Chapter 194

194 Chapter One Hundred Ninety Four

“It’s been long, Thorrin. You look awful,” she replied flashing the man a kind smile before getting enveloped in a hug that lasted longer than anyone could have withstood.

“What happened to you, Thorrin?” she asked him.

“Well, not much really. I’ve been stationed in so many places and trying to keep myself busy. Slaying as many rogues as I could to make this world a better place. Now that I think of it, I haven’t thought much about anything else since I set out to purge the rogues.

“Could you still be angry at me?” the woman asked him.

“No, that’s not it. I was at first, but... I couldn’t do anything about that. I found solace in performing my job and honing my abilities. I earned the title of Mightiest Warrior because of it,” he responded.

Tom couldn’t read into him anymore after he’d seen his wife. The story of their lives had been burned to the back of his mind. None of his reactions to his wife surprised him. He only sighed and smiled at his brother’s much more relaxed state. ‘Eighteen years and you’re still trying to walk away from all this. I don’t think I would have taken that long getting over it...’

“Are you going to Sirius with him as well?” the man asked her.

“Yes, I am. I have to check on Katie before she gets herself into more trouble. I thought I’d lost her the last time. Why can’t you feel anything going wrong in Sirius?” she asked.

“I can feel everything about to happen in Lycaon. I have ordered for hunters to be deployed in Sirius, however, the readings I’m getting from Lycaon show more signs of ‘him’ being here,” Thorrin replied.

.....

“I see. I hope you find him this time,” she replied.

“Why do you have to go? You aren’t responsible for that werewolf anymore. She has parents now. If she gets into trouble, it should be on them, not you,” Thorrin huffed.

“Well, I might have lost my responsibility to the goddess, but I gained a daughter in those eighteen years. If she ever comes here, she is to be treated like family,” Marie replied.

“A Chase werewolf... We’ll see how that will go,” the man responded, “Now if you would follow me, we have a meeting to start.” The Mighty Warrior, in much higher spirits, sauntered out of the room and led them downstairs to the lobby where the rest of the family had gathered. There were more people in the room. An old couple greeted Marie and Tom as they were seeing them for the first time.

“I’m glad we are all here. As the main branch of the Chase family that still stays on the right path of producing quality hunters, and I, as the head of this family, call for this meeting to start,” Thorrin called to all of them.

“Since when was Thorrin crowned the head of the family?” Marie found herself whispering to Evelyn.

“Well, that was right after he became a Mighty Warrior. We were all surprised by our father’s decision, but it was final and there was nothing any of us could do against it. He is the most powerful Chase. None of us has the power to oppose him. I see your presence did him some good,” Evelyn whispered back, winking at the end.

The woman sighed at her friend’s statement and paid attention to the ‘Head’ of the family. ‘So the head of the family is the same person that has never attended a family meeting. Nice reputation,’ the woman thought, ‘Is he really that busy or did he give up everything in his life when we left?’

'

“It warms my heart to see that the family can come together once again after such a long time. I don’t know what the rest of you had organised and I know that we are in the middle of a crisis at the moment. Rogues flooding the woods surrounding the Lycaon capital. The locals barely feel safe in their homes and there has been nothing done to curb their numbers. I could say that I’m disappointed in what the hunters have become after all this time. Perhaps the peaceful times have made them go soft...”

“Would you refrain from insulting the very organisation you work for, Thorrin? It’s beneath you,” Uncle Lazarus spoke up. Refreshments were brought into the room and set on the table while the meeting continued.

“You’re right about that. Anyway, I asked around and heard that there has been a group of hunters deployed to investigate the movements of the rogues,” Thorrin spoke up.

“Clever...” Tom replied, his gaze set on nothing in particular as he deciphered the situation.

“Enlighten me, dear brother,” Thorrin spoke up, taking a seat and staring at his ‘all-knowing’ brother.

Tom noticed all eyes had been shifted to him and cleared his throat, “Well, with this many rogues in one place, there stands a chance that ‘he’ could appear. The hunters have gathered most of their resources to protect Lycaon. If they wanted, an all-out attack on the rogues could wither the rogues in number more than we ever have since this all started. But if there is to be a chance of getting the rogue king, spooking the rogues would not be the right move for this kind of thing. Sending a small group of hunters to investigate and make sure if the rogue king was around would be a clever move. That’s all my opinion though.”

Thorrin rubbed his temples, “I guess you’re still the same as you’ve always been. That’s the same thing they said. I don’t think it’s important that they send spies when the Chase family can just feel for the abomination pinpoint his position.”

“You make it sound so easy brother and yet here we are, fighting a war that our predecessors have been fighting for years. The Chase family has been around for generations and yet we aren’t any closer to bringing this war to an end,” Micah spoke up.

“What’s that supposed to mean? We finally have someone amongst us that possesses both of the man god’s gifts. We have never been closer to bringing the rogue king down than we are now,” Thorrin bellowed at the man.

“I’m just saying the obvious brother. When Tom and Marie sensed him the last time, there was nothing they could do about it and you surely couldn’t make it to them in time. That was the one time we were sure the rogue king was going to make an appearance and Jim Gordon was only in time to save Katie Sirius from meeting the furies,” Micah replied.

“Oh, don’t be so hard on the man, Micah. You know he ran to Brigadia at a pace that can only be matched by Thorrin. Isn’t that right, brother?” Thorrin stared between Evelyn and Micah, before shrugging.

“I guess that’s what happened,” he sighed. “Micah might be right about one thing. We don’t seem to be making progress in bringing the rogue king down. In other news, the new arrivals will be leaving immediately. I’ve been informed that they feel they will be needed elsewhere.”

The table looked in the direction of the couple, “What am I hearing, Thomas?” the man’s parents spoke for the first time since the meeting had begun.

“Father, mother, there is trouble in Sirius that we must attend to,” Tom spoke up, tension clear in his voice. Marie noticed and placed her hand on his hand, easing his uneasiness.

“What he meant to say is that we are going to check on a troublemaker that might have gotten herself in more than she can handle once again,” Marie spoke calmer than her husband could manage.

“That’s a very quick departure. Could you at least stay for a few nights so that we can catch up?” Tom’s mother asked. The man finally relaxed. They hadn’t chosen to chain them down instead which had been his fear. (Well, the fear of all children leaving their homes after just making it back after a long time)

“We’ll come back as soon as everything is done, mother, but we don’t have much time. She’ll get herself in trouble in no time and Sirius is a great distance from here,” Tom spoke up much calmer.

“Very well... I must ask you something, son. Are you finally back with us or are you still under an agreement with the goddess?” his mother asked him.

“We are hunters again. Our powers have been fully restored and we plan to get back to work,” Tom replied.

“So you gained a daughter,” she replied. Tom was shocked by her reply. The rest of the family smiled as they caught up in their mother’s trap.

“Don’t keep her from us for too long. She’s responsible for your eighteen-year disappearance. We must see the person who’s so important you’d detect she was in danger from the other half of the world,” Micah winked.

Tom was, once again, speechless. His brother had given a completely misleading perspective on the situation and now that he stared at the ‘Head’ of the family, he noticed the evil smirk on his face, “Welcome back, Tom.” Thorrin stood up from his seat and clapped his hands loudly. Large double doors at the other side of the lobby swung open to reveal a large white cake. The cake was far too large to be eaten by those that were in the room, and yet, it brought with it a nostalgic feeling. The ornament at the top of the cake that mimicked a couple at their wedding sparked the memory this cake induced.

It was a replica of the wedding cake that had been made for Thomas’ wedding to Marie. “We thought we’d order the cake you had on the last event for this family as a whole,” Thorrin spoke up.

“Yeah, that and the fact that none of us got to taste it that day,” Evelyn added.

Tom chuckled at the memory, “I forget what happened to the cake that day.”

“Oh, I would so much like to tell this tale,” Micah’s face glowed. His moment of glory had arrived. It wasn’t just any moment of glory. It was the moment of glory he would need to stump on his perfect older brother. “There we all were... well, almost all of us. The cake stood at the centre of the gardens in its glory. The couple was about to be escorted to make the first...”

“Oh, can we skip this one? There is not a soul in this room that doesn’t know the story,” Thorrin rubbed his temple.