Date: Sun, 1 May 2005 13:57:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: JMH <trandar2002@yahoo.com>
Subject: The Guild/The Son chp #9

Hello folks... now  that the prelude is over the real story can begin...
I hope you enjoy it.  Chapters up to 20 are already posted on the yahoo
group.


				    JMH

trandar2002@yahoo.com

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adultwritingworkshop/

*******************************************************************************

Five years later:

     Drake looked at himself in the mirror.  After five years he was
proud to say he still looked the same.  He wanted to return to his father
looking exactly as he did the day he had been forced to flee.  To help
achieve that effect, Drake put the hat Joshua had given him on his head.
The once dark blue had faded and was now more like the color of the sky.

There were also two small holes in the sides of the well worn cap.
Still, Drake wanted the hat to be one of the first things his father
saw... proof that, even after five years, he had not forgotten his father.

     "You keep on wearing that hat and it's going to fall apart on
you."  Austin chuckled as he stepped into Drake's room.

     "I want everything to be perfect."  Drake insisted.

     "I am sure Joshua will be more than happy just to see you."

     "I hope so...  I am going to be happy to be back home."

     "So am I."  Austin sighed.  For five years he had been away from
Sparrow and Vard, the two most important people in his life.  His
`prison sentence', as Austin had come to refer to it, was now almost
over and not too soon.  Drake was adorable, handsome, and naive to the
point of it being cute.  It was for those same reasons that Austin had
found himself in competition with Drake for the attention of the only
other man with them... Tidal.

     At that moment Tidal walked in and hugged Drake from behind.  "And
how are we this fine morning?"

     "Happy."  Drake replied as he raised his head to plant a kiss on
Tidal's chin.

     Tidal was not content with just a single kiss however.  He turned
Drake around to face him, his lips quickly pressing against the other
man's mouth, drawing Drake's tongue inside him.

     Austin let out a groan... first he had been forced to leave his
husband to take care for Joshua's boy-man.  Then Drake had weaseled his
way into Tidal's bed.  He hated how Drake seemed to get whatever he
wanted with such ease.  It also annoyed Austin that Drake seemed to know
exactly how he truly felt about him.

     "Well I don't know about you two... but I am more than eager to get
back home... unless you two would rather I just leave you here for the
next five years," Austin insisted, wanting to end his enforced celibacy.

     "You ready?"  Tidal asked Drake.

     "Yep," Drake nodded.

     "Got everything you need?"

     "I do," Drake replied as he lowered the baseball cap firmly on his
head.

     "Good," Tidal grinned as he took Drake's hand in his.  "Take us
home Austin."

     "Finally!"  Austin said, more than eager to be on his way.

     Drake did not know what to expect... he had hoped to open his eyes
and find his father there waiting for him with open arms.  When he
stepped out of the Void, he recognized the four poster bed, the blue
drapes hanging on the walls, and the painting Joshua had done of the
Falls of Terran... but of his father there was no sign.

     "Hello... anybody home?"  Austin called out.

     "Papa!"  Drake shouted.

     "Looks like no one is here," Tidal said, as he left the two of
them to explore the palace.

     Drake, reached out with his mind to the world around him and,
besides Austin who was angry, and Tidal who was worried, Drake could
sense only one other person in the entire palace... and that person was
frightened.

     As he could not sense anyone else, Drake went looking for this lone
person... leaving his father's room to wander the halls.  Everywhere
Drake went there was a thick layer of dust, the furniture covered by
white sheets as if those who had lived here had left a long time ago.
Outside, the once well cared for grounds were overgrown, dried husks of
their former selves. Along the outside walls of the palace hung the large
black banners of mourning.

     It was by a fountain that Drake caught sight of the fearful man...
who was dressed in gray rags. As Drake walked closer, he saw that the man
was bent over, trying to suck out a few drops of precious moisture.

     "Hello?"  Drake asked when he was almost within arms reach of the
man.

     The man... his face covered by a thick beard jumped.  "It's you!"

     "Yep... it's me," Drake laughed.

     "No... it's you... Joshua's son," The man said as he started
walking slowly away.  "Has it really only been five years?"

     "Yes... do you know where my father is?"

     "He's gone... everyone is gone," The man replied, darting his head
this way and that, as if to make sure no one else was around.

     "What happened?"  Drake asked, his worry growing.

     "Gerick..."  The man whispered the name as if he were afraid it
would summon the hated man out of nowhere if spoken too loudly.

     "Gerick... does he have my father... where is he... what happened
here?"

     "The Prelate came... came for Joshua and you, but Vard had already
sent him far away... where Gerick and the Inquisitors can not reach him."

     "Do you know where that is?"  Drake asked.

     "No... no one knows... all I know is that when the Inquisitors could
not find Joshua, he started killing everyone."

     "Who did he kill?"  Tidal's voice came from behind.

     "Almost everyone...Those he did not kill fled with Vard," the man
said, pointing toward the edge of the park where long lines of tombstones
stood.

     While Tidal went to the grave stones, Drake kept his attention on
the ragged man.  "If all the others are gone why are you still here?"

     The man lowered his head.  "Vard would not let me go with the
others."

     "But why?"

     "Drake... do you not recognize me?"

     "No..."

     "It's me... Adam."

     "Adam..."  Drake tried to remember.

     "Drake... come over here.  There is something you need to see,"
Tidal waved the young man over.

     Drake nodded his head and walked over to the group of headstones.
When he got close, he saw that tears were rolling down Tidal's face.
"Tidal... what's wrong?"  The young man asked nervously.

     "The names on these stones," Tidal stammered as he wrapped an arm
around Drake, not for the young man's comfort, but for his own.

     "What are these stones?"  Drake asked.

     "They mark the places where people who have died are buried."

     "Died?"  Drake said confused.

     "Remember when I shot that deer?"

     "Yes..."  Drake remembered sadly.  "You killed it."

     "Well the people who are buried here were killed... killed by
Gerick," Tidal explained.

     "Were they people you knew?"

     "Yes... people I was very close to."

     Drake stared at one of the graves and read the name off it.
"Broken Claw?"

     "Yes... Claw... he was one of Vard's clansmen... and here is his
wife, White Cloud... and here... Drake I am so sorry."  Tidal could not
say, over come with grief.

     Drake knew that Tidal would not have hesitated to tell him unless
the stone marked the grave of someone he knew.  Looking at the marker,
Drake began searching it for a name.  When he found it, his eyes went
wide with shock, his knees buckling beneath him. Falling forward, and
before Tidal could catch him, Drake's head collided with the grave,
knocking him unconscious.

********************************************

     Drake felt himself waking... his ears registering the sound of soft
voices nearby.  He did not open his eyes though, out of fear he would be
forced to face the reality of what he had seen.

"Is he going to be ok?"  Drake heard Austin ask with deep concern.

      "He will be fine... physically.  I think he is mostly suffering
from shock," Tidal replied.

     "What are we going to do now?  Do you know where Vard and the
others have gone?"

     "Other then going back... I have no idea what we should do."

        "We should go looking for the others!"  Austin insisted.

     "But where we should start looking?"  Tidal asked.  "Adam said
Vard took Joshua to a place where Falcon can not reach him... Did you not
say you thought no such place existed?"

     "Yes..."

     "So where would you have us go?"

     "I don't know, but anywhere would be better than here.  I don't
think there is another living person left on this planet."

     Drake could not believe what he was hearing... after five years of
waiting to be reunited with his father... it now looked like that would
never happen.  Not able to stay silent any longer, Drake sat up and
opened his eyes to find a pair of dark pools looking back at him.

     Sitting on the edge of the bed was a small black dog with short fur
and floppy ears.  Its tongue was hanging out and its short stub of a tail
was vigorously wagging.

     "Are you feeling alright Drake?"  Tidal asked with concern.

     "Puppy?"  Drake ignored Tidal, his eyes focused only on the dog.

     In response, the small dog began walking up the bed till it sat
right in the middle of Drake's lap.  It gave a large yawn, showing its
tiny white teeth before curling up into a little ball.

     "Yes..." Adam spoke up for the first time, from the corner of the
room were he sat.  "Joshua wanted you to have her as a birthday
present."

     "It's a she?"  Drake asked curiously as he lifted the dog to get
a glimpse of her underside.

     "Yep," Tidal laughed as he joined Drake on the bed.  "What are
you going to name her?"

     "Papa didn't give her a name?"

     "No," Adam replied.

     "What should I name her then?"  Drake asked Tidal.

     "Whatever you would like."

     "I'll call her Puppy then."

     "But she will not always be a puppy," Austin pointed out.

     "I don't care... Tidal said I could name her whatever I want,"
Drake laughed, as he hugged the dog to him.

     "I still think it's a dumb name," Austin grunted.

     "I think it's a perfect name," Tidal said when he saw Drake's
worried look.

     "Really?"  He asked unsurely.

     "Yes," Tidal said as he rolled Drake and the dog on top of him.

     While Puppy slept between their two bodies, Tidal held Drake as he
began to cry.  "Clive is really dead?"  Drake wept.

     "Yes," Tidal nodded.

     "What about my papa?"

     "Joshua is safe."

     "But where is he... why is he not here?"

     "It was not safe for him Drake... we must be leaving as well."

     "But if we leave, how will papa know where to look for us?"

     "I'm sure we will be able to find a way."  Tidal said as he
hugged Drake tightly.