A Shattered Dawn

Chapter 29

Gabriel only wanted his family to survive. He didn't care about himself. He regretted his decision to send them the stone immediately after he handed the mail carrier the package. He was endangering them. The royals would hunt his wife and child down and kill them.

But he couldn't change any of that now. And that was what angered him.

He had been traveling north for some time, and hope was the only thing keeping him going.

He hoped his family followed his instructions. He knew they would. He trusted his wife would take the letter seriously and, for their safety, leave their home. He had to trust them.

He hoped his family would make it. He was less sure about this. He ran it over and over in his head as he rode. The possibility of them making it, the possibility that they were already dead that sent dread coursing through his veins. They had to make it. They had to.

They were the only people Gabriel kept living for. The brightness in his life.

If they didn't make it...

Gabriel didn't know what he would do. He couldn't think about it for too long. His chest tightened at the very thought of their deaths.

Fatigue racked him as he rode into the night. He was less than a day away from the mountains in the northwest corner of the Celestial lands. It was where he would meet his family. He would see them again. He would.

He blinked to clear his vision, refusing to let his tired eyes close. The glow of the full moon led his way, and he gazed up at the night sky speckled with stars.

He had no reason to be strong now. His daughter and his wife were not there, looking up to him to lead the way. So he welcomed the tears that brimmed in his eyes as he gazed upon the same stars he pointed out to his daughter from the time she was the tiniest, most precious baby. The constellations he recognized in the sky from then.

Their constellations, the lines of stars that they made theirs. Gabriel used to look up at the sky and know that his daughter would be looking at the same patterns. It made him feel safe, however shallow it seemed.

Now he knew his daughter would not be looking up at the sky. Hopefully, she would be well on her way to the Split. Hopefully.

He pushed on, as fast as he could. If he needed to, he would likely be able to run faster than his horse could, thanks to his accelerated Night Angel speed. He needed to save his strength, though. If he couldn't outrun the royal soldiers, he could always use his powers. The powers that enabled him to use the darkness to his advantage. The powers that were banned throughout the continent. They had been banned and forgotten since the Split was created. They still existed, though children were no longer taught to wield their powers as they used to be.

Gabriel taught himself. He had to learn how to defend himself in the dangerous city of Romanyx. The city of darkness.

He had to learn how to defend himself, and defend his family. His mother. He trained himself to summon the deadly shards of darkness, capable of killing. He never had to kill anyone, though. And his mother never knew.

By dawn, he had arrived at the town south of the train station. The town where he was supposed to meet his family. He tied his horse and sat, stationary, at the small town center. He knew Celia would be smart enough to meet him there. The train was supposed to leave at dawn. He knew that by then, the train had likely departed. Hopefully with his family safely aboard.

But all he could do was wait.

And so he waited.

The entire day.