Chapter 83: The Power Struggle Begins
Erden was intently focusing on holding their minds together but still squeezed out her answer.
`Maybe... I can give you a couple of seconds at least... Hurry, though... Gods, this is exhausting.’
As she finished her statement, Stahl turned the corner into the blacksmith’s, panting profusely as she shouted to the young fox who had been working away.
Rust was worried about his auntie, she seemed to be under great stress, but when the she-wolf spoke, the fox dropped the hammer he had been affixing a new handle to, barely avoiding his paws as it crashed into the dirt right between them. His father was there.
As Erden forged their visual connection, Stahl knelt down to look into the young fox’s eyes, letting her older brother see for himself. Stahl spoke for Amboss, placing a gentle hand on each side of her nephew’s shoulders.
"Rosten! My son... Thank the gods... I thought... I thought you were taken from me... Are you hurt? Are you alright?"
Rust was already crying profusely, the moon had made him quite homesick that afternoon, which he had tried and failed to bury in his work, so this was the best gift he could ask for as he stuttered his response.
"Dad... I... I’m ok. I’m with Stahl, so I’m ok... I miss you so much... Is mom there? Is she alright, too? I was so worried about you, that demon... I... I didn’t know if you... I just... I’m so happy to hear from you, dad!"
Stahl quickly picked back up as her brother was rapidly running out of time.
"We are fine, my son... We will be ok now... I’m coming to get you, I swear it, I’m coming to take you home, my cub. Just... Just be strong until then. Stay by your aunt. Stay out of danger. I love you, Rust. By the gods, I truly love you more than anything."
Stahl knew her brother was crying, and that overflow of emotion even forced a tear to fall from her own eye.
Rust lunged forward, giving his "Father," the biggest hug he could manage as he simply wept with him.