Terry stood there on the tractor feeling absolutely amazing. Elton was right, it was just a tractor, but he wasn’t even tired afterward. He didn’t think he’d used a fraction of what he was feeling inside. He felt like he could do anything. Like he needed to do everything. He looked at his three companions across the pasture back in the farmyard.

  “I’LL MEET YOU BACK AT THE HOUSE!” He yelled to them. Elton waved and they turned to leave.

  Terry launched himself again. For once he reveled in the feeling as he reached the apex of his trajectory and looked at the expanse of rural Hinds County. He looked down as he passed over Elton and his family. He was laughing. He felt giddy. He landed with a loud thump about ten feet from the back porch. The back door opened and Delores was standing there staring at him. He saw Dottie peak around her and roll her eyes before going back inside.

  “What did you do?” She asked quietly, a look of worry on her face.

  Terry was confused but he didn’t let it shake his smile.

  “I can do it now! I can do this without feeling tired!” He checked himself. “Well, AS tired. I feel great!”

  Delores hopped down from the porch, walked up, and grabbed his arms.

  “Good. I’m glad. I need you to bleed the mana though. Please.”

  Terry was going to object but he realized she knew better than him. He did so. He felt all of Creation recede from him. He felt more alone inside himself. Everything was more dull, but he did it. At least, down to how he normally felt.

  “Thank you.” She said.

  “What’s wrong?” Terry asked. He was suddenly fully aware of the worry on her face.

  Delores looked past him and spoke quickly.

  “Mana needs to be used. It ignites a purpose in you. It gives you the need it feels to be used. It makes you giddy and susceptible to its urges. It’s why mana flux can be dangerous. It’s why bleeding is so important. It’s why we learn self control so early.”

  Terry swallowed. He understood. He’d felt like he was going to burst and needed to do something with it. Delores continued.

  “Terry, I’m sorry. I should have told you about this earlier today but there’s just so much that you don’t know and so much has been going on. It’s something most of us learn quickly. You’ve always used everything all at once so you haven’t felt it. It’s just another thing to be careful of.”

  Terry looked over his shoulder and he saw Ernest approaching, enraged. He reached them, shoved Terry out of the way, and threw a finger up in Delores’s face.

  “What’d ya do to my boy?!” He shouted. “What did ya turn him into?!”

  Delores stepped back, shocked. Terry reigned in his sudden burst of anger enough to speak. He strode up to Ernest, grabbed him by the shoulders, and forced him away from Delores.

  “STOP IT!” he shouted at his uncle. That brought Ernest up short. Terry never yelled at him.

  “She change ya, boy!” Ernest yelled back.

  “I am EXACTLY what I’ve always been! I’m the same thing we’ve all refused to talk about.” He said, moderating his tone. For some reason that made people stop and pay more attention. It worked. Ernest stepped back.

  “My entire life I’ve been doing this and never knew what I was doing. Well, I’ve been killing myself bit by bit every time. Then three days ago I DID nearly die wiping out a town of monsters.” He glance back at Delores. “She’s why I’m still here to yell at you about it. She’s taught me enough control over it that I won’t gutter out like a candle every time I have to fight something that threatens the world.” Why had he said it like that?

  This time Ernest looked at Delores. He suddenly looked like he had doubts about what he’d been thinking.

  “There’s still things I don’t know, Ernest. Things I should have known since I was a kid but none of us wanted to face it. There was no one to teach me and we wouldn’t even talk about it.”

  He held his arms out.

  “Well now we have to. Because I nearly died and I felt like a cancer patient sitting in that bed being told I needed to do exercises to keep myself safe and alive.”

  His arms dropped.

  “Died?” Ernest said, at a near whisper.

  “Yeah. The worst part is, I might have welcomed it a few days ago. It’s in me. Whatever it was that dad had? This depression? The other thing we never talked about? It’s in me too. It’s like it turns all the lights out and leaves me by myself.”

  Ernest looked like he’d been struck.

  “And that woman?” Terry said, pointing behind him to Delores, “She did the smartest thing anyone could do with me. Delores knows how important my vows are. She made me give her one. She made me vow to survive, Uncle Ernest! To come back, every time!”

  He realized he was yelling again, and he couldn’t help it. The flood gates were open.

  “So now, when that light turns off and all the other amazing reasons I have for living seem to disappear? I’ve got that vow. That one thing to keep me here in the most desperate times I can imagine. I’ll come back to her.”

  Ernest looked miserable. Terry had the bit in his teeth though. He continued.

  “So I’m going to ask you, Uncle Ernest, to please watch what you say to her. What you say about her. She’s why I’m still standing here. She had the courage to talk to me about all this. SHE kept me alive.”

  His uncle walked up slowly with the saddest expression Terry had ever seen on his face, and he embraced Terry.”

  “I’m sorry.” Ernest said against his shoulder. “Yer all I’ve got left, boy. I just wanted to protect ya. I’m sorry. We just didn’t know what else to do.”

  Terry held his uncle. He knew all this. Ernest didn’t need to tell him any of it. But he knew Ernest needed to say it.

  “I forgive you, but there’s nothing to really forgive. There’s no other way you could have raised me safely. I’m just learning to live, finally.” He thought about it. “I WOULD appreciate you apologizing to Delores for coming at her so hostile though.” He smiled as he said it, hoping to take the sting out of his words.

  Ernest looked up and nodded at him. He let go of Terry and walked up to Delores.

  “Mrs. Cody, I’m terribly sorry about that.” He looked back at Terry, then turned back to face her. “I need ya to understand, he’s the only thing I have left. He’s all I have left of my brother. He’s the only son I’ll ever have. Thank ya for keepin’ him safe. I’m sorry. I shoulda asked before this.”

  She hugged the old man.

  “It’s ok.” She said. She smiled. “That’s what I like about you Lingals. You admit when you’re wrong.”

  He nodded.

  “About the only thing we do right, some days.” Ernest said.

  She patted his back.

  “I know it’s hard to see him change, even in good ways. Just know I’m doing this from a place of. . .” She looked at Terry and closed her eyes. She continued very quietly. “From a place of love.”

  She let him go.

  Ernest pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket and blew his nose loudly before shoving it back where he’d gotten it.

  “David.” He said, turning to the boy who had barely stopped looking at them both. “Go change outta yer armor. I want ya in the kitchen helpin’ Dottie. You’re spending dinner with the family.”

  The boy nodded with a grin and ran off to the trailer. Terry watched.

  “I’m afraid that demonstration might not have worked the way I intended.” He said. The boy was looking at him like something from a myth.

  “I dunno.” Ernest said. “It mighta. He'll see there’s no way he can do what ya do. Can’t say stories about it ain’t gonna spread worse than Elton’s flowery writin’ once the squires get here, though.”

  The old man turned back to Terry and smiled.

  “And you, boy, need to head in the front door. Get changed. Yer off duty as long as yer here. I want ya to rest. YOU’VE been workin’ too hard for too long. Let us take care of ya. Let us be parents.”

  Terry grinned and saluted.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “Yessir.” he said. “Seriously though, Uncle Ernest, I know you and Dottie did everything you could. I just want to know it all now, ok? We’ve got a policy of no secrets in this party.”

  “That’s fine.” Ernest said. “It's past time anyway. Let’s just not fill up the first day.”

  Terry nodded. He grabbed Delores by the hand and started walking around the house.

  “Ok,” Delores said quietly as they walked, “That back there? That was your fight. And you handled it wonderfully, by the way. You knew exactly what you needed to say.”

  Terry winced.

  “I didn’t want to hurt him. He’s been through enough. I see what you mean about standing up to your folks though. That was harder than I thought.”

  She squeezed his hand.

  “None the less,” She said, “you got it out in the open now. It can’t go back in the box. Are you ok?”

  They’d reached the porch and Terry held the door open for her. She smiled at him as she went inside and he remembered the dream he’d had early on with the Voice.

  “Sort of? All this just drives home the fact that I ran away from them. I know why I did it though.”

  “Do you?” She asked as she led the way to his bedroom.

  “Yeah. We can talk about it later though. There’s been enough of that for now.”

  When they entered the room, Terry walked to the wardrobe and opened the door. He blinked. He’d used the room so little as a child he’d never realized there were pegs and hooks for his armor plates in the back. He’d just meant to chuck the armor in the bottom. He looked at Delores as she looked in over his shoulder. A smile on her face.

  “You didn’t even know that was there, did you?”

  “No.” He said, trying not to sound miserable about it.

  “Well, that’s ok. It just means I don’t have to take up floor space.” She grinned wickedly. “Now, let’s get all of that off of you.”

  Elton watched Terry and Delores go and realized he had just been left alone with Ernest. He didn’t think the old man actually liked him despite his praise on first arriving. The man was hard to read though. Elton let the awkwardness come though. Better that than Business Elton taking over. Ernest looked at him.

  “Want a beer?” the man asked him. Elton smiled politely.

  “Love one. Thank you.”

  The old man nodded and, instead of going inside, walked up to a 1950’s fridge on the back porch. The kind with the latching handle. He opened it and the thing was still working. He pulled two long necks out and handed one to Elton.

  “I’m impressed. How do you keep that thing running? It’s got to be seventy years old by now.” Elton said, as he sat on the concrete steps. Ernest sat next to him. He pulled out a bottle opener and opened both the bottles.

  “Terry, actually.”

  Elton blinked in surprise.

  “Seriously?”

  “Yep.” The old man said with a sly grin. “He don’t look like it, but he’s good with machines. Him and George tinkered around a lot. He’s not as good as George, mind. He couldn’t build ya a lawn mower or nothin’, but he can fix damned near anything he can get his hands on. George would build ‘em. Terry would fix ‘em.”

  Elton thought about that.

  “You know, when Thunder broke down two months ago and Terry worked on him, I assumed it was something minor.” Elton looked up and could just make out Thunder doing donuts in the pasture chasing something.

  “Mighta been.” Ernest said. “Might notta. If anything goes south with this knight thing he’s got somethin’ he could fall back on. Always wished he’d focused on that when he was a kid.”

  Elton took a swing from his beer.

  “That couldn’t have been easy after everything Terry’s told me. Watching him run off like that?”

  Ernest took a long drink.

  “It wasn’t. Only so many times ya can watch someone ya love run out into danger like that. But, and this is a big but,” Elton snorted at the unintended childish joke. Ernest did as well. “If I had put my foot down and kept him from doin’ this? Well, Dottie was right. As usual. I woulda lost him fer sure. He woulda resented me and run off and done it anyway. At least this way I could keep an eye on him.”

  “How’d you figure out he was different?” Elton asked. Maybe he was pushing, but the old man seemed agreeable to talking. Ernest gave him a crooked smile.

  “He was so excited at something for his birthday, when I came rollin’ up in the truck he jumped offa the porch and landed on the hood. Smashed the whole front end into the ground.”

  Elton stared at him.

  “That was the old truck. Had to buy the Ford after that.” Ernest added.

  “So that tractor. . .” Elton began to ask.

  “Yep. That was about par the course. Bit stronger than I was used to, but still Terry. Used to call him Jack Rabbit when he was little.”

  Elton sat there for a moment soaking up all the info. He decided to share a bit.

  “You’re boy saved my life, Ernest.”

  “He does that.” The old man said.

  “Yeah. He does. I was stuck with a knight named Lawless. He-”

  “ROBERT Lawless?!” The man said suddenly.

  Elton turned and looked at him, shock plain on his face.

  “Yes. You know him?”

  Ernest’s face soured.

  “I do. One of Glen’s old buddies before he met Marie. He’s from near Pickens. Glen was the Knight Protector of a chunk of the state. When he died and I couldn’t cut it, I got Lawless to take over. I shoulda tracked him down and kicked his ass after all I’ve heard outta the man. He probably woulda killed me if I’d even showed up. I’m sorry you had to meet him.”

  Elton swallowed. These knights were a small community in Mississippi. He knew Lawless had a problem with Lingals. He didn’t know Ernest was the reason the man had risen to power.

  “Well,” Elton said, “you’ll be happy to hear Terry completely broke the man and no one has seen him for months.”

  Ernest’s smile had nothing malicious in it. Just pride.

  “Well, that is one thing his daddy never could bring himself to do.” He looked at Elton. “Look. I know who ya are Elton. I know about what yer daddy did. I’m not one of those “Sins of the Father” types. From everything I’ve seen and heard about ya, yer a good man. Ya help people. Ya help Terry. That’s good enough fer me. If I say yer doin’ good out there, I mean it.”

  Elton sat there for a minute, looking at Ernest.

  “Does your whole family do this?” he finally asked.

  “Do what?” Ernest said.

  “Show a bizarre amount of understanding for being from the sticks?”

  Ernest laughed.

  “Be glad ya didn’t know me thirty years ago, boy. Or Dottie for that matter.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Glen was the sensible one and he ran around killin’ shit with a sword.”

  This time the both of them laughed.

  It was a few hours later and Terry was getting dressed after a quick shower. The entire process of getting his armor off had become a “thing” and they’d both needed to clean up. Terry loved Delores, but he was wondering what had her so. . .enthusiastic. She had showered before him and bundled him off with a small stack of clothing she’d chosen for him. Black slacks and a black dress shirt. He thought it made him look like a European mercenary. She said he was going to look handsome. She had won.

  As he stood there brushing his hair, it suddenly hit him. Why she was acting like this. He’d been saying it to Ernest earlier. He’d almost died. They had finally gotten together and the first thing he did was get kidnapped, nearly die, and spend two days unconscious. And then they’d yelled at each other. Put yourself in her shoes, Terry, he thought. What would you do? How would you react to her nearly dying? He’d be glued to her. He’d want to spend every minute with her. Not that he didn’t already want that, but. . .

  He finished grooming and looked at himself in the mirror. It wasn’t a bad look. He hadn’t remembered having this outfit since he’d been in his armor so much. He smiled. Maybe he’d do that pose thing with the nail polish again and see what she did now that the restraints were off. He laughed.

  He walked up to his door and tried the old iron door knob. It was locked. He knocked.

  “D? You ok in there?” He called. He heard her shuffle up to the door.

  “Yeah. I, uh, I’m getting dressed. It’s a surprise. Give me a minute.”

  Terry should have realized she’d had an idea when she’d picked him out clothes. He smiled. She’d probably be dressed like a secret agent to match him. Maybe she’d have a beret, though he honestly couldn’t imagine her wearing a hat. Maybe a hood. Finally, he heard the ancient door latch release. He still waited.

  “You can come in now.” She said. He opened the door and walked in, closing it behind him.

  Delores wore a dress. It was a lovely, loose, green affair with vines printed on it. It came down just past her knees and reminded him of something from the 60’s. Over it she wore a matte leather vest that hung below her waist that had been dyed “mage purple”. She wore tights underneath and sandals. She’d somehow found time to do her eye make-up. He just stared at her.

  “Well?” She asked, giving the dress a little twirl.

  “How are you more beautiful every time I see you?” was all he could think to say at first. “You look gorgeous.”

  She walked up and hugged him.

  “Thank you.” She said.

  He felt special right then, getting to see her like this. He knew how she felt about this kind of thing. When she stepped back, he held an arm out to her.

  “Delores, would you accompany me to the living room?”

  She rolled her eyes, but laughed.

  “You take me to the best places.”

  When they left the room, Terry stopped at the door to the dinning room.

  “Hang on. Let me just check that Aunt Dottie is ok. Make sure she doesn’t need anything.”

  Delores nodded.

  He stuck his head in the dining room door so he could yell into the kitchen.

  “Aunt Dottie? Do you need any help?”

  The woman came to the kitchen door and opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped. She took in their clothes and put her hands over her mouth.

  “Shoo!” She said, motioning them out. “SHOO! You are not cooking or cleaning in those outfits. Go sit down. Let me and David worry about the meal.”

  With that they walked into the living room.

  The living room had always struck Terry as a sad place. A distant memory of happier times. It had two couches and multiple chairs. It was set up for gatherings. It was a hold over from when the family was bigger. When there WAS a family. When there were still Lingals. Now, tonight at least, there would be people here again. Family. Friends. He wouldn’t hide from it this time. He wanted this.

  He shook himself and escorted Delores to the couch by the front windows and let her take a seat. He sat next to her. She tucked her feet under her, and leaned against him, looking at him and smiling. He realized he was still thinking of how affectionate she’d been the past day. He blushed.

  “You’re just doing things to make me blush because you’re around my family, aren’t you?” he said quietly. She kissed him on the cheek and that just made him turn more red. He found it ridiculous that he should still turn red over something so simple, but she laughed.

  “I’m doing it because you’re so cute when you blush. If you stopped blushing, I might stop doing it.”

  He arched an eyebrow.

  “Don’t you dare stop blushing.” She said threateningly, and this time Terry laughed.

  “You know you didn’t have to dress up for my family. They already like you. I can tell. And yes, that includes Ernest.” He said.

  “I didn’t dress up for them.” She said softly. “I dressed up for you.” She punctuated it with a very slow kiss that left him breathless. He sighed.

  “I’m sure you’re going to get tired of hearing this eventually, but I love you.”

  She shook her head.

  “You don’t have a clue how this works, do you?”

  He smiled.

  “Never have.”

  Elton came in from the hallway just then and they both looked up.

  “Man. You’re uncle’s awesome, Terry.”

  “Been hanging out with Ernest?” Delores asked.

  “Yeah. He’s been sharing beer, and telling me about the family, and-”

  He noticed what they were wearing.

  “You two look great. Should I change?”

  Terry studied his bard. He’d didn’t seem drunk, which was good. New Orleans was still on his mind.

  “No, no. This was just a me and Terry thing.” Delores said to Elton.

  He nodded and walked over to the couch on the opposite wall and just looked at them smiling.

  “You ok?” Terry asked.

  “I. . .I’m just happy to see you two happy. You’re my best friends. The most painful part of the last few months has been watching you two fall for each other and pretend it wasn’t happening.” He smiled sadly. “I don’t get to see enough happy endings in my life.”

  Terry looked at Delores.

  “I certainly hope this isn’t an ending. There’s a lot more people that need us.” Terry said. “There’s more I want to do.”

  That made him think. What was the plan now? They’d all have to discuss that at some point.

  Suddenly, the front door opened violently and a tall young man with long brown hair and round rimmed glasses dressed all in black stood just inside the door.

  “WHERE IS THAT BIG, DUMB SON OF A BITCH?!” He said in a deep voice.

  “SEAN!” Terry shouted, and Delores moved to let him stand.