Family
The axe head reflected the sunlight for just a moment as it stood suspended in the air before coming down, cutting a log in two equal pieces. The white haired man picked up the divided logs and sent them to a sizeable stack to the side. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked up at the clear sky, the rest of his face and beard soaked with perspiration. Slamming the axe into the large tree stump, the man headed into the hillside cabin, carrying three logs in with him.
After washing and taking an early dinner, he began to prepare a fire when something outside a nearby window caught his eye. There was a stranger observing the family graves. The man picked up his sheathed sword from next to the bed and headed out of the house. As he got closer to the stranger, he realized the visitor was no stranger at all.
"Targos?"
"Hello again Geiox." The crimson armored man said, not turning from the graves. "It's been some time."
"That it has brother. You left so abruptly three months ago, after years of not seeing you."
"Did the trouble of Saint Morning not trouble you as well?"
"No. I was burying our brother after all."
"But you know Ashel died correct?"
"Of course."
"Yet, you are here."
"I lost my brother. I lost my lord. What else is there? I am fine here."
"You say that, but I don't know how you can possibly mean that Geiox. You were always the one with the greatest sense of duty, of finding one's purpose. Rotting in this old cabin for the rest of your days…what happened to you?"
"The time I've wasted worrying over things like duty, all the time devoted to serving lords and complete strangers…I've lost the people that actually matter."
"Does that include me brother?"
The older brother stood in silence, unsure of how to respond. Targos' laughter broke the silence.
"I'm joking Geiox. The two of us were never all that close in the first place I suppose. Even for some time before…"
"You fell in love with my wife? Or when you blamed me for her death?"
"You had everything in the world, but somehow that wasn't enough. You never should have gone to see Ashel that day."
"The lord of Saint Morning summoned me. As a citizen of his lands it was my duty to answer."
"You left your wife alone in a cabin in hills infested with demons."
"Alone? She was with Argoein. If you recall, he showed that he was the strongest of us."
"In a tournament! He was still just a boy."
"I am not going to go back over that day any longer Targos. Let me just remind you, if you loved her too, why weren't you there to protect her instead of tagging along with me?"
Targos finally turned to face Geiox, his hands on the axe and sword at his waist. Geiox began reaching for his weapon, when he saw a smile cross his younger brother's face.
"Maybe you're right. Come to think of it, I don't know what it was I followed you for in the first place."
"Neither do I, and I no longer care. What are you doing here now?"
"Visiting family, and I came here to speak with you."
"Didn't we just finish speaking?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, but reminiscing sidetracked me. The real reason I came here was on behalf of Saint Morning."
"You don't say? When did you become the public servant type Targos?"
"The city needs your help."
"The city has plenty of champions."
"They don't need a champion Geiox, they need a leader."
"Why me?"
"Youre the only person who has served nothing but Saint Morning for years, even more so than Ashel."
"I told you already, it no longer concerns me."
"It didn't. You've been amazingly devoted to your stubbornness, holding yourself up here for so long. I suppose it's much easier to ignore your duties when you don't actually see you're failing in them."
"The only duty I have left to honor is to live until the day I die."
"You're making yourself into a liar brother. You may not remember your oath from when you became Ashel's man, but I do. You swore your allegiance to him and the city as well. Now that you know the situation Saint Morning is in, my job is done. I'll report that our contract is up, and I was successful. You can try and continue this farce, but we both know you are a man ruled by duty. Predictable as always."
Targos summoned and mounted his red board and looked up at his older brother again.
"Take the rest of the day off. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day for you. After all, it's bound to be hard work pulling an entire city back from the shadows and into the sunlight."
Geiox watched as his brother flew north, back toward the darkened city of Saint Morning. He stepped back inside and placed his sword once again near the head of his bed. Staring out the window once more, Geiox noticed that on each of the graves now rested individual white flowers. He went about blowing out each of the candles but one, letting the night creep into the cabin. The weary man sat on one side of the bed and opened the top drawer of a nearby night stand, pulling out an old picture frame. His eyes retraced the dimly lit features of the picture, like an old friend not seen for ages. The six figures, all together in this single momentary utopia, seemed unfamiliar to him now. A great deal of the night he spent with the picture in hand, until finally the last flame was extinguished and the cabin went completely dark.
The following morning, Geiox pulled a large chest out of a closet, and looked upon the white armor within it.
"Gods grant me strength." He whispered.
Fully armed, the former right hand of Saint Morning stepped out the door of his cabin, the rays of the sun bounding off the brilliant sheen of his armor.
"I thought your contract was over Targos." The man said looking above and behind him to the roof of the cabin.
"When I got back, they wanted me for another contract. Apparently, while they're all very enthused about your return, they also have doubts."
"Doubts?"
"Well, a man who stays up at a cabin in the hills for three straight months after winning a battle for all mankind, seems to have them worried."
"So then, they want you to…" He paused questioningly.
"They thought you might need a little help is all."
"So, at what point do I learn why "they" don't get a real name?"
"When things are the way they should be, my employers will reveal themselves once ready. Don't worry so much. You've found yourself a grand purpose. How many people have the fortune to make such a claim?"
"Whatever, lets just get this over with." Geiox said, beginning to walk toward the city.
"Wait a minute." Targos interjected, jumping from the cabin roof. "Looks like you have a visitor."
Geiox turned his head to see a man walking toward the family cabin in a strange white and blue robe. The hood was pulled far over the face, and all either brother could see was a heavy dark beard. Even while they both stood there, the robed man made no move to indicate he acknowledged their presence.
"Hold right there stranger." Targos ordered, but the man maintained his pace. "Are you deaf or something? Hold I said!"
The man still walked on, as though neither man before him existed. Targos drew his axe and sword.
"What are you doing Targos?"
"He could be with the crime syndicates. They must have learned about your coming back and want to stop it. Fools really think one man could beat the both of us though?"
The man got closer still, and Targos waited no longer, swinging his sword down at the stranger. A faint glow illuminated the man and the strike was deflected.
"Well, I've never seen a shield put up like that before." Targos commented, looking at the shield formed and shaped around his body rather than the usual sphere. "But shaping makes no difference, any shield can be broken with enough strikes."
The stranger seemed to ignore his words and simply continued walking onward toward the cabin, his back now to the younger brother.
"Don't you ignore me you bastard!"
Targos brought the axe down now, the shield again up around the stranger's body. Instead of the blade bouncing off the shield, the handle end closest the blade came to rest on the shoulder with the axe head pointed down, making a sort of hook. Targos held the stranger firmly where he stood and to attack at him with the sword in his other hand. The unkown man finally began to seem as though he acknowledged his attacker. As Targos brought back his sword for another strike, the light shield transformed almost instantly into pure electricity that coiled around the man like a constricting serpent. The electricity coursed through the axe and into Targos until he was blown back, letting go of his axe so it fell to the ground at the stranger's feet.
"Targos!" Geiox yelled, drawing his own sword now attacking the man.
The oncoming blade was caught and turned to the stranger's side in one hand.
"Wha…"
Geiox could not get the whole thought out before being sent back, crashing through the front of the cabin by a punch from the man's free hand. Targos started coming to his feet as he watched the robed man enter the cabin through the hole he recently created. As Targos got to his feet and began making his way closer, he could hear a struggle coming from inside, just before his brother came flying through the south wall, closest to the family graves. The stranger strolled out leisurely then tuned away from Geiox as he lay on the ground and toward the first two graves.
Geiox looked up ath the man just as he went down to one knee and removed his hood. He had long hair, that was mostly dark, but with many streaks of grey running through as well. His eyes were distant and weary looking. Scars and wrinkles rattled the parts of his face Geiox could clearly see. There was also a familiar look about him, mostly due to the burnt flesh that made up his right ear. The stranger reached out, tracing the names on the first, then second head stone.
"S…Sirch?" Geiox stammered.
The man turned his leathery face toward Geiox for only a moment before a twinge of pain entered his eyes. The man stood back up and Geiox stared at the axe buried deep in his back.
"Didn't I tell you not to ignore me?" Targos gritted his teeth.
The man's left hand began to stream with flames and turning around, he waved his hand in front of him, then swept his hand downward in front of him in one fluid motion. When the trail of flames reached his still hand he shot his open palm forward, causing a wave of fire to pour across the space between him and the younger Datri brother.
"Targos!" Geiox yelled again.
As the inferno drew near, Targos simply smiled and held his arms out as if to greet the bleeze. Geiox watched horrified as his brother was engulfed still on his feet. Suddenly Targos waved his sword in front of his body starting at the feet and swept it over his entire body. Both Geiox, and even the strange man looked surprised, as the portions of his body the sword glided over, were no longer covered in flame. Soon, Targos' blade was the only thing that bore any fire.
"Nice try!" Targos yelled. "Now take it back!"
The young fighter made a quick thrusting motion, and an attack almost identical to that which the robed man had launched, was now scorching the air again on a destructive path back toward him. Unlike previously, this flame grew in size before consuming the mysterious visitor, carrying him off his feet and flying into the mountains to the east of the cabin. The resulting explosion sent a shower of stone and dirt on the hillside, further damaging the cabin. The brothers strained their eyes once the dust lifted at an empty crater in the mountain. There was not race of the man at all. Geiox walked over to Targos and grabbed his shoulder, only to find that his armor was hot to the touch.
"Dammit!" He cursed, staring at his stinging palm. "What in Roika were you thinking?"
"Look, I'm sorry about he cabin, but that guy was getting on my nerves."
"Gods, I didn't meant the cabin Targos! Why did you attack that man? He made no indication he was here to fight. He merely defended himself from us both."
"What about when he walked into the cabin?"
"I attacked him first again, he actually looked like he was searching for something."
"Well, either way I'd rather not take any chances."
"Chances?"
"There's nearly an entire city full of criminals that would rather see you dead than bring Saint Morning back to its feet."
"He wasn't one of them."
"Oh how do you know that? If I didn't attack him then, he could've put himself into a much more advantageous position for attack."
"Considering how he was handling us, I'm not so sure about that."
"Well, I'm one that got burned into the side of a mountain am I?"
"I'm telling you, I don't think he was one of them."
"Why?"
"There was something familiar about him. You didn't see him the way I had. I think I knew him."
"Ok Geiox, who was it then?"
"I think…it was Sirch."
"Why does that name sound so familiar?"
"You probably wouldn't remember him. He didn't come around enough, as young as you were, to commit him to memory. But the last time we saw him, he took that picture with the six of us in it."
"You mean…uncle?"
"I think so."
The brothers both looked back at the empty crater once again.
"Gods…" Targos whispered.
"You didn't kill him Targos."
"I know that. Not that I would care now if I had. But…why would he come here now, after all this time?"
"I don't know."
"We don't have time for this. Lets just go, we can worry about this later."
"You're not interested…"
"Of course I am, but he's gone, and we both have other business to attend to."
"But…"
"Listen! We can't follow him now even if we had the time. The bottom line is you are needed at Saint Morning. The more time you spend screwing around, the more innocent people suffer."
Geiox turned to face the city.
"You're right. Lets get going."
"Good…wait, what are you doing?" Targos asked as his brother kept walking.
"Going to Saint Morning. I don't have my board any longer."
"Jump on mine!"
"Not a chance! What's the matter, your legs aren't broken. This is how we used to get to the city all the time."
"Yeah, but this way will take us all day." Targos whispered, running after Geiox as the two headed on foot to Saint Morning.