Aiden was seated at the hearth in one of the winged back chairs.  Legs stretched out before him, a glass of potcheen in hand, he stared at the fire.  As usual, he was dressed in black, only instead of a tunic, he wore a poet's shirt with a vest, pants and riding boots of black leather.   Outside, the wind was blowing hard enough to rattle windows, but with no snow or rain.  Chilly but a clear night.  He glanced at Alex once when the older man moved some glasses but returned his attention to the dancing of the flames.  A half-smile appeared as a memory came and then faded.

For Cole, the day was spent in studious explorations of the lands called Heathfield. His horse, well rested and fed after the arduous travels, was equal to the challenge of traversing streets and fields, hills and dales, forest and shore. He easily covered fifty or sixty miles, finally turning his weary beast over to the Thistle's stable lad and dismounting. The lady presiding over the kitchens was a kindly soul, the man tending the bar one who understood late night meals.

He hoped to prevail on both of them for a drink and a meal, and hopefully some news of his former brother. The message led him here, but he had not seen Aiden, Dylann, or any of his comrades. Raking a hand through the dark hair in need of a trim, he stepped into the Thistle and headed for the bar, not yet aware of the man seated by the hearth.

Aiden felt the colder air that marked the opening of the door.  He leaned forward slightly, turning his gaze away from the fire and toward the bar.  Eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the man moving across the room. His walk, the way he held himself had Aiden standing slowly. He didn't say a word yet, in case he was mistaken.

Go north the message in stone read to find his comrades once he returned to Daurenia from a diplomatic mission only to find his home, his lands, laid barren. Flattened, all except a stone marker with the message left by Aiden. It would mean leaving the island for good and feeling he was leaving a tomb only drove home how vulnerable life really was. Homeless and much an orphan. He was determined to find Aiden and learn what happened, if he knew what happened. The month at sea turned into two years as a pirate ship had run them down. Many were killed but for his fortitude Gabriel was enlisted, willing or not, as a sailor to make up for the ones they had lost. He knew enough and certainly learned more, biding his time to escape the watchful eye of the one that called himself the Pirate King. Not just Lord but King of the Sea. From there he was a fugitive for a time until so far inland those seafaring scurvy rats would give up the chase.

Gabriel ended up snowbound in some cabin in a godforsaken forest for near the duration of winter, luckily the cabin was fully supplied yet no occupants. Oddities were becoming a way of life for him that he didn't outright question as long as they were in his favor. He was in dire need of new clothes and even his cloak was threadbare at this point. He finally found a road that led him to a castle. The Commons gained as the slow steady pace got him looks mounted upon the worn out stallion. Beggar some might think until they met his eyes. His sword beneath the cloak was one of his last possession aside the pendant signifying him, at least once upon a time in Daurenia, as a knight. He stopped a man heading home to direct him to a tavern where he might at least get a room for the night. Depending on how outrageous an expense would hold in the balance if he got a bath too. He could hope. He had a few coins left but at this point needed to count them. He was directed to the place called the Thistle which was only a short distance, thanking the man he continued on, dismounting once there. He eyed the place before heading up the steps and pushing the door open to move within. The night had a chill so he made sure to close it after him. The hood of the cloak finally lowered as dark eyes adjusted. It was here he found not only Aiden but Cole. Two of the others had gone back to Daurenia which had been restored from the veil a wizard had hidden it in the interim.

"Cole?" He started for the bar, still uncertain. It had been a long time but the uncertainty would disappear as he grew closer. "Tell me you're not a ghost." He had thought both he and Gabriel lost with those missing from the cavern. He felt the cold again but didn't look away from the younger knight. Aiden was about to get a double surprise tonight.

Turning slowly from where he stood at the bar, his requests to Alex and Hazel placed for the evening, Cole dreaded the prospect of disappointment. The voice sounded like Aiden's, but he'd been searching for so long, only to come up empty-handed. Vague recollections and false trails made for plenty of wild goose chases, and now he was tired. Heathfield was his last hope for his brother Knights. Still, the Aiden-voice used his name; a positive sign that Aiden was still living and breathing. He didn't think he'd slipped the leash on sanity quite that much to imagine Aiden behind him. Dark eyes half-shielded by hair badly in need of a trim rose to study the man before him. It looked like Aiden, sounded like Aiden, stood like Aiden. "I am not a ghost. I'm too damned tired and sore to be a shade."

Older now by a handful of years. Scruff on his face and a bit gaunt, something he had never been before. Gabriel seemed healthy in spite of his outward appearance. Aiden and Cole would still recognize him. Eyes narrowed on the two at the bar, the voices familiar, too familiar. Finally. There was a tremendous weight lifted in that moment that brought back the spark of life. "Go North, said the wise man and seek your lost comrades." He was heading right for the two with a new burst of energy. Don't mind the smell, he at least bathed when he could but that hadn't been for a few days.

His comrades here would have been shocked to see what happened next. Aiden laughed! He pulled Cole into a bear hug. "I thought you were dead." And then there were two. "Gabriel! By the stars above! " Gabriel too was pulled into a bear hug as he released Cole. "I'd think I was still at the hearth dreaming if it weren't for the fresh smell of outdoors on one and the least savory scent of a man too long from civilization on the other." No, Gabriel didn't reek, but there was an air about him. He stepped back, studying them both. "You've grown, Cole, and you, Gabriel, look like a man down on his luck." Pausing just a moment, he laughed again. "I can't believe this. Did you come together? Had you found the note? Alex, potcheen and another stew. This one needs to eat." Not like they hadn't been without the luxury of bathing and good meals before.

Gabriel was definitely a little... ripe, but under the circumstances, anything could be forgiven. Returning the bear hug to Aiden, Gabriel got a clasp of the shoulder. "Two or three years is bound to bring some changes, but no, we came separately. I didn't know Gabriel was still alive either, though I had hoped." Words couldn't begin to convey the relief and the joy of knowing his brother knights not only lived, but by the looks of Aiden, prospered. "I almost gave up hope until I found your note."

Definitely an air about him, definitely manly! Not too overpowering but a few more days without a bath would have it that way for certain. He hugged Aiden good then Cole in like bear hug fashion and he'd be a liar if there wasn't a tear in his eyes. Certainly watery at the moment as emotions caught up with him. "I thought I was dead a few times over but I survived." Probably for his training as well they both knew. "Hope was all that I had left to keep me going. I'd say, in spite of ordeals, luck had not abandoned me." Not one to gripe over the downhill spirals met when they finally brought him here. "What of Dylann and Leith?" Figuring they were still with Aiden but obviously not here this night. He was hungry, very hungry but it could wait. He was good at ignoring those pains out of necessity.

"Not here, though both are alive. They returned to Daurenia. When you both found the stone I had left with the message, what did you see before you? Was it as if a giant's hand had scooped everything up, smoothed all down and taken it away, even the bridge?" He could talk while the two men ate.

Cole didn't hesitate to eat once it was placed before him. Two years of living hand to mouth made him appreciate a hot meal, though he stopped to answer Aiden's question. "Now that you mention it, yes. It was like looking at a blank slate. At least for me, what about you, Gabriel?" Potcheen, a drink he was coming to enjoy, was sipped as a pleasant afterburn to the stew and bread.

"Yes, nothing there at all except the stone. Too easy to find like a sore thumb in a wasteland." Well, he could no longer resist as the bowl was set out and his stomach protested loudly. Sounded like he had swallowed a lion and so without further adieu dug in. The broth sopped up with the thick slices of bread and he ate like one starving and finally finding that oasis. He didn't speak the duration but he was certainly listening. Ate it fast, famished as Alex offered another bowl and he was nodding enthusiastically. Taking the moment at least to wipe off his mouth with the cloth provided.

He watched the two a moment, still not believing the luck that brought they both here. "It was the same with us, and being unable to even cross the bridge to find a clue, had us feeling lost. We stayed a week, I left that message and we started traveling." He made a slight motion of this hand. "What happened until we reached here was a series of adventures and misadventures, but when we arrived, we drifted apart. I met a man named Peter O'Neill, who is King of a sister realm to this land, Innis Daingneach. In time, I became one of his knights here." As he spoke of Peter, his hand moved to the hilt of his sword. "Leith had not accepted what happened and continued to wander. For a time, Dylann was angry, and he too, disappeared." He paused to take and drink and see if either had questions.

He gave a slow nod. "Each man has their own destiny. I don't feel mine is to return. All I had was gone because you two were my brothers more than the others. I would like to stay with you, my sword yours if you'll have it. I've at least kept up with practicing when I could but I know I'll need more formal opportunities to pit against a moving object than the few poor trees I near cut down by the time I was done." It was then eyes followed to where his hand rested on the hilt of his sword. Food forgotten the moment as they turned that distinctive blue from the darkest of brown. Eyes dark as night to blue of a summer's sky in that instant and back. "That is some sword you have there." Darker eyes rising to meet those of his comrade's. There were some things that overshadowed even eating.

Spared the need for much conversation, thanks to Gabriel, Cole finished his meal and sat back to linger over his potcheen while they talked. Dark eyes grew even more dark as he contemplated what little he knew, picking up on something in Aiden's voice. "They will be missed... but I share Gabriel's stance. There is nothing in Daurenia for me. I can either make my home here and offer my sword to this king, or I can move on in the hopes of finding a realm where a sword wielded with honor and justice is needed." Adventures and misadventures got his attention, but he decided now wasn't the time to poke his nose into it.

"You should both know that Daurenia still stands. Dylann and I went back, with a friend from here, Lancely Caster, another knight. We found the bridge mostly intact, the city there, but in ruins, and a statue of a mage there. Do either of you remember Aether? Rather chubby lad, ruddy, prone to outburst of temper and a terrible mage to boot? He was behind it." He gave Gabriel a half smile. "I'll explain the sword shortly."

"I remember him." Cole's face tightened with the memory of the obnoxious would-be mage, watching Aiden's face for any kind of hint that Aether had been directly responsible for the ruin of so many lives. If so, and the man wasn't already six feet under, he'd make it his life's work.

Continued...