Lantana

Chapter 14: Secrets and Serenity

After the kraken, the rest of the journey was quite uneventful, but took so long. They were on the water for at least another month afterwards, and it was agony for both Lantana and Violet. Just about everyone praised Gabriel for slaying the kraken, making them believe he saved the ship. He probably did, but it was obvious he was tired of the praise and didn't want it, nor did he appreciate it. Lantana no longer worshiped him, and Violet obviously loathed him at this point. Her index was healing what seemed much too slowly due to lack of resources, and she was lucky to have avoided an infection. The skin had patched up enough that the bone was no longer visible, but there was still an angry red gash running through the side of her finger, and if she applied too much pressure or overexerted it, the finger would open up and start bleeding again. At this point, Lantana almost hated him too. It didn't help that he somehow despised her because of something her grandfather had done. That night, she had seen... something. She wasn't sure how to describe it, but it was as if she had seen one of his memories for a split second.

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"Well, isn't it ᚷᚱᚨᛖᛗᛖ ᛒᛚᚨᚲᚴᚹᛟᛟᛞᛖ."

There were two men. They both had heavy iron armor on. The one with chainmail seemed to have a black mantle fastened over his shoulders "Just like Gabriel," Lantana silently thought to herself. He was also quite a bit taller than the former. The shorter man had just addressed the other, and whatever they were talking about seemed to infuriate him.

"HOW COULD YOU!"

Even though the tall man held himself like Gabriel, he definitely didn't sound like him. His voice was... softer in a way. It wasn't as husky or deep as how Gabriel sounded, but this only made Lantana more confused.

"Oh, after the ᛏᚱᛁᚨᛚ, the king saw my actions as acts of bravery, for speaking out against the most ᛞᚨᚾᚷᛖᚱᛟᚢᛋ ᛉᛆᚿ in the kingdom. He promoted me to general, and gave me your sword as a little prize."

It had taken her a second to realize this, and it had involved her looking back on the memory a second time to place the sword. She thought it looked familiar, and it was the sword of the royal family. The monarch's themselves wielded it.

The taller man swung his sword at the other and as he dodged the attack, he said, "The past few years have really allowed me to improve my skill, and when the late general, ᚺᚢᛪᛚᛖᚤ I believe, ehm, passed on, I was then promoted to general."

This seemed to infuriate the taller one, and when he spoke again, his voice was full of venom.

"You devious little weasel."

"I have to say though ᚷᚱᚨᛖᛗᛖ, you had a good sword. It was a bit heavy for me at first, but I think I've grown into it quite well. I've used it to help the king ᚹᛁᚾ ᛒᚨᛏᛏᛚᛖᛋ, and now he has his full ᛏᚱᚢᛋᛏ ᛁᚾ ᛗᛖ."

"You don't deserve the rank of general. You haven't even ᛏᚱᚨᛁᚾᛖᛞ ᚤᛟᚢᚱ ᛏᚱᛟᛟᛈᛋ ᚹᛖᛚᛚ! You outnumber me ᛏᚺᚱᛖᛖ ᛏᛟ ᛟᚾᛖ, and look at your ᚠᚨᛚᛚᛖᚾ compared to mine! You just have strength in ᚾᚢᛘᛒᛁᚱᛋ while when I was general, I was able to ᛏᚱᚨᛁᚾ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛏᚱᛟᛟᛈᛋ ᚹᛖᛚᛚ! You only succeed because the ᚴᛁᚾᚷᛞᛟᛗ ᛁᛋ ᚹᛖᚨᛚᛏᚺᚤ! Don't you know why I went in the ᚲᛟᚱᚱᛁᛞᛟᚱ ᚠᛁᚱᛋᛏ? I knew there was a ᛋᛖᚲᚱᛖᛏ ᛈᚨᛋᛋᚨᚷᛖ here, but I had to make sure you weren't in there. Without the ᛈᚨᛋᛋᚨᚷᛖ, this probably would have been a ᛚᛟᛋᛁᚾᚷ ᛒᚨᛏᛏᛚᛖ for you! You just take advantage of everything!"