Rise of the Warrior of Everfen

Chapter 102: The Beast

Erinne stared across the room at Wren, at the state he was in, hearing the words rumble out of him. "Of course, my king," she said and motioned for him. It was an invitation for him to speak but his lip curled, revealing fanged teeth.

"Wren," Khash spoke, voice full of the same haste he'd had when he stood.

"Why did you come back?" Wren ignored him but his words were staggered and clipped, he was struggling.

"I always meant to return," she said, a hint of caution in her voice. She'd never seen him in such a state, so much of the curse bleeding through to the surface without fully changing. She didn't know how he could speak, usually when he reached this point, he didn't speak at all. She glanced at Khash for some guidance or indication of about Wren's state, but he was still watching the king with a sense of urgency on his face.

"You left." His words were still directed at her.

"Wren—"

Wren growled, cutting Khash off, "I needed you. Things...falling apart. Orcs, advisor." The growl that rumbled out of his chest with his words was quite animal. He was still able to speak but it was difficult. How much longer could he hold on? He hadn't been quite this bad when she left. The stress of the approaching orc army and the cursed orc. Everything was falling apart around her.

She understood what his intent was. She was his orc advisor, she knew that, but her family had needed her. She clenched her fist as Wren took another step inside the room and his lip curled more as he did so. He hadn't seemed angry when she'd come to the throne room. He'd composed himself.

Khash stepped closer to her, "Wren,"

"Stay out of it, Khash!" They both flinched backwards at the abrupt shout and Khash tensed as Wren set one hand against his chest. His shoulders rose and fell with ragged breaths and he tipped his chin down, staring at the floor a long moment before he tried again, "Not much time left."

"My king, that's what I'm trying to tell you, we have time! I found it!" His eyes lifted and she craned her neck to look at the warlock, joy beaming in his eyes. Without looking, he set his palm over the page of the book. "I can fix you."

"What?" Wren frowned at him, but Erinne could see him growing tenser with every passing moment. The struggle to speak, discussing her departure, the stress that pushed down on him, it was all dragging him under.

"Erinne found it, the page I needed. The answer has been hanging from her neck all along." His other hand lifted her necklace. "These flowers, their magical properties!" He was full of excitement as he turned and started reading the book again, referring to his papers of his translations and back again. "I'll have to translate the full page, there's a mention here of gaining magical insight through their use. I can get answers to the questions I seek..." he skimmed the page again and Erinne didn't speak, but she knew the way to get the answers was to commune with the dead, if they were willing to part with the answers. Even Khash had told her the Seers could not reveal everything, neither did those in the afterlife.

Khash flipped the page, his head swiveling back and forth from the book to the papers that were helping him translate the elven words. "It is said here these plants live between realms, the only plant that grows both here and there at once. The afterlife and the living realm, combined through this—"

"Afterlife?" Wren cut in and his words were a snarl. His eyes shot to her, harsh, "Lies. Poison."

"It's in the book, Wren, from the elves, it's—"

"Lies!"

Erinne had been wrong about Wren's anger earlier. She'd thought when he dismissed her to go to Khash that perhaps he had too many things more important than dealing with a runaway advisor. Now she felt closed in within this room. The curse flared all around her. She hadn't even seen Anyse yet but she did not want his anger there, in the room with her child.