Hero's Journey

Chapter 55

So sorry this took so long!  Quarterly finals are here along with an ocean of homework and a scatter of other miscellaneous tests and quizzes.  Either way, here's the newest installment!  Enjoy!

~Ashlee

〰〰〰

Confusion fills Kagon as his gaze links with his scribe.  Her eyes fill with tears and that's when he's struck with realization.  His eyes immediately go back down to the journal and he begins to furiously flip through the many pages. 

Just as I though--they're all blank.

When he looks back up at the lass, he sees the tears that had clouded her stormy eyes have begun to fall down her face in thin, trickling streaks like rain on glass.

"You're not a writer."  Kagon says, face closed off and grim.

Delia bites her lip and shakes her head, pieces of copper-blond hair sticking to her wet cheeks.

"Wait, what's going on?"  Heswyn in Thil question in unison.

In answer, Kagon simply tosses them the empty journal.

He is no longer confused, but dumbstruck.  The only reason why he had allowed her to accompany him on their journey--his journey-- was because she had said that she would document his tales.  But she hasn't been doing that.

Then why is she even here?  Kagon thinks coldly.

"Delia?"  Kip asks quietly after looking at the journal.  However, his voice is buried under the mounds of tension.

"I knew that you had cunning, but I never thought..." Kagon trails off before speaking in a hard tone, "You've tricked me."

"Kagon, I--"

The hero shuts her up with a harsh glare.  "You've lied to me."

Kagon thinks back to all the times he had faced dishonest people.  Part of being a hero is having to face such people.  Even false friends.

"Wait." Heswyn says, realization dawning over her features. "Can you even read Delia?"

"No, I only know some of the letters and can recognize only a couple words. My mother tried to teach me to read before..." Delia lets our a strangled noise. "I'm so sorry."  She sobs into her hands, hiding her guilt-ridden eyes.  "I had to get away from my father, it was the only way!"

Kagon's jaw clenches and his lips thin into a straight line, eyes flashing with anger, but deep inside he feels a deep cut of pain, of betrayal.

Heswyn, Thil, and Kip can only look upon the situation with pity.  They're the outsiders looking in, they dare not interfere.

"I'm so sorry."  She lets out a smothered cry, drowning in her shame. 

In her lies.

Kagon shakes his head, stands abruptly, and walks straight out the library's heavy doors.

〰〰〰

Delia hasn't cried this hard in a very long time.  The guilt she feels is crisp and cold, a jagged knife tearing at her insides. Her eyes direct to the ground and she visibly winces when the library's heavy doors slam shut after Kagon had left.

After a few minutes of crying, she feels a gentle hand on her shoulder. She looks up to see Heswyn, Kip, and Thil surrounding her. Delia tries to dry her face, but only more tears replace them. It's like a battle where one side is outnumbered. Troops keep coming to replace those that had fallen.