Surviving the Death Hunt

In the Rover family’s throne room, the Rangers had taken their seats, Damon and Hale, first and second heads, present and accounted for. The third seat belonged to Arthur Rover. It was empty.

Thirty members of the Rover family stood before the Rangers in respectful silence; children, cousins, and blood of varying degrees were all present.

Arthur’s children were somewhere in that number. Amber, Nitin, and Hayder, standing like the rest. Leading them all was Loki Rover, Damon’s son, out front where the weight of the moment collected.

The summons had confused him at first. Then he saw Loki take the vanguard position, and the pieces fell into place, or so he thought.

There had been rumors floating around about Loki and the Princess of Barbados for some time. An engagement announcement made sense.

Then they told him, and everything stopped. He couldn’t move, couldn’t redirect his eyes from whatever empty point they’d found in the distance. Arthur Rover was dead. The only person left in his life he could genuinely count on, and he was gone.

The past few months had given him enough heartbreak that he should have built up some resistance to it by now. He hadn’t. This wasn’t easy. None of them had been.

The more he turned it over, the more obvious it became. The signs had been there, readable, and he hadn’t read them. That was the part that sat heaviest.

Looking back, Arthur had been saying it almost from the beginning: a storm was coming, and it wasn’t a metaphor. He’d been deliberate about it.

The training, Scar and his friends, all of it had been built around that single purpose. Arthur had known what was coming and had spent every session making sure they’d be standing when it arrived.

Worse, he’d known something was wrong when Arthur started aging backwards. He just never once thought it would end with the old man dying.

His death made things clearer though. Scar had always known that whoever sided with the Flames of the Unknown would be marked as an enemy, but he never expected Dain to turn his blade against Arthur so easily.

Scar looked at Arthur’s children, his eyes finding Amber first, and found no grief where he expected it. None of them appeared affected. Not numb and not suppressed, just settled, like this was something they’d already sat with and put down long before today.

They’d lost their mother the moment Amber came into the world, and now their father on top of it. No one got through that without it leaving a mark. So where was it? Why did none of them look like what they’d just lost?

’Wait... can it be? Did he tell them he was going to die?’

He thought back to when he’d first joined the Rover family, nearly two weeks ago. Amber had been putting up strange behaviors even then, things he’d noticed but hadn’t thought to question.

She’d always seemed tense, wound up in a way that didn’t fit her. And at the banquet, he’d caught her crying, not once but twice, which for someone as tough as Amber should have been impossible.

It made sense now. Arthur had seen his own death coming and said nothing to Scar while letting his children carry it.

His mind was still circling when Loki turned. The look he gave Scar was disappointed in a way that didn’t need explanation, followed by an exhale that said the rest.

"Loki, you have Arthur’s Inheritance, the Sun Phoenix, which likely included his memories. What caused his death? Did he leave anything behind, or must that remain confidential?"

Ranger Hale asked.

Scar frowned, turning it over. Arthur had given his Inheritance to Loki, of all people. He couldn’t work out the logic. Was it simply because Loki’s father sat as the first head of the family? Was that the only reason?

Nitin and Hayder were both past the age of twenty-five, the Inheritance wasn’t an option for either of them. But Amber was sixteen. It should have gone to her, and with the strength she already carried, she would have been more than capable of wielding it.

Amber didn’t look bothered. Maybe it had already been settled between them.

"Not all, Great Ranger."

Loki said with a slight bow.

"Uncle Arthur died seeking vengeance for his fallen brother, Bryan. He poured every ounce of his strength into making the one responsible pay for the suffering they caused, but in the end, time and age proved stronger than him."

Huh?

Scar’s eyes widened. Confusion first, then shock, then something worse than both. Why would Arthur go after Dain? That was his kill. It had always been his.

Why would Arthur move on him without a word, without warning, without telling Scar anything at all? The questions kept surfacing, and every new one darkened the ones before it.

"What do you mean, son?"

Damon asked, leaning forward into his seat.

"The person who killed Uncle Bryan? Dain of the Zaireth family. Their primary target now is Bryan’s son, Scar Rover. No one knows their motive, but Arthur’s final command was to guard Scar with everything we have."

A flicker of Damon’s finger, and a path was made for Scar and Amber to join Loki at the vanguard. Scar moved forward uneasily. He had too many questions and no way to ask any of them.

Hale exhaled.

"This hits hard. Without Arthur, Morgan would command our forces... and I don’t think he stands a chance against Dain."

Hale’s head whipped toward Scar with an intense glare that forced Scar to swallow.

"Do you know why Dain would want you dead?"

"I have no idea..."

He blurted the first words that came to mind.

Damon took in Scar’s words and adjusted himself in his seat. He looked to Amber. She met him with absolute confidence.

"You understand what this means, don’t you? You cannot leave Scar’s side, no matter what. We’ll ensure that isn’t an issue, wherever he may go. The world now knows that Bryan’s long-lost son lives, losing him would be a calamity for the Rover family, and it would jeopardize the alliances and investments we’ve made."

Amber immediately bowed to Damon’s words.

"I swore to protect Scar, and I’ll uphold that promise, even if everything else in the world opposes me."

Damon nodded once, whatever he’d needed from Amber apparently found, and turned his attention to the rest of the room.

"This isn’t solely about Amber. It may be selfish to ask you to put your life on the line for one person, particularly someone who has only recently returned to the Rover family. But we are Rovers. Our bonds run deeper than anything else, and we never abandon our own. Arthur took the first step, and we will follow in his path."

Damon allowed his words to settle for a moment.

"Above all else, Rovers hold freedom in the highest regard. You may choose to protect this boy or leave him be. So long as your actions do not bring dishonor to the family, they will be respected."

Damon’s speech stretched on, and Scar stood there listening, caught between two things. This was what he’d wanted.

One of the main reasons he’d come back to the Rover family at all. But now that it was here, the special treatment didn’t sit right. He wasn’t sure he could explain why.

The strongest they had was Morgan, Jules’ father, a Moon Killer, sitting at 25th rank. That wasn’t a bad number under most circumstances. Against Dain, it meant nothing. Anyone who got cocky about protecting Scar wasn’t going to last long enough to regret it.

He was hardly in a position to criticize. He wasn’t a Moon Killer; he only recently achieved tier-6 and was by no means close to Dain’s level himself.

But none of that changed how he felt about others dying to shield him. Especially Amber. That was non-negotiable, and it was one more reason his pursuit of strength couldn’t stay a private matter anymore.

"Arthur’s death was reported this morning. The public will assume he perished in the Scarlet Kin domain while battling a mist dragon. That should serve as your alibi should anyone question his death."

Hale exhaled, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"The funeral is scheduled for two days from now. No one is to leave the estate until it concludes."