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Homecoming and Tearful Farewells
Dorono came in for a soft landing near the clearing
that I called my home. Listening I could hear some voices. Two I recognized
as Kirin and Kowl's, but there was another voice too. Hope sprang to me as I
heard it. It sounded so much like Zana Taru's; perhaps she still could have
made it out. I had no idea on how that could be possible, but than again, how
was it possible that I had escaped with my life. If I was still around, maybe
she could be, too.
I stumbled forward; ignoring the pain as I neared
the voices until I saw them, and I knew that hope had been truthful.
Kirin, Kowl, and my biggest gem, Zana Taru,
all were hunched together, sharing their sadness at my supposed loss.
"It's nice to see that you all are safe and
sound," I said, and they turned to face me with a newfound glee. I smiled, and
than collapsed into unconsciousness.
I awoke sometime later to a soft brew slipping
down my throat. Dorono smiled as he returned the cork to the vial of healing
liquid, and he hugged me. I was slightly surprised to find that all my wounds
had healed up from just that little sip, but it didn't matter, I was home and
everyone was with me.
As soon as I was finished with my hugs from
each member of my family, I noticed Erred sitting quietly with his back to us
against a tree.
"Erred?" I said walking forward.
"Don't call me that. It's not my name anymore."
He turned to look at me. "My name is Kalzar, I can never be Erred again. Do
you think that Laxcorna would let me go back after what I did? No, they are
too insolent to see the obvious. This is just like why you wouldn't take the
invitation to live in Laxcorna when it was offered to you."
"Sadly, Erre-erm I mean Kalzar," I said quickly
to correct myself. "You are right. There are too many creatures in this world
who are so set in their opinions that no matter what they see they will never
change their views. I'm sorry that you had to get caught up in this."
"Don't be. I'm glad to be free of that responsibility.
Wherric would make a much better knight than I ever would, he's more loyal to
his officers and Laxcorna for that matter than I."
"You have the soul of an officer Kalzar. It
takes a more roguish spirit for one to take leadership into their own paws,"
I grinned. "You shouldn't give up, you could still take the path of being a
knight of Laxcorna."
He sighed. "I left that path the second I painted
myself black so that I could follow you."
"You can't give up, though."
"I won't. I'm going to travel to some other
kingdom and continue from there. Maybe I'll be a knight, or maybe I'll be a
mercenary, like Kalzar," he said thinking to himself.
"Once a knight, always a knight," I said grinning,
and I turned to leave him in his silence.
I had a short chance to be on my own when Shadow
came up to me. "Glad that you are okay Zarrel."
I nodded. "Thanks for your help."
"Oh, um, anyway, I will be going very soon."
"You're going back up to High Reaches?" I asked
Shadow.
"No," he said quickly.
"You aren't?"
He grinned, "For the first time ever, I don't
have to worry about a thieves' guild, or whether or not I'll be smashed by Jown's
creatures. I don't have to walk through the snow. This seems much better than
staying up in those mountains. I guess that I'll have to be on my way soon though."
He started to walk away.
"Wait!" I shouted
He turned around and looked at me. "What is
it?"
"I could still use your help. What would you
say to your being Zana's mentor? You are what she needs right now to learn new
things. Not I."
"Heh, I would love to help that kid learn some
more," Shadow said with a grin. "I can do that."
I smiled. "Very well than. I'll let you break
the news to her yourself."
***
Several hours had passed, and the sun was setting on the horizon. I wrapped
my hands around Zana Taru, pulling her into a big hug. "I'll miss you Zana.
Make sure to pass by my way sometimes."
She smiled. "Don't worry, I'll do that."
I glanced at the bulge in her shirt. Dorono
had told me about the pendent, and neither of us had any idea what it was. Perhaps
its purpose would be shed sometime, but for now, I let Zana continue to hide
it like it was a secret.
She turned around and walked back up to Shadow's
side. The Aisha lowered a hand and ruffled up her hair. "Well, we better get
going kid."
The two of them started to walk off, and just
before they were out of sight, Zana turned around and waved at me "Bye! I promise
I'll see you again real soon!" and she disappeared from my line of vision.
"Are you sure that was a good idea?" Erred,
or Kalzar as he now christened himself, said.
"I'm sure. This is the best path she could take,
and I think that Shadow will whip her into shape."
He nodded. "Well, I too had better get going.
I don't want to hinder you Zarrel."
"Don't worry about it. You are no problem really.
Stay as long as you would like."
Kalzar dropped his head mumbling under his breath
too quiet for me to hear. "No, I think I'll leave," he said finally. "Farewell
Zarrel." And then he, too, disappeared off out of my line of vision.
With a deep sigh I walked back to stand between
Dorono and Kirin. Kowl ran up to us. "Where's Zana going?"
"She's heading off to start her own adventures,"
I said with a soft smile to him. He would probably leave to train himself once
he got old enough.
"Oh." And he disappeared off to find something
to play with.
"A lot has happened since I met you two," I
said rubbing my hand over Dorono's fur. "But I don't think that I would trade
these memories for anything. Dorono?"
"Yeah," he said looking at me.
"How much longer will you be staying? I am guessing
that you are planning on rejoining your mother."
He grinned at me. "I'm going to be staying with
you for a long time. There really isn't much anything else Valvex can teach
me."
"Really? How would you know?" Kirin asked.
"She told me so, in my dream."
I smiled. "Than it looks like we'll be back
together again than."
"It sure does."
The three of us stood together looking into
the forest as the last rays of the sun turned the ground a golden tint. We stood
together even as night settled in and the first stars showed their faces. Things
had been rough for us, but we knew one thing for sure. Our hearts would always
be together in our deep friendship.
The End
Authors Note: And that people, is the final Zafara Assassin. I would like
to thank you all for staying with me through the whole series, and for not attacking
me with a lynch mob when I made you wait so long in-between the stories. I have
progressed a lot in a year of writing this series, and thank it all to you people
who bothered to send me mail on my series. All of you who have send me a kind
word, or a piece of advice have inspired me to set to work on my own novel.
There are several people that I would like to thank on this series. I would
like to thank Tronbonne1718 for letting me use Tron in my story. I would also
like to thank anyone else who lent his or her characters to be in the story.
I forgot some of the names with time, but those people get a big pat on the
back. I also want to thank everyone who has even sent me a message about my
story, or bothered to say they liked what I did, or gave me advice. I also have
to thank Snowflake for being such an uber fantastic editor for the Times.
Like I said, this is to be the last Zafara Assassin story. I have a lot
of other ideas I want to work on. Even so, I might treat you to a story sometime
involving familiar characters and/or the same basic setting, but that would
probably only be if enough people bothered me into writing it. I hope that you
all enjoyed my series, and if you have any questions or comments, Neomail me
(meratocat). Thanks for waiting by my side!
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