Part Two
It was a strange sight for Lambda as he watched the students and expedition members take turns to look at the infant. Helen tried to pull him into line, but he refused; his commander had yet to give him the order to approach. Against a being over four times her weight, there was very little that Helen could do to force Lambda to look at the child.
Instead, Lambda opted to watch the people walking away from the family as they returned to the carriages. Many of them were silently crying, sometimes receiving an earnest pat on the back from a friend or colleague. Others had a strange starry look in their eyes – one that Lambda could only compare to the times when the regulars were told they were going to be given heavy weaponry to use. All of them wore smiles on their faces. Theodore in particular had a strange, wistful air about him as he approached; with a smile on his face and his hands in his pockets, he also had that strange look in his eyes.
“Lambda,” he said quietly. “Have you seen the child yet?”
Lambda slowly shook his head.
“I see. You're his benefactor, you know? You should go see him with Elenore.”
Theodore smiled as he patted Lambda's shoulder before walking back to the carriages, humming a strange relaxing tune.
“Lambda! Lambda!”
Lambda turned to see the commander crying out to him and waving. By this point, the crowd had dispersed, leaving only the commander, Hadrian, and the knights behind. As Lambda made his way forward, Elenore jogged up to meet him half way, a smile painted across her face.
“Come on, Lambda!” she said, grabbing his hand. “You need to see the baby and meet the family!”
Stumbling forth as he allowed his commander to pull him along, Lambda couldn't help but feel a bit of trepidation as he approached the shelter. Just as he was about to be illuminated by torchlight, the commander halted, almost causing him to trample her.
“Lambda,” she said, releasing his hand. “Take off your armor. No helmet, and no gloves, okay?”
Not understanding but not questioning either, Lambda obeyed. For several seconds, he was engulfed in the bright swirling blue lights, causing the eyes of the onlookers to go wide. When the lights winked out, Lambda was left bereft of his armor, his pale skin making him look like a corpse in the darkness.
“Okay, good,” the commander said as she grabbed his hand once again. “It's time for you to meet the family.”
Lambda couldn't help but notice how small Commander Elenore's hand was compared to his.
“So you're saying that your familiar was the one who saved us?” asked Mr. Johansen as he stared at Lambda with an incredulous look on his face.
“That's right,” Elenore said proudly. “Lambda, say hello to Mr. and Mrs. Johansen.”
“Hello.”
Mr. and Mrs. Johansen waved nervously to the large human, while their child unabashedly walked up to him.
“Hello Mister Lambda!” the little girl said, looking up to Lambda.
“Hello little one,” Lambda answered, crouching down to bring his gold eyes to her level.
“So Mister! You were the one who kabaam and boom and kablaamed the monster?” the girl said, waving her arms in an exaggerated manner.
“Yes, that's right,” Lambda answered, nodding.
“Amazing!” the child shouted. “So could you teach me how to do that kind of magic?”
“I'm sorry little one,” Lambda said, frowning. “I can't teach you magic.”
“Why not?!?” she said, her face distraught.
“Because,” Lambda said as he raised his hand to the air, pulling his long weapon from the spinning blue lights, “I can't use magic. Instead, I use tools. Weapons that anyone could use.”
Lambda placed the long weapon on the ground, motioning to the girl to try to pick it up. Running her hands across the cold metal, the child tried – and failed – to lift the heavy weapon.
Lambda chuckled. “It's all right, little one. You do not need to carry such a weapon – that is my duty. You are free born; free to choose your path. You do not need to take the path of the warrior,” Lambda added, brushing the child's hair as he effortlessly hefted the weapon back into the air and returned it to nothingness.
The girl made a complicated face as Lambda stood back up, towering over her. “Well, I'm going to be a great witch-knight, and save people in trouble, just like you Mister Lambda!”
“Is that so?” Lambda said as he chuckled, ruffling the child's hair once again.
“Lambda, do you want to hold the baby?” asked Elenore, who finally managed to interrupt Lambda's absurdly cute exchange.
Lambda nervously looked between Elenore and the parents, apprehension written on his face. Lily merely nodded and held out her newborn son for Lambda to hold. Stepping forward, Lambda carefully cradled the tiny elf, moving slowly as if the child was made of glass and was liable to shatter at any moment. Growing in confidence once the child was safely in his hands, Lambda brought the child up to his face, where gold eyes met the infant's sky blue.
“Just like Gabriel,” muttered Lambda.
“Pardon?” Mr. Johansen asked, still slightly nervous that the giant held his son six feet in the air.
“His eyes,” Lambda answered quietly. “They're just like the Lieutenant's. Strong, kind.”
Lambda returned the child to his mother, repeating the awkward process of handing off the infant. Elenore couldn't help but notice that everyone, save the daughter, seemed to release their breath when the child was back in his mother's arms.
“Gabriel,” the father said, repeating the name several times as if testing it. “It's a fine name, don't you think so, Lily?”
“Well, we were thinking of naming him after our savior, so...” Lily trailed off and looked to Lambda. “Would that be alright with you, Mister Lambda?”
“Of course,” Lambda answered with a smile.
“Gabriel,” Lily whispered as she stared at her new born son. “Welcome to your new family, Gabriel.”
Night had already fallen by the time the caravan was ready to move again. The family had originally decided to travel to the academy or Elgen to find someone to assist with the childbirth, but with the child born they decided it would be best to return home. With their cart destroyed and with only a single mule, Elenore ordered the knights to escort the family back to their homestead, then return to the dig site once their task was finished.
Traveling down the road once more, the two groups made good time in spite of the darkness. When they reached the point in the road where the expedition would turn north, the two groups said their farewells as they split, with the expedition members waving goodbye and wishing the family good luck.
“PIT! LEFT SIDE!”
Lambda yelled as he stood by the road, his head lamp illuminating the potential hazard. With the road to the site nothing more than a beaten dirt path, progress slowed to a crawl as the drivers navigated the rough and bumpy path in the night, using the light from Lambda's head lamp and the student's magic as their only guides. They had several close calls and one small emergency when the wheel of the front carriage fell into a ditch and got stuck. Luckily, the crisis was quickly ended when Lambda lifted the carriage from the ditch.
As the night dragged on and the ruins drew closer, the drivers pushed their beasts harder, eager to reach their destination and rest. The students too, sensing the tension of the excavation team and themselves eager to rest, redoubled their efforts, doing everything they could to ensure the safe passage of the the caravan. It was several hours to midnight when the team finally made it to the ruins. After a brief cheer, the team worked quickly to unload the carriages and set up camp. By midnight, only Lambda and the sentries remained awake, the others having finally given into exhaustion.