Inheritance

Part 2. Sixty-Four: Friends

Ashaya dragged him through the entrance on the opposite side of the room while the entire hall erupted into a loud din of yelling and fighting.

Eory was too devastated to care about what Ashaya had planned for him.

"If your family and Pollyanna can't feel the pain they have caused me, then you will."

Eory's mind went blank as Ashaya dragged him to a cleaning closet with a broom and bucket that was barely big enough for two people.

The human threw him against the wall, unsheathing his blade and licking his lips.

Eory spun around, facing Ashaya and pasting himself against the wall.

The human lifted his blade slowly, pressing the cold, sharp steel lightly against the fairy's neck.

Eory sniffled, turning his head away from the blade.

"Beg for your life." Ashaya demanded. "Beg for your life the same way my family begged yours."

Eory sank to his knees, doing as he was commanded. "Please. Please let me go. I promise that I'm not like my family! I want to be good! I'm trying to save us all!"

Ashaya sneered and laughed in his face. "Turn around. Press your hands against the wall."

Shakily, Eory obeyed, pressing his cheek and hands to the wall.

The sword poked Eory's left shoulder.

This is it. Eory thought with a whimper. No one will protect me now.

The door flew open. Terran grabbed the human by the shoulders—turning him away from Eory and shoving him out the door.

Ashaya growled. He sheathed his blade and dashed by Eliita and Them who were crowding the entrance of the cleaning closet.

Eory breathed deeply, trying to calm himself. He wiped his eyes with a wobbly smile. Shakily, he stood up. Without hesitation, he threw his arms around Terran--causing his bandaged arm to momentarily flare with pain. "You saved me! You saved me!"

Terran couldn't deny the genuine warmth he felt from the fairy's thanks.

He patted his back and said, "To be fair, Them was the one who led me to you after I rescued Eliita."

Them waved at him from outside the open door. Eory waved back with a sobbing chuckle.

Eory cocked his head to the side. "Are you okay, Eliita?"

The dwarfess nodded. "I need to be more careful, though. Sometimes I forget that I'm one of the only women in a sea full of violent men."

Terran turned to her with a glare. "Yes, you do. If you had died, I wouldn't know what to do with myself."

Eliita looked at the waif, elf and fairy with a contented smile. "You would be alright. I think you've made friends, after all."

Eory looked at Eliita, Terran and Them. His tears of sadness were replaced with tears of joy. I've made friends...?

Terran ruffled the fairy's hair. "We three better get going to the battlefield. I expect you to do more practicing with a bow while we're gone, Eory."

Eory nodded eagerly.

And for the first time, he had a feeling that he wanted to join them on the battlefield. Not out of some sense of moral obligation or having to prove himself, but because he enjoyed their company and wanted to be near them to make sure they came back alive.

It was one of the greatest feelings he had ever had.

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Eory practiced with a bow for an hour while the other recruits fought off the doppelgangers. He felt good; he felt like he could do anything, and his aim reflected that. His arm still stung a little from the word he had carved into it the previous day, but he moved it gently so as not to reopen the wound.

He was not a perfect shot by any means, but he hit the straw man every time he fired an arrow, even if it wasn't where the fiery heart of a doppelganger would be.

"You're getting much b-better." A familiar voice echoed throughout the training hall.

Eory turned around and saw Maruka leaning against the door frame. "D-do y-you want to take a break and come paint that room some more?"

Eory put the bow back and collected the arrows he had fired, putting them on the weapons rack, too.

He nodded to Maruka and felt excited about spending more time with him.

At the back of his mind was Pollyanna. He loved her, and that wouldn't change, but he couldn't have her. By her own choices, he couldn't have her.

But Maruka had made no rash or foolish decisions. He had been open and kind to Eory and had not abandoned him the way Pollyanna had.

Eory marched toward him with a happy gait, intending to walk by the selkie, but Maruka caught him by the wrist and spun him into an embrace.

Eory went rigid with a frown on his face.

Maruka cleared his throat and released the fairy. "I'm s-sorry. You just looked so h-happy..."

Eory's eyes scrunched up in a smile. He kissed the selkie's cheek. "It's okay. I liked it."

Eory turned around and began walking toward the staircase. Maruka followed afterward.