Heroes of Veritas: Bardic Inspiration (Book 2)

Chapter Two: Stay

It was just like before. Just like her mother’s funeral, in her past life. She’d been singing Amazing Grace when everything just...stopped. And like then, before the silence could take hold, a hand gripped her shoulder. When she looked up, she saw the brimming eyes of Mercenades, who whispered, “Together, now.”

Elise gasped a small sob, a tear streaming down one cheek as warmth rushed back into her fingertips. She looked down at the guitar, at the tear that had fallen on its smooth wood, and shifted her fingers. After taking a deep breath, she played, and Mercenades sang. The music filled her up, as it always did, until she didn’t know where she ended and the music began. In her previous life, the music was what brought her and her mother back together after her father left them. Now, she felt as if it was filling in all the gaps that Pita had occupied - relieving the emptiness of the past few weeks.

That feeling of relief was, sadly, fleeting. As the last note sounded, Elise felt the rush of the song fade from her mind. The song was finished, and so was Elise, who slumped in the chair as the hollowness returned to her eyes. Then, she felt someone take the guitar from her loose fingers, and place it back in its case. She looked up, but found it hard to focus, until she saw the dark eyes waver to clarity. They scowled, as they always did, and drew her in with their intensity - eyes that had always seen her just as she was. Eyes that understood.

“Thank you,” Moltar said quietly.

She smiled at him, and nodded, some of the light returning to her eyes, though her face was still pale and drawn. Then, she swallowed, glancing back and forth. Her legs grew restless, tingling uncomfortably as she became aware, once again, of people all around them - their eyes on her, Astredian’s among them. Mercenades’ hand on her shoulder suddenly felt like it was biting into her skin.

“Ellie…” Moltar shook his head, a tone of warning in his voice as he realized what was about to happen. “Ellie, don’t…”

She slapped the lid of the guitar case shut, and the oathbreaker cursed as the ranger nearly toppled out of the chair she’d been sitting in, clutching the case tight to her chest. Mercenades yelped at the sudden motion, and stumbled back, nearly tripping over another chair.

Elise had a wild look on her face, like a trapped animal. Before she could take more than two steps, Astredian grabbed her wrist, and she spun around, hissing. Her lips drew back as she hissed, the grimacing expression foreign to her round, good natured face. Though this was enough to give the paladin pause, he didn’t release her. 

“Please, stay. Let’s talk…” Astredian rumbled. But, Elise couldn’t hear him. From the look in her eye, she was already gone, and her body was just a little slower than her mind.

In response, she wrenched her hand free with a sudden jerk, and booked it, jumping and dodging around the bewildered guildies as she fled.

Astredian started to follow, when a shadow materialized in front of him, blocking his way. The man who had stepped into his path wasn’t threatening. At least, he wasn’t overtly threatening - despite the fact that he bore enough deadly weapons to make an armory jealous.

“MOVE!” the commander bellowed, but the rogue only looked up at him, a look of infuriating calm in his icy blue eyes.

“I think...” Echo said, as the speckles of spittle landed on the smokey black skin of his cheeks. “You need to let her come to you, mon ami.”

Astredian glared down at the slight, quiet rogue, and deflated, immediately regretting having shouted. He never raised his voice, unless he was trying to be heard over a crowd, and he could see some of the guildies eyeing him strangely. Moltar was the one who yelled, not him.

He nodded briefly to Echo, and was surprised when the rogue clasped his shoulder with a hand, giving him a comforting squeeze. When the paladin looked at him again, the drow gave him a small smile that disappeared almost as soon as it came across his lips.

“She’ll come around.” Echo said simply, speaking with such confidence that Astredian couldn’t help but return his smile.

“How can you be so sure…?” Astredian said, his voice low.

“She loves you. Us. The guild.” Echo said, shrugging a little. “People will always return to what they love, even if it hurts them. Until they can’t.”

That last part was spoken with a touch of bitterness, though the rogue seemed to notice this and tried to recover by continuing, “This isn’t like that. She just needs a little more space. She’s a ranger. Let her range.”

“I’m not sure she is a ranger any more.” Moltar said, coming up alongside them. “Didn’t you notice?”

The rest of the guild had started talking amongst themselves now that the display of dramatics had ended, and Astredian relaxed a little. Seeing this, Mercenades and Ichigo who had been lingering nearby, decided to go ahead and approach the trio.

“Notice what, Moltar?” Astredian said, sounding mildly irritated as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Please, don’t leave us hanging.”

“No bow. No sword. Not even a utility belt.” the oathbreaker stated plainly. “Can’t be a ranger without those.”

Echo looked a little perturbed by this. The rogue looked at each Mercenades, Moltar, and Astredian in turn before settling on Ichigo - the oldest amongst their group.

“What does this mean?”

Ichigo blinked, then reached up to push his glasses back up his nose as he shifted uncomfortably. “Perhaps she, er, didn’t want to offend the nobility by carrying her weapons into the palace gardens, and just left them at home? Ah...ha…”

The catton cleric frowned a little, before continuing, “Or, maybe she’s lost the will to fight. But, that’s...that’s something that can be recovered from. I think Echo is right, in any case. We should let her come back to us.”

Strangely, Elise was much closer to them than her guild mates knew. Rather than going back to the safety of the Misty Mermaid, she’d cut through a series of hedges, making her way to a quiet, unoccupied outdoor space adjacent to the gardens. Though the royal archery grounds were not, technically, a garden, it did have a long green lawn and a fountain. There just happened to be targets positioned at different distances throughout the lawn, and the fountain was enchanted with self-cleaning features so that parched archers could drink from it.

The lone guard perked up when he saw Elise emerge from the hedges, ready to take action if needed, but settled back down when she waved at him. He’d recognized her easily; she’d been coming to the royal archery grounds almost every night since the dragon’s defeat. Access to this space was one of the rewards granted to her as a hero, and as no one else seemed to come here in the evenings, it was the one reward that she was keen to take advantage of.

She strode over to the large covered patio, which had a few comfortable looking rattan sofas, a stone fire pit, and a long counter with cubbies where the gear was stored. Though she didn’t have her own bow with her, there were bows available to borrow - some so heavy that she could barely hold them up, let alone draw the string. She selected a simple longbow, strapped a belt quiver to her side, and headed over to the edge of the long lawn of the shooting range.

Elise hadn’t been shooting for long when she sensed a presence approaching her from behind. It wasn’t the guard, but she had a feeling she knew who it was. Rob had found her here a few times already, though he hadn’t said much - instead giving her small, gentle corrections to her form. So, when the person behind her finally did speak, the former ranger’s fingers slipped on the twanging bow string, her arm dropping to her side as the arrow she’d been aiming stuck into the ground a few feet in front of her.

“Hey there, baby girl.”

The voice was warm, and a little husky, not completely unlike her own - though it was a touch deeper. In fact, it was achingly familiar - despite it having been ages since she last heard it. She wasn’t even sure she’d spoken to this person since arriving in this life. Regardless, her heart jumped into her throat at the flood of emotion and memories that came to her at the sound of the woman’s voice.

After a long moment, Elise finally got the word that had been stuck in her throat out.

“Mom?”