CHAPTER 95: RUN LIKE HELL

Stahl turned back towards her nephew and answered the previously reserved fox with a sense of pride that he had actually gotten those words out without his voice faltering.

"Ah... So... It is about a certain white wolf then?"

Rust looked away in embarrassment but finally nodded ever so slightly. Stahl chuckled just a bit at the confession finally coming out as she gave what advice she could.

"Well... I think we can both agree that I don’t really understand how their head works... But usually, the best thing to do in that situation is to just tell them, no matter how hard it may be, to get the words out. Make a bit of time to get them alone, maybe somewhere special if you can really plan for it, and just tell them how you feel... You can try giving them a small gift, but don’t go too overboard at first. Even if it doesn’t go how you plan, that’s really the only choice we have sometimes. Trust me, bud, love is always weird at first."

Rust cracked his own smile and spoke a bit before getting to his next question.

"Thanks, I guess... I mean, I don’t know if that actually helped, but it did give me an idea. I’ll accept that answer... For clarification, does a full set of armor count as too much for a first gift?"

Stahl laughed at her nephew’s brazen jab at her gift to Aster but knew the fox was just giving her a taste of her own medicine. The cub HAD been raised by wolves after all. Rust looked at his auntie one more time as he finally spoke in his most serious tone yet.

"Last question... Please don’t take this the wrong way... But will you tell me the truth about Aster? I know there’s a lot that doesn’t make sense... I like him, he’s a good uncle, but it’s sort of scary not knowing sometimes. I want to know if something bad could happen, I want you to treat me like I’m an adult on this... It worries me because I know how much you like him. It can wait until after all of this, but I want to know too."

Stahl took a deep breath in and let out a heavy sigh. Yeah, she had been expecting that one for a while. Rust was sharp enough to know some things weren’t adding up. Even Stahl worried about some of those darker tellings...

But the she-wolf agreed with the fox. It was high time he learned. She wouldn’t reveal the full details on the darker parts, or things like Aster being a king by birthright, but she would tell the fox.

"Alright. Yeah, I swear, as soon as this is over, I’ll give you that conversation... But he gets to be part of it. Sound fair?"

Rust nodded. That was enough for him. His auntie always kept a promise. Speaking of promises, the fox repeated his earlier question once again.

"Alright, that’s three. What’s the promise?" The fox raised his own brow then as he looked up to the wolf. It was Stahl’s turn to feel uncomfortable, but she had to be sure she said it... Just in case... It was war, after all.

"I want you to take a short break here in a bit... I want you to get a satchel, fill it with as much water and food as you can carry, and I want you to keep it on you when the fighting starts. Take this as well."

Stahl dropped a small bag of coins in the fox’s hand, something Aster had agreed he should have if something went wrong. Rust fidgeted nervously, not sure what to make of his auntie’s shift in tone.

Stahl continued on anyway. "If something happens... If everything falls apart tonight, you run. You run west, or you run south. It all depends, which is clear. If you can get out with others, great, but don’t you stop running, no matter what you see, no matter what you hear, no matter who calls for help... You go. If I see it heading badly, I’ll try to come find you, but don’t wait for me. If our defenses fall, you do not!"

Stahl placed a hand on Rust’s shoulder as she finished, and the fox really started to get scared then. His auntie’s hand was trembling. Stahl was afraid. Tan broke the silence with a light cough as he spoke.

"I agree with your aunt. This is no light matter... Here, you can take these to a place near the pub. You’ll see a smaller orc there waiting for you. Do what you were asked while you are out."

Tan walked over to Rust and placed a bag of what looked like tiny spikes before the fox, the same ones he had been touching up most of the morning. Rust gave the orc an inquisitive stare, but Tan only continued on the previous subject.

"At my age, I’ve learned a thing or two about the cruelty of such conflict for the losing side. You should be scared, young Rosten... You should know how bad it can get and how suddenly it can all shift... How merciless these creatures will attack even the defenseless... That’s a part of being an adult in a situation like this one after all..."

The orc turned to Stahl before he finished speaking his thoughts.

"I’ll be one of the final walls to protect those that won’t be fighting, so I’ll make sure he gets out if he needs to, I swear it."

Rust simply sighed in his defeat. He couldn’t argue with both of them anyway. So the fox picked up the bag of "Needles," as Tan had called them, and walked from behind the counter to the door. Stahl called out once more before the fox opened it.

"Rust... You didn’t answer. Do you promise me?"

The fox looked at his auntie and saw she really was worried about all of this. The fox forced a smile and nodded as he gave his reply.

"I promise."

The cub made his leave then, and the she-wolf turned to the orc the moment the door closed behind him.

"Thank you..."

Tan only grunted and gave a nod. He understood. The orc went to where the fox had been working beside the wolf and picked up the whetstone and the blade as he deftly got back to work.

Stahl joined him, and the two worked on in proficient silence, neither wanting to discuss things potentially going wrong any further.

___

Jagón wasn’t sure how he had ended up where he had, but he didn’t have the mental capacity to dwell on it too much anyway at that time.

All the panther knew at first, was the sense of falling through darkness for an immeasurable period of time, when suddenly, as if he were always there, the panther knight found himself laying on his back amongst a field of the most aromatic, and colorful flowers he had ever bore witness to.

While the sun was shining brightly in the sky, the only light that reached the panther was that which framed the silhouette of the person that was looking down at him.

Jagón could not bring their face into focus, but there was something familiar about them, something that remained just out of reach of his recognition. Even so, the panther had no worry, even when he realized his head was resting on her lap.

The silhouette brought a hand to his brow and affectionately began petting at the fur there. The figure started singing then, and while Jagón couldn’t understand a word of it, the panther definitely recognized the melody, although that full recollection too remained just out of his reach.

Even so, as the song progressed on, the panther found himself staring up at the bearer of the enchanting voice.

The song coaxed things from the panther, forcing memories of all the horrible things he had done to come flooding to the forefront of his mind. As the panther relived his guilt, the memories overflowed into his eyes, and they formed into the most painful tears the great knight had shed since losing his wife so many years ago.

Those tears fell endlessly as the exhausted general silently wept a steady stream to fall to the lap he rested his weary head atop.

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