IRON GOD | 1: Peripeteia

[32] Haode: No Horizon

Haode looked up at the sky and saw the smallest shadow flick across the full moon. He watched it soar across the moonlit sky. His horse fidgeted, resisting as he urged it forward. It had to be Styzia's lightningfisher. He'd looked ahead, seen the path of its flight, and knew exactly where it would land.

Kolo would be there too. And his boys. He was so close, but he knew his time was running out. His mind had already begun to slip back into old habits. His power was starting to fail him again.

He tried to look just far enough ahead that he couldn't see the horror that awaited. He tried to tell himself the promise of agony was not necessarily true, and even if it were, it could never compare to how much he had suffered in life. He tried to convince himself that nothing could happen tonight that would hurt more than how he had lived.

Haode broke into a shivering sweat as he sped his horse to a gallop. He'd never been much good at deceiving himself.

Cold wind stung his face. He forced himself to focus only as far ahead as he needed.

The horse nearly threw him as it leaped over a fallen tree. The trees were getting far larger now, far older, and the understory darkened beneath their oppressive shadows. His mount slowed, as if unsure of where to put its feet. "Walk on," Haode growled, digging his heels into its sides.

The horse stopped and let out a loud, frantic neigh.

"Shhh!" Haode snapped the reins. "Quiet! Someone might..."

Someone had heard them. He knew at once. His mind darted ahead and showed him that someone might come.

He saw Dakko slipping away from the assembly of monsters, seeming horrified by whatever he had witnessed. Then Ido followed him a moment later, calling out for him to stop.

Ido, that traitor...

Haode dismounted. He was close enough now that he could walk, and the horse would only draw more attention. His eyes illuminated, broadcasting a soft red light that showed him the trees thinning ahead. There was a clearing farther out, likely, and that had to be the clearing where the valley's eldest tree grew. Where the pack had gathered.

A quick glimpse ahead showed him where he should wait.

Haode found another fallen tree, this one twice as big around as the first one, black and crumbling with rot.

His sight did not lie, but the minutes he spent waiting for the event he knew would happen were the longest of his life. Haode dug his nails into the wet rotten bark. He jumped at the sound of someone stumbling toward him. Dakko seemed equally startled when Haode lunged out to grab him.

"Quiet!" Haode hissed, clamping a hand over Dakko's mouth to stop him from screaming. "Look, it's me."

Dakko's hands latched onto him with an icy, desperate grip. Cold tears spilled down his cheeks. He sobbed.

"You really thought I wouldn't come back for you?" Haode lifted Dakko into his arms. Weeks ago, he would have thought Dakko was too big to carry and would have screamed at him to walk on his own. Now, he was overcome with joy at being able to hold his boy again, just like he had before everything had gone wrong. He pulled Dakko into a tight hug. "I'll never let you go again."

Dakko leaned into him, weeping. "Are you...really back?" He reached up and brushed cold fingers against Haode's cheek. "The real you?"

"Yes." Haode felt tears well up in his own eyes. "I'm really back. Now let's get you somewhere safe."

"But..." Dakko looked back toward where he'd come from. "Haode, I..."

For a moment, Haode thought Dakko might be having second thoughts. He refused to entertain the possibility. "We'll get you somewhere safe and then Ido and I will come back with Kolo. All right? I have some allies waiting for us. They'll take care of you."