A Love Lost by C.R. Rice

Author:C.R. Rice
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: 4 Horsemen Publications, Inc.
Published: 2023-07-12T14:58:57+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

They were there. All of them. Radnar wasn’t sure what surprised him more—that his friends were there or that his eyes were burning with such ferocity he feared for his sight. The moment he and Maddox stepped into the clearing, the full weight of his father’s loss settled upon his shoulders, threatening to bring him to his knees.

In an instant, they were there, swallowing him in a group hug. As one, they cried for his father. For him and his mother. Radnar wasn’t sure how much time had passed. He only knew that when the last tear had dried on his cheek, the sun had set, and the weight was slightly more bearable with his friends there to help him carry it.

Radnar cleared his throat and lifted a hand to swipe any lingering moisture from his face. “Thank you. All of you, for coming.”

Conrad slapped a hand on his shoulder and smiled. “That’s what friends do.”

“We show up even if you don’t want us to,” Oliver agreed.

“Even when we don’t talk every day,” said Tucket.

“Or see each other,” Naill said.

“We show up when it matters,” Phillip added.

“Every time.” Maddox smiled.

Radnar looked at each of his friends and clenched his jaw against another wave of tears. “Thank you. I know things have been … strained over the last couple years, but I couldn’t ask for a better group.”

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Please, you couldn’t get a better group than us.”

Maddox nodded toward the circle of logs. “Come on, we have ale and years to catch up on.”

Radnar ran a hand through his hair and smiled for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. “That sounds great.”

Hours passed in a flurry of drinks, stories, laughter, and, yes, more tears. Conrad boasted about his rise within the aerokinetic community and joked about his continued clumsiness. Maddox and Tucket shared their stories of experimentation with other elementals and their integration into healing, broken only when their stories faded into a loud argument over whose ideas were better than the other’s. Naill and Phillip worked together, creating a unique connection between fire and earth as they, too, fought against the creatures that had slain Radnar’s father. The most surprising announcement had been Oliver’s. Not only had he been excelling at his usage of fire, but he had also been called to the Dark Kingdom to help find out what had been keeping the sun from reaching its lands.

It wasn’t until the first morning rays began to chase away the darkness of night that the silence had settled among them.

“What are you going to do now?” Maddox asked.

Radnar stared down at the bottle in his hands. He had asked himself the same thing countless times over the last week. “I’m going to return to the palace and work with the Future King.”

His friends froze. They knew what it meant for him to say such things. If he went to the King, he would be thrown into the Elite Guard, and even with the exciting name, everyone knew what it really meant.

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