Theurgy: Forsaken Oaths (Book Two)

Chapter 20 What We Lost

     Lyse walked along the beach. Being in the city for so long, he almost forgot that this place did have quite the scenery. The breath of nature was plenty. The skies were a pale orange and pink as the sun slowly crept up on the night, throwing its brilliant beams across delicate clouds.  Vire clipped behind him, mindlessly chomping at stray crabs and crustaceans and watching them scurry about. He took him on a brief fly about the area and practiced some maneuvers and other basic training during a battle. These things would be much more difficult on a regular horse. Besides just the wings, Vire was knowledgeable and caught on to a lot of what Lyse suggested with some interest. Of course, a little prodding has to be done here or there, but Lyse thinks that just maybe, shortly, Vire might become fond of him. He excelled in pegasus riding in Valoria, but Vire was very different from Pegasi. Much more aggressive and unruly, perhaps. But he wasn't here for a leisure stroll with his trusty steed. He was here for someone else. He had disappeared that night, they told him. Despite being offered to stay in the rooms available to him, he was gone as soon as anyone took their eyes off him. But of course, Lyse knew precisely where he went. He needed time alone, of course, time to process and understand what had occurred last night. Honestly, he needed a lot more. But they could afford that, neither of them.

     Ryan was sitting on the sandy beach, his cloak folded with the pendant set on top beside him. He held his knife in one hand and an entire bottle of spirits. It looked undrunk, the cork still firmly in place. Lyse was surprised he did not go immediately to see Avery and the child in the hospital. Then again, Lyse remembers that man, Zeke, and what he had said to Ryan: "It should have been you." Lyse can't imagine how painful it would be to face someone after this. He briefly remembers that day when he allowed the manticore to attack a mother and daughter. How hard it was to even speak to the mother after that. But this, this was different. This was someone he loved.

       "How'd you find me?" he asked, not turning to see Lyse approach.

     Lyse stopped just behind him. "I have an innate sense of where you are at all times."

     He heard Ryan give a dry chuckle as if that was a joke. "Well, I suppose there isn't someplace I can run from you, can I?"

     Lyse looked down at the ocean, its flat rolling surface rippling with the sun's light. "I suppose not."

      "I'm glad you found me," Ryan said. "You reminded me of what I was, Of what I needed to do. I was getting complacent. Vulnerable."

      "Ryan," Lyse told him. "If I had never come to you, those kids would still be alive. Perhaps none of this would have happened. I ask of your forgiveness."

        Ryan laughed sadly. "You can't even let a guy be angry at you, can you? But, Prince, you don't need to apologize to me. You are right about me. I had lost what I was chasing. But now. Now I know what I must do."

       "Talin must pay?" Lyse asked.

       Lyse looked down to see Ryan looking back up at him, and his eyes were vacant of tears yet clouded. "Lyse, where do you see yourself in the future. What's your end goal." 

      "My end goal?" Lyse pondered for but a moment. "Well, if I don't die fighting Talin, I suppose it will be what it was before all of this started. To be a knight. To protect my home and family, maybe settle down. I don't like dealing with unknowns."

     "I see," Ryan looked back at the ocean. "That is noble of you."

     "What about you," Lyse asked. "Where do you see yourself in your future now?"

     Ryan stood, staring at the ocean for a few moments before tossing the bottle into the sea. Unfortunately, its contents washed away with the tide. He then picked up his cloak, crushed it off, and began walking past Lyse. "My future? After I destroy Talin and whoever else is responsible for this, I'll answer that."