The Trinity of Heroes (I Will Protect You Book 1) (31 page)

My love,

Must you always go on these long missions? Today our son took his first steps, and all I could think of is how great it would have been if we could have seen it together. I know you are just doing your duty and I know that you mean well. I will have a hot meal for you when you return home, my love. I pray for your safe return.

Eternally yours,

Elizabeth

- Letter from Elizabeth Sanctus to Jerreth Sanctus, 4 P.W.

Lawrence stared incredulously at the unkempt woodsman. The man who stood before him was a far cry from the clean-shaven, well-dressed Knight he remembered as his father. But there was a simmering glow of familiarity in the man’s eyes. His face was aged from the weather and from stress, his eyes surrounded by haunting wells of sunken skin. Something terrorized this man, and Lawrence was unsure how to react to his presence.

“Uuugghhh!” a ghastly howl came from Elizabeth’s prone body.

Lawrence was startled and immediately looked in the direction of the scream, remembering that his mother had caught the worst of the wurm’s attack. “Mother!” he shouted, dashing over to her position.

The woodsman quickly followed to join the two. “Elizabeth, by Sora’s grace, please forgive me!” the hunter pleaded, kneeling down by her side. It was as if he could sense the pain and agony that she had endured.

How would he know her name if he was just a stranger?
Lawrence thought.

Lawrence looked down at his mother and could see the longing leave her eyes. They brightened immediately when she looked at the hunter. “Jerreth,” she whispered, straining herself, “I never thought I would see you again.” Tears began to well in her eyes. She slowly reached her feeble arms toward the hunter, attempting to embrace him.

She was hurt, badly. Her frail body had impacted against a thicket of logs and brambles. It was a miracle that she was still alive at all. “Mother, can you stand?” Lawrence asked, hoping for the best of the situation.

“No, son, let me be. I don’t think I can move right now,” his mother answered softly.

Lawrence felt awkward as he watched the stranger bend down toward his mother’s outstretched arms.
How do I know he won’t snap her like a twig?
Lawrence thought. He could see his mother whisper something that seemed to affect the man greatly. For a moment Lawrence could swear he recognized the gentle face of his father in the man. Lawrence could hear the man sobbing deeply as he watched him hold a tender embrace with Elizabeth.

Is this really my father? Why has he been here for so long? We have needed him.

The man carefully removed his muscular arms from around Elizabeth, being sure to guide her body to a comfortable resting spot. He wiped tears from his face and sighed as he looked at Lawrence. “My boy, my son, I see that you have become a Knight. I am very proud of the man you have become.”

Lawrence was overcome with emotion. They had been swelling inside him since his brush with the wurm, and this man’s declaration that he was his long-lost father was the catalyst. “How could you, you self-centered, self-righteous asshole!” Lawrence exploded, shoving the man out into the clearing.

“Lawrence, please listen to me, you don’t understand,” Jerreth pleaded, a hurt look in his eyes.

“I understand perfectly!” Lawrence retorted. “You left me and my mother to fend for ourselves while you deserted us. What sort of egotistical son of a bitch does that to his own family! Your wife is sick, you bastard! I’ve been taking care of her, while you were out hiding in the forest.” Lawrence rushed his father and pushed him again, harder this time. Jerreth did not mount a defense; he accepted the full effect of the push, like a punishment for his betrayal.

“Aaaaaahhh!” Elizabeth moaned, before Jerreth could respond to his son’s outburst.

The two raced over to Elizabeth again. “I can handle this, old man!” Lawrence exclaimed coldly. “I’ve been taking care of Mother just fine for the last five years!”

Elizabeth shot him a melancholy glance. “Lawrence, you must stop this, that is your father. Please forgive him. Haile needs you both now more than ever.” The words flowed from her breath as she exhaled deeply. Life vanished from her eyes. Her breathing stopped. Her head tilted back, her lifeless body slumping in Lawrence’s arms.

“Mother….Mother…Mother, please,” Lawrence begged, kissing her cheek. He sobbed heavily, trying to delay the inevitable. He shook her gently, trying to get her to respond. The rays of sunlight that pierced the clearing were swallowed by the arrival of dark clouds. The birds stopped singing; the animals ducked under cover. The clearing was shrouded in a gray, still silence.

Lawrence sat motionless, clutching his mother’s body as he rocked back and forth. Some salty tears entered his mouth, others dropped off his chin. He cried uncontrollably.
Please forgive him. Haile needs you both now more than ever.
His mother’s dying words echoed in his mind. He felt Jerreth kneel down by him and place his rough hand on his shoulder. It strangely comforted him. The death of his mother overshadowed his own misgivings about his father. He could hear his father breathing heavily, his own emotions bubbling out of him.

“Lawrence, I am so sorry, for everything. I was so wrong to leave your mother and you,” Jerreth stammered in between heavy sobs.

Lawrence didn’t know what to do. He had longed for this moment for five years, the moment when his family could finally be whole again. He knew that if that happened everything would be fine, especially his mother. He had all but given up hope that it would ever happen, and now, it had. For a few minutes. The cruel reality of loss sunk into Lawrence, churning his gut, suffocating him, choking him. He struggled to respond as he didn’t know
how
to forgive this egregious betrayal.

“Why? Why did you leave us?” Lawrence asked as if he was begging his father for an answer that would lift the sorrow in his heart and repair their relationship.

“I was an arrogant fool, son,” Jerreth lamented. “I thought my convictions trumped everything. I was so convinced I was doing the right thing, I couldn’t understand the pain I was causing my own family.”

“Why didn’t you just come back, then? We never stopped hoping, never stopped believing you were alive,” Lawrence responded, probing deeper, trying to understand his father’s rationale.

“I was too ashamed,” Jerreth said, lowering his head. “At first I was so angry at the Knight Guard, at Haile, at Mayor Flint; I vowed I would never return. Anger consumed me. By the time I realized that I had forsaken my own family, I wasn’t strong enough to return and bear the guilt. I have thought of nothing but you and your mother every day for the past five years.”

Those last words socked Lawrence in the gut. He threw his arms in the air. “If you thought so much about us, then why did you abandon us?” he asked, laughing at the ridiculousness of the question.

“I….I…I don’t know. You know, son, I don’t even truly remember what I was mad about. All I do is regret leaving with all my heart. I live with it every day. I know that nothing I do will ever absolve me of this sin in your eyes. I just want you to know that I love you.”

Lawrence looked at the ground, at his mother’s dead body lying in front of him. He sighed deeply. His father seemed so conflicted, so broken. The strong, able, confident Knight that Lawrence had admired as a child had vanished, replaced by a deeply remorseful man who seemed to be desperately trying to redeem himself in his son’s eyes.

But Lawrence wasn’t ready to forgive, not this soon.

“Well, Father, what do we do now?” Lawrence asked after a long, somber silence.

“We need to give your mother a proper funeral,” Jerreth responded, standing. “She deserves a proper sendoff to Sora’s domain.”

“What about more of those giant wurms? Shouldn’t we leave?”

“They are very territorial, son, there isn’t another one of those beasts for a few miles. I failed your mother miserably in life, but I can at least start making amends for it by having a proper funeral for her now.”

Jerreth set about, gathering sticks and logs of different sizes. Lawrence watched at first, and then decided to help; not for Jerreth’s sake, but for his mother’s. At the very least he respected Jerreth’s attempt to honor Elizabeth. The men began to lay the logs in proper rectangle formation, creating a funeral pyre for Elizabeth. They took great care arranging the logs, placing the kindling in the center, creating a bed for Elizabeth’s corpse to rest on. They reverently carried Elizabeth’s body to the center of the mound of stacked logs and laid it face up on the pile of timber. Lawrence lit it. The fire grew quickly, embracing the kindling the two had acquired for it.

The two men stood in silence at opposite ends of the pyre. They didn’t speak, but both stared into the fire’s spellbinding aura. Tears streamed down their faces. The wood crackled as the fire raged hotter. The heat from it caressed their skin. The fire roared now, Elizabeth’s body being sent to Sora’s gates. Jerreth slowly walked around the pyre, coming to a stop next to Lawrence. He gently took hold of his son’s hand. He bowed his head. Lawrence followed his father’s lead.

“By the grace of Sora, accept the spirit of this loving woman, loving mother, and loving wife into your kingdom,” Jerreth proclaimed. “Keep her safe. Provide for her. Heal her sicknesses. Absolve her pain. Let her live on with you forever. In Sora’s name, we pray.”

Both men stood in reticence, the weight of the moment bearing on them. The billowing plume of black smoke rose up out of the clearing, a visual reminder to the tragedy they had endured. The fire lapped at their faces as they stared into its vast embers, its cracking and hissing a thorough reminder to the harsh reality that had occurred.

Lawrence looked quizzically at his father as the fire illuminated his defined complexion. “Tell me, Father, what did Mother whisper to you?” Lawrence wanted to know.

His father stared at the fire; he did not return Lawrence’s gaze. He was silent for a long while. He breathed deeply, trying to summon the courage to expose his most personal secret. More tears flowed down his cheeks.

The scene affected Lawrence greatly; he couldn’t remember his battle-hardened father ever showing emotion like this, even in the presence of death on the battlefield.

“She told me that she forgave me, for everything, that she still loved me,” Jerreth whispered, barely able to form the words as he choked up, his emotions finally overtaking him again.

Lawrence looked away as a tear formed in his eye. He admired his mother’s resolve now, more than ever. He struggled, however, to understand how she could have forgiven his father for his blatant selfishness. After all, so much of Elizabeth’s struggles were because of Jerreth’s unexpected desertion. Lawrence’s heart was heavy with sorrow, with anger, with betrayal. There was a long silence, as neither he nor Jerreth spoke. Elizabeth’s dying words replayed over and over in his mind.
Please forgive him. Haile needs you both now more than ever.
Lawrence yearned for the release of forgiveness to enter his heart, for him to feel that he could say those words to his father.

Smash and break

Pillage and take,

We’ll leave you with no Cryn.

Cut and stab

Snatch and grab,

We’ve come for your next of kin.

- Bandit Song

Benni raced east not looking back even once. One hand gripped the reigns of his horse, and the other was wrapped around Fairen, holding him close. He followed Nicholas’ instructions to the letter. He never fell off course, and before he knew it he was at the top of the first hill. His horse galloped faster now; he could feel the wind beating at him like a club as he crested the second hill. Faster still he rode to the top of the third hill where he looked down to see the small forest that Nicholas had spoken of. Without hesitation he rode directly into it, stopping only after he had disappeared into the sea of green. He was in bandit territory. Benni brought the horse to a slow trot as he and Fairen sat in silence for a long while. Benni heard Fairen sniffling and crying as they traveled on. He didn’t know how to comfort his little brother.

“Big Brother Benni, what’s going to happen to us?” Fairen asked timidly.

Benni had no idea what to say; his heart was still heavy with the realization that Nicholas and Helen were not really his parents. It took all of his courage to respond. “We are going to be just fine, Fairen, just stay close to me. We’re going to get help.”

The two rode deeper into the woods until finally they came upon a totem. The large log stood at least three meters high in the air and was covered in arrangements of feathers and carvings and adorned with a large skull atop it. It looked to be the skull of a foreign beast with pointed fangs; its nature was unknown to Benni who examined the totem further. Many of the carvings were mysterious to him. Suddenly, a twig cracked behind them.

Benni turned around to see a man standing there. He was bald headed, tall, and muscular. He wore no shirt or pants, just a loin cloth. He held a massive club in one hand and a chipped bone shield in the other. The muscles around his torso were well defined, the mark of a strong warrior.

Benni removed his hand from around Fairen and whispered, “Stay here, I’ll handle this.”

Benni slowly dismounted the horse. His heart was pounding. He was about to face off with an outlandish enemy, unlike anything he had ever faced in Haile before. He had no idea what to expect. There would be no breaks, no chances to catch his breath, no holding back on the part of his opponent. As far as Benni was concerned, things had gone from bad to worse. He was now locked in a stare down with a warrior much like himself, a warrior willing to do whatever it took to win. The two circled each other in the clearing, pacing slowly, each step building the anticipation for their battle. Benni drew the longsword from his belt without breaking eye contact with the warrior.

To his left, Benni noticed a tree branch move. Another fighter emerged, armed with a similar shield and a short sword. It was rusted and nicked, showing heavy use. This man was also bald and had a large, jagged scar that ran from his right shoulder to his lower stomach. He was missing an ear and half of his nose was gone, cut as though it had been shaved down.

To his right, Benni noticed multiple branches move and crack as three more bald opponents entered his view. Each wielded a similar club and bone shield as the first. They converged on his position. Benni watched as another warrior entered from behind them. His hair was long and his body was scarred. He was a mammoth of a man standing well over two meters tall with monstrous arms and fists like rocks. He wore a tattered red tunic that was sleeveless, torn and ragged. He had a large scar that stretched from his right eye halfway down his cheek. His bare arms showed his veins and muscles as he approached the center of the area they had been circling. None of them even bothered with Fairen, who hid at the edge of the clearing. Their attention was focused solely on Benni.

Finally the large man spoke in a deep, booming voice, “Who are you that you have come here? Speak quickly!”

The group of men now had him surrounded. Benni looked around, feeling like a mouse amongst lions. He caught the hulking man’s gaze and responded, “I am Benni Wakewood, a Knight of Haile. My village was attacked and I was sent here by my caretakers to seek out my father, Cranos Wakewood.”

His words caused the long-haired man to raise an eyebrow. One of the other warriors approached Benni with his club held high, poised to strike. He took a wild swing. Benni sidestepped him easily, shooting the others a look of defiance as he turned to face his opponent.

“I warn you, I am a Knight of Haile and I will not hesitate to defend myself if you attack me again!” Benni shouted.

The man turned around to face him again, a look of frustration covering his face. “Gyah!” the warrior shouted, rushing Benni again.

Benni sidestepped him and lightly ran the tip of his sword down the man’s back, causing some blood to flow. The blade barely cut the man; it was more an insult than an attack.

“I am looking for my father, Cranos Wakewood! Take me to him!” Benni roared in desperation. The warrior again turned to face him. This was starting to annoy Benni; he didn’t have time to waste fighting these miscreants.

The mysterious man rushed him once more, but this time Benni threw down his weapons. As the man approached him Benni went low, punching the man in the gut. He let out a loud “Uhh!” as Benni knocked the club out of his hand and grabbed the shield from him. Benni took the shield and bashed it against the man’s head, knocking him to the ground.

“This is your last warning! Stop this at once or I will be forced to kill you!”

Without hesitation the man dashed toward Benni who met him with a brutal counter. He put his right hand against his face and placed his right foot behind the man as he pushed backwards. The man crashed to the ground with Benni on top of him, raining punches down on him. The man was barely able to weather the storm as Benni punched again and again, drawing blood from a gash that opened on the top of the man’s head. The man turned to his side trying to avoid more blows. Benni jumped on his back. Benni saw the opening and locked in his favorite submission technique. This was no sparring match, this was a life or death fight and Benni would do whatever it took to stop this man’s assault. He locked his right arm under the man’s neck and grabbed it with his clenched fist. He was careful not to let his fingers exposed like he had done against Lawrence. He pulled back as hard as he could and watched as the man’s face reddened intensely. The other warriors rushed to help their friend, but the mammoth man wearing the ragged shirt raised a hand to stop them.

The two continued to struggle. The man grabbed and clawed at Benni’s arm, scratching him continuously, trying to tear his way free. The man fought furiously until he began to fade. His pulling became less and less as Benni’s grip became tighter and tighter.

“Damn it, take me to Cranos Wakewood or I am going to kill this man!” Benni declared.

“That’s enough!” the giant man commanded. He walked up to the two and placed a goliath hand around Benni’s head and pulled him off the struggling warrior. He tossed Benni across the clearing toward his horse. “You have come seeking Cranos Wakewood, and you have found him!” The man brought his hands up and bellowed, “Leave your weapons and come fight me like a real man! Prove to me, and to everyone, that you are my son!”

Benni needed to be more mobile for this fight, so he removed his chainmail. It dropped to the ground with a clank and the two men faced off. They stared each other down for a long while as they slowly inched toward each other.

Benni felt small as he came upon this towering monster of a man. Cranos threw a punch and Benni used his hands to block. He felt a sharp shock course through his arms, the impact sending him back several paces, reeling in pain. Benni tried not to let it show though. He needed to win this fight; he needed to win their approval. Again the two circled each other; Benni was still throwing his arms about, trying to shake off the pain from Cranos’ brutal punches.

They locked up again. This time each man threw punches into the other. Both warriors backed away, grimacing in pain. To Benni’s surprise this giant man was not as invincible as he had thought. He knew that every man had his weakness and this man’s appeared to be his ribs. However, the gargantuan had landed a few blows of his own to Benni’s shoulder and chest area. The two again came to punches, and this time Benni was able to dance past Cranos’ shots and land two perfectly timed jabs right to the man’s ribs.

“Ahhhh! You bastard!” Cranos cried out, swinging wildly, missing Benni who again landed three more punches to his other side. Cranos stumbled past Benni into some of his subordinates. They helped him to his feet and he shoved them away. He ran at Benni, screaming with intensity, swinging as hard as he could. Every shot he took missed as Benni weaved and sidestepped his way past them, landing punch after punch to the man’s exposed chest. A bit of blood oozed over Cranos’ lower lip.

Benni was beginning to feel more confident. He could sense that victory was close and if he could just land a few more painful strikes, he would be victorious. It was like fighting any other opponent. Benni knew he needed to defend himself and exploit their weaknesses with his attacks. He continued to dodge and weave around the hulking man until he saw a huge opening in the man’s guard. He knew he shouldn’t move in so close, but he did anyway, the sense of urgency picking at his nerves. He threw several well timed jabs into the large man’s ribs. Again and again he felt his hands connect until his vision blanked for a moment. Benni woke up a second or two later on the ground with the man kneeling over him, about to throw a punch down into his face.

“Get off of my big brother!” a young boy’s voice rang through the air.

Suddenly, Fairen came running at Cranos and tried futilely to knock him off of Benni. The boy’s punches were unnoticeable to the man, like that of a butterfly flapping its wings against a dragon’s hard, scaly back. The bandit leader, however, became distracted by Fairen’s annoying blows and turned and grabbed the boy by his worn shirt.

“You little bastard, I’ll teach you to mess with me!” he shouted, raising a fist to the boy.

“No!” Benni erupted, kicking Cranos right between the legs, sending him collapsing to the ground, crying out in pain. Before Cranos could recover Benni was atop him, punching him nonstop in the face.

“Ahhhh!” Benni cried, smashing him over and over again. He stopped counting after the tenth one. Blood splashed and flowed from Cranos’ face. He struggled to defend himself against Benni’s blows which were emboldened by a need to protect his kin.

“You monster! If you ever touch…” Another punch landed. “My brother again…” Two more punches found their mark. “I’ll kill you!” His last punch caused Cranos to exhale sharply, his arms flopping to his sides. He was beaten. Benni fell to the ground exhausted as some of the warriors gathered around to check on them. They looked down at Benni, who lay there nearly motionless.

“Who’s next?” Benni gurgled. Everything went black.

***

Benni awoke a while later in what appeared to be a dark hut. He slowly sat up, clenching his arms together in pain as his body fought back against his efforts. He felt a raging headache set in from being unconscious and all of the blows he had received. He came to a full sitting position and looked around the empty hut. He placed his hands on his forehead and rubbed it lightly. The floor was covered by dirt and grass. He could see some bugs crawling around making the hut their home as well. He stood up and limped away from the stuffed sack bed he was laying on and lumbered his way to the door. He reached his right hand out and grabbed the handle, and a sharp pain exploded throughout his entire body. He was sore from the fights he had engaged in earlier. He pushed the door open and bright sunlight blinded him. He raised his hands to shield his eyes. He looked around and could see he was in an encampment in the center of the forest. It was a man-made clearing, stumps were everywhere and half-cut trees littered the landscape. He could see brush huts with shabby thatched roofs scattered about the clearing. Benni heard a hawk cry out overhead as he continued to survey the area. He started walking, looking for Cranos. Benni knew there wasn’t a second to waste and finding the bandit leader was important because Haile was in need of his help. He continued his walk until he ventured upon a group of warriors who were gathered around a campfire. They stood and approached him.

Benni was in no condition to fight. He immediately raised his hands in front of his face. “Wait! I don’t want to fight…I just want to find my brother and Cranos.” He took a step back, trying to avoid another scuffle.

The group of men stopped, and one lone warrior stepped forward and extended his hand. “That was one hell of a fight, son. I have been challenging Cranos my entire life and have never managed to land that many blows. As far as I am concerned, you are one of us.”

Benni extended his hand suspiciously and shook the warrior’s hand. Benni was glad these men were amicable; he was in no mood to fight. The other warriors all approached and offered their praise and handshakes. Benni slowly made his way past them, continuing through the village.

After a while, Benni finally came to an area with an even larger bonfire and many people gathered around it. A freshly killed stag hung on a spit. He could hear the sizzling of the meat and the juices dripping to the fire laden embers below as it was slowly rotated by a beautiful woman. He looked farther and could see some of the bandits sharpening stones and affixing them to arrows to prepare for the next hunt. His eyes took him to a tall chair; it almost looked like something you would find in a castle, except it was rusty and decrepit. Its once golden color had faded and the cushions were flat. Cranos sat atop it. Sitting next to him was Fairen, who was now dressed in only a loin cloth.