KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Mount Everest (Keefe POV)

At least Biana was successfully remaining invisible.

Fitz pointed a melder at the one apparently named Gethen, who threatened to shoot Foster again if Fitz shot him.

"How much more do you think that freaky little mind of hers can handle?" Gethen taunted.

"Sophie can handle anything!" Keefe shouted, throwing another chunk of ice. This one smashed Gethen's arm so hard it knocked the melder out of his hand.

Gethen tried to retrieve it but Fitz was faster, snatching the melder and tossing it to Keefe, who began stalking towards his dad, letting Fitz look after Sophie.

It's time to put an end to this.

"I knew all that bramble practice would come in handy," he told his father. "And you said it was a foolish game."

His dad laughed. "Put it down, son."

"I'm not your son!"

"Yes you are--and you always will be. And regardless of what you may think, I don't want to hurt you."

"Funny--I will have no problem blasting the snot out of you."

It was almost disturbing to Keefe to realize how much he meant what he said.

"Then let's take stock of your situation, shall we? We have your dwarves outnumbered three to one. Your bodyguard is dead--"

"Sandor?" Keefe and Fitz both asked.

"Yes. Poor oaf took a dive off that cliff--and last I checked goblins can't force-shift like ogres. So..." He raised his hand, miming a diving motion that ended in a splatter.

Please, no. Keefe willed it to not be true—and desperately hoped that if it were, Foster hadn't had to witness it.

"And last we saw, your puffy leader was pinned down by at least a dozen of our dwarves. I'm sure they'll be delivering him to us any minute now. So it's over. Set down your weapons and we'll bring you in with no further injuries."

"No, I don't think we will," Keefe said, inching closer to Foster. "Because I think you forgot to take stock of your situation."

"Three scrawny kids--one of whom is currently paralyzed," his father started.

But Keefe shook his head. "Not three. Four."

"NOW!" Fitz shouted as Biana appeared and tackled Keefe's dad.

Fitz dropped the other figure with a melder blast and Keefe took over the fight with his dad as Biana rushed to Foster's side.

It was not easy. He had to chase his dad up another incline, shivering all the while—adrenaline the only thing keeping him going at all—in poor visibility thanks to the snow being blown around in the wind.

But then something happened to stop Keefe short.

Just as he caught up to his dad, melder in hand, ready to take him out, there was a gust of wind big enough to knock back his dad's hood.

Only...it wasn't his dad.

It was his mom.

Shock stayed his hand.

It couldn't be his mom. She wasn't exactly a good mother, but he'd always viewed her as the lesser of two evils.

"You?" He finally asked as the others caught up to them. He pointed to the Sencen crest on his cape. "But Dad was the one who gave this to me."

"And I'm the one who gave it to him. Honestly, Keefe--don't you know your father at all? He never set so much as a hair out of place, especially if it risked all those honors he's gotten from the Council."