Black Crystal Part 1 - The Origin

Chapter Twenty Eight ~ An Unlikely Reunion

No one spoke for quite some time for the remainder of the flight to the village of Grants Pass. Not only were they devastated, but they were outraged. Garen refused to let anger blind him, however. He tried to keep a level head. Maybe Peter's still alive, he thought to himself. Perhaps Bartholomew was bluffing to get to me. Oh, God, please let that be so... He stood at the starboard bow beside Xander.

"I can't believe it," Xander began, speaking quietly. "Why would he destroy the entire city of Eugene? What would he possibly benefit from getting Lenora?"

"I have no idea, man..." Garen sighed, unsheathing his sword. It was still the same, familiar tarnished sword, but he had started keeping the blade relatively clean. As soon as he did, however, Nohr started walking towards him.

"Do you know where that sword came from?" he asked. Garen very gently tossed the sword in his hand and shrugged.

"I got it from the armory in the temple," he replied. "It felt the most natural for me to wield, and I was just sort of... drawn to it, I guess you could say. Why do you ask?" Nohr exchanged glances with Lucius before he continued to speak.

"That sword belonged to your mother," he said. "Anita Leonhart. Are you familiar with the name?" Garen's eyes widened with shock upon hearing the familiar name.

"Y-Yes..." he replied. "Vaguely, that is. Sir, if you don't mind me asking, how do you know that?"

Nohr grinned, almost with a hint of cockiness. "She was the general of our military force," he began. "She and the real John Sleadd got married and had you. That was the very sword she used in battle. It was specially forged by John himself, who is a very intelligent man. Garen... Anita would be so proud of you if she were here today."

Garen couldn't help but bashfully smile at Nohr's comment. But then the smile faded a bit. "Wait a minute..." he said. "So, my mother... isn't here any longer, but you addressed my father in the present tense. Does that mean he's still alive!?"

"Somewhere." Nohr held his hands behind his back. "He used to be Lenora's personal tutor, but from what we've heard, he's been missing for the past four years. He's a smart man, though; very smart. I'm sure he's found a way to keep himself alive after all these years. Have faith, Garen." Garen nodded and looked out into the distance. His father was alive somewhere. The thought should have been comforting to him, but he didn't really think much of it.

It's not like I was really close to my father anyway, Garen thought to himself. I didn't even know who he was or if he was alive at all. Funny that even Lenora knows my father more than I do. Whatever. Now is not the time to think about this. I need to keep a level head. Bartholomew is a powerful being—we need to be very careful when we fight him. I don't want anyone else to die. Please, God, I'm begging you... don't let anyone else die.

The rest of the flight was fairly silent. As they headed further south, the sky started filling with dark clouds, and they got thicker and thicker until rain finally came pouring down. For just a moment, the world was illuminated by a bright flash of lightning. Mere seconds passed before the Black Falcon was shaking from the roar of thunder that echoed across the sky. Despite the rain, everyone still stood on the deck.

"We are approaching the Grants Pass Village!" Rin exclaimed loudly through the weather. "Brace for impact!" The Black Falcon started losing altitude quickly as she lowered it to the ground. Garen, Xander, Lucius, Nohr, and Rin stared forward as they approached the village. To Garen's and Lucius's surprise, the village was in awful condition. The streets were completely barren. Even the buildings looked worse than usual, almost like they'd hardly survived an explosion. Almost like you could knock one of them down with a nudge. The shapeless, black, smoke-like figures, demons, ran rampant around the village.