6. The Result of Love (Pt. 2)

“Auntie…” Jake mumbled, his throat tensing as he searched for the courage to speak. Between the relief of the Elder not shackling him and the story about his family, Jake felt knot after knot tie itself to his throat. “I…”

“When she was young, your mother was always a quiet woman,” Auntie Rayne suddenly spoke up from behind him, and Jake felt all of the courage in him vanish. He turned and saw her kneeling beside one of the water buckets, her back to him. She patiently wrung out the cloth she had been using and then she just stared down at the water. “She was a bright, beaming sun. Always cheerful, always happy, and always excited, but she was quiet. She didn’t talk a whole lot outside of her work and sang a lot to herself.”

“She was beautiful, far prettier than I was, and she had many suitors. Men from all over the village struggled to earn her favor. Even men from the caravans tried their luck with her, but she always kindly rejected their offers. Wealth. Power. Stability. All of it. She pushed all of those men away because couldn’t turn her back on our father. She loved your grandfather deeply and respected him highly. He wasn’t some special warrior, grand Elder, nor was he a great craftsman of some kind.” Auntie Rayne rose to her feet, turning around to meet Jake’s waiting eyes. She gripped the front of her dress.

“He was a regular man, a hard worker and he struggled every day to raise the two of us. Our mother ran away with another man, leaving him to raise the two of us alone.” A light smile crept up on the corner of her mouth as she recalled those long distant memories. “He was clumsy, a fool, and was always so careful with us. He was never sure of himself but he certainly gave us everything in hopes that we would be able to live more comfortable, happier lives once we were older.”

She paused, her eyes drifting off as she looked down at the sand. “He grew sick with age and by then, I was already married. I had my own family to take care of, my own children, and a husband who was quite difficult. I couldn’t help, which left my sister as his sole caretaker. She was burdened by it and I knew how much it hurt her when I told her I couldn’t help her.” Auntie Rayne’s face twisted as she slowly made her way back to the table. She sat down on her cushion, folding her skirt neatly beneath her. Her hands then folded in her lap. Jake lowered down onto his cushion as well, quiet as he waited for her to continue.

“I left the two of them behind and turned my back on them. For many years she struggled with him. She was always so stressed with her work, with men plaguing her, and with our father’s constant health needs. When he finally passed, I thought your mother would finally be free. I thought my sister would finally be able to find happiness and would finally decide to begin her own family…” Auntie Rayne’s voice trailed off. Her eyes twinkled in the light, water brewing at the dams.

“But instead she began the opposite. In those last few years, I watched her slowly forget how to smile. She lost that sweet, beautiful songbird voice of hers. The luster in her hair and eyes faded and she became a cold, shallow shadow of herself. She remained beautiful but she grew such sharp thorns that no man dared get close to her anymore.” Then, Auntie looked up and met Jake’s eyes finally. She smiled, ever so faintly.

“Then your father appeared. Like a whirlwind, he stumbled into the village with his gaggle of buffoons shouting and raving about how they were going to ‘conquer the ravine’.” She let out a sigh, a heavy one. “Many like them had come before but something about them was different. The energy they brought, their mentality, their equipment. They were different. Something about them, the air around them, the twinkle in their eyes. It was as if those before them were just men calling themselves Adventurers… Your father and his band. They were the real thing.”

For a moment, Jake felt a little pride bubble in his stomach. However, he couldn’t find a way to smile.

“The third night they spent here, the night before their expedition, they all drank themselves to collapse. It was quite the show. Add in your father’s constant reminders of how they would defeat whatever lurked in the Ravine and return with countless treasures and soon, even your mother’s patience ran out. When she snapped she practically attacked your father. She berated him and his men and shouted all sorts of obscenities I never thought she knew. Your father stood there, smiling and laughing through it all, only flinched once.” Jake’s Auntie raised a finger. “When she called him a liar.”

“He took that to heart. The joyful cheers stopped. The drinks were set down. Your father’s men all stared at him. He downed his drink, slammed the cup on the table, and with a thunderous voice he shouted- ‘If I return from that place, then I’ll take you as my wife’.” Auntie Rayne paused, her eyes rolling as he let out a stifled laugh. “It caused even more cheers and riled up my sister even more to the point that we had to pull her away from him.”

“She showed her childish side for the first time in a long, long while. She actually slapped him a few times. Once they paid their tab, she ran them out and said that they weren’t allowed back.” Auntie Rayne paused once more, her face tensing up as she folded her hands neatly on the table.

“They left the next morning without a word. The sun wasn’t even up and only two guards were awake to see them off. Unlike the night before, the Adventurers were quiet, tense. Except for your father. He was still smiling when he left. Your mother, though she would never admit it, was uneasy. We all were. It was trading day but it was the quietest day of trade I had ever seen. Everyone in the village was waiting. As if all of our eyes were watching the horizon, waiting for the first silhouette to come back. One extra Guard was placed on duty. His only purpose to watch in the direction of the Ravine.”

Auntie Rayne’s hands squeezed together as she grimaced. She started to tremble, her tongue caught in her throat. Seeing this, Jake reached out and placed his hand softly on top of hers. She smiled at him.

“Three days passed. The caravan waited for as long as it could but they were forced to move on. More time passed… We all thought they were dead. Whatever was in the Ravine, we were all starting to believe it had got to them.” Auntie Rayne’s hands stopped shaking and she closed her eyes. “Then, the Guard shouted. He saw a group approaching from the Ravine. It was late at night but the whole village woke up to welcome them back. Eight of them left for the Ravine. Seven returned, and of those seven not a single one wasn’t injured. They had lost their Elven friend and all they had left of him was a bow.

The village was primed to cheer but your father’s group was defeated, not victorious. Whatever they had seen in the Ravine had run through them. They returned to the tent where your mother worked, the last and only tent still open so late at night, and they sat around a table in the corner. Your mother tried to shoo them, but they didn’t listen. Though there were seven of them, your father ordered eight drinks.” Auntie Rayne sighed and her hands separated. She placed them on her lap as she sat up.

“Your mother, no fool to death, understood just what that meant. She brought them nine drinks. One for each of the survivors. One for the dead. And one for herself. It was quite the surprise to all of us, them even more, but it brought a smile to their faces. That night, they drank in somber silence, remembering their friend and telling stories about him. He may have been gone but they would never forget him. At the end of the night, your father spread the drink of their fallen comrade amongst his brethren and they drank it together. They turned the night into a celebration, and for the first time in a long while, I finally saw my sister smile.” Auntie Rayne’s lips curled into a smile, finally, as she turned her head to look over at her nephew.

“The adventurers and your father spent the next month here, waiting for the next caravan to come through. They helped with daily tasks, drinking themselves to the edge of death every night, and your father constantly approached my sister. She kept him at arm’s length, but it was clear. He was determined and she wasn’t exactly one to keep fighting such a persistent man. She put up a front to everyone, but I and the other girls could see it clear as day- she was far happier with him around than she was before.

When the day came for them to leave, your father asked her to go with the one last time. She initially refused and tried to give him an excuse, but the excuse she had was brittle. He tried every angle up until the very last minute when the caravan could wait no longer. She had a home here, and while she wasn’t exactly happy- this was her whole world. But, I and the other girls wouldn’t let such a binding place hold her back. We packed her things without her knowing and put them all into the caravan’s carts with the other adventurers. When she returned to her tent and saw nothing left, that’s when we practically shooed her off.

I didn’t like him much. His attitude, his looks, his language. I didn’t like how he always seemed to be off in his own world or looking beyond where he was to somewhere better. I didn’t like his friends and how they all seemed to glow in their own sphere. It made my life seem too bleak and mundane… but the way your mother lit up whenever your father approached her, I couldn’t get in the way of that love.”

Auntie finally stopped talking and sat for a few moments in silence. She stood up and turned to look at Jake. He could feel tears in his eyes as she walked over to him. The woman who had cared for him also looked as though she was on the brink of tears, which was likely why she knelt and pulled him into one of the tightest hugs he had ever felt. Her embrace was warm and soft, but so tight.

“She loved you two so much. When she came back with you in her arms, she was the happiest woman in the world. She always talked of how she was going to raise you to be great like your father, of how she wanted you to go off and see the world as she did. She never wanted you to be bound to this village as she had been. Up until the moment she closed her eyes, she wanted that for you.” Auntie trembled as she held him, and Jake couldn’t help but hug her tight. She pulled away from him after a long while and knelt in front of him. Her cheeks were wet.

“I was always scared that you might leave and never come back, like your father. I always feared that something would come to hurt you if you decided to leave. I wanted to hold you here and keep you safe from the world because I was always so afraid. But I can’t do that anymore. It’s not what your mother would want for you, and that little necklace is proof of that.” Auntie leaned her head forward, placing her forehead against his. Jake shivered and stared into her soft eyes.

“I love you like a son, Lyaha, but you are not mine. You are hers. And I want you to be happy. Above everything else- that is all I ever wish for you to be. Okay?”

“Yes, Auntie.” Jake nodded. Auntie pulled him into another embrace and held him tightly once more.

“No matter what you choose to do, know that this place will always be a home for you to come back to.” She placed her lips on the top of his head and kissed him softly. It was a soft kiss, one he hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

“Yes, Auntie.” Jake could say nothing else and he remained there, quiet in her arms until she decided to let go of him.

“Now, how about something to eat, yes?” She smiled softly and looked at him. She wiped at the edges of her eyes and hummed at him.

“Okay.” He wiped off his face as well and nodded.

In the corner of the room, seemingly forgotten by the two as they began to prepare lunch- Chul watched Jake and his Auntie in silence. After a few moments, he receded to the top of the tent and withdrew himself into the shadows. He slipped out of the tent and moved a short distance away into a crevice between a rocky outcropping. He nestled himself into the space and let himself rest out of the sun, and out of view. For a few moments, he too let himself reminisce.

He remembered the cool, damp air of his home den. He remembered the first time his Brood mother returned from a hunt. He remembered watching as she taught him and his siblings how to spin their first webs. He remembered her coaxing voice, nudging him along as he took his first steps out of the den and into the network of caves that would be his home.

“You’re going to be a big boy one day, Chul. Make sure to protect your sisters when that day comes, okay?” His mother had said.

“Yes, mother.” He had answered, confident and brave. He had believed that one day, he would be able to fight anything. Anyone. He was confident that he could defend the den. His older siblings teased him for his attitude and his younger siblings all mocked him, but Chul remained focused. He was the youngest of the boys, but he wouldn’t let that stop him.

…Memories like that he had forgotten for some time. But now… they came to the surface so easily.

“Look after your sisters- would you?”

“Come back here! You know that’s dangerous!”

“You are bigger than them. You need to be more gentle.”

“Oh, my little Chul…”

“You’ve grown, Chul.”

“My baby boy. Why are you always such trouble for me?”

“Chul! Why do you never listen to me?!”

“That’s my boy. You’re almost big enough.”

“Wait here, Chul. Protect your sisters, okay?”

“Run! Hurry! The Humans are here!”

Chul curled up and for the first time in a long while, he felt a bit cold.