Disposable Hero Ch. 02 Pt. 07

Rikton looked at him studying his reaction to the news before saying, "You and Zilvra are bound together for life, and she has a bit of your aura and you hers. I dare say you may live longer and her shorter, such things are known to happen, along with other things."

Henri groaned at the fact that he just might have taken years off of Zilvra's life and added to the pressure of doing the right thing. He asked, "Can this link be broken? If so do you know how?"

Rikton shook his head no and said, "Such a bond can only be forged by a priestess and Dirzune does not know that spell, it is used when we summon demons and that is only done with the high priestess and Intra present. The Counsel of Eight might know as well. If you want we can go back and ask them I am sure they wouldn't mind, much."

Henri smiled at Rikton's joke and added, "I am sure they would be falling over themselves to help me, you don't mind a little pain, do you?"

Rikton smiled, he liked this human. He was easy to talk to and didn't judge him like Belar and Zilvra.

He hoped this peace would last. As if reading his thoughts Henri looked towards Belar and said, "Rikton I'm glad things went well while I was out, I know you and Dirzune are up to something so let me make this perfectly clear." He pointed towards Belar and continued, "I am going to give you a lesson in humans, first rule don't fuck with their families. Take me for example, she is carrying my child. If you harm her, you harm my child, you harm my child and you had better pray your goddess saves you because I will hunt you and yours down to the lowest pit of whatever hell you believe in to exact my revenge. I won't stop till you and anybody who knew you are dead. So plan carefully, because if I live I will not stop, if it meant destroying everything just to get my hands on you consider it done."

Rikton looked at the guardian and could see no humor in his words, he was telling the truth. Did that mean he would forsake renewal just to have his vengeance? What would happen if he didn't start renewal? One thing was certain in his mind things could not continue as they had, he liked Henri and now he was certain that Henri would stop at nothing if Dirzune tried to take control. Henri was dangerous in the Foreverdark, with them unable to see on the surface and unused to the sounds and shadows; up there it would make him seem god like just because of what he knew about the surface. They needed him in the weeks and months to come of that he was certain, once on the surface he was certain Dirzune would lean on Henri, if he stuck around that is.

He watched Henri as he walked off and pondered how this crazy alliance was going to hold together, he was certain that for the foreseeable future Henri was going to be leading a group that has never taken an order from any male. Maybe Henri would be a light shining in the darkness and show the Drowesses that a male can be much more than they allowed them to be. Rikton would do all he could from the shadows to help Henri and the dream that his son would be free of the restrictions he has lived in and in the process keep those he loved alive and safe.

That night as they slept Belar returned the pistol to Henri's things and felt that draw to lay down next to him yet again as she thought, 'do you ever stop wanting to be around him so much.' The feeling returned this time stronger than before, she sighed in disgust and in defeat and curled up with Henri.

The next morning Henri had asked Alak how long to the surface and was told that in another day and a half they would reach the surface. That in a few hours they would reach a series of columns and would teleport up closer to the surface. Sure enough two hours later they reached a clearing that had 12 columns that looked like they wwere made of marble. Rikton looked at them, touched them and asked Alak if they were made of Zawhianor, a rare metal that enhanced magic and was a vital component in making powerful magical weapons. Alak grinned like a proud papa and explained that without these gates it would take two weeks to get to the surface, with them it would take three days and that once they had teleported it would be the most dangerous for them because they would be very close to a dwarven stronghold and the likelihood of problems was much higher.

They teleported, and Alak was drained by the trip, and rested for the rest of the day while they all stood watch. The following day Alak again teleported them, and again he rested and regained his strength. That morning Henri wanted to run to the exit of this nightmare land and into the sun, the day turned out to be a good one they had no delays. Alak told them that they would be on the surface tomorrow as they set up camp and rested that evening, Henri wondered if it was night or day and was looking forward to feeling the sun on his face.

Henri found that by the time we set up camp, it would be about another day to reach the surface. He found sleep hard to come by, being this close to freedom he knew that on the surface he could easily lose them if they tried to break their word. He wasn't too worried about that, they needed him for now, and he knew he couldn't turn his back on people who needed help, let alone the mother of his child.

'Why does this always happen to me?' Henri thought of all the times he had helped when it would have been easier to walk away.

Henri went into his pack and pulled out a command tablet, he was the only one who didn't want the data implant so they let him keep such outdated technology. He checked the power and looked at some of the files he had on building's building materials, he was thinking of using some of his pay to build a house for his kids and wanted to do some of the work himself.

He checked the iPod and saw it had discharged, but knew he would be using it soon enough. He was dying to hear some music, he had once overheard some music coming from the main house but it wasn't the same.

The next day seemed to take forever in Henri's mind. Anyway they wound up reaching the surface about three hours before dark. Henri stepped out into the sun for the first time in nearly 3 months; his eyes fought hard to see as he grabbed his sunglasses from his pack and put them on.

He walked off and gathered some firewood and to see if he would notice if any of the berries were the same as his home. He found what looked like strawberries just green instead of red and enjoyed something fresh for a change as he came back to the cave where the Drow were hiding they told him that the sun was very painful for them.

He brought the firewood, dug a pit and built a fire to help them keep warm from the breeze. From the trees he knew it had to be mid spring and it could be cold at night in the hills.

He said to them, "Come on and get around the fire it is going to be cold tonight and you don't want to freeze."

Zilvra asked, "Don't your eyes hurt being in the light?"

It dawned on him that their eyes weren't going to adjust to light as easily as his would and wondered how long it would take for them to adjust.

Henri walked over to Zilvra handed her his sunglasses and said, "Here put these on they'll help you see in the light."

She looked at them cautiously and as she put them on, he chuckled at how silly she looked with them on.

She said dejectedly, "These don't help that much but it is better."

He replied calmly, "You're going to have to get used to the light sooner or later so you might as well get it over with."

Henri held out his hand not sure how well she could see.

Annoyed she said, "I can do it on my own."

Swatting his hand away, she was amazed by all the colors she saw rich greens and the various shades of red from the setting sun against a blue sky.

His mind was elsewhere as he thought about his ammo and the way his guns would draw unwanted attention.

In a voice full of wonder at beauty she never knew existed she looked at the red sky saying, "I guess we have a lot to learn. Are you going to stay with us now that you are on the surface?"

She hoped he would, but wouldn't blame him if he left them. Henri stopped and looked at them all and saw that they were all wondering the same thing. He shook his head once again thinking of all the times he had been drawn into something similar.

Henri said hanging his head, "Yes, you got me here and I can't turn my back on people who need help."

He sighed heavily but tried to put a bright spin on things saying, "SO, it looks like you're stuck with me until you're able to stand on your own two feet."

Zilvra was smiling on the inside this human held no grudges to those who had treated him so poorly, she knew she wouldn't do the same if she was in his place. That was how Drow dealt with things.

She asked him, "I don't think I could do the same in your place. How can you?"

He stopped and thought about all the bad that had happened and thought about how he had gone from a slave fighting to survive and now he was leading the same people who had been his mistresses. This was no different than all the times he had taken command back home, he looked forward to passing these people off to somebody else soon just like he had dodged taking command even going so far as to get busted back to private to keep from having to lead others to their deaths.

He looked up at the sky. He was not a very religious man by any stretch and had enough blood on his hands to guarantee a warm place in hell if he did.

Henri said, "I guess god just made me that way. Besides, I have to set a good example of how people on the surface are. Otherwise you might run into some bad people and that could make a bad situation worse."

Zilvra thought of her dream and what Eilistraee had said to her. She was right he couldn't turn his back on those who need his help. She knew they needed him while they got used to living on the surface.

Her people were hated by all on the surface and he could help them build a good reputation if he stayed long enough. She shivered and got closer to the fire, fighting the pain of the firelight and signaled the others to come out of the cave. As dusk fell she removed his sunglasses looked at them and shook her head. His world was so strange to her and in all the time she had spent with him, and so was he for that fact.

Zilvra's family came out of the cave and sat around the fire, he talked with Alak about where the nearest village was so they could buy some thing's that they would need. Rikton and Dirzune kept to themselves keeping a close eye on their children and the others. Henri was certain they were plotting, but what?

After talking for a while, and with the watches set Henri saw how cold they all were and pulled out his sleeping bag opened it up and gave it to Zilvra's parents and told all of them to sleep with their backs to the fire to keep warm.

Henri zipped up his coat, slept under the stars for the first time in months, and realized how much he had missed it.

As he looked at the moons in the sky and the strange stars above his thoughts drifted to his family, he hoped they were all right and that they weren't worried about him. He wanted to ignore the truth in that sky; he was really on another planet and the one thought he kept pushing away was how to get home.

He studied a map of the area that Alak had given him, settled in for the night, and got comfortable.

Henri truly slept for the first time in months without a care.

***********

As Belarbreena slept Gabriella stood over her and prepared the soul for entry as well as merging with the Drow soul already there. She smiles seeing Belar curl up next to Henri, she could see the child compelling her mother.

She knew this child would be different because of what her father was planning and had to leave the knowledge of herself in case something happened to Henri this half-Drow would receive his codex.

Gabriella's parents had agreed that his blood would always be the keepers of the codex to save them from doing this in the future.

She had to be careful if not done correctly one soul or the other could be destroyed, setting the soul in place she watched as the red soul of a Drow and the yellowish white of a human merged into the new life.

Gabriella knew she had to commune with this new soul so she created her own vision of an island paradise and pulled the new life into it.

As the ball of energy hovered on the beach before Gabriella she spoke to it saying, "I am Gabriella messenger of the Great Creator and Great Destroyer.

Your father is keeper of the codex and as such I must leave this knowledge with you, so that you are not shocked by being able to see me.

Should anything happen to your father you will receive the codex as his first blood child."

Gabriella watched as the ball of energy changed from an orangish glow to an orangish glow with a black swirl in it. As she went to leave her paradise, the ball of energy changed to a more liquid replica of Gabriella that shimmered like the ocean of this island paradise.

Gabriella normally would leave no traces of her visit so this was new to her, she watched as the liquid replica became more solid and finally looked just like her.

This new life looked at the angel for the first time trying to understand just what she was, this clone had understood what was said and tried to speak but no words came out, the clone tried to mimic Gabriella's facial expression not understanding what either were.

Gabriella said, "Don't worry little one you will understand one day for now just grow and be happy. That is your father's wish, and mine as well."

With that she sent the child back to her dream world that all children live in once they have a soul until the day they are born.

What she didn't know is that this child was now curious about what she was and began to look around her dream world and saw her mother's memories and read them looking for answers. Belarbreena's child no longer looked like Gabriella instead she looked just like her mother; she had a racial memory the first of many.