The Reckoning - Book Two

Chapter Forty - Aeris

I bite the tip of my riding glove as I pull my hand free of the tight black leather, striding towards Alvaryn's tent I pass fellow soldiers all waiting for my return.

I pass the guards and pull back the tent flap, stepping into the warmth from the fire and out of the icy cold wind.

"Aeris!" Alvaryn calls out in surprise, standing over his map just as I had envisioned him.

"Brother," I return as he meets me, eyes scanning me from head to toe for injury or loss of limb, once he seems satisfied I am in one piece he wraps his arms around me. I can feel the relief in his embrace.

"You made it, and in one piece too." He says, pulling back and searching my face for something.

"Did you doubt me?" I ask with a smirk.

He smiles, seeming content with whatever he was searching for before stepping back and turning me towards his war table and the men that sit around it with his arm around my back.

"Of course not!" He replies quickly. "Just glad to have you back." He insists, leading me towards the table. "Sit, tell us what you discovered." He offers, pulling out a chair besides his own before taking his seat.

"I headed towards the dead forest as instructed but took the long way, around the sodden hills and marsh lands. They have a camp set up, at the edge of the dead forest, it looks to be the rest of their soldiers, I counted fifteen thousand." I begin, as I am studied from every angle in the tent. It is unnerving to be watched so closely compared to the last three days of complete solitude.

"So this is where they have been leading us." Alvaryn says, turning towards his map again and shifting the iron carvings to the dead forest. "They aim to use the dead forest against us."

"There is more," I interrupt and he turns to me. "Callin and Arden were there, walking among the soldiers."

"Both of them?" He asks, and I answer with a nod.

"I had doubted it myself, but it was them, I am sure of it."

He stares down at the map once more and I can see the wheels spinning as his mind takes in the news, planning and scheming.

It had been difficult to keep my distance when I found them, so close I could have reached out and burned them where they stood. But I knew I would never have made it out alive. I may be desperate to end this war but I wasn't so far gone that I would risk keeping my promise to Daella or leave Alvaryn to pick up the pieces.

"Aeris," Alvaryn calls out, stopping me from leaving the tent as the rest of the council make their way out.

It had been a long meeting, but there was more hope, more vigour as we plotted out our final attack and the males left with a confidence in their steps that had been lacking in the last meeting I had been part of.

I turn and walk back towards him as he stands with arms folded over his chest and for a moment I could imagine Demwyn standing in front of me. The same dark hair, folded arms over his chest and an exhausted but resilient expression on his face. I blink, shaking my head clear of the thought and find Alvaryn back in his place. I need sleep. I hadn't slept since I left the camp, three days of riding Dagen through enemy territory alone and stalking their camp has left me beyond exhausted.

"Are you alright? The ride out there, coming back...seeing them..." He stops, jaw set in anger as he stares at the ground. He clears his throat and looks back to me, letting his arms fall to his side. "I need to know you are alright."

"Still playing the part of an older brother," I return with a smirk, too afraid to think on his question for too long, fearful of what might unravel if I do.