Bit of a shorter chapter, but in this one I tried to show the conflict in the minds of Warren, Reaver, and Theresa as their days began to come to a close.
In the Absence of Heroes
Warren paced the deck of the ship methodically looking at the young Snowspire males who laughed and joked, brawling and playing games, excited to leave their homeland. Hammer's second in command and their monks sat and meditated diligently on the deck as well. He thought back to their conversation in the bar. "Been a many years since I seen you Warren Mest."
"Aye it has Hammer…or do you prefer Mother Hannah now?" He said sipping his beer.
She chuckled, "Well I wasn't going to find a man and make a family anyway, so being a mother to some monks and a whole village seems like it was worth it."
He glanced at the trio sitting near them and glancing over. "So is that them…the Mest boys?" He thought back to James…the runt of the litter who had returned to his roots in Snowspire and had made a whole new generation of Heroes.
"Aye that's them. Champion and Connor…good boys they are, but…are you sure you must send them to war? They are children…they need to live their lives." She fixed him with that stern 'I'm not going to budge on this' look.
"We're Heroes Hammer…normal lives are not something we can live so freely. We have a duty to the world…to protect it and its people." His eyes were sad. "No matter how long we must watch them suffer or struggle."
"I know you've lived long Warren…but why do you keep it up? Why not just say enough and end your tie to Theresa?"
"Because…someone must Hammer, I have to…once I see the end of Rose's chapter I shall leave this world…for good." His eyes showed the depth of his despair.
She patted him on the shoulder, "I'll put on a show, you just make sure you convince their family."
He chuckled on the deck of the boat and shook his head, young Connor approached him, "What's so funny?"
"Life my young Mest…are you enjoying the voyage?"
"It's alright, but I want to know something…how do you know my family?" He was a smart one.
"Me…um…I'm Warutien a scholar of the old ways." He scratched his beard.
Connor fixed him with those hawk-like golden eyes. They studied and analyzed him in every way. "You're lying, I can see it in your face, the span of years is carved into you. Now..." He fixed Warren with the sternest gaze. "Give me the truth."
No one on board the ship payed any attention to the ripple of Will the boy sent out, raw and untapped it hit Warren like a shockwave and he had to force himself to stand still. He sighed, "You want the truth?"
"Of course, that's why I asked isn't it?" Connor was testy…Warren liked that.
"I am Warutien Mest, born to the Hero Fang and Lady Meshane Taluk. I was born in the Age of Heroes and trained at the Guild before it was burned and the Heroes executed. I led a life of seclusion until one crazy Hero led me on an expedition to stop evil. Afterwards I met Theresa and at the end of my life she granted me the gift of immortality. I have been tasked with recording the history of the ages, from the burning of Oakvale to the Age of King Sparrow and beyond."
He stood there mouth agape, as most do, trying to comprehend the information Warren had departed to him. He just walked off and sat quietly the rest of the boat ride and I couldn't help but wonder what path he would carve for himself. He had the gift, Warren saw it with his own eyes, but the question is, would he accept it?
*Bloodstone*
It had been almost a year now since Reaver had visited Bloodstone; the lawless land run by pirates. The buildings were run down and shabby and the citizens were very much the same; but with the industry he had brought here, Bloodstone was more of a giant factory now. The pirates under Reaver enforced the working class and he had rented out some apartments and villas to those of the upper class, but none was more upper class than Reaver. He was much different than those around him. The stark white suit stood out in a sea of ruddy brown and black. Here he was King, not some bloody do-gooder like Rose, him…Reaver! He grinned at the thought and licked his lips as he entered the mansion. He hung up his coat and entered his study settling into his comfy chair, "Shiv!" He called, remembering the boy had left him he sunk his head and sighed.
The boy had gone and formed his own family long ago. Reaver had visited his grandchildren only when they were born, because watching them grow would be too painful as they would age and he would not. This curse was something he would be glad to end, but what would be the price? Would the years suddenly rush back to him, would he go mad, would he die slowly and agonizingly to the cruel mistress known as Time? What was the point of it all; Freedom; freedom from what though, life, the Shadows, his past? What did he want to be free from, what haunted him so horridly that he clung to life so feverishly? You are afraid, Matthew. He heard her say. He rose and looked around, she was here? "Abigail!" He cried into the night, but no one responded to his call.
You are afraid of death Matthew, afraid of the emptiness of it. But do not fear, my love, for I am here…and I will always be with you. "Marianne?" He missed the nights of her tender embrace…even as her belly swelled with their son. He fell to the floor and screamed with a maddening rage.
"Sir?" A pirate called, but he quickly caught a bullet in between the eyes as Reaver closed and locked his door and sat there in his own misery. Things must change…they must be different if he was to ever have a chance at redemption.
*The Spire*
Theresa sat there in the Spire watching the pieces fall into play. The darkness rose in Samarkand and Rose gathered her forces to face it. The Heroes were close to gathering; Warren had acted out of line going back to Snowspire for closure and running into the boy's early. But could she blame him, Rose and the boys were the last of the family he had left. That she had left. Logan still wandered, away from her sight, and the boys were still un-awakened. Few Heroes roamed about now. Hammer and Garth were close to the door of death, Rose was aged as well, about as old as Logan were two other Heroes Thomas Kirkman and James Skelton, the houses Cluck and Highwind, who had just recently began to trickle into Albion after being banished by Logan, and then there were the Mests. It would all come down to the wire with this one…but in the absence of Heroes, could new ones rise to meet the challenge?
