The Vitalis Chronicles: Tomb of the Relequim by Jay Swanson

him look enormous.
    “ Don't you recognize me lad? You can't so soon forget a long hot ride under a pile o' stinkin' fish now can ye? I know I couldn't.”
    Ardin could make out his kind smile; it was framed by a white beard and slicked white hair.
    “You're ... the Fisherman?”
    “ Aye lad! That's me, though you can call me Cid. Realized I ne'er gave you my proper name, no, but there's always second chances.”
    Ardin sat up in the snow, as confused as he was happy to see the old man.
    “ I'd wager, and I'm not a bettin' man mind you, that you have no notion how relieved I am to see you, lad. I been searchin' these mountains the better part of a month for ye, knowin' you'd be alive somewheres.”
    Ardin didn't know what to say. The emotional turmoil he had gone through, was going through, clamped his mouth shut. The disbelief that he had found a friendly face in the world didn't help.
    “ How'd you know to find me?”
    “ Well.” Cid the Fisherman smiled, proud of himself. “That near-collapsed mountain was a good place to start. What a mess that was, hey? I found it near on two months ago, but two weeks too late to do any good. Some villagers a few miles to the east later said they found some mad boy wanderin' through the hills. They said he'd been taken by some officers o' the peace to an asylum near here. But I knew better.”
    He gave Ardin a knowing look. “I knew the two of you would have made for the Temple. So few know where it is, but it makes perfect sense. If you're to hide in these parts, that would be the place to do it. And where's this lass now? Where's Alisia?”
    Ardin's eyes grew dim with the name. His countenance fell, and he remained silent.
    “ Daughter of Magess Magnificent, as they called Charsi once. Terrible name, I always thought.”
    All Ardin could do in response was shake his head. He feared if he opened his mouth the flood gates would follow suit, and he didn't want to cry in front of anyone.
    The Fisherman, for his part, sat back in the snow in a shock of realization. It was written over his face, disbelief mingling with a deep personal pain. She was dead. The girl had died in the mountains and he had never even known it. He must have suspected it, certainly. But having the last of his hopes dashed clearly cut deeper than the cold.
    They sat in silence for some time, neither wanting to break it for fear of committing some deep sacrilege. A few unsettled flakes of snow drifted from the trees above before the Fisherman finally ventured to ask how she had died.
    “ That rat bastard general,” Ardin muttered without lifting his gaze. “Murdered her for her power. In cold blood.”
    “ General?”
    “ The one that killed my family.” The malice in his voice increased with each syllable. “He turned out to be some sort of... shadow creature! I thought they were all dead and gone!”
    The Fisherman couldn't believe what he was hearing. He stared at the ground between them for a while, open mouthed as the words refused to form. The Shadow King... why would he do this? Eventually he ventured to ask another question.
    “ And the mountain? I couldn't imagine she was powerful enough to do that but... she was Charsi's daughter. Was she that powerful?”
    “ No,” Ardin wiped tears from his cheeks before they froze. “That was Tertian.”
    “ He killed Tertian too?” Cid looked like he might topple over.
    Ardin looked up after a moment. A chill entered his voice to match the breeze. “I killed him.”
    The admission brought the Fisherman back instantly. Disbelief and anger fighting for dominance in his chest. “You killed him? How? Why?!”
    “ The same way the general killed Alisia. I tried to put an end to him bu–”
    The Fisherman had heard enough. He lunged at the boy, pinning him to the ground with his forearm in his chest and drawing a long dagger across his throat.
    “ Do you know who I am, boy?”
    Ardin was almost despondent, weeping openly now.
    “ Captain of the Old