Sons of the Earth

Unmapped dirt road, February 2, 2020, 12:15

     "We found him. After all this time, we finally found him!"

     The Wizard studied the excited face of his companion. The Swordsman's cheeks were more flushed than usual, perpetually windburned. His blue eyes shone, and his brown hair was askew as he sped down the forgotten dirt road at speeds far too risky for its condition. The jeep bounced and skidded. More than once, it came perilously close to tipping entirely over. "Slow down," the Wizard advised. "We'll take far longer to get there if we wreck and have to walk."

     "You know I won't be walking," came the retort. "Don't worry, I won't make you walk, either. I'll take you with me. You won't even have to call up that felsteed of yours."

     "While I appreciate that, I still wish you'd slow down." Considering his next words, the Wizard brushed a hand through his short-cropped salt and pepper hair. "I know you're excited. No one knows that more than I do."

     "Yeah, you've been waiting a bit longer than I have." The Swordsman did slightly ease up on the accelerator pedal, slowing down by a minuscule amount. "I'd have expected you to be urging me on faster, not telling me to slow down."

     "It's not the speed so much as the reason for the speed in the first place." He glanced again at the Swordsman's excited face, noting the faint hint of sparse stubble contrasting with his ordinarily pale skin tone. The Swordsman hadn't bothered with shaving despite generally only needing to every few days. That was a sure testament to his emotional state. "I know this is a very promising lead. Everything we've uncovered so far has led us to this location. But we've been disappointed before."

     "You mean we just missed him before," the Swordsman pointed out irritably. His hands beneath their supple leather gloves clenched on the steering wheel. "We were careful this time. We made sure not to do anything to trip any sensors. We used civilian transport, paid in cash, and kept away from the big city centers. We're even driving now, aren't we? This close, even if you did pull out your felsteed, they won't have enough time to move him again." His smile appeared, bringing out the familiar dimples in his ruddy cheeks as he showed his somewhat crooked teeth. "We've got him this time. We'll find him, and nothing and no one will get in our way."

     "I suspect they'll try."

     "I almost wish they would!" Now, the smile turned into a snarl. "If they think what I did back in 2018 was bad? They have no idea what's coming if they do anything to make us lose him again." The Swordsman's eyes turned dangerously away from the road to pin his passenger. "You're with me, aren't you?"

     "Oh, I assure you," the Wizard growled, "if they try to hide him again, I will unleash Hell itself."

     The Swordsman had thankfully turned his attention back to the road, but he still glanced at the Wizard. "Can you actually do that?" he asked, slightly anxious.

     "No," the Wizard reassured with a smile, "but they'll wish I had."

     The dire threat pleased the Swordsman. His smile was back, and the speedometer had even obligingly eased down a bit more. "We've got the bastards this time," he declared. "And don't you look down that aquiline nose at me, Wizard. I won't lose my temper and mess it up, not this time. I've been thinking about how we can play this and what we can say to get him to come along peacefully."

     The Wizard rubbed involuntarily at his nose. He knew that he and his companion couldn't be more different, even when he'd glamoured himself to appear at a much younger physical age. He did indeed have an aquiline nose, while the Swordsman had a short, narrow nose with plump lips and long lashes over his blue eyes. The Wizard's eyes were dark and narrow, with bronze skin and a long, pointed chin. They both wore the clothing typical for working men in America, where they currently lived. They'd even adopted American slang and speech patterns from living there. But although he considered himself and the Swordsman to be essentially brothers, the two weren't remotely related and looked it. "Glad to hear you've got a plan," he told his companion, "because I'm counting on you for that part. My track record in negotiations in matters like this is currently lacking."

     "Well, the last guy you tried to talk to wasn't really in any place to listen," the Swordsman offered.

     The Wizard grunted. "I'm aware."

     "You shouldn't have pushed so hard, is the thing. If you weren't so pushy, you wouldn't scare people as much as you do, and you wouldn't have been fighting to get back for, how long was it?"

     "Nearly three centuries."

     "Yeah." The Swordsman swallowed, his eyes narrow as he tried to peer through the dust ahead. "I really don't want to go through that."

     "I assure you, I can't recommend it."

     They continued to drive in silence, the only sounds being the engine, the road, and the whistling wind. Then, "Why'd you do it?" the Swordsman blurted out. "Why'd you put up with it for so long? Anyone else would have just eliminated the problem or walked away and never looked back. But not you. You just kept right on coming. It never mattered how many times everything was thrown back in your face, how many promises were broken, or how much you suffered. You never gave up. Why?"

     "The same reason you didn't give up six years ago."

     That struck a chord. The driver's lips pressed tightly together. He nodded. "Yeah. Ok. I guess I get it. And I'll do it. Take the lead on negotiations, I mean. Frankly, you're terrible at it."

     The Wizard acknowledged this with a smile.

     "I gotta know, though," the Swordsman continued. "What was it like, waiting all those centuries? Because you knew what was coming. I mean, that's the story, right? The Prophecy of Merlin?"

     "That is the story, yes. To answer your question, it wasn't easy at the best of times. But I never gave up hope."

     "Um..." The Swordsman licked his lips self-consciously. "For what it's worth? Thanks. For never giving up hope, always being there, and protecting me. I can't imagine my life today or where I'd be now if you hadn't been there."

     Ah, there it was, that warm glow. The Wizard reached over and squeezed his friend's arm, receiving a shy duck of a head in acknowledgment. He settled back, eyes on the road ahead, waiting for the compound to appear even as his mind traveled back through the years.