know I am doing everything possible to help you and the kingdom.”

Glancing around the near-empty streets, Hess pulled Kaen close and gave him a hug.

“Trust me and Pammon,” he whispered as he squeezed Kaen.  “We both will protect you above everything else.  Tomorrow, do what you need to do; when the time comes, you will know what must be done.”

“When the time comes?” Kaen asked, pulling back and looking up at Hess.

Breaking the embrace, Hess nodded and ruffled Kaen’s hair.

“You’re smart.  Smarter than me and everyone else around you.  Use that brain, and you will understand when the time comes,” Hess declared as he smiled at him.  “Now go.  Get some rest, prepare your mind, and make sure to bring as many arrows as you can.”

Hess began to walk away, leaving Kaen looking at his back.

“Listen, Fiola, just trust what I say!” Hess proclaimed loudly as he pointed at the map they were looking at again.  “One thousand five hundred is a small but accurate number.  There are easily more there than this!”

Fiola was frustrated that Hess had somehow managed to acquire these numbers so quickly after she had spent so much time being secretive in collecting it.  Two scouts had died and not returned, making the truth of what he was telling her now harder to argue against.

“We have no other option,” she declared as she adjusted the tokens at each mark on the map representing the squads descending upon those armies of creatures.  “Look at what we have!  The adventurers we lost have limited our ability to fight this battle!”

Fiola leaned back against the couch and let out a sigh.

“I will be on the battlefield, personally assisting a group of squads.  That is how grave this is.”

Hess saw the look in her eyes and realized she was terrified.

“How will you manage the guild hall if you are on the front line?”

Fiola leaned forward and held out her hand.  Turning it over, she showed a gold coin with a H carved on top of it.

Fighting everything he had, Hess resisted snatching that coin from her.

“I’m sorry. I should never have made you do what you did.  Take this coin, and if you can forgive me, I ask it now.”

His hands trembled, knowing that the coin symbolized how she had screwed him over years ago, making him bind himself and preventing his relationship with Sulenda.  Taking a deep breath, he slowly let it out.

“Keep it for now.  When we return from this event, you can give it to me then.”

A small smile appeared as she withdrew her hand. The tremor in her arm betrayed the calm she tried to hide behind.

“It is a deal,” she replied, moving back to the map.  “You will be here, two spots from where Kaen will be.  I will be taking the far east camp.  Selmah and her squad will be nearest to me.  The others will all be manned by adventurers you might not know but are all competent.  I need you to press inward if you succeed.  Do not go to Kaen, as the group next to you may need your help.”

She pushed his tokens toward the X she was talking about.

“You are going here because you can close that gap in less than four hours if everything goes well.  If things go badly, this will be the first weak point, and you are my strongest warrior.”

Pride that he did not want to admit he felt washed over him.  For Fiola to say those words meant she believed them.  She never complimented him on anything but his negative attitude and stubbornness.

“I will do what I can to help there.  Anything else? I still need to finish a few small things before I leave in a few hours.”

Shaking her head no, Fiola stood up and held out her hand.

“I wish you luck, Adventurer Hess Brumlin.  May you be safe and return home to us, ready to keep helping Kaen become the man he is meant to be.”

Caught off guard by her last words, Hess almost stumbled as he reached for her hand.  He managed to shake and smile.

Headed toward the door, Hess paused, a question he had meant to ask weeks ago but never did.

“Why did you want to know his stats so badly?  What is so important about them?”

“You really don’t know, do you?” Fiola asked as she read Hess’s body language.

“It must be obvious that I don’t.”

“Kaen is the son of two adventurer bloodlines,” Fiola answered, her face never flinched.  “From what I know about Hoste and Kaen’s mother, I know now that he will be greater than any adventurer we have seen.  Greater than even his father.”

Frozen with his hand on the doorknob, Hess wracked his brain around what he knew about Madalyn, Kaen’s mother.  She wasn’t an adventurer!  She had always stayed home with Kaen until she suddenly passed away.  Hoste had been fortunate to find Ruth, the one who married him after Madalyn died while Kaen was a baby.

“Madalyn wasn’t an adventurer! She never left Kaen’s side!” exclaimed Hess.  “What makes you believe that she was one?”

“We adventured together long before Hoste met her, and they fell in love,” replied Fiola.  “She died because she fought the commitment she had from a promise she made.  She would not abandon her son until the day her heart claimed her.  It was why she suddenly died.”

The doorknob was the only thing keeping him on his feet as he struggled to stand.  He had not known any of this!  Hoste had never shared this, and now he felt like he was betraying Kaen for not running to him and telling him the truth.

“How can you do this to me? On the night before I leave?!” he shouted, eyes red with anger.

“Because Hoste,” she admitted, “we both know I won’t be returning, and the truth needs to be told to Kaen.”

“But…” Hess found his throat was dry, and words were failing him.

“I have learned from watching you and other adventurers to be willing to risk everything for our kingdom.  How can I not do the same now?  Now begone and take care of the things you need to do.”

Herb,

I have filled the box with all the knowledge I have to share.  You will do a wonderful job as the new guild master, and I am grateful for your years of service and faithfulness.

This last letter has been sealed, and if you read it, you solved the puzzle.  No one but you can or must read this.

Kaen Marshell must stay alive at all costs, and you must make sure that he does not repeat his father's mistake.  He is the tenth generation on his father's side of adventurers and the eleventh line of his mother's.  He is not aware of this yet, but in time, you must inform him so he knows why he is growing so fast.  I have spent years dedicated to tracking down how far their family lines ran and the truth is often, most of them have grown up without parents.

If he sires a child, they will be even greater than him.  I know it would be too much to ask, yet if you can find a way to make him see the value of a child and what it can do for the kingdom… no the world, I would encourage him to do so.

He shared his stats with me, not knowing why I wanted to know them, but he did. I needed to verify what I believed was true.  His quest was not fair, yet it was required for what I had intended to do.  I regret deeply still the loss of Luca.

Guide him, motivate him, and support him.  He is the future of this kingdom.

I have faith in your ability to handle him as I have watched you handle Hess for all these years.  The faith you put in the two of them when you enlisted their help with our recent problem shows me how wise you are.

Remember, pursue your own path.  Do not follow the path I forged.  You are better equipped to deal with people and manage them without breaking them like I have always done.

Lastly, forgive me for the way this took place.  I know you will be angry, but it had to be done.  There was no other way.

Guild Master

Fiola Da’Verna

Glancing at the paper once more, she brushed the wand she had over it before adding one drop of Herb’s blood she kept for just this thing.  The text faded from the paper, leaving it looking like nothing was there.

Sealing it in the safe box, she glanced around her office for one last time.  She felt a single tear fall from her eye and prayed she was remembered as one who knew the cost and willingly gave it for her guild and her kingdom.

Hess opened the door slowly and saw Sulenda sitting in the chair of her room, reading a book waiting for him.

“You going to tell me what you are doing, Hess Brumlin or do I need to beat it out of you?” she asked as she set the book down on the table next to her.

“I’m saving the kingdom one last time,” he replied with a soft smile.  “I promise you on my life I will return, though.  Not for Kaen, not for this kingdom, but for you.”

As he strode toward her, she sprung out of her chair, not caring about her gown or how it flung up around her and ran across the room, almost tackling him as she wrapped her arms around him.

She started to sob gently on his shoulder, and he brushed her hair with his hand.

“What is wrong?  This isn’t my first time leaving you for a quest.”

She nodded and, after a moment, was finally able to speak.

“I know,” she whispered silently.  “It is the first time, though, you leave for one knowing you will be a father.”

Hess’s heart stopped as what she said registered in his brain.

Pulling her from him, he held her arms and looked into her eyes, seeing that she was telling the truth.

“A child? Of my own?” he gasped, excitement bursting from his eyes and his face.

She nodded and smiled.

“I didn’t want to tell you as I knew you had a lot on your mind, but something told me I needed to.  To make sure you kept that promise and fought with everything, you have to return.”

Hess pulled her close, kissing her on the lips and not letting her go as her hands embraced him once more.

“On both your lives, I will return,” Hess promised.

“You better, or I’ll hunt you down and make you suffer,” she joked.