Flames and Starlight

25🌘

Peter

I stared at the sorcerer before me. My biological father, a mysterious cloud that had hung over me all of my life as I struggled with my identity, stood just a few feet in front of me, smiling at me as though he knew me. 

The sorcerer took a step towards me. "Hey, Peter."

I didn't say anything; I didn't know what to say or do. I never thought this would ever happen.

Lydia shoved me out of the way and stared at the sorcerer in complete shock. "What in the blue hell are you doing here?"

He stared back at Lydia with equal surprise. "What do you mean what am I doing here? I came to meet my son. I finally found where he lives."

"I haven't heard from you in over ten years, you've never expressed any interest in being in Peter's life before despite me keeping you informed about his progress until I lost contact with his parents, and you show up out of nowhere! Why on earth do you want to meet Peter now?"

He shifted his feet, eyes downcast. "I heard about what happened and I'd been planning on seeing him for months, I was just trying to find the perfect opportunity to meet him."

Dad nudged Lydia out of the way, staring the sorcerer down. "What the hell do you want?"

The sorcerer stared back at my father calmly. "I'm here to see my son."

He scoffed. "You gave up the right to call him your son when you gave him up! You had no right to come here, no right at all!"

Mom laid a warning hand on my father's arm but glared at the sorcerer. "Now is not a good time. We're -"

"Now is a perfect time," he interrupted. "I know about your encounter with Caius."

Lydia's face paled. "How do you know about that?"

"I'd gone to the ranch to try to see Peter and saw it had been attacked. I tracked his energy into town, and it looked like someone had abducted him. I came to the woods and saw Lydia and Corny fighting off Caius then getting away. I knew Caius had just launched some kind of attack and I had to make sure if Peter was okay. And it looks like he is." He grinned at me and for some reason it caused a fiery pit of anger to rise inside of me. "Hey, son."

"I'm not your son," I spat. "Do not ever call me that again."

He reached for me. "Peter, come on -"

I stepped out of his reach. "Stay the hell away from me."

He tried to reach for me again, but Dad stepped in front of me, shielding me from this stranger. "You need to leave. Now."

"Not unless you want information about what Caius has planned."

We all went deadly still.

The sorcerer smirked and stepped fully inside the house, closing the door behind him. "I thought so."

"Eason," Corny warned, his voice low and dangerous. "You better not be playing around about this. You have no idea how serious this is."

All of the humor washed away from Eason's face. He fixed an icy glare on Corny. "I of all people know how dangerous Caius is. I know what he can and will do and how much destruction it will bring. I would not take this lightly and I know the gravity of this situation if Caius were to follow through with his plans. It would cause the end of the world."

A cold chill dripped down my spine at those words. From the research I'd done on Caius and seeing him in person, I knew he was very capable of doing what Eason just described.