Brotherhood Saga 03: Death (48 page)

Who were they, Nova wondered, to be following them through a forest dark and tragic? His friend had spoken of his ancestral homeland, which could only be the Abroen and where the Elves dwelled, but could Odin really be there, so far south and away from where mo
st of humanity dwelled? And what of this man—this
full lipped, stubble-covered
person—who seemed so drawn to Odin that his hand first strayed to his back, then down his spine, toward the curve of his lower back and the inch of skin across his waist?

Could, after all this time, Odin have found a lover?

That’s ridiculous,
Nova pondered, somehow able to have concentrated and concise thought despite the vision playing before him.
Odin isn’t queer.

Did
that really matter, though, so long as his friend was happy?

The vision, as framed and lit by white light as it was, began to fade.

Desperate to hold on to the image, Nova pressed his eyes shut as tightly as possible and clawed at the bed sheets curled beneath his fingers.

He had to see just what was about to happen.

Come on. You can do this.

A spike of pain lit the front of his vision.

He groaned.

The image shifted, faltered, then began to slip away.

He couldn’t lose hold on the only remaining glimpse of his friend.

We have to keep going,
the older man whispered.
We have—

A hand pressed against Nova
’s chest.

Breath escaped his throat.

The ceiling came into view.

“Nova,” a voice said.

In but one moment, the last fleeting glimpse of his friend and the man who stood beside him faded into the air.

A long deep breath entered his nose, then escaped out his throat.

His vision cleared.

Katarina hovered above him, face struck in horror.

“Nova,” she said, reaching up to press a hand against his cheek. “What’s wrong?”

“I had a vision,” he gasped, inhaling another breath of air.

“You were shaking.”

“Shaking?”

“The whole bed was vibrating,” Ketrak said, drawing Nova’s eyes to Katarina’s side. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I
’m fine,” Nova said. “Really, I’m—“

“Y
ou’ve never done this before,” Katarina said. “Never.”

“I was just having a vision.”

“Are you sure it was a vision, Nova? Because if you ask me, this had to have been something much worse.”

“I
’m all right,” he said, pushing himself back up.

His vision dipped.

His world began to spin.

“All right,” he sighed, pressing a hand to his face and applying the slightest pressure to his forehead. “Maybe something is wrong.”

“We need to get you to the infirmary,” Ketrak said. “Now.”

“You say you’ve never had a seizure before,” the healer said, guiding his hand along the curve of Nova’s skull and channeling what felt like soft, warm pressure into his head.

“A seizure?” Nova frowned. “What are you—“

“If what your wife and father-in-law said was true,” the man continued, pressing his palm to Nova’s brow and channeling yet more energy down his palm, “then what you experienced no more than a few moments ago was what is known as—“

“I know what a seizure is,” Nova interrupted, waiting for the healer to finish before pushing himself up. “I didn
’t have a seizure. I know that already. I had a vision.”

“You
’ve never done this before,” Katarina said, crossing her arms over her chest. Her eyes strayed to his face before her gaze faltered and fell to the ground.

“I haven
’t had a vision in years, Katarina.”

“I thought—“

“The last one I had was five years ago, when I saw Odin up in the tower and the figure—“

“What figure?”

“Told me to help him,” Nova sighed, brushing the comment off as if it were nothing more than a fly.

“Did this happen the last time you experienced this?” the healer frowned. “Because if so, it would make sense that this sort of behavior would occur, especially if your body is acting the exact same way it has in the past.”

“I don’t think so,” Nova said, turning his attention to his wife. “Honey?”

“I
’m not sure,” Katarina sighed, only turning her head up when the conversation ground to a halt and waited for her to continue. “I was sleeping the last time it happened.”

“Surely you would have felt the bed vibrate,” Ketrak said, “especially if his convulsions were as severe as they were this time.”

“Like I said, I don’t know, father.”

“I
’m not exactly sure what is going on then,” the man said, reaching up to brush his hands along his clean-shaven head.

“What am I supposed to do then?” Nova frowned. “Nothing?”

“If it was a seizure, sir—which is highly unlikely, considering that you do have, as you said, the Sight—then the best thing for you right now is a good night’s rest and cool compresses to the head. If you’re worried about it… and if you’re willing… I could treat you here, if you like, but that would require you staying in the infirmary overnight.”

“That
’s fine,” Nova said, standing, then pushing his palm out to shake the man’s hand. “Thank you, sir.”

“Nova,” Katarina sighed.

“Not now, honey.”

“But—“

Before his wife could finish, he turned and began to lead them out of the infirmary.

His family had no choice but to follow.

“What did you see in your vision?” Ketrak asked, passing one of the cool compresses to Katarina and nodding as she placed it over his brow.

“Not now, father,” Katarina said, stroking Nova’s temple as if he were no more than a small bird with broken wings. “He needs to rest.”

“I
’m not dying for God’s sake,” Nova sighed, reaching up to adjust the compress across his head.

“Nova—“

“I dreamed Odin and another man were running away from someone—or, at the least, something.”

“Running?” Ketrak frowned.

“Odin had a book in his hand.”

“A book?” Katarina asked.

“I’m not sure what exactly it was, but before I had the vision, I was having dreams about the man he was with, Odin’s father’s sword and that very same book he was carrying. It felt like…”

Should I tell them?
he thought.
Do I really want to worry them more than I already am?

“It felt like… what?” Katarina asked,
waving her hand before his eyes to draw his attention. “Tell us, Nova.”

“It felt evil.”

“Evil?”

“Like the bad energy was just
pooling
off of its surface.”

“Do you think Odin might be up to something?” Ketrak asked.

“I’m not sure,” Nova sighed, stretching his torso out along the bed and pressing his feet against the footrest. “Even if he is, that’s his business and not mine.”

“You
’re his friend, you know?”

Yeah, but if he
’s doing something illegal and I’m not involved with it, that’s his problem, not mine.

If what he believed was happening were true—if, for some reason, Odin and the man
he was with were being pursued by Elves looking for the thing Odin held—then Odin might have stolen something from the fair creatures; something dark, powerful and, of the utmost intent, evil. One did not see a book in a dream and the energy flowing from it unless it was one of two things: good or evil. He could rule out the positive notion if only because of the color of the energy. Evil, though—that itself was hard to wrap his mind around, let alone grasp with any sort of integrity.

“Whatever Odin
’s doing,” Katarina said, pulling the sheet up Nova’s waist and stroking his dampening hair away from his eyes, “that’s his business and not ours. We should say nothing at all to him upon his arrival.”

“Why?” Ketrak asked. “We
’re his friends.”

“But what Nova saw was meant only to be shared between Odin and the man he
’s with. Besides—we don’t even know if what Nova seen is actually going to happen.”

“I think it is,” Nova said.

“Your visions haven’t been wrong… have they, Nova?”

“From the few I
’ve had, no, they’ve not.”

“Then this must mean Odin is hiding something from us,” Ketrak said.

“You can’t blame him, father. He’s just lost his father.”

“Just because someone loses a family
member doesn’t mean they have to upturn their entire sense of morals, dear.”

“He
’s lost his mind and run away from home. Who are we to judge him for whatever it is he’s doing?”

“None of us should even know what
’s going on or about to happen,” Nova said, shrugging the compress off his head and throwing his legs over the mattress.

“Nova!”

“I’m fine, dear. Don’t worry. I don’t need a damp cloth on my head to know that.”

“What we
’re getting at here is that we shouldn’t say
anything
to
anyone,”
Katarina said, careful to stress each word as though they were a knife cutting into a tender piece of meat. “Including you, father. I know you care about Odin, but now’s not the time to be judging him, especially so soon after his loss.”

“Has anyone even contacted his father?” Ketrak frowned. “I mean, his adoptive one?”

“Not that I know of,” Nova sighed.

“Maybe we should do it,” Katarina said. “Explain to him what
’s going on.”

“I
’ll do it in the morning,” Nova sighed. “Just… not now. There’s too much going on to even consider writing a letter.”

“In the morning, yes. That will be better. Then we
’ll all be rested and of a better mindset.” She seemed to concentrate the last of these words at her father, who simply shook his head, turned, then made his way back to his bed. Katarina turned her attention back on Nova when he started to settle back down. “Put the compress back on your head, honey.”

“I
’m fine.”

“Just do what I say, please.
”

Nova pressed his head back against the pillow and sighed.

Though he did as his wife asked, he couldn’t help but feel as though tomorrow would only bring torment, if only in the form of quill to parchment and the admission of death, defeat and abandonment.

Dear Ectris Karussa,
Nova began, careful to still his trembling hand to write each and every letter as carefully as he could.
I am writing to tell you that something terrible has happened.

To think that one would start a letter
like that was simply outrageous, though as much for pleasantries as he usually was, Nova felt not the inclination or the desire to short the man who’d raised Odin the truth of the situation. With that in mind, Nova dipped the quill back into well of ink, pressed the weights at the four corners of the parchment into place, then bowed his head to continue writing the letter that would deliver to Ectris the fate of Odin’s true father and his adoptive son’s disappearance.

It w
as, without any doubt, that he bore no shortage in telling Ectris about the events that had taken place within the last five weeks—how, after Miko’s tragic death at the Battle and Reclamation of Dwaydor, Odin had succumbed to massive depression and fled the city in the days thereafter to a place he considered his ‘ancestral homeland’ to ‘reclaim what little was left of his life.’ He then added, with little coercion or thought, that upon his deathbed, Miko had revealed that on one long, rainy night, he had left a freshly-born child with a man whom he considered respectful, honest and bearing enough integrity to ensure the infant would grow to be a healthy young child and then a courageous man.

He finished by proclaiming that Odin had not specifically stated when he would return and that, until the young man showed up either at the Ornalan castle or at Ectris
’ home, that it was better they all wait before coming to rash decisions about what Odin planned on doing.

Sincerely,
Nova wrote,
Your Friend, Novalos Eternity.

From the corner of the room, watching h
im with eyes sad and unsure, Katarina rose and began to cross the distance between them. In her gait, as troubled as it was, he sensed a magnitude of emotion that seemed to flow from her like the energy from the book had in his vision. Dark, chaotic, frantic and frightened, it struck him head-on and threatened to knock him off his feet.

“Did you finish?” Katarina asked.