Finua

Chapter 34: Wild Horses

The arrow, of course, missed him by a hair's breadth, slicing his cheek wide open but leaving him perfectly unharmed, not to mention ruining the life of his would-be murderer, who was locked away for a very long time indeed, to the surprise of nobody, since that's what Laurence had repeatedly warned him of, hence creating Ahka's very first Exciting Story (to Lugoke's delight), of which there were many more to come, even after the wars ended and the tides ebbed for a generation or so, even after Dark Lord Haraku came and went and everything got really weird before going back to normal... ultimately, things never truly change, and war would come again, so who was to fight it that time other than my son, who grew up under the pressures of his begrudging stepfather, which did end up coming in handy as he sliced and diced his way to the top, as a much-improved analog to myself, as he also grew up in Sh'raitha, also began to study magic, with his loyal troll at his side, and his uncles, and Cooper, and of course Vanessa, who was always something of a dealbreaker in combat as tensions grew between the north and the south and instilled in Ahka a fiery spit of ambition, deep within him that he would spend his entire life feeding gleefully, a true bastion of power and spirit, until I could hardly walk anymore and he was a father himself, calmed and noble, having spent his energy in the defense of Syfor Lek and, hell, in the restoration of Sh'raitha, his home like it was mine... to live so fully, brave so many dangers, overcome so many obstacles, and to come out standing ramrod straight with your own family, integrity stronger than ever, maybe some badass scars in the mix, was truly the epitome of what every goblin—every person—should strive for in their life, and for him to have come from me, literally, from out of my body, undid every failure of mine, and strengthened all of my weaknesses, keeping me alive far longer than I thought I would last in my lowest moments before he had been born—from there, I was a mere spectator, happy from my passive seat, to watch him live and work and tend to his deeds and his family, cultivating his land, settling his conflicts, raising his children... some of the most challenging tasks even for a seasoned warrior such as himself, which meant, in true form, he embraced them even tighter, not letting them slip away into any form of mediocrity because after all he had already accomplished, little could be more disappointing than a recession, an admission that it was not he who was exceptional, but merely his time, merely his circumstances, which were prone to fading... no, he kept at it, held on, his foundations immovable and his will pure, throughout the rest of my life, on into the future, indefinitely, unto a legend of his own.

That was my assumption.

The reality was quite different, and far simpler. The screaming continued, rising from panic to uncontrolled hysteria. From around my position on the ground cradling my five-year-old son's skewered corpse, pale red shards of a useless magical shield dissolving slowly in the grass, I saw Kwer come bounding forward, bellowing enough to vibrate the mountain. Arrows whistled, but nobody was sure who to aim them at, since Laurence and his own men were hacking Mulroy to death themselves, just totally murdering him on the spot for what he had done. Just like that, Ahka's killer was also dead, and the case was closed without closure.

"YOU BASTARDS!" I heard Lugoke screaming at them, brandishing his mace. "YOU SICK FUCKS ARE DOOMED! THAT WAS MY SON!"

Hands grabbing at me as I laid there and wailed... Inko and Cooper.

"Ahka, Ahka, oh my god, holy shit—"

"No, no, no, no, no..."

"DO YOU KNOW WHO THAT WAS?? DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU JUST DID?! THAT WAS MY SON! THAT WAS MY HEIR!"

Swinging the mace back and forth at them; they fell back. Mulroy's eyes wide open, pressed neutrally into the slimy grass.

"YOU TOOK AWAY MY HEIR YOU MEASLY SCUM! I HAVE NOTHING TO SHOW! I HAVE NO LEGACY! NO ONE DEPRIVES ME OF MY LEGACY!"