Page 64 of Storms & Sacrifice
At least I have Khazak—for now. I look around at his sparse childhood bedroom. Other than the old bows hanging from the walls, the only real thing of interest is his very full bookshelf.Nerd. I can’t read most of the titles, of course, but I do spot a few books on how to speak Common. I also see what looks like a very well-worn copy of the story of Khazak Steelrun. Maybe I should try and find my own copy beforeI leave...
“There you are.” Khazak—my Khazak—enters the room through the partially opened door.
“Sorry.” I duck my head sheepishly. “Just needed to get away fora little.”
“It is alright,” he tells me as he moves to stand before me. “I am afraid that for my family, these attacks have brought back many unwanted memories of the Warhunter Rebellion.”
“I didn’t even think about that.” I can only imagine what the events of yesterday might have dug up. “Was it a lot like last night?”
“There were fewer explosions, but yes. Only the rebellion lasted much longer than a single night.” Khazak grimaces slightly as he remembers. “With all the connections we have discovered between the two, I can hardly blame them. I am more worried about what it may be doing to Nylan and Ragnar.”
“Do you think that’s why he’s been so gung-ho about everything?” Showing up at 4 am to explain a massive government conspiracy theory is...a lot. “Do you not believe him?”
Khazak considers what I’m asking for a minute before moving to shut the door to his bedroom—after peeking out to make sure we’ve got no eavesdroppers.
“It is not that I do not believe him,” Khazak starts to explain. “I just worry that because of his and Nylan’s own connections to the rebellion, Ragnar may be driven to act recklessly in search of asolution.”
“What are their connections to the rebellion?” Khazak never mentioned that before, but it would make some of Ragnar’s behavior over the last month and a half make more sense.
“It is more Nylan than Ragnar, but it was the events of those nights that helped bring the two of them closer together.” Khazak takes a seat on his bed, patting the spot beside him and I join him. “Nylan’s parents were archaeologists with a particular interest in ancient elven ruins. They actually led the expedition to study the temple after it was uncovered in the rockslide.”
“That’s when they moved here?” Nylan said they met when theywere kids.
“Correct.” Khazak nods his head. “Though I am not sure they came with the intention of staying permanently, after the first few months, it became apparent they did not want to leave. I remember Nylan telling the two of us at school very excitedly that they would be staying. Except for Ragnar, he was the only half-elf in school at the time, something the two of them bonded over.”
“Things were fairly normal that year, or at least that is the way I remember them until the fighting began in earnest,” he continues. “It was one of the final nights of the rebellion when the battles were at their worst, and it was hardly safe to go out even during the day. Nylan’s father insisted on joining the militia. He felt it was important to defend their new home. He left Nylan and his mother at home. He had no reason to believe they would not be safe...”
“Oh no.” This is how Ny’smom died.
“Their home was attacked,” Khazak confirms. “Nylan’s mother was able to hide him inside a small chest. There were so many attackers, she had no choice. She went with them to protect her son, led them away from her home. Or at least that is what webelieve.”
“Why were they attacking to begin with?” She was just an innocent mother with a kid.
“I am not certain. It is believed that perhaps a faction within the rebellion was planning to ransom her.” Khazak frowns, lacking a better answer. “Her and Nylan’s family are somewhat well connected in Pákannon. However, it is amuchsmaller city than V’rok’sh Tah’lj, so I am not exactly certain what they were going to ransom her for. Not that it ended up mattering.”
“Nylan’s mother was a magician, though not an overly powerful one,” Khazak continues his explanation. Magicians are basically low-powered wizards who didn’t really bother with training. That’s what Mike used to call himself when we were in school. “They were outside the city, just beyond the north gate, when...something happened. I do not know if the attackers grew impatient or if she was just waiting until they were far enough from town but...there was an explosion. A magical one.”
“Shit.” Yeah, I can see why last night would bring up badmemories.
“The forensic mages said it was as though she had summoned all of her power at once, concentrated into a single spell she centered on herself.” Khazak is looking at his hands as if trying to figure out her motives. “There were no survivors. The bodies were torn apart. My father said it took them days to sort out who they all were. And the people who came across the scene first? Councilman Murbank and his father, who was himself a councilman at that point.”
“What! He wasthere,too?” Maybe it’s because I don’t like the guy, but that just seems way too convenient. “That can’t be a coincidence.”
“I am fairly certain Ragnar is thinking the same thing. I am telling you all of this for two reasons.” Khazak holds up two fingers. “The first is to prevent Nylan from having to relive any of this by explaining it to you himself. I normally would not share something so personal, but I would rather you be prepared because of the second reason: I need you to help me keep an eye on Ragnar. Between his anger during the second interrogation, and the off-hours sleuthing last night, I am worried he may plan something without telling me.”
“Of course, Sir.” I can do that. Not just for Ragnar’s sake but for Nylan’s too.
“They did not find Nylan hidden in the chest until the following morning. He... He did not speak for a long time. He still gets claustrophobic.”Fuck, that had to be awful.“Ragnar’s father was one of the only elves living in V’rok’sh Tah’lj at that time, so the two families were already fairly close, and Nylan and his father stayed with them after that, temporarily. The man was inconsolable, but more than sad, he was angry. He wanted revenge. It was a long time ago, so my memories are not the best, but I actually felt scared of him, someone I had only ever known to be a gentle bookworm. I even remember my fathers arguing about whether or not it was safe to let himcontinue.”
“Orlun wanted to let him fight, but Rurig felt he needed time, that he should stay home before he acted dangerously.” Khazak pauses. “I wish he had taken his own advice. The following night was when he lost his foot, and then the night after that was when Jarek began lookingafter us.”
“Wait, you werestillbeing left home alone after that? You were like eight!” I thought it was formaybea few nights at the beginning of thefighting.
“I know, and I was already not handling it well. I would spend most nights trying to console a crying Yogik while Ayla did everything she could to argue with me, hating that my parents put me in charge. Never mind my own feelings. I had to be the brave one.” He’s frowning as he speaks, but it doesn’t sound like he’s angry about it, not anymore at least. “Then, the night after one of my friends lost his mother, Orda came home in a panic, telling us only that Ruda had been hurt, and Jarek, whom we hadnevermet before, would be looking after us. He was gone for the rest of the night, not wanting to leave the healer while Ruda had his leg amputated.”
“That’s...horrible.” And it sort of taints the image I had of Khazak’s perfect family.
“You were not the only person to think so. I am not even sure if Jarek knew my fathershadchildren at that point. They had only met a few weeks prior. He was about your age, actually. We certainly seemed as much of a surprise to him as he was to us.” Khazak’s thumb strokes my thigh, as if to calm himself. “I would overhear him sometimes, either talking to himself or arguing with my parents. He sounded unhappy, angry. I thought he resented having to watch us, that he wanted to be out fighting. It was only later that I learned he was actually angry with my fathers for having left us alone at all. He saw how it affected me, not that I made it very difficult, arguing and fighting with him every step of the way. I think I made his job even harder than Ayla had for me. Nylan had just lost his mother, I was now terrified of losing my father, and this stranger was coming in and replacing me. That of course made me feel as if my father was saying I was doing a bad job, whichthenled to me questioning whether Ruda’s injury was somehow my fault... I was a bit of a monster fora while.”
