Amends

Chapter 16: Revise

At the end of the road, Ingressus and Amantius find out that they have been followed for their entire journey, and now they must come to terms with everything that has yet to come; even if the outcome is not what either had hoped for

Author's note: almost there. only one more chapter remains in this story; and much like this one and the last one, you could prolly safely bet that it'll get written the day before and I'll be panicking all the way XD

brace yourselves

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Both Ingressus and Amantius scrambled to their feet when the hastening rustling of the bushes continued with urgency, for they of all people knew that the fishing hole in which they sat was to be secluded – they knew better than anybody else that it was well hidden and disguised by the surrounding shrubbery and the flora adorned all around the cliffside. Ingressus even knew that one could not see it from the shoreline below the cliff as he recalled a time that he and Achillean had run off from Aegus one day, and the Master had gone looking for them, but even on looking up at the cliff edge from directly below the two boys, Aegus could not see that anything could be up there, for it was shrouded in greenery. Even in the winter sun midway up the sky, and most of the leaves having vacated the branches of the trees, one still could not see the disguised area.

Everything there was a secret – and now, perhaps more than before.

Ingressus pushed Amantius behind him as if to shelter him, and the small Nestoris clung to his leg to peer his little head around the towering Master so that he may yet see who or what was disturbing them. It was not a voice that Amantius recognised, and that made his legs quiver, thinking that of all the time that he had been trying to keep Ingressus secret through the woods of Nestoria, he was the one about to be exposed and taken away. The only thing that stopped the small boy from breaking down altogether was the defence that Ingressus had taken for him. If the Voltaris was really the evil Deathsinger, and this was an elaborate plan to consolidate power, then Amantius would have been concerned by any lack of action that Ingressus would have taken.

But this act of defence as he stood between Amantius and whatever was coming through into their hiding spot gave Amantius a bit of hope that this wasn't as bad as he was feeling.

Of course, Ingressus had not a weapon on him as he had left them back at his tent in Northwind so as not to pose a threat to either himself or anyone that may encounter him alone like that, and he knew that it left him largely defenceless, but he had foolishly thought himself to be safe as he had thought himself to have taken all the necessary precautions to prevent being seen. He had not anticipated anything like what had occurred over the last few days, and this was his punishment for becoming complacent.

He knew better than this. Jerome had taught him better than this. Even Ky'Victus – the last remaining elder still training the Voltaris – had taught him better than this. He knew he should have called back to his training and reskill the second that he left Northwind to pursue this fruitless endeavour, lest he find himself in this exact position; but no. He had allowed himself to degrade too far. He had spent years shying away and simply accepting reality for what it was and not what it could be, only taking advice, only sitting each day by, only wondering...

"Ingressus?"

He continued to ignore the call to him as the voice gained on the two Ardoni. He continued to ignore his surroundings, finding himself digging deeper into his mind, chastising himself for allowing his mental state to decline under his watch. He knew it was bad. He knew it wasn't getting better. That was why he ventured all the way out here in search of answers. He was sure that he would grow stronger from this; but it had taken his weakest moments to find out just how far he had fallen in the first place.