Chapter 240 Brightblades Background (1/2)
”Wake up!”
It took Arran a few ather his wits When he opened his eyes, he saw that dusk was only barely beginning to fall Yet although only a few hours could have passed, he felt as if he had spent an entire night fast asleep
Brightblade was standing next to the hot spring, looking at him with a raised eyebrow ”You shouldn't sleep in there,” she said ”You could drown”
Arran responded with an annoyed glare A moment earlier, he'd been i pulled back into the real world so suddenly was far frohtblade had no sympathy to spare ”Put on some clothes,” she said ”We have matters to discuss, and little time”
As she turned around and walked away, Arran let out a deep yawn, then stretched out his body He really did feel as if he had slept an entire night — perhaps even several
After dressing hihtblade had already found a comfortable wooden chair on the patio
”Take a seat,” she said ”I've put up wards, so we can speak freely”
Arran did as she said, and as he sat down, Brightblade looked at him with an uncharacteristically serious expression
”To answer your first question,” she said, not giving him the chance to actually ask it, ” Jie Snowcloud and I are distant cousins, which is one of the reasons the Patriarch entrusted htfully, not entirely surprised by the revelation
Brightblade had already said as much when they first h her words had contained more than a little deception at the tirounded in truth
”What about you and the Matriarch?” he asked ”What's the history between you two?”
”It's a long story,” Brightblade answered ”But the short of it is that my father was Fourth Valley's Patriarch, and Rhea was his student When he was killed, I called upon her to help avenge him” She paused, then said in a cold tone, ”She didn't come”
It took Arran a moment to process all of this ”I'm sorry,” he finally said ”About your father”
”I'et over it” She sh if anyone ever tells you that ti”
Arran couldn't help but agree with her Years had passed since his father had died, but even if the pain had dulled, the wound was still there ”Did you get the people who killed hihtblade said with a nod ”I had help, of course — Elder Naran, the Sixth Valley's Patriarch, and several others aided me None of those responsible escaped with their lives”
”Who were they?” Though Arran could tell that the subject was not one that Brightblade wanted to discuss at length, he could not help but wonder what eneh to kill a Patriarch
”They called themselves the Immortal Horde,” she said, her expression one of utter contees, several hundreds of thousands strong They murdered a path halfway across the world before they came upon the Shadowflaine what an ares would look like His brow creased in thought, he asked, ”You killed them all?”
”I exterhtblade confirh about the past We should discuss the future — your future, specifically”
Briefly, Arran gazed at the shadow-filled gardens around them Between his unexpected proround, it had been easy to forget that the day's events would have lasting consequences
When he turned his eyes back to Brightblade, he felt some trepidation at as to come ”What does she want?”
If the Matriarch wanted to train hiic There had to be so she valued, either for herself or for the Valley
For several seconds, Brightblade re whether or not to tell the truth Finally, she spoke, a severity in her voice that told Arran the matter was an important one
”She believes you have the potential to become a Patriarch And she intends to make sure you fulfill that potential”
”A Patriarch?” Arran looked at Brightblade wide-eyed, disbelief written across his face ”She's insane I'e”
”You have an unusual talent for seals and for the Valleys, these things le formation can hold back an entire arifted”