What dead could be buried were buried. The bog had claimed elves and orcs alike. The sunlight struggled through the thick, overhead foliage. The horse's hooves were dulled against the ground.

Hyrondal rode at back of Yuai's hunting party. The space between him and his mentor chilled the air and the thought of becoming Onyx's apprentice cooked in his mind. He wanted to learn from someone who listened to him. How could he not acknowledge Yuai was not that person?

Yuai sat up straight in his saddle and gestured for his warriors to spread out into the trees. He looked over his shoulder at Hyrondal and motioned for him to remain where he was with Faedre and the younger apprentices.

Anger flared in Hyrondal's chest as elves fanned out around him. Their horses plunged into the thick growth and disappeared in shadow. Wondering what Yuai had sensed, Hyrondal dismounted and pressed his hand to the nearest tree. His eyebrows rose. He turned to run as the first elven screams whispered through the trees.

"Wait!" Faedre said. He gestured to the youths behind him. "We are coming with you."

"Why?" Hyrondal demanded.

"Every time you make a move on your own you are right," Faedre answered. "We want to learn to be right too."

Hyrondal grinned. "I cannot tell you what to do and there is not time to learn how to be right. Follow me and use your minds."

Hyrondal took to the trees, bounding between branches until he spied Yuai and his heart jammed in his throat. He was sick of orcs, of their stench and green skin and thirst for blood.

Onyx and the remaining elven warriors were divided, pressed back against the trees by black blades and jagged spears. Yuai fought surrounded by orcs. His grey face and the crimson on his tunic told Hyrondal in a glance he was injured. Badly.

The elves behind Hyrondal swallowed twice to find their courage, but Hyrondal leapt from his branch and hit the ground rolling. He came to his feet and saw one of the orcs assaulting Yuai draw back his sword. In his mind he saw the blade gut his mentor.

"Yuai!" Hyrondal screamed.

"No, Hyrondal! Stop!"

The orc's first sword stroke knocked away Yuai's sword. The hilt was damp with blood. The second stroke cut toward the staggering elf's chest. Hyrondal got there first.

White pain streaked through him as Hyrondal landed in front of the orc blade. He collapsed in a ball, pressing his hands to his stomach, horrified at the sheer amount of blood. He heard Yuai calling his name as he lurched to his feet and drove his sword into the orc's belly. He wanted to go on, to keep fighting, but all he saw were shadows and then nothing.

Hyrondal sat up straight in bed, knocking back blankets, and wrapped his arms around his stomach with a gasp. He hissed and squeezed his eyes shut until the pain became tolerable. With an extra pillow under his neck, he lay back.

The whiteness of the room and the vase of blue flowers on the nightstand next to him hinted it was a room in the palace healing ward. As memory seeped back to him, it came with a dread of seeing Yuai. When Onyx was the first to enter the room, Hyrondal breathed in relief.

"Is—is Yuai alright?" Hyrondal asked.

Onyx drew a chair out of a corner in the room and sat on it backwards. Several of his numerous black braids fell over his shoulders as he nodded.

"Yuai lost a lot of blood," Onyx said. The tattoos under his eyes pinched. "He will heal. You are lucky to be alive, Hyrondal. An inch deeper and the healers would not have been able to sew you up."

Hyrondal looked hard at the white wall opposite him and picked at the threads on his blanket. "I am not sorry I did it, Onyx. I cannot stand by and watch an elf die. I was angry at Yuai—I think I still am—but that is no reason to let a life be lost."

Onyx clasped his hands together. "Do you wish to continue as Yuai's apprentice?"

"I do not know if I can," Hyrondal whispered.

"I want you to know my offer is open for as long as you need it," Onyx said. He stood and patted Hyrondal's shoulder.

"I may accept it sooner than you know," Hyrondal answered. Only once Onyx closed the door after him did Hyrondal let the tears slip down his cheeks.

The door opened too soon, and a healer sailed in. She offered Hyrondal a glass sympathetically. "This will help the pain."

Hyrondal gulped it down, tasting honey, brandy, and cherries.

"Do you feel as if you could eat?" the healer asked.

"I will try," Hyrondal answered, as the brandy warmed his throat.

Nimrethil sashayed into the room and grandly handed him a mug of broth. "If you do not cough it all up, I will give you some bread."

Hyrondal grinned at her. "Your bedside manner is charming." He finished the broth and Nimrethil refilled his mug from her pitcher. She gave him a generous slice of bread.

Nimrethil left the pitcher on the nightstand before she left. Hyrondal was down to the last swallow in his mug when the door opened and Yuai came in, using Avaron as a cane. Yuai sank down in the chair Onyx had left and suddenly Hyrondal's appetite fled.

Yuai's right arm was bound in a sling. Avaron waited for some color to return to the Captain's face before he spoke to Hyrondal. "He insisted on seeing you. I hope you will hear what he has to say."

Hyrondal found himself alone with his teacher.

"I am relieved you are healing," Yuai said. His voice tried to be strong and failed.

"I am not alright!" Hyrondal snapped. "I cannot go on like this, Yuai! You ignore me at the expense of blood. Sorry is only sorry if you mean it, but you keep making the same mistake."

Yuai's dark eyes flickered over Hyrondal's frustrated face. "Admittedly, it is difficult for me to put aside the way I was taught. Experience is what I was taught to respect."

"Onyx listens," Hyrondal said. "He trusted me enough to follow me. Where you want me to be mute Onyx hears my voice. He offered me an apprenticeship and I-I think I have to take it. I cannot learn from someone who will not learn from me."

"I never meant for this to happen."

Hyrondal stared into his mug. "Neither did you make an effort to stop it from happening. I will not blindly obey orders if I know better. I question too much . . . and that is why I will never be a great warrior."

Yuai leaned forward to touch Hyrondal's hand. "You question and that is why you are already one of the greatest warriors here. You are not a blind soldier; you trust yourself."

Hyrondal pulled his hand away. "I do not think it is right to train warriors to obey without question. We could be so much better; we could excel, if we had not abandoned the Warrior's Way."

"So you have said."

If Hyrondal had looked up he would have seen the angst in Yuai's eyes, but he concentrated on holding back a shower of tears and saw nothing.

"I do not want you to leave," Yuai whispered. "You said it is sorry only if I mean it and I do mean it. I will not make excuses for how I have treated you, but please stay. One more chance is all I entreat you for."

"You are too good at asking for forgiveness," Hyrondal whispered. Hot tears slid down his cheeks and turned cold. He shut his eyes.

"I do not want you to come back to me as my apprentice," Yuai said. "I want us to move forward as equals because I realize you have as much to teach me as I have to teach you."

Hyrondal wanted to speak but his throat contracted. He heard Yuai rise and desperation choked him, but the bed shifted and Yuai's good arm wrapped around his shoulders.

"Are you alright?" Yuai asked gently.

"No," Hyrondal sobbed. "It hurts!"

"I know," Yuai said. He rubbed Hyrondal's back. "But it will pass."

Hyrondal laughed on his tears. "You would make a terrible healer." He dried his face on a corner of his blanket. "I know you might think I am not thinking clearly right now, but I do want to stay with you. You are the—the father I never had . . ."

Yuai smiled and hugged him. "No, I think you always make good decisions. Thank you. I am honored to be the father you never had."

Hyrondal raised a hand to his eyes and yawned. He gave his mug to Yuai and lay back. "You should get some sleep to, Yuai, or it will take too long for us to heal."

He fell asleep wondering what Onyx would say.

Forgiveness comes in all shapes and sizes! Rereading this chapter, I have hope and happiness in my heart.

Next Chapter: Silvercreek goes on strike?