After Grandmaster [Jan Short Story - Frith Chronicles]

Hey peeps!

Here is one of TWO short stories for Jan! This one is in the Frith Chronicles universe! It takes place immediately AFTER Grandmaster, so if you haven't finished, maybe wait to read it. o.o

Hope you all enjoy!

After Grandmaster

I couldn’t have been happier to see my home.

The shadows shifted around my feet as I walked along the stone pathway to the front door. It was so odd, having Luthair with me again. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the darkness. Every time I spotted the shadows fluttering in the corners of rooms or along the road, I smiled.

The runes on my arm seemed useless, now. I rubbed at the sparkling tattoo marks as I made my way through the garden. Despite the fact that Evianna’s augmentation now did nothing—since I could see in the dark without her magic—I still cherished the magic enchantment.

A little part of Evianna’s magic was always with me.

“Dad?”

I stopped walking and turned.

Without my tremor sense, I couldn’t detect the other people in the garden. That upset me—just thinking about Terrakona, and our magics together—but I took a deep breath and then lifted an eyebrow. “Yes?”

Lyvia stepped out from behind a rose rush, her white hair tangled, her fingers dirty with fresh soil. She stared at me with wide, purple eyes.

“You’re back?” she asked.

“That’s right.” I knelt and held out my arms.

Lyvia smiled wide. She ran over and threw herself into me, no reservations. When she squeezed her arms around my neck in a hug, it was the hardest she could muster. I laughed as I stood, lifting her with me.

“Mom said you weren’t coming home for a while,” Lyvia muttered into my shoulder.

“I’m here now, aren’t I?”

The darkness swirled around my feet. “You have children, my arcanist?”

I nodded as I turned toward the front door. “There’s a lot you don’t know.” I reached for the handle and stepped inside. The smell of dried flowers hanging on ropes near the windows invigorated me. Evianna and our children had been learning all about scents. She had helped them make candles, just as an experiment.

Remembering all that brought a pleasant warmth to my chest.

I set Lyvia down on the carpet in the main sitting room. She stared up at me with a huge smile, her dress dirty, her leggings stained.

“Luthair, this is my youngest, Lyvia.” I pointed to the shifting shadows. “Lyvia, this is my knightmare.”

“You have one, too?” Lyvia’s brow furrowed. She pointed to my forehead. “What’s wrong, Dad? Why do you have that?”

I rubbed at my skin. Then I stood straight and headed to the far wall. Evianna had hung a mirror there several months ago. I stood in front of it, my attention focused on my glowing arcanist mark. The seven-pointed star had a sword and cape woven throughout the points. The marking glowed with a powerful inner white.

I almost turned away, content in knowing nothing was wrong, but then I saw a flicker of red through my mark. I ran my hand over the glowing lines, worried I was bleeding. But there was nothing there. The red streaked through the white glow occasionally, like a flicker of flame.

It reminded me of the dread form arcanists. Theirmarks had been red.

“Are you okay?” Lyvia shuffled closer. “Where is Terrakona?”

I turned to face her and smiled. “Everything is fine. And Terrakona’s job here was done so… he went home.”

“So… out in the water?”

The far door opened and out stepped Rylee. Her eyes went as wide as coins the moment she spotted me.

“Dad,” she breathed. Then she ran to my side and wrapped her arms around my stomach. “You’re here? Mom said… you wouldn’t be here anymore.” She didn’t blink. She just stared up at me.

I placed a hand on her black hair, thankful she hadn’t inherited my unruly locks, even if she did inherent my raven color.

“She said I wouldn’t be here?” I repeated. “Is that what she said exactly?”

Rylee nodded once. “She said… you wouldn’t be coming home because you couldn’t. She said she’d tell us why when we were older.”

The darkness in the room came together and coalesced into solid form. Luthair lifted from the floor, his hollow armor clinking as he took his place in the room with me and my family. His cape’s inner lining sparkled with the beauty of a clear night sky.

Rylee released me and jumped backward. She held her breath, her eyebrows knitted.

Unlike Evianna’s knightmare, Layshl, my knightmare was more… monstrous. Luthair had spikes and spines, and his gauntlets and boots were curved into claws. Despite that, he held himself with a regal bearing. When Rylee approached, Luthair stood still, his empty helmet devoid of all emotion.

Rylee touched Luthair’s cape. She gently rubbed the mythical fabric between her fingers.

“I like this,” she whispered.

“Thank you,” Luthair said, his voice dark and echoing in his armor.

Lyvia shivered and jumped behind my legs. She gripped my trousers and frowned.

Not Rylee. She giggled as she brought the cape up to her cheek and rubbed it across the softest part of her face. With a smile, Rylee turned to me. “Can I play with him? Please! I’ll take good care of him.”

Nothing would’ve made me happier to introduce all my children to Luthair, and to get them use to his presence now that Terrakona was… gone. But I knew I needed to see Evianna before I did anything else. She told the children I wouldn’t be returning? Word of the god-arcanist’s death had obviously spread. Illia had rushed to the beach, after all. Had Evianna stayed here, with Will, Rylee, and Lyvia, just to comfort them?

If she thought I was dead, I would have to correct that.

“Luthair, can you watch my two girls?” I asked.

He nodded once, silent as the armor that decorated castle halls. Rylee squealed and leapt up and down. Lyvia seemed reluctant, but she stepped away from me and closer to her sister. I was certain they would be fine. I trust Luthair with my life—and I knew he would protect my girls no matter the circumstance.

Then I stepped into the darkness.

Well, I tried to step into the darkness. With familiar ease, I slid into the shadows, the cold power of shadow-stepping rushing over me. I remembered it well. But finding an exit seemed strange. It had been so long since I had done this with my own magic…

It took me a moment to step upward.

I found myself in the long hallway just outside my bedroom. I stumbled for a moment, my footing unsteady. It would take me a bit to get used to my new powers. Well, my old powers, but still.

I grabbed the doorhandle, but stopped when I heard the muffled sounds of crying. There was probably a better response than slamming the door open, and denting part of the wall in my haste and anger, but I didn’t think of it.

Evianna and Will jolted upright at my entrance. They both sat at the foot of my bed, Evianna’s hand on Will’s. My son stared at me for a long moment, his eyes growing wider with each passing second.

“D-Dad?” he asked. “But… Mom just said…”

His violet eyes were glassy with tears, and when Evianna stood, it was clear to me that she had been the one crying. She had told our son I perished? Was it because he was the oldest? Or because he was just a little more mature than his sisters?

“Mom said you were dead,” Will finally finished as he rubbed his face.

“Well…” I rubbed at the back of my neck. “Only a little bit. And I got better.”

I thought the joke would ease some of the tension, but I was wrong.

Evianna shadow-stepped across the room in an instant. She lifted out the darkness and grabbed my arm, her grip tight. I figured she was going to slap me—for leaving her here when I knew something terrible was about to happen—but she didn’t. Instead, Evianna’s lip quavered. She held my arm and then finally embraced me, her heart hammering so hard I felt it through her button-up shirt.

“What’s wrong with you?” she hissed under her breath.

I returned the hug, unable to stop smiling. “I’m sorry.”

“I was handed a letter that said the god-arcanists were dead.”

“I really am sorry.”

“Word spread that the apoch dragon had appeared…”

I didn’t know what to say anymore. I could apologize for a third time, but it was starting to feel lame. What was I supposed to say? I didn’t want her to be there when the dragon of death appeared.

She tightened her grip on my shirt. “We’re supposed to do everything together.”

“I didn’t want to leave the children alone,” I whispered.

Evianna didn’t say anything after that.

Will must’ve sensed our quiet argument, because he approached slowly. The white streak of hair through his black locks were quite distinct. I almost made a comment about how I missed it—missed him—but I hadn’t been that long. Just two days. It was ridiculous to say I missed him in such a short period. Wasn’t it?

That was how I felt, though.

“Dad?” Will asked.

I turned to him. Evianna didn’t release me. “Yes?”

“Your arcanist mark… Mom is right, isn’t she? All the god-arcanists died.”

The statement hurt, like a stab to the chest. But I shook away the lingering thoughts and nodded. “All the god-arcanists are dead. I’m just a knightmare arcanist now.”

“A true form knightmare arcanist?” Will pointed to my forehead.

I half-nodded. “Something like that…”

When Evianna glanced up at it, she narrowed her eyes. Her attention went to my mark. She no doubt saw the flashes of red. “Are you okay?” she whispered.

“Yes,” I said. “I think it’s just… a side effect of what happened to Luthair. But I feel fine.”

Without warning, Evianna stepped away from me. She folded her arms across her chest and glared, both angry and playful. “Volke Savan. I can’t believe you. I will not accept a simple apology for this. I won’t.”

Will tapped his fingertips together. “M-Mom? You’re mad? You’re not happy Dad is back?”

“Your father has a lot of explaining to do.” Evianna narrowed her eyes further. “Do you know what I went through?” She rubbed her eyes and cleared her face of her crying. “I was upset. More than upset.”

“I’ll make it up to you,” I said. “I promise. I’m so sorry I put you through any pain.”

Our son stood next to me, like I needed defending. He placed a hand on my side and frowned. “I’m sure Dad didn’t mean to make you upset.”

Evianna just stared at me. She lifted an eyebrow, as if to say, How are you going to make this up to me? I wasn’t sure what she wanted, or how I could make it better, but I would do anything. The happiness I felt from seeing my family again washed away any negative.

“I’ll do anything,” I said to her, my voice low.

A small smile crept to the corners of her lips. “Well then, I know we agreed we’d only have three children, but I think I might want a fourth.”

Will jerked his hand away from me and made a gagging sound. Then he shook his head. “Mom. I’m right here.”

“I think you should go see your sisters,” Evianna stated.

“They’re playing with Luthair,” I said, never glancing down at Will.

My son’s excitement shone through in his words, though. I could practically see him smiling. “Your knightmare? The one from all the stories? He’s here?” Will hurried for the door, threw it open, and rushed down the hallway.

Once alone with my wife, I relaxed. Evianna looked at me with sweet—somewhat predatory—eyes. I wanted to tell her everything about the apoch dragon, and Atty’s true form phoenix, and what the others had been doing for all these years.

But perhaps it could wait just a bit.