Surrender (Book 1 of The Baneseeker Project)

Chapter 10 - The Mentors

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Sitting cross-legged with his chin resting on his joined hands, Argon kept his eyes closed and let the warmth of the hearth reinvigorate him. Flashing memories from his recent fight against Faaru on the bridge of Telstar continued to haunt him.

The nightmares would go away, eventually. One did not defeat a demon without paying a price. It would take a while for peace of mind to come, most likely longer than his physical injuries would need to heal.

The floorboards creaked as someone entered the room. Argon felt Onthar's presence, just as he recognize his friend's heavy steps.

"You could not find her?" asked Onthar.

Argon did not move, or answer, but he opened his eyes. Onthar sat on the chair Argon had set to his right. For a few moments, the only sound in the room was the crackling of the flames.

"We should not have abandoned her," finally said Onthar.

"She does as she pleases."

"Not this time..."

"Especially this time."

"I know you don't believe that," said Onthar. "You saw what I saw. She was desperate for help."

"I'm not so sure," said Argon, although he knew Onthar's explanations made the most sense. "I'm not the Seeker. You are. You see things I can't."

"You're only trying to make yourself feel better for loosing her."

At this, Argon looked to his friend. Onthar was seated with his feet crossed and extended, his head leaning backward. He looked as if he was relaxing, but his fingers formed a pyramid in front of him, a gesture that meant something weighted heavily on his mind.

"That was unjustified," Argon said.

"Was it? I wanted to help, but..."

"If you wanted to help her so much, why didn't you? Don't tell me you needed my approval."

"It wasn't that."

"What then?"

"I was afraid. Afraid to loose her."

Silence returned and they both turned toward the flames, knowing such bitter exchanges would amount to nothing.

"But we did," said Argon. "Both of us, we lost her."

And Argon knew that this time, they might never see her again. Onthar did as well, which made the admission that they could not hold on to her that much more difficult.

"Isn't it interesting that you mentioned her to me on our way here?" asked Argon.

It had been a night on the road north of Kir. Onthar had shared how often he thought about Lyna and how worried he was for her. Argon had shared his friend's concerns, but without voicing them out loud.

"A coincidence," said Onthar.

"I don't think so."

"What do you mean?"

"You are the Seeker," said Argon. "There is much you can do that you do not yet understand."

"So you keep telling me." Onthar pulled his feet up and hunched forward, looking at Argon. "Are you suggesting that I called her here?"

"I don't know," said Argon. "Maybe. What I know is that we should have been better prepared when we saw her."

Onthar nodded slowly, head down, his body yelling defeat.

Argon looked into the flames and knew he had to change his way of thinking and his methodologies with the students he took under his wing at mount Kolt. Until now, he had used a stern and no-nonsense approach. It was how he himself had been taught. It was the only way he knew.