“I don’t believe I’m worthy of praise, Hevonen. I wanted to kill her at first.”
“And you didn’t.” The elf said with an irritating smile, pointing to the edge of the field. Maeve stood there, accompanied by her friends. Regn frowned at the noisy crowd when Hakken ran and kissed her.
She looked so happy. He looked about to burst with joy.
Regn found himself smiling at them.
“Fickle thing, love is,” Hevonen said, stretching his legs, “and unexpected. I guess I don’t need to tell you what you already learned.”
Regn shrugged. “I guess I should be more upset about the outcome, but look at them! It’s hard to be miserably brokenhearted when you can tell they belong together.” He meant it, but he turned away anyway. “I should get back to training.”
Both men stood, and a sentry announced a group of newcomers. Regn strained his eyes, and his jaw dropped in amazement.
“Who are those?” Hevonen nudged his side.
Finn, Ystävä, and an old-looking dwarf escorted the goddess Paki into the village. Kniv and Hakken ran to meet with them, but Finn left the group to hug his sister. If they had come, something terrible had happened. Before Regn joined them, Hevonen let out a short laugh which sounded out of place.
“What’s so funny, old man?” Regn asked.
“Life is...” He turned to him with an enigmatic gaze. “How astonishingly vast and complex this world is, and yet, how intertwined our lives are.”
“Is this the best time to philosophize?”
The elf rolled his eyes and pointed at the human siblings. “Do you not recognize them, boy?”
Regn studied Maeve and Finn, talking to each other while Finn kept an arm around her shoulders. Maeve frowned, and her blue eyes shone bright under the midday sun.
“Is that the face of a monster?” Hevonen whispered.
Regn tilted his head, staring at him at a loss. But the long-forgotten memory slowly crept back to him, and he snapped to the siblings. Impossible! It was clear now. The red-haired boy, holding his little sister, both smiling and staring at the Forest in awe. A beautiful human girl, with eyes the color of the sky.
Apparently, his instinct back then had been right. How easy for him to become friends with those children. What an incredible twist of fate. Before he managed to discern the reasons behind such a complex situation, Hakken ran to them. “Regn! Hevonen! We need you!”
The group moved to the village center where the matriarch awaited. Soon after, Maeve and Finn joined, followed closely by the Ancient Hua. The elf Warlock grimaced with concern before speaking. “We came to offer our aid as healers and to warn you.”
Regn didn’t like the sound of those words. The Warlocks did as much as possible, but they had been clear about the impossibility of leaving their home. They were wardens of the Forest, and even the goddess traveled way too far from her Tree.
“The horde is coming this way, moving faster than ever.”
“That is not possible! We have scouts watching their movements, they will inform us of any threat.” Kniv had been extremely careful in that matter.
Before Ystävä could answer, the old dwarf uttered. “Your scouts are no more.”
CHAPTER XXXXII
DESTINY
Maeve
The elders did their best to calm everybody down and organize the tribes for the looming encounter. They expected to prepare for at least a couple more days before rallying the warriors to battle.
The news of the horde moving fast to reach the Children of the River village came as a hard blow. The little control they managed to grasp slipped through their fingers, but a long wait wouldn’t do any good to their already distraught state.
By nightfall, the ones not able to fight were safely escorted to the Elven village, where they would take refuge. The matriarch was supposed to join them, but she refused. “I will not leave and let my people fight if I’m not there to aid them,” the old mother argued. “I might not throw punches like the lot of you, but I will use all my knowledge to heal.”
While the half-breeds made the last preparations to depart, Maeve sat with Finn to clear her mind and train one last time. She knew exactly what she had to do, but focusing became considerably harder when the survival of them all depended on her success.
“Breathe, mushroom. And blink, for goodness’ sake! If you keep imagining awful outcomes, you are going to drive yourself mad before we meet them,” Finn scolded her.
“I know!” she grunted. “I need to be certain. As soon as we reach Dröm, I must free him. If I don’t do this fast, he might hurt someone, and he’s not one to leave mild scratches.”
“That is why I’ll be coming along to patch up any ouchies from you lot.” Finn squeezed her cheeks. “Now concentrate, take deep breaths, and think happy thoughts.”
Leave Finn to make her laugh in such a dire situation.
He was right, she should be positive and hopeful. Everyone would do their very best. And she needed to calm herself. “Finn, is the dwarf a—?”
“A Warlock? Yes. He was Ystävä’s master. Dwarves live long lives, but I don’t think there has been any dwarf as old as him.”
“What is his name?”
“He never said, and Ystävä told me not to ask,” he shrugged. “Another of those inexplicable mysteries of the Forest I’m forced to put aside.” Of all the things Finn hated the most, not being able to crack a mystery ranked high on his list.
After a couple more hours of training, breathing, and chatting, they parted ways. Maeve strolled around the village, searching for Hakken. His presence never failed to put her at ease, and she wanted to share some time with him since morning. Sunset lengthened the shadows while Maeve wandered to the training grounds.
Somehow, she ended up going the wrong way over and over again. I need to sleep. Maeve pinched her nose, shaking her head
