Every step he took towards his village was one step away from Maeve, and his mind fought against it. He heard her sobs right after walking away, and the thought of her suffering haunted him even in his nightmares. The notion of yet another woman slipping from his arms was something he believed would have destroyed him.
Death took away his first love, and now Maeve had left him. And she was right to do so. He made a mistake—a terrible, unforgivable mistake when he took the life of that innocent man.
“I wish I could change it all back.” Hakken couldn’t tell if he spoke the words out loud as he moved through the Forest in a trance.
When Maeve ordered him to go back to the village, his first thought was to justify his actions. But what excuse could he give? His fear of losing her made him act rashly and do precisely what they wanted to prevent. More killings.
So he didn’t argue and did as told. He ran—all the way to the Children of the River village—to join Kniv and the warriors and help them do the right thing. Save their mountain brothers from the terrible fate looming over them.
If he wanted to help Maeve in some way, this was it. She had her challenges ahead, and he had to accept he was not the best person to be by her side right now. He would do his part, even if it meant he couldn’t be with her.
He had lived as a shadow of a man for far too long, and he now paid the price.
In his frantic race, he stumbled, staggering to catch himself and avoid crashing against a tree. Hakken had kept his emotions locked behind a wall of anger for years, but those walls began to crumble. He feared the grief hidden deep inside. But what crept from the cracks was a thousand times worse. Guilt. Guilt for the life he took and for the life he didn’t value.
This painful rejection was necessary to realize his selfishness could cost too much. He couldn’t allow it to happen again, not to others or himself. He had to do better if he hoped to be worthy of having Maeve by his side.
He reached the village in the middle of the morning.
Hakken arrived at a bustling display of activity. He was not the only one eager to end the madness. Warriors from many tribes joined their forces, camping and training on the outskirts of the village. Kniv, standing next to a group of well-seasoned fighters, displayed a deep frown, hinting how dire their conversation was.
His old friend raised his eyes and was shocked to see him return alone. He excused himself and walked to meet him. “Hakken, my boy! Where are Maeve and Regn?” he asked.
“They are all right, Kniv. They have work to do somewhere else.” He wanted to sound calm, but his voice rang hoarse and pained—too many days traveling alone with his thoughts.
Kniv studied him with worry. “What about you, boy? Are you all right?” Hardly anything escaped Kniv’s piercing eyes. And he looked awful. Normally, Hakken would shrug and avoid this conversation, but this was what he needed to change. He had to accept he couldn’t deal with some things all on his own.
Accepting this lightened his heart. He would tell Kniv everything, but more imperative matters were at hand.
“We’ll talk later.” He held Kniv's worried gaze. “Lead me to the warriors. I need to know what has happened with the horde. We must plan how to contain them.”
“Did Maeve and the Warlocks find a safe way to free them?”
“They did... with some help from the Ancients.”
Kniv stopped in his tracks and stared at him, half incredulous, half bewildered. “I don’t expect you to mean—”
Before he could finish, a loud horn resounded in the distance. Everyone in the village turned to witness a mounted force marching in their direction. Highland elves, at least fifty strong men and women. Leading them, a new acquaintance approached Hakken and nodded as a greeting. “Young Hakken, it is unexpected to see you away from little Maeve. I trust she is in good health.”
“I believe she is, Ancient Hua. She and Regn went ahead to the naga’s dwelling.” Hakken looked around at the Elven warriors and couldn’t help to be excited and optimistic about their possibilities. “I thank you for rallying our neighbors. We will need their help when the time comes.”
“It is the least I can do. Both for Paki and I, it will prove challenging stopping Pouri, so we will offer as much aid as we can.” The stag then turned to Kniv, who gawked at him. Hua couldn’t help a little smirk. “Good man, take me to your leaders. We must discuss your plans.”
Maeve
Work had been strenuous. For the last couple of weeks, every bride in Astika’s shell palace eagerly joined their efforts to prepare the sleeping potion. But the number of ingredients was vast, and a couple of them required long travels to be acquired. It was impossible to work faster.
Regn and Maeve helped as much as possible, but since none of them were versed in potion making, they found other ways to assist.
Despite the urgency and everyone’s desire to help, they found themselves with a lot of free time. Almost inevitably, many brides joined in what had become a pastime for the women back in the village. To groom Maeve’s hair. She resisted at first, but coming to this point, she had been bathed, perfumed, combed, and braided more times than she cared to remember. At least Dinnah agreed to train with her daily, and both women sat together for a couple of hours, honing Maeve’s abilities.
On the other hand, Regn had successfully evaded the ladies’ attempts to primp him. He sneaked out of the palace early in the morning to help gather ingredients and sneak back as late as possible to sleep on the
