Tate floated in and out of consciousness he heard bits a pieces of the conversation around him.
"This was too easy. When father told me to try to get to Tate Delmont I thought it would take weeks or months!"
"I know can you believe our luck, my father said he'd give me….."
"….what time is it?"
"Uh, we've got to move faster."
"Do you think anyone is on to us yet?"
"I doubt it, Delmont doesn't have many friends no one should have missed him yet…"
In his moments of awareness, Tate was able to figure out that he was being transported somewhere by horse. It was the smell and the rhythmic jarring that tipped him off.
Every time he woke enough to make a sound or move his body something pressed against the cloth covering his mouth and nose and his eyes would be dragged shut once again.
When he did wake at times his body screamed in pain. His hands and feet had been bound and he was pretty sure his waist was lashed to the horse's saddle somehow, but of course, he couldn't see it. He was pretty sure that he'd been this way for over a full day because one time he'd opened his eyes and he'd seen light through the fabric that covered his face.
Their voices were almost constant when he was awake.
"I can't wait to see what happens back home..."
"I thought he was supposed to be this great warrior, this was too easy..."
"...think he's pretending to be passed out?"
''...he...scumbag...father is Emperor's puppet...nothing...no dragon."
"Well, he was great once..."
"...can't believe he's the same age as us."
This continued for so long that his arms and legs eventually became numb and his body became accustomed to the pain. After all, he'd endured much worse in his life. Once in the middle of a battle Aqana had missed her timing after he'd jumped onto an enemy dragon's back. After defeating the rider with one quick slice of the knife, the dragon had dropped dead in mid-flight. As he fell Aquana was able to grab his hand with her paw but it was a millisecond too late and he slipped through her claws.
This had caused her to have to dive after him and grab him around his torso to keep him from plunging to his death. The act had been so hurried and desperate that she'd crushed many of his ribs and his extremities had gone numb for a while.
This kidnapping was nothing.
He had really come to this time, but he'd learned his lesson. He kept himself limp and made no sounds. He was amazed that this was really happening. Someone was actually kidnapping him, the idea was ludicrous, but here he was. Of course, it wasn't hard to guess motives and he wondered how this had been planned. How were the tracks being covered, and what story had been prepared for the Emperor?
His father's enemies were not stupid and they may have used their impulsive sons in this mission but Tate was sure they had an iron-clad plan to keep them from getting caught.
He wondered if they were going to kill him themselves or if they had something else in mind.
Now that he was aware, time passed at an excruciatingly slow pace. He was actually taken down from the horse periodically and he could smell food cooking. His mouth would water but he was never offered anything, not even water. Eventually, he didn't care about food but his mouth was so dry and the feeling of thirst so oppressive that he chanced asking. "Water."
As soon as the raspy word left his throat something was once again pressed against his mouth and nose. A peculiar smell was once again forced into his lungs and he fell asleep.
This time when he woke he felt the worst yet. He just wanted this to end. He knew that he had little chance against them. Judging by how many voices he picked up there were at least six of them. He'd stopped carrying his sword with him because it had seemed unnecessary in his current position. Now, he wished he had it, even though if he'd had it on him they would have taken it away at the start. Still, he wished he could see their faces and confirm his suspicions. He'd try to take them on and go out in one last blaze of glory. He knew the odds were against him, he had limits just like anyone and in his current state, he wasn't sure he could beat a child much less six grown men.
It must have been daylight because he could see light through the cloth. It was a dull light though, he tried in vain to piece together where he might be based on sounds. It was futile, he was thoroughly lost in the darkness.
It came as a shock when out of nowhere he was shoved off the horse. He landed with a painful thud since he could not have hoped to catch himself with his bound arms and legs. He couldn't help but groan.
"Let's return and finish the plan."
"Do you think anyone will look for him?"
"By this time, I'm sure the Emperor has noticed, we need to head back to the forest to hide, quick."
He heard the thundering of hoofbeats as his captors disappeared. He lay on the ground completely dumbfounded by this turn of events. He didn't know whether to laugh or scream, but he suspected doing either would hurt very much.
"The forest," they'd said. Was it the forest he was thinking about, or one of the hundreds of others to be found in the realm? There was only one way to find out.
Slowly so as to reduce his agony he searched the ground. He knew a few of his ribs were busted, he was familiar with that pain. As for his arms and legs, it was just excruciating as the feeling returned to them. Even though he knew moving them was the best thing for them it took all his willpower to do so and focus on the task at hand.
Finally, he found what he was looking for, a rock, a sharp rock. He carefully picked it up between his palms and slowly and carefully maneuvered it until he held it awkwardly against his bonds. The limited range of movement from his hands made the process long and painful. Since he wasn't able to control the rock accurately and couldn't see he felt his wrists getting cut and scraped.
It took a long time to break the bond, which was a rope, he thought. When his hands were free he reached up and untied the rope at his neck which had been holding a cloth hood over his head. Once that was gone he laid down on his back and took a break.
The sun was setting, stars were starting to make their appearance in the sky. Everything looked so peaceful and nice. He looked from side to side and realized where he was, he bolted back into a sitting position groaning and squinted forward. It was still in the distance and hard to make out but there it was.
The veil.
His heart started racing. The thought of walking the rest of the way to it was suddenly all he could think about. All the troubles of the past few weeks, what of it? Kidnapping? Who cared?
That feeling was within walking distance. That feeling of being alive was at his fingertips.
He frantically untied the ropes on his ankles and stood. His legs immediately gave out, not ready to support his weight yet. Instead, he began to crawl.
His mind was racing a thousand miles a minute. He couldn't take his eyes off that point in the distance where the veil was becoming harder and harder to see in the coming darkness. He struggled for each breath.
If like his kidnapper said, someone was coming to get him, he wanted to feel that one last time. He knew either he would die soon at the hands of some unkwon assassin or the Emperor would drag him back, but first, he wanted this.
As he inched closer and closer, as the night got colder and colder he thought of all the people in his life. What would happen to them if he just disappeared, if he stayed in that veil forever? It had spit him out last time, but what if he kept marching back in until it accepted him?
He could admit here out in the wilds that the insidious thought of death had been slowly stalking him since returning to the capitol. Such a thought really was a liar, deep down he didn't want to die, but he was afraid of the life before him. What he really wanted was to live, to really live.
If he went through with the Emperor's plan what was the outcome? He'd be a miserable man with a wife who was miserable and would probably come to hate him. His brother and his wife would spend their lives pining for each other and he would still be totally alone. Aliya would join the Dragon Corps at some point and then he would be deprived of her presence. His mother would probably worry herself into an early grave over her son's estrangement.
Why, why did he have to shoulder the burden of all that misery? He didn't want to, he really didn't want to. If that was the life he faced then he was terrified to live.
Oh, what a great warrior, how far he had fallen. He felt pathetic and angry with himself. He wanted to live. Why was it so wrong to want the life of the living? He knew now more than ever that there was a life of the living and a life of the dying. He did not want to live his life waiting to die.
Maybe he could make his own choice this time. Why not stay in the veil and get out of everyone's way? At least then he'd be making his own choice, his own gamble. He knew how the Empror's life for him ended. He did not know where the veil would take him or if it would take him anywhere.
Would it hurt people for him to disappear? Probably, his mother would be devastated and Aliya would be sad. He didn't know what the Emperor would do to his father but surely it wouldn't be too bad, they were close friends after all. Would they resent him or feel relief?
He couldn't help but consider it as feeling in his arms and legs, pain, and rational thought came more easily to him as he crept to the veil, that there might be problems. What was this kidnapping about? It wasn't like they'd intended to drop him off where he wanted, that had just been a coincidence. What had been their plan, would it hurt the people he cared about? Was it something that going back to the capital could fix?
He didn't know, he didn't have those answers. He stood and began walking through the night. By the time the sun was rising he was shivering and in immense pain. The veil was just a few hundred feet away.
He stopped for just a moment and was faced with something he had little experience in. A choice.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't, which was it? There was no way to know. He had to make a choice and accept the consequences.
Little by little he got close until just a few feet separated him and what he remembered to be ectasy. He was trembling even more with anticipation.
He hesitated, a familiar sound from above made him freeze and he looked to the sky.
"Tate!" Lou roared from the back of Lancec. "What are you doing?"
"Tate Delmont," This voice belonged to Ivan, the commander of the Shadows, Tate's old commander. Ivan, Lou, Kirk, Nor, Wor, Azan, and Shila all landed, his old unit, his old friends. They looked down at him from their dragons their faces unreadable. Only Lou dismounted and slowly walked towards him. "you will return with us right now!" Ivan's voice boomed with authority.
Tate looked at them all in turn, the Shadows had been sent to retrieve him? He smiled humorlessly, he had one of his answers then. The Shadows would not have been sent to retrieve an "innocent" man.
Decision made he looked Ivan in the eyes and said something he should have said long ago. "I'm sorry."
His hand touched the veil and he allowed himself to fall back into its embrace.
"NO!" Someone yelled, Tate closed his eyes and just let go. This was his choice, this was his life.
He heard a dragon scream but then no more.