Macha's Journey

He decided to split all the affairs of his family businesses between Macha and Hrod. He wanted them to interact while he was away, so he gave Macha final approval, but left his mother in charge of the planning and deal-making. He figured this would be for the best since Hrod understood what most of the companies did.

As far as the management for the Obsidian Dragons, Tyr a.s.signed the financial decisions to Bartosz and entrusted Macha with the decision making. She had a good grasp of his plans and understood the spirit of the guild the best.

Tyr decided to bring the top twenty people in the guild with him to the war. Although it would cause their profits to take a hit, the guild had grown so much that he did not worry about it staying afloat during his absence. Their new food district was doing exceptionally well, and the recruits were eager to go out and do whatever missions they could.

A few days before he needed to leave, he and Macha were lying on the couch. Tyr turned to her because he needed to inform her of what he put in his will. His voice remained calm as he informed her, "Macha, if something happens to me, I gave my share of the guild to you. I put it in my will. I just wanted you to know."

Hearing him talk about his death caused tears to flow from her eyes. The agony of his departure was already difficult and she did not want to hear him mention a will to her. She was scared it would jinx his safe return. "No! I don"t want to talk about it. Nothings going to happen." Her lips quivered as she tried not to cry out, "No more talking like that."

All Tyr could do was hug her and rub her back as he struggled to settle her emotions. He did not mean to upset her, but he felt it was necessary to let her know what he planned.

The night before he left, he asked if they could stay home and not go out. He did not want to bother sharing his last night with anyone else but her. There a million things he wanted to tell Macha, but all of them now seemed silly. She realized he loved her and that was the only thing that mattered.

After dinner, they took a shower and went out onto the deck to gaze at the stars. He put an outdoor bed on the patio because it reminded him of Jimbaran and the night he realized he loved her. As they laid down, and the music drifted in from the living room, Tyr felt the front of his shirt become wet. When he looked down, he saw that Macha was crying silently. He lifted her face and wiped away her tears. "Macha, I"ll be back before you realize it. If you ever get lonely, you"ll know I"m fine if you just use your ring."

She lifted up her ring, it was the one item she never took off. After his tender reminder, she activated the enchantment in it. A soft red light drew a line and pointed to Tyr. "Mmmhmm. I know. I"m just going to miss you..." she did not know what else to say.

Tyr understood her feelings. He was going to miss waking up next to her and glancing across the room from time to time just to admire her. He gave her a tender kiss, and she clung to him with urgency.

His deep voice was pained when he whispered, "I wish I could be in two places at once, so I could be with you. Just know that if I could, I would spend eternity with you."

Tyr"s kissed her. It was a slow kiss, full of longing. While his hands slipped her clothes off, he thought about how much he loved her. He pushed all the worries he continually fretted about these past two weeks out of his mind. Right now he just wanted to focus on his final moments with her.

Tyr touched her so tenderly as he looked into her eyes. A thousand words were expressed in his touch and she felt how deeply he cared for her. Tonight he took his time and explored her body, needing to remember every curve.

His lips kissed every part of Macha"s body, not wanting to forget a single piece. This was the last time he would see her for a long time and he needed to imprint her deep into his memory.

They stayed up all night, even after their lovemaking. Neither one of them wanted to sleep and the anxiety of the rising sun caused Macha to squeeze him tighter. She understood she had to be strong, but it was hard to keep up her mood.

When the sun rose, Tyr kissed her forehead. His voice cracked when he said, "I have to get going. I promise, I"ll fight day and night to come back to you." He moved Macha"s arms out from around his chest and got up from the bed.

Macha followed him to the room that held their weapons and armors. Each piece she helped him with, broke her heart more and more.

Aži entered the armory and nuzzled her leg. He knew she was having a difficult time with this goodbye. For the past two weeks, both of them had been quiet and hardly laughed.

The small nudge that the wyvern gave her, caused a bittersweet smile to form on her lips as she pa.s.sed Tyr his lances. "I"ll send you a message once a week. I know you won"t be able to send one back all the time, but I promise to send you one every week."

She followed him to the front door, wanting to be with him as long as possible. Silent tears trailed down her face. Both of them agreed she would not go down to the courtyard, so this would be the last chance she had to be with him.

Tyr cupped her cheeks in his hands. "I"ll send a message whenever I can. I love you." He gave her one last tender kiss and left.

When the door closed Macha ran to the bedroom and cried. She wanted to go down with him, but he made her promise not to. He explained it would make it harder to keep his morale up and Tyr did not want to break down in front of the others.

Tyr paused at the top of the stairs. He wiped a tear from his eye and cleared his throat. There was a chance he could b.u.mp into the other members on the way down and he did not want them to see any weakness in him.

After steeling his nerves, he turned to Aži, "We have to win this quickly for Macha."

Aži, who grew to be too big to rest comfortably on Tyr"s pauldrons, looked up at his friend. Now, he did not concern himself with Macha. In their entire life, he never witnessed Tyr cry.

He gave his partner a small nod and descended the stairs. The last thing he wanted to do was drag out the war. People were a bigger threat than the monsters that roamed the world.

The courtyard stood empty except for the nineteen other people who were headed out with him. Most of them remembered the Phocée-Ma.r.s.eille war, but a few had never been in a war before.

Tyr summoned his mount. When he hopped on he hardened his face, all of them looked at him. Some had looks of resignation, the younger ones had fear in their eyes.

Steeling his voice, he called out to them, "Today we"re going out to fight in a war that you may feel is not our own. We do not do this for Kochi, we do this to protect our borders from Phocée"s influence. I can see the fear in your eyes, but this for Ma.r.s.eille. This is for the people we love, so never forget that for a second. Let"s go."