Guardian (Part I): Last Winter

Chapter 24: Eris

The name "Butcher of Dormanine" would stay in Finn's memory for the rest of his life. He had done something that he promised himself he would stop, and now, he had a mark for it. "Butcher" was a title given to a murderer. It made me so angry that someone gave my son that kind of name, but the Mage that gave him that title had no idea what had actually happened. All I could think happened was that Finn was lured to the plaza of Dormanine by someone to actually kill him. It made me think about the warning I received from Finn's friend, Connor. He said that there could be people from Camnora trying to kill him for some reason. I still couldn't wrap my mind around who could possibly want to kill Finn, but now, there was undoubtedly a bounty on his head for what happened in Dormanine. He would be hunted for the rest of his life for this, as if having the thought of killing seven people in the streets on his mind wasn't enough of a punishment. The sun had risen, though, and we were here. The very bottom of Soareus Peak. I put Dormanine behind for the moment.

"We're here!" Finn cried. "Look, there's a trail!" I looked to where Finn was pointing. There was an ancient stone archway that was below a trail that was done with stone bricks and mortar that set a hypothetically safe path to the summit of the mountain. Small braziers with fires blazing in them lined the side of the trail that faced the mountainside. There must have been some kind of enchantment surrounding the braziers, since there had been icy winds sweeping over all of Chardan for the past three decades, and they were still alight with flames.

"Well, it didn't take us as long to get here as I thought it would," I sighed.

"How long will it take us to get to the top?" asked Finn.

"This is one of the tallest mountains in the entire world," I reminded. "It could take days. Weeks, even."

"As long as we get there, right?" said Finn. "Let's go up a little and rest."

"Good idea," I agreed. "Staying on the ground won't do much good." We began to climb the trail leading up the slope, and I began to sense something. It wasn't an aura of darkness, as I expected, though. It was radiant, almost as powerful as Finn's. It felt familiar to me, but I wouldn't jump to conclusions about what it was just yet.

"Come on," Finn urged. I wouldn't stop him from following the aura to its source. I followed behind him, but he began to get a little far ahead of me.

"Don't get too far ahead of me," I warned.

"Whoever this is could need our help," Finn argued. He ran further ahead, and I ran faster after him. I saw him stop and face a cliff in the mountain. I looked to where he was looking, and found a small child's head, with green hair on his head. He was Ilentia, and I knew this particular Ilentia quite well.

"Hello, Haemon," I greeted.

"Hi, Mom," said Haemon. Finn looked at me with a stunned look on his face. Haemon was the son I had with Anzulminar before I met Hilles. He was worshipped by mortals after the Dragon War as the God of Youth and the Wild. A reputation he well deserved. He was ten thousand years old, but acted like he was Finn's age. It had been centuries since I saw him before the Third Great War, but I couldn't have been happier to see him at the moment. Haemon seemed to have the same feeling. A smile was on his face that I missed dearly.

"He's your son?" asked Finn.

"By Anzulminar," I admitted.

"Father of the year, by the way," Haemon sarcastically said. "What's your name, Guardian?"

"Finn," said Finn. "MacHilles."

"Hilles?" Haemon gasped. "Oh, I knew him! You're his son!?"

"Yes," Finn answered.