Chapter 20

A Shepherd No More

It was near dusk when the group finally pulled up to the mostly destroyed farmhouse. Windows and parts of the front wall had been destroyed when the bandits rampaged their way through the building. What had been a sign of hope from a distance slowly dwindled into despair as the family grew closer to their plot of land. Seeing their rising tension, the others who were freed slaves began to grow quiet as the reality of what they were seeing became clear.

For Davison and his family, it was but one tragedy after another. They had their fields pillaged, their friends killed, all to be taken prisoner. Then they were freed, faced down a Psychic Dragon, all to come home to see the state of ruin was worse than their rose-colored glasses had said it would be. In all, they were at a loss for the torrents of emotions they were going through at the moment.

Worse, they seemed to only be steadily speeding toward the carnage that was their house. Enora almost wished they had traveled a little slower, so they could arrive under the veil of night and not have to see the horrors that remained of her dream house. It wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but it was where they had settled down as a family. It was the only house that Javison ever knew. I was the building where they truly became a family. All that was gone now.

Tears welled up in Enora’s eyes as emotions of both relief and sorrow flooded her. She was happy to be home, but she was sad at what happened to her home. Dathney was the first to comfort her, as the men were too busy guiding and protecting the wagon to be able to help.

“That was a lot faster than I thought the trip would take?” Dathney asked in a way to distract Enora from her sorrowful musings.

Seeing that they were nearly at their farmhouse, a striking realization hit Enora.

“You are right. Normally a trip of that distance takes two days at the minimum, longer if we take a cart,” she said before turning back to Davison to see if he knew what was happening.

Davison, for his part, just shrugged his shoulders and looked as perplexed as everyone else.

“It is the magic of the Earth Laws. I have never seen it in use, but it was said that travel speeds would be increased under the leadership of a shepherd and their flock.” Dathney said, looking at the man who moved ever forward toward the farmhouse on the hill.

By now, everyone was looking at Dathney, half out of wanting something to take away the monotony of travel, but mostly out of the want to know more about the strange young man who came out of nowhere and became their guide seemingly overnight.

“What does that mean?” Jema asked.

“This is all speculation, but the world laws grant power to both groups who are bound by the law. So long as both groups act within accordance with the intent of the pact, both will receive great boons. In the case of the flock, their travel speed and ability to stave off hunger or thirst will be increased.”

At that thought, everyone realized that they had gone all day without stopping to eat or drink, while those who remained on the wagon snuck meals and drinks at their leisure. Telka even came back once or twice to eat and drink when she had needed to rest her legs. Enora, too, had made sure that Davison got his fill of eating, even if he had to do so while constantly walking. The only time he stopped completely was when he drank a cup full of water in one go before running to catch up to the cart that had continued to move forward in his absence. Everyone had food and drink except for Lykan, who, like the animals he was shepherding, avoided even stopping to kill a disabled dragon.

“So it makes them immortal while the pact is going?” Hanna, one of the three quietest members of the group, asked.

“No, far from it,” Dathney said, shaking her head before she continued, “While there are a few things that are increased for both, it is very taxing. If this had been a further distance, or we faced more dangers along the way, there might have been more trouble. In fact, I think part of why we were able to make it here at all was that Lyakn didn’t stop to finish off the dragon. I suspect he is nearing his breaking point and only moving forward by sheer will alone,” Dathney said as she watched the man continue to walk forward at a brisk pace.

Now that it was pointed out, others could see what Dathney had noticed. His normally straight posture was now hunched over. He moved forward, but each step seemed to clomp down with heavily weighted steps. Now that they knew to look, the tell-tale signs of exhaustion were undeniable. Still despite the pain and strain his body must be on, he pressed on.

Going up the hill, everyone watched as he tripped going up the steep slope to the hill. There was a slight gasp, for if he passed out now or even fell to the ground, he would truly be trampled by both the horses and the wagon. Fortunately, he managed to regain his footing and darted forward with a weird quick double step that let him dart ten feet forward in the blink of an eye. They didn’t know it at the time, but the only reason Lykan had managed to survive was through a judicious use of his Quick Step Skill. If he hadn’t used it, then he would have been knocked over just at the point where he regained his balance and footing.

Everyone watched with bated breath as he continued going forward. By now, Telka had long since rejoined everyone on the wagon. Her legs were sore from constant disuse due to her prolonged captivity. She watched, just as the others now did with bated breath as both he and the wagon crested the sloping hill to the house and then finally came to a stop just outside the house, where the gentle hill turned into a smooth plateau.

Holding up a hand, the horses obeyed instantly. The lead horses came to a stop one foot away from Lykan. Seeing that, Lykan let out a long, exhausted sigh as he too could see that rest was right around the corner.

Javison and Davison were both wedging the wagon wheels in place. So it was up to Lykan to end this.

“As I promised, so has it been. We have made it here to the promised land, and our pact as Shepherd and Flock is now dissolved. Thank you for trusting in me,” Lykan said as he went up to the first horse and began untying it first from the harness, then removing the reigns that dangled over its face. This was the true final act of ending the shepherd pact to truly set the animal free. As soon as he freed the first horse, reigns and all a golden glow shined around the horse, and Lykan then slowly dissolved.

“Oh.”

The women, many of whom were now being helped down by Davison and Javison, turned to stare at the sight. Most just turned to watch as slowly, one by one, each horse was freed and then enveloped by a golden hue that burst apart. Only once the fourth and final horse was released did Lykan let out a long sigh of relief as he braced himself against the wooden posts that had until a second ago been the part that held the horses to the wagon.

Seeing his exhaustion, Enora was the first to run around to the front of the wagon.

“Come on now. I have the perfect spot for you to sit.” Enora snapped her fingers, and with that, Lykan almost moved on impulse, following the seamstress around the side of the house to where a few large trees had been cut down. Their stumps had been left and made into make-shift seats. This was where Davison and Enora would often sit to watch the sun set over their fields.

Fortunately, since these were stumps, they were left alone by the bandits.

She sat Lykan down, holding his hand for balance as his muscles began to tremble as he made his way down. “There you go, son, take it easy,” Enora said in her best motherly voice.

Lykan managed to relax down into the chair, which clearly showed how small he was. He sat in Davison’s stump, and while Davison was no giant, he was far larger than the boy who now sat in the same seat as her husband. Seeing him now, Enora couldn’t help but wonder if she was staring at a different person. The man who had been leading their wagon seemed larger than life, easily staring down a dragon that thought to make a meal of their group.

Enora still shuddered at the memory of bloodlust shown by the beast. Even for the smallest species, the Psychic Dragon, the creature was still enormous. She had watched how Javison looked almost inconsequential next to the beast. That the pike he wielded was barely the length of the beast’s face. There was nothing that could have been done to that beast if it was at full strength. Yet, with one swing of his mighty sword, he threw the attack back at the beast, knocking her out with her own strike. Such things were the tales of legends, but this hero had done so easily.

The stump had been designed with relaxation in mind. As such, it had a long back partition that made it easy to fully relax and recline in. That was what Lykan was doing now. He sat in, put his back against the spine of the stump, and then watched the setting sun with eyes that were half slit open with a smile cresting his lips. Turning, Enora too saw the beautiful sunset over the golden fields of wheat. Looking out, it was clear that not everything was ruined. The South and West fields were more than fine despite a lack of attention for the past few days.

Seeing that sight of hope provided by the setting sun, Enora, too, let a smile crest her lips.

“Now, you just stay there. I will be back with food and water for you,” she said, remembering Dathney’s words and remembering the way she said the pact he had could only stave off thirst and hunger.

Lykan just nodded lightly as his eyes began to droop a little more.

By the time Enora and a few others returned with food and drinks, they found their savior quickly passed out in the chair. The horses he had shepherded were themselves not far off. A few had eaten a few grains of grass before they found Lykan on the West side of the building and decided to rest in front of him. While their pact of shepherd and flock had ended, there would always be a slight connection between the two groups. There was an inherent trust that the horses now had in Lykan. They had felt his resolve to protect them and guide them safely. Such commitment went above and beyond the typical expectations of most domesticated animals, which was why in this new land, they felt safe enough to sleep being downwind of their shepherd and guide.

While Lykan might have missed or been too focused on the path ahead to notice the airships that tried to keep up with their pace. The women who were on the wagon were well aware.

The blimp that had been trailing them only seemed to stop once it was clear that they were going to the broken farmhouse. Then they waited at a respectable distance. What the women who were freed couldn’t know for certain was whether they could see the moment Lykan broke his shepherding bonds to the horses. All those who were close enough could see and feel the power being released. To those who were sensitive to such things, the bond that was broken seemed far more powerful than the bond that was initially created.

At the time of the bond’s creation, it was a moment of desperation. Lykan and most others who had a moment to realize what was happening could see the absolute terror that was overtaking the horses. Yet Lykan, with a quick action, saved them all. Not just the horses, but everyone. While no one wanted to admit their weakness, most of the women and even Davison had been treated poorly during their stay in captivity. When they got to the open fields, Davison reluctantly joined his wife on the back of the wagon to rest his legs. While it pained him to admit it, he needed to stop. The pace they had been going was frenetic. Only once they started going up the hill to their house did he jump out again, thinking that he might have to help push the wagon. Fortunately for him and everyone involved, the horses made it up the slope without any real hitch. Only afterward did he hear about how Lykan nearly tripped but managed to regain his footing at the last second and dart up the hill.

Davison went to check on Lykan and almost felt a hint of jealousy that the man had sat in his chair. Then he quickly dismissed that thought as he realized it was foolish to be angry at the man who single-handedly saved his family and brought him back home.

Seeing Lykan resting in his chair or his throne as he often thought of it to himself, he realized Enora was right. The man who had saved him really was small. He was tall, but his frame still had a lot of room for growth. It was clear that with his character and work ethic, he would grow up to be a powerful man.

“Oh, excuse us,” Enora said as she and Telka began moving around Davison. By the things the ladies carried, it was clear that his throne, at least for tonight, had been given to this boy. No, this man, he told himself. No matter his size, he acted like more of a man than I did during our time in captivity.

Davison watched as Enora and the dark-skinned Elf put a blanket over Lykan. Then he watched as Enora’s seat was taken up by the dark-skinned Elf. Davison was about to comment, but a quick hand on his arm told him not to. Looking down, it was clear that the dark-skinned Elf wasn’t staring at the setting sun that glowed brilliantly in its deep imperial reds and orangish hues. No, she only had eyes for the boy who sat passed out in a chair that was two sizes too big for him.

Seeing that, Davison smiled.

“Come now, let's be off,” Enora said.

Only now did Davison realize that the four horses chose to rest here on the West side of the house. Davison realized that if he wanted to keep the horses, then he might need to put up a fence to help both keep them in and safe from predators. Just another thing to fix up around here, Davison mused as his wife dragged him away from the two who were resting peacefully.

They went around to the front of the house to see that Javison and the others were busily taking inventory of everything they had collected from the camp. It was a small fortune, as the wares and possessions of countless people and families now resided with them.

Then the two looked off in the distance to see that the airship that had followed them sat camped out waiting at the edge of their farm.

“What do you think they are waiting for?” Enora asked.

Davison, for his part, just shrugged, but a pit of worry began to build in his stomach at the sight. Still, he could only deal with them when and if they decided to contact him. He figured they might have questions about the dragon they killed. He made a note to talk with the others about letting the boy, not to let Lykan dictate what he wanted to tell.

“Everyone, gather around real quick.” Davison shot his hands up to the air trying to draw everyone’s attention.

Seeing this, Dathney’s eyes glowed a deep silver for a second before she nodded and moved forward. Her movements caused Polina and then the others to all follow suit. Everyone but Telka and Lykan were on the western side of the building.

“Leave them. He is passed out, and she can’t speak our tongue,” Dathney said when she saw that Davison had looked to the western side of the house.

This was not the first time Davison had been spooked by the uncanny way Dathney had at reading a situation, but it still sent shivers down his back nonetheless.

“We need to talk about what we tell them,” Davison said, pointing out over the hill to the dark dot that was barely visible in the setting rays of the sun.