Chapter 148: Hauke’s Decision
Much like Ashlynn, Huake spent most of the following day asleep and recovering from events. He took a meal by himself before retrieving five carefully preserved iridescent horns and setting them on a table in his room.
Before the horns, Hauke could only sit on the floor. To do anything else would be far too disrespectful. Both his father and Old Svenja had suggested that one of them take custody of the horns last night, but Hauke refused.
It was a rare act of defiance, normally he was content to follow his father’s arrangements and he always listened to the advice of the elders. This time, however, it was different. It was far too personal.
"What was done to you," Hauke said, gazing at the horns with misty eyes. "It was far too cruel. You should never have been left to suffer so long. I’m sorry," he said, bowing deeply to the horns.
The moment he apologized, the horns began to glow with a weak, flickering light. All of them were chipped and cracked and the energy that flowed through them was far from stable, but they clearly weren’t ’dead’ horns. There was still a trace of the ancestors within them.
One of the horns, shrouded with a white, icy mist, pulsed brighter than the others as if calling out to him. Sitting before them, Hauke struggled with what he should do. He understood, or at least, he thought he did, but the risks...
Taking a deep breath, he shook himself, releasing a flutter of tiny ice crystals from his fur. After watching both Ashlynn and Nyrielle fight, he’d seen firsthand the kind of strength it took to protect people, and he realized that he fell far short of the mark.
Old Fabiene had told everyone how hard Nyrielle fought to build her strength, and he’d watched Ashlynn struggle to learn Frost Walker sorcery. He knew that the strength they held wasn’t just something they were born with. Even if they had advantages, wasn’t it the same as his iridescent horn?
But he couldn’t glide along on that ability alone like he was sledding downhill. He had to put in the work and that required taking risks. If he couldn’t manage to take even the first step then he had no business standing in line to be the next Lord of the High Pass.