Surviving the Guilt - Chapter 13 and 14 [Finale]

Chapter 13 - Lurking in the Dark

It was getting late when they crossed the small river. Milton was excited to plunge into the water, but Marrek made him sit on his back.

The sky still seemed bright, but the cliffs and trees surrounding them sucked away all of the light. Milton's sword began to glow slightly. The night was upon them.

They were moving around many corners of rocks, left and right, small ways and caverns up and down.

“Where exactly are we going?” Milton asked.

"Don't worry," Marrek replied; but even in the dark, he could sense Milton's disappointment and said, "look, here."

He searched in his bag and opened a map.

“Could you help me with your sword, Milton?”

The boy smiled and nodded. 

He took his sword and illuminated the map with its blue light. Marrek pointed on the map and explained, “Here was the gate”—he moved his finger north-east— “and we should be somewhere around here. We will have to go between these hills and caverns until we get to this road.” His finger slid along the marked road south until it wasn’t pointing on the map anymore. “This road will lead us here, to Garrenhoff. From there we will take a boat to Lion's Arch. It could be simpler if the Tengu would let us cross through their land, but that is sadly not an option for us.”

He put the map back, and they started to move again. They were going downhill when Marrek suddenly stopped and kneeled. His hands touched the ground, feeling something.

It was pretty dark. Left and right of them were cliffs made of dark rocks. Like a little canyon. 

He told Milton to illuminate the ground. Milton saw a big print of a deformed foot in the dirt. 

Marrek whispered, "Milton, I've decided we have to walk through the night. If you get tired, I will carry you."

"I'm not tired!" Milton replied. He was pretty exhausted, but he didn't want to disappoint him.

Marrek searched in his bag again and pulled out a waterskin. He poured some into the print in the dirt, turning it into mud.

“I know you do not like the dark,” Marrek whispered, “but today, we have to become a part of it. Use the mud to hide the glowing blade.”

Milton did so. He kneeled and smeared mud over the blade. He started to shiver, he knew there was danger hiding somewhere in the darkness.

He wasn’t completely done yet when they heard something as if a weak breeze whistled through a cave. But the cave was snoring. Strong and huge lungs inhaled and exhaled slowly. Marrek put his hands on Milton's, signaling him to stop moving.

Left of them, the moon was rising up from behind the canyon wall. The white light fell on the dark walls to the right, leaving everything else in a dark shadow. 

That’s when they saw the snoring creature.

Milton knew the silhouette from one of his illustrated books. It was an ettin. Big, bulky, two-headed things. They were the villains of many stories. Usually, the evil that captured a noblewoman until a knight saved her.

The ettin hadn’t seen them yet. It was around 20 feet in front of them. It sat and had its back laid against the rocky wall.

It was sleeping peacefully.

Marrek lifted his hands. Milton continued to slowly smear mud onto the rest of the glowing blade.

They crawled to the left side of the canyon, to hide in the shadows. Marrek could feel and hear Milton shivering. 

He placed his hands on Milton's shoulders and inhaled slowly. 

This was the first time Milton realized Marrek was glowing too. Not as bright as his sword, but strong enough for Milton to clearly recognize his facial features.

Marrek exhaled and inhaled again, all very slowly. Milton copied him. They repeated it a few times more. The shivering gradually stopped, and Milton could feel they were safe in the darkness.

The two crawled forward. They got up close to the sleeping ettin. Milton was surprised that they were even uglier than in his book. It looked like one small giant was melted together with another small giant, and both their faces got bashed in.

They were almost past the ettin, when Milton tripped and lost his balance. His sword banged on the rocks next to them.

Suddenly, one of the ettin’s faces opened its eyes and growled. Searching for the bastard that woke him.

Marrek quickly pulled Milton closer to him and used his leather jacket to shield his glowing face from the Ettin.

They held their breath and kept completely silent.

They sat like this for almost a minute, listening to the Ettin breathe and growl. But it never fully woke. 

As soon as the mumbling stopped, the two started to crawl forward, staying in the shadows.

After they reached a safe distance from the ettin, they began to walk upright again.

They went further downhill until they reached the road. Walking along with it for quite some time.

Milton couldn't contain his yawns, and it was getting harder for him to keep up.

Marrek picked him up without asking. Milton was too tired to protest. He fell asleep quickly, knowing nobody could see them in the dark.

Milton woke up, seeing the sunshine through wooden planks. Everything rocked from left to tight. He had never been on a boat before, but he figured they had to be under the deck of a ship.

He rubbed his eyes, he was lying in a hammock. He almost fell when he tried to get out and banged both feet on the floor.

Marrek, who was sitting in a chair sleeping, woke up slightly or maybe he was talking in his sleep.

"You missed the elementals of Garrenhoff," he mumbled tired, "and the floating castle... But, I guess they will still be there the next time." He smiled, and so did Milton.

Milton put on his shoes that were placed under his hammock. He went on the upper deck. A lot of crew was rushing around, securing some load. He asked one of the crew members what that wooden structure in the distance was, he said, it was Lion's Arch. Milton stood outside, watching the city come closer.

Chapter 14 - Lion's Arch

They arrived in Lion's Arch. 

So, this is the city that made peace with centaurs, Milton thought. He didn't want to feel it, but there was judgment in his thought. 

Marrek took Milton to the Consortium first. Milton waited outside the building while Marrek went inside. 

Many different people came in and out of the building: human, sylvari, norn. Some came out laughing, others arguing or crying. 

There even was a charr on top of the building, threatening an asura to jump if he wouldn’t pay. But the asura dismissed him, shouting, “Do as you wish, cats land on their feet anyway.”

He didn’t jump, but it was still quite the spectacle to Milton. So many people rushed around him that even this outburst of emotions was drowned out quickly.

It took a while until Marrek came out again. But when he did, he looked exhausted.

He kneeled down next to the boy and said, "It was definitely not easy, but I got them to pay us something additionally for our troubles. I want you to have half." He placed a little bag of copper in Milton's hands.

Milton was sure that this was a third of the coins at best, but he didn’t actually mind.

Marrek continued, “I didn’t see your father, but they told me he had a room in an inn not far from here.”

They found the inn and asked the bartender about Milton’s father. The bartender knew whom they were talking about and send a girl up to fetch him.

They waited for him outside.

Milton felt guilty.

Guilty that his mother was dead, that Payton was dead and that he wasn't as happy to see his father as he should be. In truth, it was a sickening feeling, having to explain why he was where he was.

He tried to imagine what the reaction of his father would be. Joy? Hate? Disappointment? He wasn't sure, he didn't know his father that well.

The door to the inn opened. Milton's father standing in the doorway. The second he saw his boy, tears filled his eyes. Not tears of joy, tears of pain and sadness. He had heard the news of the attack on Nebo Terrace, and knew by the arrival of his boy, that his wife was gone.

He kneeled down to his boy and hugged him. At this moment, Milton swore to himself to never talk about the night of his mother's death.

Milton's father got a hold of his emotions, thanked Marrek and invited him to stay. But Marrek had to leave for the Grove. 

He walked a few steps but turned to Milton before stepping around a corner just like they did with Siany. They waved at each other. Then he was gone.

Milton and his father stayed in Lion's Arch. They lived together in the inn at first until they found their own home.

His father was able to turn his Consortium assignment, which was to unload ships at the dock, into a permanent job. 

Milton told his father a few bits of his adventure, but he never seemed to genuinely believe him. He was one of those adults that never treated a child seriously.

Milton kept thinking about his mother and about Peyton. Sometimes it broke him, and sometimes he found strength through it all. But he knew, once he was old enough to travel alone, he would go and visit the Grove. 

Maybe he would sneak out the next chance he got.