Don't say that," Ma tells him. "He would have done the same thing ten times in a row if you had let him. I know you weren't here long, but he loved you. He said you were the most fascinating person he had ever met." Ma smiles.
Then her face saddens. "He never did come back home after that, though. We didn't hear from anyone about whether he lived or not. Not one call or even a letter. The years of not knowing almost broke us.
"Sissy took off years ago to find an answer. Said she hated us for accepting the silence. And we haven't heard from her since." Ma says, in a daze at the pain she feels.
Cordayl sits there in silence, gloomed out remembering losing Pa.
Ma lifts her head and smiles. "Enough of the melancholy. You're back, and we are happy to see you. Eat up and get some sleep. I figured out that I make my best decisions after a good nap." She says, touching his face before leaving the room.
Cordayl smiles and picks up his food with his bare hands. He stops before his first bite and looks up to see Ma glaring down at him. Putting the food down and picking up his silverware, Cordayl apologizes. "Force of habit." He chuckles.
"Uhm, hmm. I thought I broke that habit back when you first moved in, " she comments, walking away.
Cordayl quickly finishes his plate and rinses it off in the sink. Walking up the stairs, he locates the room he used to share with Tavis, ready to take a nap.
Remembering he had been gone almost a decade, he closes the door and heads back down to nap on the couch.
Getting comfortable, Cordayl lays down and quickly falls into a slumber.
Opening his eyes in a dream world, Cordayl walks around the unfamiliar plain, confused by his surroundings.
In the dissected dream world, one side is a pure hell, the other a heaven. Cordayl can see two people fighting in the distance on the peaceful side of the realm. The combat draws Cordayl in, who tries to fight it but can't stop his feet from moving as he ventures forward.
As he gets closer, he can't believe what he is seeing. The sight both thrills him and confuses him.
The people who Cordayl saw fighting in the distance turned out to be him and his father. But it's not a memory because the version of him his father is fighting is a perfect clone of him.
While watching the spectacle, Cordayl is mesmerized as he stares at a battle between him and his father. It is an exciting battle that ends in a draw, as his father concludes the fight after their fist collide.
"I see you still prefer to attack rather than defend, but remember, feigning defense can set you up for a kill shot. But I get it. Not many warriors are as strong as your old man." Cordayl watches his laugh his Doppler ganger.
"Many? I haven't met one yet." The Doppler ganger smiles and bows to his father before he hugs him affectionately.
The clone then looks at Cordayl with a disgusted expression and walks away without saying a word.
Cordayl is confused, but his eyes quickly return to his father. Cordayl has had many dreams and flashbacks in which he would remember old lessons and conversations with his father.
This felt completely different, though. It felt like his father was really here with him.
Cordayl walks up to his father and stares at him. This couldn't be just a dream. Goosebumps spread across his skin as he stands there face to face with him.
Cordayl's father smiles, that smirk he always does. Cordayl's eyes water as he knows his father is right here with him.
Hesitating no more, Cordayl hugs his father tight and feels his heart heave as his father's arms wrap around him.
Cordayl and his father detach, and Cordayl quickly wipes his eyes, as his father always warned him against crying. But staring at his father, Cordayl can see the water in his eyes, too.
"It's good to see you, Cordayl. I've missed you so much, my son." his father says.
"And I have missed you. Every day, I have missed you." Cordayl tells him the water is trying to return to his eyes.
"Sit, sit," His father tells him.
"Where? We are in the woods." Cordayl informs him.
"In the chair, of course." His father says, pointing to the chair that magically appears behind him.
Cordayl is shocked, as he knows there was no chair there a second ago, but Cordayl takes the seat he was offered. His father takes a seat as well, sighing heavily.
"I don't have long, Cordayl, but I know what you are thinking. Your plan is going to fail," Cordon tells him.
"What?!" Cordayl responds. "How is my plan going to fail? I go there, I kill, I get killed. The simplest plan in the planning of plans." Cordayl says.
"Yeah, simple. Very, simple. But it will not work."
"Yes, it will. Of course, I will go down fighting, like a true Melatonin warrior, but I will be joining you soon, Father. My mind is made up." Cordayl states.
"I know it is, son, but I'm telling you, your plan is futile." His father calmly explains.
Cordayl stares at his father, completely shocked to see him. He has no idea what this visit in his dream means or why he is receiving it now, of all times.
If his father arrived just to tell him he had a stupid plan, he should have visited earlier. All Cordayl can say is, "How? How is my plan going to fail?"
"You really want to know?" his father asks, teasing him.
"Yes, I do," Cordayl says, not appreciating the games.
His father laughs. "My, how the journey of life has stripped you of your humor, my son."
"I have a humor," Cordayl says dryly. "But you're right. Being alone and hunted like a golden goose tends to take some of the funny out of life."
His father grows serious again. "Are you not used to the fight? Do you not remember when I tasked you with hunting the alpha lion by yourself?"
"I do, and I remember every lion in the pride chasing me." Cordayl retorts.
"Yes, but what happened after that?" his father asks.
"I waited till night and killed every lion that chased me." Cordayl answers.
"You made me very proud that day. Coming home dragging six dead lions by their tail. The tribal women made so many undergarments that weekend." His father laughs.
"Cordayl, you have been trained for this lifestyle. Your whole life you have been trained to be ready for all threats. Your body honed to welcome and adapt to all challenges. You were well prepared for the fight that is life. So why is it getting hard for you now?" His father asks him.
"I don't know." Cordayl is stumped over the question. "Maybe because I knew that no matter what happened, I had a home to come to. I had a father that could give me wisdom. A mother to give me love. I had a family.
"Then I get graced with another family that accepts and gives me love like I used to have. But my being there literally kills the head of their household and leaves them with scars that won't heal." Cordayl tells his father, who listens to every word.
"It's getting hard now because, as I live each day and try to sleep each night, I have to force myself to ignore the feeling of being alone. And I hate that feeling so much. I just want to erase it because I remember when it wasn't there. And I can't forget the day it arrived." Cordayl concludes, with his head down.
"You mean this day." his father asks. Cordayl's eyes water as he looks up to see the smokey and gaseous grounds of the battlefield after the decimation of his people.
"Yes, this day. A day of infamy that I can never forget." Cordayl says heartbroken.
His father puts his hand on his son's head. Cordayl looks up to see his father looking down on him with a smile.
"My son, I know your journey has been tough. Watching you from the outside, your journey reminds me much of the story of your great uncle. He hated being in one spot for too long and roamed the earth for years, coming back with stories to inspire us young warriors. But Cordayl, you were never alone. Look around you."
Cordayl raises his head to see every dead warrior of his tribe around him. Cordayl's jaw drop as he sees the faces of all who died in battle with him. All who sacrificed their lives for his.
"Every battle you have fought, we have fought with you. Making your gravity groundbreaking. Lifting the heaviest of opponents. Guiding your punches and taking the damage with you. Cordayl, we are here with you." his father tells him.
As Cordayl continues to scan through the faces of the men he grew up with, he bows his head as a thank you to all of them for their belief in him.
As he raises, his father continues, "Your plan will fail because you won't let it succeed. And when the time comes, you will trust yourself to see your real mission through. Your mission isn't death, my son. It is vengeance. But the second part is the real battle." His father tells him.
"What is the second part?" Cordayl ask.
"Justified or not, every action has a reaction, my son." His father explains to him.
Looking up into the sky, his father says, "My time is up, my son. But fear not. I will never leave you alone on this earth. Never." He says as he starts to fade away.
Cordayl quickly stands to hug his father one more time. "Thank you, Father. Thank you for everything, " he says, failing to hold back his tears.
"No, Cordayl, thank you. I did not say this often when we were together, but I love you son." His father tells him, half his body now a shadowy mist.
"I love you too, father. I love you all." Cordayl says through his weeping.
"We love you, Cordayl." The proud warriors of the Melatonin tribe say together as they all hug Cordayl together.
As they all fade away, Cordayl awakes from his dream, a single tear rolling down his cheek and into his ear.