NOVEL NEXT Chapter 80: Homecoming
Matt
Relief and comfort flooded my system. It was Cyrus’ presence, I was sure of that, and my awareness of that fact helped shield me from the worst of its effects. Just a few weeks ago, I would’ve justified this. I would’ve rationalized it. Of course I felt comfortable, of course I felt safe, this was home. Why else would I feel so warm and fuzzy inside?
Of course, as my presence training had taught me, mere awareness wasn’t enough. No matter how hard I tried to shake it off, these feelings wouldn’t just go away, and if I wasn’t careful, I could find myself slipping into those old thought patterns without even realizing. To avoid that, I focused on the friend by my side. Her presence was comfort, she was relief. She was the one who’d made me the hunter I’d been, she was the first of us to come to our senses, and through it all, there was never a single moment where I doubted her care for me.
For a moment, she met my gaze, and I could tell she was thinking something similar. We couldn’t trust anything here, we could hardly trust our own thoughts, but we could trust each other. That was enough.
We passed through the newly constructed tent city without incident, arriving at the main gate to the village proper in a matter of minutes. They were opening before we’d even arrived, the wheel-ey angel heralding our arrival and clearing our path.
Once we arrived within the walls, things became much more familiar. The training yard still echoed with wood on wood, steel on steel, and arrows thunking into targets. My old house still stood, though from the look of things, someone else had moved in in my absence. The only difference of significant note was the stone… temple that now served as the entrance to Cyrus’ lair, the decorative angel suspended above it serving as a beacon, drawing us (and apparently most of the townsfolk) towards the village center.
Knowing Cyrus, he’d want to make some kind of grand speech or gesture before he took our report in private. I knew enough now to realize the point of it. By elevating the hunters, they became something to aspire to, something to idolize, and that meant yet another avenue through which Cyrus could exert his control. Not only that, but by making a big show of his own gratitude, he could effectively stroke the egos of the hunters themselves.
I’d felt so sick when I killed the goblins, but when Cyrus dragged me in front of the village and showered me with his praise, that sickness was quickly overshadowed by pride and excitement. It left me eager to hunt again. It helped me forget what I’d done. That was the point… Honestly, once you knew what he was up to, Cyrus was surprisingly predictable.
As though trying to prove me right, a massive, golden, serpentine shape emerged from the temple the moment Chelsea and I arrived. I had to suppress a chuckle as I imagined him sitting on the stairs, waiting for us to arrive so he could reveal himself. Also unsurprisingly, his arrival was paired with a powerful sense of pride and joy.
How subtle.
I was proud. I was proud of myself for unlearning the things he’d taught me. I was proud of what I was doing today, working alongside friends and allies to bring down a genocidal monster. I was proud that I’d become someone who could be trusted to do this.
I’d prepared for this. I knew his methods. I knew the emotions he liked to use. I’d planned for all of them in advance, and I knew Chelsea had as well. That was yet another thing to feel proud of.
His emergence met by sudden, roaring applause, the golden fire-gecko flared his wings wide, roaring to the sky, tendrils of white hot flame flickering between his jaws. The cheers that felt so deafening before were drowned out completely by his cry, and by the time he was done, silence had returned to the square.
With that show of force out of the way, he collapsed in on himself, reducing his massive form to something a bit more familiar. The wings, horns, tail, and patchy scales remained, but he now looked much more like a particularly tall, buff dad than a civilization-ending murder lizard.
“My friends!” He addressed the gathered onlookers, flashing a winning smile. “I have good news! A pair of hunters, Chelsea and Matthew, brave souls sent out to ascertain the moon’s whereabouts, have returned!” With a broad sweep of his arm, he drew the crowd's attention towards the two of us, locking eyes with us both in the same motion. “Come forward, both of you!”
The sea of bodies occupying the square parted at his command, clearing a path to the temple steps. With the weight of a hundred eyes on us, I did my best to stand up just a little bit straighter, plastering a blissed out smile on my face, trying with everything I had to capture the ignorance and trust I used to feel.
It must’ve been good enough, because nobody batted an eye. Nobody said a word as Chel and I approached our golden abuser. My thoughts were racing, offering a silent prayer to any god that would listen, begging for them to make sure Cyrus wouldn’t hear my heartbeat as it hammered in my chest nor notice the tension of my clenched fist, hidden inside my jacket pocket.
He clapped a hand on my shoulder the moment I got within reach, patting it twice as he smiled once again.
“Welcome home.”
