Chapter 17: Older and Wiser

"...-ran, Aran!" Said warrior stirred from his rest as the familiar voice of one of his warriors came through the entrance of his tent. Sleepy eyes still opening up, Aran shouted orders based on what he assumed the situation was.

"Get packed up! We move when the sun rises!" The darkness of early morning was still in place, the not yet taking it's place on the horizon. In order to not look foolish issuing orders he himself could not follow, Aran packed up all his things in record time. Putting on the proper clothes and armor for the day, Aran ventured out of his tent and stamped out the now smoldering fire. By the looks of it, everybody was just about done, except for one warrior. By the looks of it he was quite young, barely an adult in fact.

"Would you like some help...?" Not knowing his name, Aran simple stopped next to the young warrior, throwing him the pillow from the sleeping bag still laid out on the ground.

"Lindus, sir." He looked almost embarrassed that Aran had come over to help him out. "I apologize for delaying the expedition." Slightly miffed by the formality, Aran simply threw him the rest of the sleeping bag.

"Just Aran, Lindus. And I did say that we moved at the rise of the sun, and it hasn't peaked over the horizon yet." Sure enough, the blinding orb had yet to show itself from behind the small hills that dotted the countryside of Leafre. They were close to the city itself, probably only an hour or two on mount; it hadn't however, been worth the risk of being attacked by the powerful monsters that roamed these wilds with a party that was exhausted from traveling the entire day.

Meanwhile, Lindus finished up his packing. "Thank you si-, Aran." He said, catching himself at the last moment. "It's much appreciated. Even as a student, I was always told that I was never going to make it, and I was beginning to believe it when I was never put on an expedition, but now..." He looked up at Aran with a happy face. "I think I'll be just fine."

Aran looked slightly stunned; he hadn't expected his small actions to make such a big difference. He didn't have time to ponder it however, as the morning sun finally made it over the horizon, glaring into his face. It was time for a new day, and like always, he held one finger over his heart. Lindus however, looked at him curiously.

"Sir, what are you doing?"

Quickly realizing that Lindus was speaking to him, Aran replied without a second thought. "Just something I do everyday Lindus. A thanks that I'm alive to see the sunrise today, and a prayer that I'll be alive to see the sunset in the evening."

"That's... rather morbid."

"You think so? Personally I like to think of it as unassuming." He held no doubt in his words. "We warriors of Rein are expected to give our lives to the tribe Lindus. We can fall at any time."

Noticing the younger warrior's wince, Aran chuckled and decided to humor him. "Come, I'll explain the rest to you while we're en route to Leafre Village." Climbing up on Ryko, Aran waited for Lindus to catch up on his own mount.

"Aran, what did you mean when you said you would explain the rest?"

"Nothing much." Aran looked straight ahead as he spoke; never know when a monster would burst from the foliage around them. "You see Lindus, as warriors we give so much to Rein. We do however, get something just as precious back."

"And that is?"

"Our lives."

He was confused now. "But we give our lives to Rein, is this not true?"

"It is Lindus, but Rein gives us our lives as well. The times we share with our friends, family, and comrades. The food we eat and the water we drink. We owe so much to the people around us. But know this; if we fall, we are not forgotten. Never will a Rein warrior be forgotten by his friends and family."

When Lindus looked up, he swore he saw a shine in Aran's eyes, and it wasn't the sun. This was the warrior's pride, his belief that, even if he should perish, he would not be forgotten. He would be remembered and mourned, but never forgotten. This was what gave him his strength.

The group traveled for nearly an hour before they had the village of Leafre in the sights of the frontrunners.

"Aran, come look at this!" One of the warriors shouted from ahead of them. Though from Aran couldn't see because of everybody in front of him, the tone of voice suggested that it wasn't good.

As Ryko pushed his way through the crowd, Aran caught the whispering a of those who had already backed away from the front.

"Did you see…?"

"I've never seen…"

The sight that greeted Aran more than confirmed these ominous whisperings. In front of him on the ground was a dead Kentauros, more than that, it had clearly been soundly defeated. The corpse was shriveled up, as if the blood from it had been sucked dry and the creature left to die. Nobody in Leafrde, be it the halflings or the villagers, could kill like this

Aran struggled to keep his calm composure at this discovery. "Enough. We move on to Leafre. The death of one monster is not enough to keep us from our mission. If anything it should serve as an encouragement; we must not let anyone else suffer the same fate!"

And yet, despite his words, the heavy feeling of dread could no be lifted from his warrior's faces. They reached the village of Leafre a bit later without incident, the image of the corpse still weighing heavily on their minds.

~~~~~Line~~~~~

Valfor soared through the sky over Leafre on his leathery purple wings, hiding behind the clouds in order to remain unseen by any possible enemies on the ground. Only half an hour ago he had landed to take a break before landing in Leafre, only to be attacked by a Kentauros the minute he had touched the ground.

Following that he had quickly taken to the skies in case of any more unwelcome guests happening upon him. Despite what the Black Mage had said, the Maple World's would be tyrant had given him permission to visit his family, something he rarely did. The Transcendent believed in the saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder," in the sickest possible way.

Of course, given his position, there wasn't much that Valfor could do about it; the entire reason that he fought for the tyrant in the first place was his family. And so he went to see them whenever given the opportunity, knowing full well why the mage gave him such opportunities in the first place. He was no fool, he could not rebel against the Black Mage as long as his family was not safe from his wrath; these visits would only serve as a reminder.

'In would only be a few more minutes until he reached the small clearing where his mother and brother lived, something that he took note of as he spread out his senses, making sure he wasn't be followed by any... unwelcome guests. When he finally felt that nobody was near, he landed in the small clearing with a cottage in it

The structure was neither extremely large or excessively small. Generally shaded by the trees that formed the clearing, it was difficult to find unless you had already known it was there. A window showed the inside of what appeared to be a kitchen as well as part of a hallway. Disregarding the garden set up in front of the home, Valfor walked up and knocked on the door. What he did not expect was for his mother to come bursting from inside the home and embrace him with enough force to make his breathing labored.

"Mother-" He found a finger over his lips, silencing him temporarily.

"Don't speak another word you. I can tell at just a glance and a feel that you haven't been taking care of yourself properly. Clothes are dirty, your face is pale, hair uncombed, and a number of other things." As if he was a normal child and not an extremely powerful demon, Valfor's mother went on to nag him about... everything pretty much. Eventually she dragged him into the kitchen to continue, citing the lack of chairs as a reason

After a few minutes, it seemed as if she had finally run out of steam. "In any case, at least you're home now." She seemed relieved as soon as she had finished her near rant. "Your brother was worried about, almost more than I was."

Valfor had an amused smile on his face. "I can imagine. For reasons beyond my comprehension, Damien seems to become rather... heated where I'm concerned." His mother gave him an almost incredulous look before pushing him out of the kitchen where, it seemed she had been preoccupied prior to his arrival.

After being "banished" from the kitchen, Valfor moved to find his little brother, Damien. The demon and his sibling had always gotten along pretty well, in fact, the two were almost inseperable as children.

"Brother!" For the second time that day, a smaller ball of flesh crashed into Valfor's midsection. This time it was his brother, Damien, with the same snow white hair as his own. The boy was obviously smaller than himself, only coming up to his chin in height.

"Damien." He spoke when his brother finally let him breath. "Have you been behaving for mother?" The smaller child pouted as if he had been insulted.

"Of course I have!" The child had a small smirk on his face after he said that. "But more importantly..." The gleam in his eyes gave away the excitement that his expression didn't.

"Heh, hold it now. We'll wait until after lunch to continue our little tradition alright? Mother was preparing what looked to be lunch when she greeted me." Despite the disappointed look on his face, Damien acquiesced to his brother's request.

"Fine, but don't chicken out when we start!" Watching his little brother's back as he ran off, Valfor chuckled to himself. His family was more to him than just people he was born and raised with; it was the place where he could let down his guard. Where the eyes of the people around him weren't blurred out by either fear, hate, or arrogance.

Soon after he changed into fresh clothes, nothing special, just a long sleeved shirt and a pair of matching black pants, his mother called out to them for lunch. As soon as he arrived in the kitchen, he found Damien dashing out as quickly as he could and was left to wonder why... until he found his mother fixing him with the same look she always did when he got home.

"Now you will-"

"Tell you all about what I've been doing for the past few months. Yes, mother." Call him whipped, a mother's boy, or whatever you would like; his mother was a force to be reckoned with when angered. As per normal, Damien was not allowed to hear the things they would be discussing and thus was always relocated to the theoretical backyard; technically the child could go wherever he pleased inside the perimeter of the clearing.

He started with the things he always told his mother: conflicts with the other commanders, small skirmishes he had gotten involved with, and of course, he made sure to extend the small talk until they were finished eating. He prefered not to bring serious issues up until they were at least finished eating. Of course, fights with the other commanders were often life threatening if not taken seriously, but those conflicts had grown to be so routine that he barely gave it a second thought.

"And so in the past few days I was given a new order by the Black Mage." Now came the part that his mother probably wouldn't approve of. In fact, he knew she wouldn't approve of it.

When her son spoke the two words that formed the name of the most feared being in all of Maple History, she knew it wasn't going to be good. Valfor's mother however, never expected what he said next.

"I've been given orders to... take down the a few key individuals of Maple World. Namely the Maple Root Ambassador and Master Wizard, Freud as well as his allies."

All at once the look on his mother's face turned into a mixture of fear and apprehension. Fear for her son's life and wellbeing, and apprehension for the blood-curdling task he had been assigned.

"Valfor... son." What should she say? What could a mother say when their eldest had just told them that his "boss" had just told him to more or less assassinate someone?

"Mother... I know your questions and my only answer is this: I am unsure." He didn't elaborate on just what he was unsure about. He doubted he had to. All his mother could do was place a hand over his own that were currently clenched in tight fists on the table.

She cursed the fact that her son had to do this, rather, she cursed herself for being the reason he had to go through this. "I'm sorry."

"Nonsense mother, you and Damien are all I have left." He let a smile appear on his face despite his conflicted feelings. Perhaps without his family he wouldn't have to fight for the Black Mage, but without his family he wouldn't have a reason to live either. Wrapping his mother in an embrace, he comforted his distraught caretaker since birth.

"Well, enough of my crying, I hear you had a promise to keep with Damien?" Valfor's mother spoke with a noticable amount of mirth in her voice, leaving her eldest son to sigh in exasperation.

"I had almost forgotten." Honestly this was getting to be a bad habit but... who was he to talk as a commander of the Black Mage? "I suppose I should call him back in from the clearing.

As he ventured out the door, he found Damien directly in front of him, eyes gleaming with excitement. "Are you finished speaking to mother?!" Valfor winced at the volume of his shout.

"Yes, Damien. Now we can-" His younger brother didn't even wait for him to finish his sentence before rushing up the stairs to his room where a large amount of banging and crashing as heard. Whereas the older sibling was all business, the younger one was obviously quite different.

The clamors eventually calmed as Damien rushed back down the stairs with what seemed to be the hilt of a sword in his hands.

"Come on Valfor! I need to pay you back for the last time we sparred!"

~~~~~End~~~~~

A/N

Well, as an explanation for my recent inactivity and lack of updates, I will point the finger at college. Not the work, but paying for college; student financial services and loan companies are some of the least helpful people I have ever spoken to, each pointing the finger at the other in a never ending vicious cycle.

I will also elaborate on what the direction recent chapters have been going since, they might seem a little... without direction. Currently I'm working on building up each character's personality as I see it since many may hold different opinions. Slowly introducing each hero and villain and making them more definite. Of course the plot moves along with this but isn't focused on nearly as much as it will be after the ground-work is laid.

Again, I can't apologize enough for the completely unreasonable delay in updating, not even counting the fact that I didn't even leave a notice before it. That aside, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. As always feel free to leave any constructive criticism in a review.

-Lunarfeather

P.S. I'm not sure if this is presumptious or not, but let me make the suggestion anyways. As you might have noticed there have been several OC's popping up here and there. Now I do not have the proper time in order to give these characters depth and would be delighted if some of you would be able to submit some. I have seen this done in some other fics and thought I would incorporate it into this one. If you are interested please just PM me or leave it in a review, I want to see if anybody would be willing first!

Note, do not send me a character just yet, there will be a form posted if enough people are interested!