Chapter 13

  The crimson guard

  (Koa)

  The journey to the Iron-Ridge was a trip through a world of vertical shadows and frost. Kane and Koa moved in desperation, bypassing Royalist sentries by sticking to "Dead Man’s Pass"—a narrow, crumbling goat path that hung precariously over a misty ravine. As they crested the final peak, the two stone "fangs" loomed ahead, glowing like ghosts in the moonlight.

  The plateau was silent, save for the whistling wind. As they stepped onto the flat stone, three shapes materialized from the darkness. They didn't lunge; they simply stood their ground, their fur silvered by the frost.

  "Halt," a massive, ash-colored wolf commanded. His voice was like grinding stone. He looked at Kane’s torn royal tunic and then at Koa’s jagged scar, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You carry the scent of the High Castle. We have already had one 'visit' from your kind this week. Why have you come to complete the massacre?"

  Koa stepped forward, the garnet-red hilt of his sword glowing softly. "We aren't here for blood. My name is Koa. This is Kane." He gestured to himself and Kane who nodded.

  At the mention of the name, the ash-colored wolf—Vine—stiffened. He stepped closer, his gaze fixed intently on Koa’s face, searching for a ghost he hadn't seen in years. "Koa?" he breathed, his voice losing its edge of steel. "The son of Kairo?"

  Koa blinked, stunned but also suspicious. "You knew my father?"

  "I knew his heart," Vine said, signaling for Sola and Taka to lower their defensive stances. They relaxed, shoulders slumping a bit more and sitting down next to Vine’s still standing position. "But I do not know you. And I certainly do not know why a Prince of the Royal line is traveling with a Rogue."

  "We are the 'Original Council,'" Sola added, her white-masked eyes scanning the horizon for followers. "Our ancestors were exiled by both your bloodlines for wanting peace. We have no reason to trust either of you." she said, eyeing them with an untrusting look.

  "You have a reason to trust the truth," Kane said, finally speaking up. "Onyx lied to our Queen. He told her you attacked him. He’s using that lie to start a war that will destroy everything our fathers—and yours—built."

  Vine looked at Kane with a cold curiosity. "You speak of peace, Prince, yet your mother was the one who perfected the art of war. But Koa..." He turned back to the Rogue, his expression softening into a grim solemnity. "Kairo spoke of you often. On the nights he climbed this ridge in secret, he told me he was fighting for a world where his son wouldn't have to live in the shadows of the caves."

  "He was here?" Koa asked, his voice barely a whisper. "He came to the Iron-Ridge?"

  "He came for counsel," Vine revealed. "He knew something was being planned, every whisper caught his ear and he knew it all."

  “That’s how he heard our mother..” Koa breathed out, the truth now in plain sight.

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  “Your father had another power, heightened hearing. You probably inherited it. Either you or your sister.” Vine shrugged.

  “I think my sister inherited it,” Koa responded, feeling a pang of jealousy and his jaw clenched slightly because of the fact that she got their fathers hearing and not him. He glanced down at the sword and smiled to himself.

  “He left something for you,” Vine said, barely a smile on his face as he watched Koa’s reaction carefully.

  “He did?” Koa’s head snapped up, desperation creeping into his voice despite his struggles.

  Vine nodded.

  Vine turned and paced toward a small stone cairn near the fangs. He moved a heavy rock, revealing a small bundle. "He left this with me. He said if he didn't return, it was because she had finally caught him. He wanted it kept away from the castle until someone with 'true sight' came looking for it."

  Vine unwrapped the bundle to reveal a sword guard, blood red and glowing faintly once the moonlight hit it.

  "Koa," Vine said, his eyes flashing with sudden guilt. "This was his present for your 3rd birthday but….. He never made it that far..."

  Koa took the guard, the metal feeling ice-cold in his paw. The garnet aura of his sword surged, turning the frost on the ground to a brilliant, red. He took his sword off his chest and slid the guard onto it. The sword glowed brightly and they all looked away because of the brightness. The glow faded and they all turned back to look at the sword. The metal guard looked bound into the sword somehow and small garnet colored particles were flying from it. Koa’s jaw dropped slightly as he turned and angled the sword, catching the moonlight and glistening slightly.

  “Woah..” he said softly and under his breath while Kane looked at the sword in awe

  “Woah is right..” He agreed, stepping forward and closer to his side now.

  “It’s said to break any of the thickest and hardest chains.” Vine cut in, having remembered Kairo’s words.

  Koa and Kane’s heads both snapped up and they both looked at each other.

  “Thickest chains like…” Koa looked at Vine, looking at Vine with renewed hope.

  “Like even magical ones?” Kane finished, the same amount of hope in his eyes.

  “Most likely?” Vine said, uncertainty and confusion creeping into his voice.

  Koa looked at Kane who eventually met his gaze. “There’s hope, we can do this.”

  Kane nodded, his own eyes betraying the look of desperation.

  “Anything, we have to try.” Kane looked at Vine and saw how his eyes softened at their hope.

  “Thank you,” Koa said, looking up at Vine as well.

  “Don’t thank me,” Vine said, standing up again and preparing to depart.

  “Thank your father.” He finished, nodding to Taka and Sola who stood up beside him now. They turned, walking back into the shadows as Koa and Kane watched them, their faces flashing with a bit of disappointment.

  Vine paused, feeling their stares.

  “Hey prince’s?” He turned his head and looked at them.

  They both tilted their heads, as Vine’s face softened even more.

  “Come get me once the war is over?” He asked with hope finding its way into his voice.

  Kane and Koa exchanged a soft look and nodded.

  Vine turned back around, disappearing into the shadows along with the other two beside him, leaving Koa and Kane alone with only their thoughts.

  End of chapter 13