things should have been easier since leaving meldacio, and they had been for a while. but between another sighting of micah - an impossible one, by two individuals - coupled with baldur’s boy going off the deep end, tensions were rising and kaleb could feel that unsettling fear seeping into his bones again. the one he’d pushed back down and excused away as irrational.
until sarah had woken him from his sleep, a gash on her palm and terror alight in her eyes.
there were no knives in their dorm. he knew that for a fact. his kukris were there alright, but he hadn’t told her where he’d hidden them - a quick check and the hunter knew his wife hadn’t found his stowed blades either. grabbing one of the towels from the bathroom and wiping away the worst of the blood, the hunter was relieved to see the wound wasn’t too deep. wrapping the towel around her hand and telling her to hold it tight to keep pressure on the wound. he took a few moments to grab his own blades and secure them to his belt before taking a hold of sarah’s wrist and heading out the door of the dorm.
no ifs and buts about it. if she mentioned reno, then that meant reno was involved, for better or worse. they’d lost seconds in the confusion back in meldacio when sarah had appeared at ezma’s porch, hands stained in blood and panic clear on her face. it was just down to sheer dumb luck that those lost seconds hadn’t proven crucial. he couldn’t take that risk again though.
down through the identical hallways, using the small marks or old signs on the walls to get his bearings, the galahdan made straight for baldur and ida’s quarters, hammering on the door loud enough to wake the dead. the door opened on his fourth thump and kaleb stepped in through the door when baldur pulled it open.
’ forgive my intrusion, but something’s happened and i don’t know how much of a shit fest this is — sarah woke me, her hand is cut and she doesn’t remember how or why, she said i needed to check on your boy. you ordered for no one to go into that cell without your clearance. ’
Baldur had already been beyond his limits that evening. In more than one way and at several different times. He could feel that he craved sleep more than anything – and yet his mind went wild and wouldn’t grant him that. There was all this worry about Reno and the doubts about this Micah. About how to go on from here.
So it was easy to startle him at the dead of the night, the few knocks being enough to have Baldur on his feet. Ida followed a few paces behind, though her eyes were more questioning.
Kaleb with Sarah – and a message that echoed in Baldur’s head for a moment.
Sarah was injured. They hadn’t been present at Meldacio when she had hurt Pelna – but they had heard the story. And it was exactly that that shot through both their minds, Baldur and Ida exchanging a quick glance.
They didn’t need to talk at all. Baldur was already past Kaleb and sprinting down the corridors, as Ida could only offer a small thanks and excuse before following after her husband. The worry for their son surpassed all else.
But he was nowhere to be found. The cell was empty. Unlocked and empty. No sign of any fight or struggle. No sign of someone breaking open the lock’s mechanism. Reno was just gone.
A flurry of whispered curses before there was a message out to every corner of Formouth. Most were asleep, but some still awake. Some must have seen something, some must know what happened.
The minutes of uncertainty stretched long. And they had Baldur and Ida more tense with each passing moment. What could they do? Where was Reno? What happened? Was he hurt? Did he need help? Or…?
Someone reported having heard screaming from the hangar.
And Baldur found himself standing in the gate of the hangar, fervently blinking into the darkness as the brightness of the headlights poured into the halls. Nothing, nothing… a hand. A body. Blood. And then a second one, leaning against the walls.
He breathed out the name of his son the same as Ida gasped silently. The Nifen who had accompanied them went to check upon the woman in the puddle of blood, but Baldur and Ida immediately were at the sides of their son.
Grapsing for his shoulders, his face, hands checking over his body. There was blood on his arms, gashes across them. Baldur could recognize them as cuts from defending oneself against a knife. The one that stuck in the woman’s gut. But they were harmless compared to the darkness seeping down Reno’s side.
Baldur pressed his hand against Reno’s side, Ida was quick to discard her shawl and hand it to her husband so he could keep more blood from flowing out.
“Vi er nødt til at bringe ham til sygeplejestuen … nu. Reno, kan du høre mig, hjerte? Vi er her, okay? Mor og far er her.”
Ida caressed his pale face, waiting for Reno do blink at her. Lazily. Sleepy. He was exhausted, his body giving in.
There was of course the slight horror of what must have happened here. The notice from the others that the woman was off a lot worse. But Baldur could only give the order s to bring both of them to the infirmary, immediately. Someone else was sent off to get the physicians they had at hand. Another to gather supplies and prepare the infirmary.
But not a second was wasted thinking of that Reno should be locked up right now.
Baldur pulled Ida’s shawl around Reno’s side, tightening it as fats as he could, before he hoisted his son up in his arms. Reno wasn’t the little boy he used to be anymore, and Baldur wasn’t as strong as he had been. But he barely felt the weight of his son in that moment. Everything that counted was to get him to help. As fast as they could – as fast as his boots echoed across the hollow corridors to the infirmary.
Glancing down at Reno, Baldur felt his stomach wounding itself in knots.
“Du vil være okay, min søn, hører du mig?”
It was a helpless whisper, but the tone of his voice deep and rumbling in his throat. It didn’t matter what Reno did. Or what he thought. How he acted. What he had done. How he had freed himself. That all didn’t matter right now. Baldur prayed, pleaded to whatever speck of fate was listening, to save his son as he laid him down onto the cot and had to lay his trust into the doctors gathering around their boy.
