Sorry for the long wait... again. But here's a chapter I think ya'll would like. Enjoy

P.S I started an Instagram account it's called _art. I only have one post but I have a lot of art that I would love to show people. But anyway hope you like it.

-Joyful Wild :)

Chapter 9- The Mercy of a Friend

After he breathed his last, he was immediately surrounded by light that didn't come from the sun because there was no sun. The light came from the Maker. He looked around to see a place that he had never seen before. There were many people there and there was a golden street and a river flowing down the middle of the gold and trees burst with life and fruit. There were creatures there too but he also heard beautiful singing.

He looked even further and saw a throne and knew right away that it was the Maker. Then he ran towards Him, not daring to stop. Then once he got to the throne he dropped to his knees and gazed upon the beauty of his Creator. Then he closed his eyes and started to sing along with the rest of the voices that seemed to come from all over. He even felt a couple of tears run down his face until a hand came and wiped them away.

He held onto that hand never wanting to let go. He knew that the Maker was right there.

"Maker," he said, "I don't deserve to be here with and yet You let me come."

Then the Maker spoke. "I know you don't deserve this but I wanted you here. And because you chose to accept Me and you served Me well this is now your home. Well done My good and faithful servant."

Then he looked up at the Maker and smiled, then the Maker smiled back. The Maker helped him up and brought him into a hug. "I love you, Esben." Esben was overcome with the Maker's love and hugged Him back and said "I love You too.", he felt like a child in his Father's arms. Then the Maker lifted Esben's face so that they could look at each other again. "There's a friend of yours that seems excited to see you." Then Esben looked behind him to see Rudrick standing there with awe and wonder from the sight of the Maker and His Kingdom. "Rudrick?" Esben asked. Rudrick looked at Esben then pointed at him. "Esben?!"

"Rudrick?!" Esben exclaimed doing the same thing Rudrick did. They both looked at the Maker who laughed and nodded. Then Esben and Rudrick gave each other great big hugs. After their hug Rudrick ran to the Maker to hug Him. "Papa?" Esben turned around to see his oldest son standing there with a smile and tears on his face. The last time Esben saw Janner he had scars all over him but now they were completely healed. They both ran to each other and hugged each other as tightly as they could. Then Rudrick came up behind them and said, "Well, you look a bit familiar, where have I seen you?". Janner laughed as Rudrick ruffled his hair. Janner's eyes became big and his jaw dropped at the sight of the Maker. Then the Maker held out His arms and Janner ran right into them. The Maker whispered something into his ear and smiled at Janner who smiled back but Esben and Rudrick couldn't make out what was said. Then the Maker walked up to Esben and Rudrick and said, "Your story is not over yet."

"What do You mean?" Esben asked.

"Trust Me. That's what I mean. You might get scared but keep your faith and guard your hearts so that you will come back home."

"Are… are You saying…" But Rudrick couldn't find anything to say.

"Yes." The Maker said. " You are returning to Dang in the Blackwood. I have a plan for all. And you must always remember that I'm in control and everything has a reason. I will always be with you."

Then both Esben and Rudrick felt sleepy and looked at the Maker with confused looks. "It's okay. Rest, then you must go to the castle Throg. You will find out what to do from there." The Maker said. Esben and Rudrick each found a soft piece of grass which wasn't hard to do. They both fell asleep and enjoyed their rest in the warm light and the promises of the Maker. But when they woke up, something had changed. Esben opened his eyes to find himself in a forest. He looked around, confused about how he ended up here.

The trees were too thick to see the sky and everything wasn't as bright as it used to be. And the ground wasn't as soft. Then he heard a scream right next to him. He turned to find Rudrick pinned up against a tree and the look of shock was on his face. "What?!" Esben exclaimed while looking around for what could have caused Rudrick to scream. Then Rudrick relaxed, "Esben?".

"Yeah?" Esben answered worried about why Rudrick looked at him weird.

"You…you're a… a…" But Rudrick couldn't find anything to say.

"What's gotten into you?"

"Um have you seen yourself yet? Because the last time I saw you, you didn't look like that."

Then Esben looked at his hands but realized for the first time that he was standing on all fours in the form of a bear. Esben felt his heart skip a few beats as he stared at Rudrick with surprise and Rudrick had the same expression as Esben.

"Is it just me or did we…die?" Esben asked.

"I think we died, then…" Rudrick said.

"We saw the Maker…"

"Then we came…back?"

"How do you feel."

"I feel…fine. Wait! What about you! I stabbed you remember?!"

Then Esben looked at nothing in particular and tried to remember what happened before he saw the Maker. "I think I remember. But I feel fine, there's nothing that's hurting."

"Esben, I… I'm so, so sorry for that. I thought you were cloven trying to hurt Nia and…" Then Rudrick stopped and stared at Esben with worry. Esben didn't know anything about Nia getting engaged.

"It's okay Rudrick. I already told you it wasn't your fault. I would've done the same. We're still pals. Right?"

"Well yeah, but…" Rudrick was too nervous to tell Esben, but he had to know eventually. The only thing that Rudrick was concerned about was how Esben would react to it. Rudrick glanced at Esben's big hands with long, sharp claws and it scared him to think about how Esben could make one swipe and Rudrick would be bleeding on the ground.

"Are you sure you're okay, Rudrick?" Esben said with a look of concern for his friend.

How am I going to tell him? Rudrick thought. He stayed silent for a while trying to find the right words to say. "Uh, Esben you might want to sit down for a bit."

"Okay." Esben said in a worried voice. But when Rudrick looked up at Esben he still looked very intimidating. "Or, uh, maybe you should just lay down." Rudrick said. So, Esben laid on his stomach with his front paws in front of him. Then Rudrick knelt in front of him and they both stared at each other again in the awkward silence. "Is this a staring contest, because if so, I hope you remember that I always beat you at that game." Esben said.

"No, no this isn't a staring contest I'm just trying to figure out what to say."

"About what?"

"Well, I just want to make sure that you understand that everybody thought you were dead."

"Yeah, I'm sure that even Artham assumed that I was dead a few years after he left to go protect my family."

"Wait, he knew you were alive?"

"We both got captured by Bonifer Squoon. But then Artham grew talons and went to go find Nia and the kids. Then later they released me into the Blackwood with the rest of the captured Annierans."

"Oh, he never told me that."

"Probably because when a cloven remembers something of their past they go mad. Which is what happened when I kept on having visions about my kids. Then as soon as I realized that they were in the Hollows I came as quickly as I could."

"Huh."

"Sorry, what was it you were going to tell me? Something about everybody assuming I was dead because I was a prisoner."

"Oh right…um…well, we all thought you were dead and… Nia was all alone, I mean like she had her father and Artham was with them for a while. But, uh…"

Rudrick looked at Esben again and saw that he was still confused. "Um," Rudrick continued, "Well, I thought you were dead too which is why I didn't see a problem with…uh….. asking her…..to….um….marry me?" Then Rudrick closed his eyes quickly and bracing himself for a big scratch or a loud roar, but nothing came. He slowly opened his eyes to see Esben looking at him still while processing what he heard. So Rudrick took that chance of silence to continue.

"I… I really didn't know that you were the cloven that I saw that night. And… after I found out that you were alive, I canceled the engagement and… I'm sorry." Then Esben who was looking at the ground looked up at him and smiled.

"I forgive you."

"What!?"

"I said, 'I forgive you.'"

"But… I was about to marry your wife while you were still alive. And that's terrible of me to do that. Especially as your friend. And you're just going to say 'I forgive you.' !?"

"Yep, that 'bout sums it up."

"But-"

"What do you want me to say?"

"Well, I don't know I thought you would start yelling at me or try fight me or something."

"Why would I do that?"

"BECAUSE I TRIED TO MARRY YOUR WIFE! Don't you get it?"

"Well, did you know I was alive?"

"No!"

"Did Nia know that I was alive?"

"If she did, she wouldn't have said 'yes' to me,"

"And you know that marrying another mans wife while he is still alive is wrong, right?"

"Yes."

"But you repented and want to make right, right?"

"Yes, I asked for forgiveness from the Maker Himself. And I would've apologized to you but it was too late."

"But you just said you're sorry just now so, I'll forgive you."

"But why?"

"Because if the Maker forgave you then I have no reason not to forgive you. And besides it wouldn't be right to blame you because you didn't know that I was alive. That's why I will forgive you."

Upon hearing this Rudrick felt speechless and like a burden lifted off his shoulders. Then finally Rudrick couldn't hold back his laughter and smiled. "Thank you." A single tear fell from his eye and he didn't bother to wipe it away. "Do you still do hugs?"

"No… I do bear hugs now." Esben said.

"Esben." Rudrick said as he palmed his forehead and laughed. Then they hugged.

After their hug Esben said," So best friends again?"

"I can't remember a time when we weren't friends."

"Touché."

"Wait, are you saying that I'm right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well, that's a first."

"Alright, I get it you can be right sometimes but please don't tell anybody got it?"

"Got it."

…

Once Rudrick and Esben found their way towards Throg- by climbing up a tree and finding a scary looking structure up ahead- they set off on their journey. "Why do you think the Maker wants us to go to Throg?" Esben asked a few minutes after they started their journey.

"Your guess is good as mine." Rudrick said. "Maybe we'll meet somebody there?"

"But who would be crazy enough to wander through the Blackwood?"

"Like I said your guess is good as mine." Then there was a loud crash of thunder with strong winds pushing the trees back and forth. "I'll be right back." Rudrick said as he went to climb a tree.

"Is that really a good idea?" Esben spoke a bit louder because of the noise from the storm.

"Probably not." Rudrick called.

"And would it be a bad idea if I came up there?"

"I don't know." Rudrick looked up to see a little bit of the sky. "I mean like you could climb up here but if you were down there you could make sure that dangerous creatures don't get-" Rudrick didn't even have to turn his head to know that Esben was already sitting next to him. "Sorry it was hard to hear you from down there. What were you saying?" Esben said with a smile.

"Well, I guess since you're up here you could lift me up a little bit."

Then Rudrick stood on Esben's shoulders as he slowly stood up. "Who's shorter now?" Esben asked. Esben was always an inch or two shorter than Rudrick who would make jokes about Esben always needing his help to reach things. "Ha, ha, very funny." Rudrick grabbed the nearest branch and pulled himself onto it and stood on it so that he could see above the treetops. Rudrick's heart nearly skipped a beat when he saw the storm. It was heading in the same direction they were going. Throg.

Then Esben's voice snapped him out of his daze. "What do you see up there?" He was yelling now that the winds and thunder had grown stronger.

"You might want to see it for yourself if you can." Soon Esben got up there with Rudrick to see the biggest storm he had ever seen. "What kind of storm is that?!" Esben asked. The storm had strange colors and strange lightning.

"What if…" Rudrick said.

"What if what?!"

"What if that's the Maker?"

Now Esben was completely speechless. It explained why the Maker wanted them to be at Throg. "Rudrick, I think we should better get going. It looks like it's getting dark soon."

"All ready gone." Rudrick said before starting to climb down with Esben close behind. Once they got to the ground they started to follow where the storm was. They walked for about a couple of hours until they heard a scream. They freezed and looked at each other. "You heard that right?" Rudrick asked.

"Yeah…" Esben said. Then another scream along with a few loud howls and growls. So they decided to follow the noises. And they were glad they did.