Golden Darkness Descends (Book Four of the Storm Below) by JMD Reid

Author:JMD Reid [Reid, JMD]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dreaming Between Worlds Publishing, LLC
Published: 2019-07-22T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Two

Werfil Fen – Namitsig 30th, 1951 HC

Sometime during their flight, Ary and his companions entered the Werfil Fen. To Ary, it seemed little different than the Apfeilig Fen. The ground was muddy and dotted with pools of slimy water from which they filled their waterskins, and was covered by the same creeping plants upon which the packhorses grazed.

Ary stewed. By the end of the first day of normal travel again, it was clear that Yeiss’s anger wasn’t fading. He marched through the mud, speaking to Ary only when he had to. Ary had come to respect Yeiss. He was one of the Wrackthar who didn’t treat Ary like the scum growing atop the pools of water.

He replayed the events with the guards in his mind as they walked. By the second day, he could think of nothing else, trying to figure out if what he did was actually right. In the moment, he was certain he had no choice. But he didn’t know the Wrackthar. Not like Yeiss did.

Maybe he could have talked us out of trouble.

“You okay?” Chaylene asked.

Ary blinked, not realizing his wife had fallen back to walk beside him. “Fine.”

“Ary.” Her words were flat, her gaze piercing, her gray eyes painted red by the fire dancing on her shoulders. “Come on, what is it?”

“Nothing.”

“Yeiss?”

Ary took a deep breath. “Like I said, nothing.”

Chaylene shook her head. “I hate it when you get like this.”

“Like what?” Ary straightened his back.

“Moody as a deep sky gale.”

“I’m not moody.”

“Have you tried talking to him?”

“I apologized.” Ary glanced over his shoulder at Yeiss leading one of the packhorses. Heits had the second. “You saw.”

“You know why he’s angry, right?”

“I attacked Wrackthar guards. I’d be angry if he attacked marines.”

Chaylene rolled her eyes. “When Yeiss said he would deal with the guards, did you believe him?”

“Yes.”

“Trust him?”

“Sure.” Ary frowned. “What are you getting at?”

“I know why you stunned them. I think you were right, but Yeiss was still trying to get us out of the situation. Maybe he was about to order you to attack or maybe not, but you didn’t wait.”

Ary flushed. “I let my anger take over again.”

“He doesn’t know that. He just saw a young soldier act precipitously. A soldier who didn’t trust him to be in charge and handle the situation.”

“Really?”

Chaylene shook her head. “Yes, really. He exposed his reputation to fierce winds to provide us sanctuary. Doesn’t he deserve better?”

Ary sighed. “Guess I better talk to him.”

“Unless you want your friend glaring at you. I know it’s sometimes the best way you men communicate with each other. Women actually talk to each other.”

Ary smiled. “I seem to remember a group of women who communicated with their fists.”

“Oh?” Chaylene asked, the pitch of her voice rising which only made Ary’s smile broader. “What are you talking about?”

“My mistake. It must have been a different group of ladies who brawled and were sent to dig a latrine.”

“Yep.”

Ary touched her right hand with his maimed left, stroking her with his thumb.

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