Fortitude
Having long, straight, brown hair and deep pine - green eyes, Zephyr, similar to her master, was also quite unique in comparison to the other denizens of Rhine. She was wearing a plain white blouse and a long brown skirt - just as of a normal lady. She also had a brown muffler rested on her shoulders. Her hands were in front of her, overlapping the right by the left. Her kind of walking was very conservative. She had halcyon steps, which made her quite a lady. She was quiet, and her eyes, although very serene, were focused only at front of her. She never turned her head. From her simple appearance and from her noble attitude, we can conclude that Zephyr was a fine lady - a fine Familiar.
The sun was rising high when they have returned to the inn where they were once before. The inn was a building of two stories. It was poorly painted and was dirty. The door was flimsy and some window glasses were already broken. Vanguard, Charles’ large wolf, was found inside the stables. When they came inside, the scene was considerably different from what most of us thought of it. The interior was sanitary, and the walls were well - painted. They headed upstairs. Some of the rooms were occupied; some were empty. After entering the room, they sat on the clean chairs inside. We don't know why they are here, but we do know that they were about to leave tomorrow morning. They just stayed here for the night.
Like the conversation before, the conversation here was commenced again by Charles. After sitting down for a while, he began to stand up.
“John, Zephyr,” he spoke in a serious manner.
John’s attention was quickly caught, knowing that his comical friend has gone grave. Zephyr just stared at him. Charles continued:
“I’ll be leaving you two for a while. I’m just going somewhere.”
“Where are you going?” John asked in reply.
“That’s the thing I can’t tell you. And by the way, I guess I’ll take about several hours before I return. So you must take care of yourselves. John, good luck!” he answered with a jest, thinking that he can obliterate the curiosity of his companion.
And then he left after gently and coldly closing the door. He thought he succeeded, he thought wrong.
John, without being surprised or embarrassed about his companion’s joke, was quite puzzled. What will he do? Charles rode with Vanguard and went away, away from the others, away from the town.
After a while riding on Vanguard, he finally stopped and dismantled from his Familiar. His typical, radiant beam was turned into a miserable frown. A shade of despair and grief welcomed him. What did he saw? Why did he went there?
He was in the middle of a graveyard. Tombstones around him stood like a mourning society. The sky darkened, signaling an incoming tempest. He walked forward to a distinct direction. After a few moments, he now found himself in front of a special gravestone. There was something written in the stone: “Mr. and Mrs. Gaea”. These were the names that were fruitfully seeded inside Charles’ thoughts. These were the names of his parents.
He knelt down as a knight genuflecting in front of his king. He wanted to stand up, but his heart resisted. Like his comrade, Charles also had a past of distress and despair. He had a reminiscence of his melancholy, the reason why his parents were no longer by his side. He closed his eyes, and tears began to tumble out from them.
From the darkness he saw a village, and it wasn’t any village – it was his village. The village was burning severely. The ambiance was cruel and red, and no one can see even a solitary star in the dreadful night, for they were shelled by the dark smoke. There were children screaming and wives weeping. It was a portrait of an impended doom.
Outside their house, Charles saw himself seventeen years younger, together with his parents. It was his eight birthday when his father mounted him to Vanguard. Although Charles was quite youthful, Vanguard’s age didn’t seem to be altered. Charles’ mother was beside her husband and was very worried, not for herself nor to her spouse, but for her son. Charles’ father spoke, as if he was speaking to Vanguard:
“Take our son to the Talon Family. You know where they are. Now, go!”
Vanguard galloped, carrying the innocent Charles at his back. The cause of the tragedy was unknown to him. His mind was filled with anxiety and confusion, for he was very young to experience such catastrophe. All he was able to do was to look back to the village, and to his parents, saying a silent farewell to them. The view of the site was going into an abyss of darkness and hatred when it suddenly halted. It stopped.
Charles’ nostalgia was disturbed. He heard two pairs of footsteps in the grass.
He saw John and Zephyr at his back.
“It’s going to rain hard. Let’s go.”
“How did you get here? How did you find me? Why....”
“We’ve been together for seventeen years. I already knew what you’re thinking back then, Charles Gaea.”
Charles, with his deluged face being washed by the drizzle, stood up straight and turned to them. With a sudden change of heart, he uttered:
“So, you did nothing to Zephyr huh? You’re such an absurd idiot, John Talon.”
John’s eyes shrank and his face turned impassive again. It was his special gesture. But inside of him, he was somewhat glad that they, perhaps he, had a friend such as Charles.
Charles was back to normal.
To be continued...
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