Snip-snap, another chapter; going to try to keep them shorter and punchier and more frequently updated after the slog that was Crystal Tower. I finished 4.56 MSQ, and watched the Shadowbringers trailer, and I NEED IT omg it’s so exciting. HW trailer is still my favourite piece of videogame cinema, I think, but ShB has brought the hype! And everyone’s gone goth, lol. So now I want to get Achiyo and this fic much closer to it! My goal has always been to hit HW in the fic before ShB drops, but we’ll see if I can’t get partway through HW too. And hold down my myriad irl jobs. And get Illinia up to 4.56 and Fantasia back to Rinala. And get Tam’s ilvl to 400. And a bunch of other things that I’d like to do but will probably not end up doing because that’s already a lot of stuff.
Chapter 13: The Beginning of the End
Chapter 14: Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind
“What did you think of them?” Rinala asked, on chocobo-back on their way to the Boulder Downs. “I thought they were both rather intimidating: so cold and watchful. I think we can trust them, though.”
“I like him, like I thought,” Tam said. “He’s not pompous, despite the silly outfit and the loquaciousness. But I sense he could cut loose very impressively if he wanted to. I hope the opportunity comes. She’s unexpected, but not terribly complicated.” How he’d determined that when the woman had hardly spoken, Achiyo did not know.
“He fits his role like hand in glove,” Chuchupa said. “Poncy, though, with the armoured dress. I want to punch that pretty face.”
“Oh, I liked the armour, though,” Rinala said. “It’s very elegant. Ishgardians have a good sense of style in their culture.”
“If ye like that sort o’ thing,” Chuchupa said. “I’m not convinced it’d hold up in real combat. The other knight though, she ‘ad good armour.”
“Yes, she definitely knows what she’s doing, it looks like,” Rinala said. “Achiyo, you haven’t said anything yet.”
She’d been gathering her thoughts, wondering how much she could say. He was courteous? He was calm and patient? Every answer sounded to her tinged with untoward feelings, and she would rather have not said anything at all. “I look forward to working with both of them.”
“That’s a non-answer if ever I heard one,” Tam grumbled.
“I’m not sure what you want me to say,” Achiyo said, hoping he hadn’t seen right through her. “I thought he managed Alphinaud and his rudeness very well. I think I’d rather reserve judgement for now. We’ve still only just met.”
Tam shrugged. “If you like. Ho there, what’s that?”
“That looks like an Ishgardian cart,” Rinala said, squinting. “Look, there’s Haurchefant’s knights! Let’s ask what they’ve found!”
Commander Leveilleur had taken to pacing, his boots scraping on the ice. Aymeric did not pace, for it was not in his nature, but he was almost equally concerned. Half the Warriors of Light had gone into the main heretic tunnel into Snowcloak, the smallest of them, upon the advice of Archon Papalymo, which meant Lady Achiyo, Miss Rinala, Mistress Chuchupa, Master Kekeniro, and Master R’nyath. He did not have the personal connection with them that Leveilleur had, but… he wanted to, and they were in a dangerous situation on Ishgard’s behalf. All had agreed that they were the best ones for the task, but should they come to harm, he would take responsibility.
All eight of the Warriors of Light had arrived, in case they were required, and the new faces were as intriguing as the ones he’d already met, though Master Aentfryn had glanced at him once with a none-too-friendly eye, then seated himself upon a stone and crossed his arms and closed his eyes. It was plain that he had no wish to be there. Lady Vivienne too had an aloof demeanour, but she stared instead at the tunnel entrance, leaning on her greatsword, clearly wishing she were in the action. He couldn’t blame her. Everyone was on high alert, but so far the heretics had shown no sign of ambushing them from any other angle.
The wind whistled softly through the ice and stones; the sun was peeking through the low-lying grey clouds hopefully; Commander Leveilleur paced.
“Alphinaud,” Tam said eventually, from where he leaned against the cliffside casually. Leveilleur jumped and stopped pacing. “If they run into trouble, they’ll call and let us know.”
Leveilleur heaved a sigh. “I know…”
“They won’t need it,” Lady Vivienne said dourly.
“Which is a good thing!” Archon Yda said brightly. “I’m not even worried for Rinala!”
“Why is that?” Aymeric asked, hoping to learn more of them. When the first Warriors of Light had arrived, Miss Rinala had been the only one to give him a shy smile of greeting. He could see why the others wanted to protect her.
“Er, well, she’s really strong, but she still lacks self-confidence,” Yda said. “Even after all she’s been through, she gets nervous. So I worry for her sometimes, you know? Not because I think she’s going to make a mistake, but because she might get scared when she doesn’t have to be.”
“I understand,” Aymeric said. She did seem quite naive, perhaps too young to be adventuring with the other, more experienced adventurers. Her strength must be great indeed for a girl who looked no more than fifteen summers. “But from what I hear, the Warriors of Light united can withstand any foe. I trust Lady Achiyo to lead them out again.”
“So do we all,” Archon Papalymo said. “While individually they’re exceptional, together they become something even greater. Inexplicably greater.”
“I feel sorry for the poor souls on the receiving end, no matter how fiercely they resist,” Lady Vivienne said with a tight smile. “But it makes me all the more restless out here.”
“Well, if all goes wrong, they’ll get us to come fight the primal,” Tam said, lacing his fingers behind his head cheerfully.
“Pray do not be so flippant about it,” Lucia told him sternly. “This is a threat to all of Ishgard that you are speaking of.” Tam shrugged.
“I’m afraid Tam has a strong sense of black humour,” Leveilleur said. “You’ll become accustomed to it eventually.”
“All the optimists are in the tunnels right now,” Tam said, chuckling. “You’re stuck with us, Dame Lucia.”
Lucia huffed almost inaudibly; Aymeric wouldn’t have heard it if she were not directly by his side, and he was sure the Scions had not heard it. “I suppose Master Aentfryn is of like mind, or would if he favoured us with his company.”
Master Aentfryn granted them a hostile stare from where he sat upon his stone. “I’m only here because of the possibility of a Primal. I do not trust Grand Companies or any other organized military force, and I certainly do not trust you.”
Lucia inhaled to retort indignantly, but Aymeric stilled her with a slight movement. “I beg your pardon, Master Zwynswaensyn. I’m not sure I understand, but I certainly respect your-”
“You weren’t at Carteneau,” Master Aentfryn interrupted. “My issues with Grand Companies began before that, but if you’re asking why I don’t trust you personally, that’s why.”
“Ah.” Aymeric bowed his head. He had not been Lord Commander five and a half years ago, but he understood what Master Aentfryn meant. “Then I thank you for your patience in assisting us here and now.”
Master Aentfryn’s face tightened briefly, and then he went back to ignoring them. Archon Yda looked distressed, which was a poor look on such a light-hearted woman. There wasn’t much he could do about it.
“I wonder that I did not hear you object to my Crystal Braves,” Leveilleur mused.
“Yes, we all noted that you were beginning your own Grand Company, because there weren’t enough already,” Lady Vivienne said. “In case you forgot, we were on assignment with a madman. The first I heard of it was long after it was clearly decided, when you began recruiting. And that may or may not have influenced our decision to stay on assignment until you called us for this.”
“I see,” Leveilleur said. “Yes, I had forgotten. How is it going?”
“The less said about it, the better,” Lady Vivienne said in disgust. “Truly mad. Only a morbid curiosity restrains my hand from ending his wild fantasies.” What on earth could they be speaking of? He dared not provoke her, yet his curiosity…
“Surely it’s not that bad,” Tam said, smiling. “I hear you might even be a little fond of the poor stupid fellow, in your own way.”
“How dare you,” Lady Vivienne retorted, without any conviction behind it. Then they all started up, for someone was emerging from the tunnels.
But the intruders were only the Warriors of Light, looking a bit scuffed and slightly more bloody than when they went in, but also triumphant – and perhaps a little relieved to be out again.
“Okay, so first of all, those tunnels widened right out after a while,” R’nyath Tia was saying animatedly. “We could all have gone in, no problem. It was maybe a bit narrow in some places, and very slippery, but I guess we forgot that the heretics are all Elezen so I’m not sure why we specifically brought just the un-tall members of our party… Oh! And some of them transformed before our very eyes, I was not expecting that.” He was an energetic youth with a twinkle in his eye. Aymeric liked him already.
“I think I understand now why they suspected me to be Dravanian when I first came here,” Lady Achiyo said quietly to no one in particular, and his heart went out to her. She had gathered a hand to her silver-armoured heart in an unconscious gesture of contemplation, and he was suddenly possessed of a strange desire that she should lay that dainty hand in his so he could see exactly how small it was… a hand that had slain gods and dragons.
He brushed that aside. “You fared well, then?”
“Yep,” Mistress Chuchupa reported. “Cleared every last man and beast up to a strange aetheryte. ‘Twere some good fights in there, the last thing we fought was a great wolf. He was a tough beastie, he was.”
“We met Lady Iceheart there immediately afterwards,” Master Kekeniro said. “She did not engage us…”
Snowcloak was a flurry of activity. Minfilia had arrived in the confusion to report on the lack of information available on this Shiva; Achiyo wondered why, when they all had linkpearls… but Alphinaud had made a comment about some people enjoying the cold. Which was also odd to her, as Minfilia was Ala Mhigan in origin and raised in Thanalan, if she remembered aright. Alphinaud had paused momentarily between listening to Minfilia and ordering his troops off into the wilderness to hunt for heretics, and in that pause, suddenly turned to Aymeric-sama across the canyon. Her attention had already been inclined thither, but now she had an excuse to observe.
The Lord Commander was directing the bulk of the Temple Knights to enter the tunnels now, including the ones that the Warriors of Light had not explored; the Crystal Braves would hold the entry points from outside attack. “I do not care if a few stragglers manage to escape. Until the sappers confirm that a tunnel is safe, the men are not to search it.” So he had taken seriously their reports of great falling ice stalactites.
Alphinaud approached him; Achiyo, Rinala, and Kekeniro followed at a distance. “You pursue your foes with less zeal than I had expected, Ser Aymeric.” Aymeric-sama turned his gaze upon him questioningly, and Alphinaud continued. “Lest you misunderstand, I do not deny that our enemy has given us good reason to be prudent. I merely meant – you being a man of faith – that I had expected a certain… single-mindedness. After all, was it not by the will of Halone that your ancestors came to this land – why they took up arms against the Dravanians? What would they have done in your position, I wonder…”
Achiyo withheld a wince. She had found that all terribly intrusive and rude. She might have to step in and apologize, Far Eastern manners overriding Eorzean culture for a moment.
Aymeric-sama, however, didn’t seem to mind, or if he did, hid it well under a patient face. It took him a moment to formulate an answer, but she was not disappointed when it came. “…There are those who believe that faith is a renunciation of free will – that unquestioning devotion is required of all who would live a life in service to the Fury. Such righteous fervour may well serve a knight on the front line – less so a leader of men. We are all at liberty to interpret the scriptures as we will. I choose to believe that the Fury would value the lives of Her followers over the deaths of Her enemies.” He frowned to himself slightly, lips pressed together, and she wondered what memory troubled him. “But I would not presume to speak for the knights of eld. ‘Twas a different time – nay, a different era – and scripture tells us only so much.”
“Would that it told us more,” Alphinaud said, and was hailed by Yuyuhase. “Pardon me.”
“I can certainly respect your command style, Ser Aymeric,” Kekeniro said. “My primary objective in every engagement is always to bring my people safely home. It’s been getting a bit harder to do the arithmetic when it’s the end of the world…”
“Yes,” Rinala said shyly. “And it means less killing. I know they’re probably evil, but I still don’t like killing.”
Aymeric-sama knelt on one knee in the snow to speak to them all better; a true gentleman. “Aye. I will confess to you, Miss Rinala, I don’t much like killing either. But, as you say, Master Kekeniro, we do what we must to at least save our own. Perhaps someday… we might live in a world where such calculations are no longer necessary.”
Rinala smiled at him, bobbed a bow, and ran off, tail curled cheerfully. “Well! I’m really glad we’re working together!” Kekeniro said. “If more military leaders were like you, my job would be a lot easier sometimes. Oh, excuse me, Alphinaud needs my brain…”
Aymeric-sama turned his light-blue gaze upon her and it was like an electric shock ran through her from head to toes. For the briefest of moments, she felt like he had an equally startled expression on his own face, but if it was there, it was gone so quickly she must have imagined it. “And you, Lady Achiyo?”
“Me, Aymeric-sama?”
He blinked. “Pardon, what is ‘sama’?”
“Oh…” It had come out automatically. She kept her poise. “’Tis a Hingan honorific that means ‘lord’.”
He seemed amused. “Do you really see me thus? I would hope we might not stand upon ceremony, the Warriors of Light and I, as Haurchefant is with you.”
He really didn’t realize what he was asking, though being requested not to use honorifics towards him warmed her heart strongly. “I will try, but I do not know if I shall succeed. But to answer your question, I must confess to being curious about Ishgard and her people in a way I had not been before these unfortunate events,” she said, calmly. “Haurchefant has been very kind, but at first I had thought it more prudent not to force myself among your people.”
She both appreciated and disliked that he was kneeling. On one hand, it was a bit easier to have a natural conversation with him, as much as could be had under the circumstances, and it was really very kind of him to do such a thing – a man of his position would only ever be expected to kneel to a few. On the other hand, that just meant he was closer to her, better able to observe her reactions to him, and more overwhelming to behold. Too, she was used to people being taller than her. In fact, his standing height felt… right, it felt proper that her eyes were on the same level as his sternum and she had to crane her neck to look up at him. He was nearly as tall as a male Au Ra, and it was reassuring somehow.
He winced a little. “I can well imagine, and I apologize on behalf of my countrymen. I thank you for your grace in giving us a second chance. Perhaps in the future…”
A Temple Knight called him urgently. “Forgive me, duty calls.” She bowed politely to him as he stood, and he bowed to her likewise, and she removed back to Alphinaud’s side.
He was… perfect. There was nothing of him she did not like, his grace, his patience, his wisdom. Even had she not found him beautiful, the world was irrevocably different now to know there was a man like Aymeric de Borel in it.
She would have to stop, or she would start internally sounding like how Rinala felt about Thancred, the poor girl. But these feelings would pass soon enough, and then she could treat him naturally.
That was the last she saw of Aymeric-sama for some time. Their path led through the long cold nights back to Gridania, with Captain Ilberd, on the track of the Garlean spy known as the Ivy. Rinala was bitterly disappointed to learn the spy was Eline Roaille, Raubahn’s right hand. But when they had caught the Ivy, as Roaille was code-named, Minfilia summoned them back to the Rising Stones to meet a Sharlayan scholar who had studied with Louisoix, a scholar who could probably solve the riddle of Iceheart’s missing aetheryte.
They rode back as quickly as they could, all eight of them. Only Kekeniro seemed bothered by his team of four not being around to assist Inspector Hildibrand: “I wonder what new misunderstandings he’s gotten into in our absence. I’d hoped this wouldn’t take as long as it has… and we’re not done yet…”
“You can’t leave him alone for fear of breakages,” Vivienne said irritably. “He’s like a six-fulm tall infant.”
“It doesn’t sound like you made much of an effort to lift said misunderstandings at all,” Tam said.
Vivienne snorted. “You try to penetrate that mythril-thick skull and the force-field of illogicity floating about him. I dare you.”
“Also, it’s hilarious,” R’nyath put in. “Gilgamesh isn’t exactly a common name, but it’s hardly impossible to pronounce. But ‘Greg’ is so much funnier.”
“What do ye even do, if ye’re not helpin’ him investigate with logic?” Chuchupa demanded.
“Oh, we help investigate logically when we can,” Kekeniro said. “The real question is whether he’ll listen to more than five words of our results before charging off in a purely random direction. Still, I suppose our presence lends a certain… efficiency to his quests, and so we get some things done, and Briardien gets other things done, and things have worked out so far.”
“I can’t help but feel we have better ways to serve Eorzea than to follow a madman about,” Aentfryn grumbled.
“Yet you’re still here,” Tam pointed out. “Why?”
“I wonder that daily,” Aentfryn said. “Perhaps the moment we find another healer blessed with the Echo, I shall go back to La Noscea and settle on a farm. Until then, Urselmert’s recklessness warrants my attention.”
“The darkness does not like caution,” Vivienne said, glaring over her shoulder. “I only do what needs to be done.”
“Your overblown sense of aetherial aesthetic is not an excuse for overworking Eos.”
“Then pick up the slack, old man.”
“Peace,” Achiyo said before the bickering could get out of hand. “I don’t know how much trouble Inspector Hildibrand will be in before we have stopped Iceheart, but he will have to wait. Of course we will try to deal with it as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, mother,” R’nyath said, grinning. Achiyo flinched in startled irritation, and he ducked his head and apologized. “I meant nothing by it.”
Achiyo softened. “I forgive you. Let us be swift, still. Remember that Shiva’s summoning is imminent.”
They arrived at the Rising Stones a couple days later to find the place in an excited buzz. They were welcomed warmly and brought into the bustle without much preamble. Their visitor was expected later in the afternoon, and it seemed that several of the senior Scions were already acquainted with her. “I can’t wait until she gets here!” Yda gushed to Rinala, pausing in the midst of her preparations to grasp her hands and squeeze in excitement. “We have so much to talk about!”
“Master Louisoix did think quite highly of her,” Papalymo called from behind Yda. “On the other hand, so does Yda…”
“I wonder what sort of lady she is?” R’nyath’s brother R’inwa asked of no one in particular, marching past with a sack of rice for Higiri. Coultenet and Hoary Boulder followed, similarly burdened with raw foodstuffs. “The way Papalymo says that…” Rinala spun about, trying to keep track of who was where and saying what. And also to do her own task, which was to polish the tables in the dining area.
“Only those with proven expertise receive the mark – as our newcomer has,” Y’shtola said to him. “Pay no heed to her manner.”
“Her manner, eh?” Chuchupa said, thumping her fists together. “Yda’s a fun lass, so I’m looking forward to this person… and her manner.”
Thancred practically waltzed through their midst, carrying an armload of books on teleportation theory and a brilliant smile. “The arrival of a newcomer has ever been cause for celebration – doubly so when she’s an attractive young lady. A bard could wish for no better audience. Mayhap I shall regale her with the tale of our battle against Leviathan’s thralls – how I soared over my opponent’s axe and brought him low with my blades…”
“She’s not going to care about that,” Vivienne told him, and Rinala giggled at how Thancred pouted at her. Tataru clucked at Thancred, who hurried to get out of her way and file the books on the shelf behind her.
“Probably not, when she does the same sort of things herself,” Yda said. “Oh, is it almost time? I cannot believe it’s almost time. You’ll like her, Rinala, I promise you!”
“Hush, please!” Y’shtola near-snapped. “Finish your assignment, we must go to meet her in a quarter-bell.”
At the appointed time, they met as a group led by Minfilia and headed to the lawn outside the north gate. They had not been there long when the cart that came by once a sennight from Gridania appeared – it had been their good luck with the timing, it seemed. A lone Roegadyn woman stepped off and stretched mightily, then looked about for them. “Minfilia, am I right?”
Minfilia had approached her, looking in wonderment at the stranger, wonderment that Rinala shared. The woman had long blue-grey hair on one side of her head, but she had shaved the other side down to the scalp! Rinala could not imagine ever doing that to her own hair. Not to mention, for a scholar, she was wearing a lot of chainmail, and for a warrior, she was showing a lot of leg. But she had the Sharlayan tattoo on her neck, and the Baldesion mark tattooed on her left thigh, so clearly… she liked tattoos. And was very knowledgeable. But her look was intimidatingly fierce. Truly, she would fit in with everyone in the Scions perfectly in their own way.
“None other,” Minfilia was saying to the woman, as Rinala pondered her dangerous appearance. “I bid you welcome to Revenant’s Toll, and thank you for traveling so far on such short notice.”
The woman laughed and waggled a finger. “As if I could ever say no to Urianger!” She sounded so fond. Of Urianger? He of the dusty tomes and ponderous speech and reserved demeanour?
Minfilia turned to the others. “Moenbryda is an accomplished Sharlayan scholar and an authority on aetheryte technologies. She has played an invaluable role in our search for a means to capture Ascian souls. Moenbryda, I believe you already know Yda and Papalymo and Y’shtola; Thancred was away the last time you visited; and these-”
“The Warriors of Light, of course!” Moenbryda said. “I’ve heard all about you. Let me see if I can guess who’s who.” And she did, describing them each with a word or two. Rinala was a “cute kitten”, according to her.
“That was exactly right,” Rinala said in wonder when she had finished. Though she supposed racial naming conventions helped – there was only one person who could be R’nyath Tia, and only one person who could be Chuchupa Chupa. Still, she was amazed that Moenbryda had remembered all eight of their names. It had taken her a little while, personally! Were they so famous now? “Pleased to meet you!”
“Charmed, I’m sure,” Moenbryda said to them all with a cocky grin. She looked around at Revenant’s Toll. “For an outpost in an aether-rich wasteland, this place is a good deal livelier than I expected. Just goes to show that you never know until you know.”
“Let us return to the Rising Stones at once, then.” Minfilia said. “We have much to discuss.”
As they headed back down the hill to the Seventh Heaven, Yda tackled Moenbryda’s arm. “Moen! Gods, it’s been ages!”
“Longer, sister!” Moenbryda said. “How have you been keeping?”
“Oh, punching this and that, a bit of diplomacy here, a bit of record-keeping there…”
“A joyous reunion indeed,” Y’shtola said, smiling.
“Well of course it is!” Yda said. “Moen and I are like twin sisters!”
“Save in appearance and aptitude,” Papalymo put in. Moenbryda laughed heartily.
“He’s got you there, Yda,” she said. “You’ll have to get a bit taller and broader if you want to look like me!”
“Why not you get smaller?” Yda said. “It’d work equally well, and a little Moen would be adorable!”
“But I don’t want to be adorable,” Moenbryda retorted. “I want to kick arse and look good doing it.”
“I would say you’ve succeeded, and I haven’t seen you fight,” Thancred said.
“Oh, just you wait,” Yda said. “It’s going to be a riot, believe me!”
They’d just entered the Rising Stones, still laughing and talking, and Moenbryda laughing and talking the loudest of all of them, when Urianger rose from a table to meet them. “’Tis plain the passage of years hath done little to dampen thy youthful spirits… and nothing at all to reform thy youthful manner.”
Moenbryda’s face lit up like Moonfire Faire fireworks, and she threw herself at Urianger to hug him enthusiastically. The Elezen struggled briefly, but there was no escaping those strong arms. “Urianger! So this is where you’ve been hiding!”
Urianger spluttered. “U-unhand me.”
Instead, Moenbryda squeezed tighter, lifting him clear from the ground for a moment, before setting him back down. The archivist gasped for air as the scholar scolded him. “I come all this way, and that’s what you have to say to me? I much preferred when you were pleading with me to drop everything and hurry to your side. What was it you said?” She pretended to think, with a mischievous gleam in her eye. “Ah yes. ‘None save thee can satisfy this need-‘”
Urianger had said something like that?? Everyone blinked in shock, save Thancred, who leaned on the back of a chair eagerly. “Go on…” R’nyath nodded enthusiastically, tail and ears pricked.
Urianger looked horrified under his hood and goggles, turning quite red, and Thancred and R’nyath looked a little guilty in response. His voice was louder than normal, and his bearing flustered as Rinala had never seen him. “Th-thine artless attempts to misrepresent mine all-too-innocent motives do thee little credit! Mine intent, as well thou knowest, was but to impress upon thee the gravity of the circumstance. Lest thou doubt, a deiform entity shall shortly be summoned, save if thou, and no other, grantest my compeers thine aid.”
“It seems that Urianger uses more words the more embarrassed he gets, but it’s true what he says,” Tam said. “We certainly can’t recreate a destroyed aetheryte at a distance.”
“Aye, even Y’shtola’s drawing a blank on this one, and she handled Titan’s just fine,” Chuchupa said.
“Nay, I barely facilitated transit to that one,” Y’shtola said. “It may have looked easy to you, perhaps, but this one is far beyond my skills.”
“Then let us adjourn to the Solar,” Minfilia said, “and discuss what we are to do about it.”
Moenbryda’s white auracite plan worked marvelously, with everyone donating aether to power the strange gemstone, and as the Warriors of Light prepared to parley or fight Iceheart on the other side of the aetheryte, whichever it came to, she continued to hover near them eagerly. “I’ve a mind to join you, but Urianger made me promise I wouldn’t. Apparently the thought of me becoming Shiva’s thrall was too much to bear.” She snorted derisively, with a cocky grin. “As if I’d give her the chance.”
Alphinaud approached them. “Of all the myriad challenges you have faced, I should be amazed if it were a failed teleportation attempt that finally killed you. Pray do not surprise me.”
Tam shrugged. “Surprising people is funny, especially if it’s ignominious.”
“No it isn’t,” Rinala told him, pouting from under her furry hood. “We’re not going to die. We have plenty of strength to teleport, even to such an aetheryte as this.”
“Get ready, then,” Aentfryn said. “I expect it will still be much more disorienting than regular aether travel, and we will likely have to fight immediately afterwards.”
“I am ready,” Rinala told him. “It’s good to work with you and Eos again.”
His gaze softened the tiniest bit, and then they turned their attention again to the aetheryte, where Achiyo had just teleported, her face determined.
Haurchefant was doing push-ups with several of his knights in the great hall of Camp Dragonhead – had to keep the weapon of his body honed to fight dragons, even if he’d never reach Tam’s perfection – when a Temple Knight hurried in through the doors, looking about for him. Francel, who was visiting from the Skyfire Locks, jumped to his feet in alarm. He’d been nervous and jumpy about sudden entrances ever since he’d been framed for heresy last summer… thank the Fury the Warriors of Light had saved him then.
Haurchefant got up, toweling the sweat from his brow with a cloth his manservant held for him, and approached. “What news, Syndael?”
The clear-eyed young knight had an anxious look. “Ser Aymeric thought you would wish to know that the Scions of the Seventh Dawn have formulated a method for reaching Iceheart.”
“Aye? Do you know the method?”
“A Sharlayan scholar has come to reconstruct the aetheryte that we believed Iceheart destroyed. The Warriors of Light are there now, and if the scholar succeeds, will be going immediately through. They have no guarantee that it will be possible, however. ‘Tis said that traveling the Lifestream to such a nebulous target is extremely risky.”
Haurchefant stared for a brief moment. Then the import of the messenger’s words struck him, and he dashed for the door. “My chocobo! Saddle my chocobo at once!”
“Lord Haurchefant!” Syndael exclaimed. “If the Warriors of Light find the primal Shiva waiting for them, the fight is beyond anyone but them to win!”
“I care not!” Haurchefant declared, checking his sword and shield. “They are my friends, and I would stand with them!”
Corentiaux hurried to his side. “Lord Haurchefant, ’tis probably already too late! How many hours is it to Snowcloak? You there, do not bring my lord’s chocobo!”
“I care not! Bring my chocobo!” Haurchefant shouted; Corentiaux grabbed his arm, Haurchefant shook him off, and Corentiaux seized him bodily to keep him in place. Yaelle came to Corentiaux’s aid, and three or four others. “Let me go! I must go to them!”
“Haurchefant, we would not be able to help!” Francel pleaded with him as he struggled to throw them off. “I, too, wish to aid them, for I have not yet had the chance to repay them for my life in the slightest… but I know this is beyond us. Do not throw your life away!”
“If what you say is true, I would be too late to stand with Tam and the others! But at least I could aid Aymeric against the primal!”
“Ser Aymeric did not intend that you leave your post,” Syndael said, wide-eyed from his vehemence. “Please do not be reckless!”
He had almost won free, had taken several steps closer to the door, but though he was burning with desperate strength, the weight of his knights was too much for him, and they forced him to his knees, where he did not have the leverage to break out from their grasp.
“Lord Haurchefant, please,” Corentiaux said earnestly. “We have our duties here. Master Tam and Lady Achiyo and the rest will protect us truly, I believe it. We are all fond of them, too.”
Most of the fight went out of him. His knights were right. No matter how his heart yearned to share in Tam’s danger, to protect him if possible and necessary, this was his place now, and he would never make it to Snowcloak in time to be useful. Additionally, he was strong enough to Teleport, but it still left him unduly weary afterwards, and he hardly wanted to be a burden to them. And besides… Tam was the most splendid warrior in the world. He would surely triumph with his friends beside him.
He looked up at Syndael. “You may return to Aymeric. Tell him I shall remain at my station. But I want to see them when they return! Please, that is all I ask.” Slowly, the knights released him and he stood, grimacing in worry. He was probably going to pace down the great hall before Tam got back.
“I shall inform him at once,” Syndael said, bowing. “Thank you, Lord Haurchefant.”
“Is there aught I can do?” Francel asked, anxiously. Bless the lad, he was so sensitive to his feelings.
He managed a smile for him. “You were saying you were writing a new song, how is that going?”
Indeed, he fretted the rest of the day away, as the sun swiftly slipped over the mountains that hemmed in the castle. Francel could not stay long, and without his best friend to distract him in conversation, he was horribly restless. He’d given orders that more firewood be brought in, he’d given orders that extra food be prepared for the evening meal, that rooms be made up for them to stay in, and he couldn’t think of anything else that might be readied for their return. He was not the most diligent of worshipers in daily life, but he sent many prayers to Halone that he would see them all again.
Twilight was still beginning to dust the sky with pin-pricks of starlight when a watchman from the west wall burst in. “They’re coming, my lord! I could not say how many, but I am certain it is them!”
He laughed hysterically with relief. “Good, good! Light the torches, stoke the fires! We must give them a warm welcome.” As the hall’s bustle grew noisy, he jogged out to the west gate to meet them.
There they all were, all eight and a knightly messenger, dismounting from their chocobos, Tam from his unicorn, Kekeniro from his carbuncle, and he laughed to see them. “Welcome back, welcome back! Splendid! Come inside, we’ve made it warm for you!”
“That’s lovely to hear,” Rinala said, hugging herself through her winter robe. “Thank you, Haurchefant! I have no idea how Iceheart wears such light clothing in the dead of winter…”
“Aetherial manipulation, I think, probably combined with a personal natural aetherial resistance to cold,” Kekeniro stammered, teeth chattering. “My thanks as well.”
“Think naught of it!” He hurried them all inside, stopping momentarily to hear the messenger’s words, and then grabbed Tam to drag him over to the fire. “I must ask: what were you all thinking, Tam!? Wagering your very beings on a dubious theory which might allow you to enter Iceheart’s lair – knowing full well that she could have sufficient forewarning to complete her ritual to summon Shiva anyway…? And then – and then – engaging the abomination in mortal combat!?” Tam was simply smirking. He could see right through his mock-scolding, of course. Haurchefant dropped the act and grinned, shaking his head. “By the Fury, Tam! ‘Tis the stuff of ballads! A battle for the ages!” He raised his eyes and hands towards the ceiling enthusiastically.
“It was exciting, and unprecedented in primal history, I’m given to understand,” Tam said. “I don’t think it quite rates up with the Ultima Weapon as a battle for the ages, though you may entertain your dramatic interpretations.”
“Dramatic interpretation is all I have!” protested Haurchefant theatrically. “Would that I had been there to fight by your side! Yet here I was forced to wait – condemned to wonder at the fate of dear friends for a veritable eternity! I would not wish such torture on my most hated enemy…” He sighed with great pathos. Corentiaux and Yaelle were trying not to smile.
“Next time,” Tam said.
“No,” Vivienne said. “He is a good ally, but we have enough to protect already.”
Tam slung an arm around Haurchefant’s shoulders, which delighted him. “I think you underestimate the Lord of the Silver Fuller. He can hold his own in battle. My only concern is tempering, and we don’t always fight primals.”
How kind of his dear friend to advocate for him! “Thank you! I know not when my duties might release me to be as free as an adventurer, but I say to you – you have but to call me, and I shall find a way to come! But you are here now, and that is what truly matters. Ser Aymeric sends his regrets for the evening, I understand, and we are all to meet in the intercessory tomorrow to discuss where we go from here. For now, let us eat, drink, and be merry! You have fought hard and we have time to rest now.” The food was finally set out, and wine was being poured, and the hall was warm and bright this eve. Haurchefant sat down with them all; he’d barely eaten when the dinner bell had rung hours ago, so anxious he was then.
Dinner was brief, the Warriors of Light were tired, but at least there was a lot of it for once, and even Vivienne relaxed enough to smile in their presence. “It almost felt unfair, to have all eight of us facing her, but she had a great store of crystals, so her strength was almost a match for us at first… My bones were still chilled from her powers until we returned to this hall. But ah, how my blade sang in that icy wind.”
“She was a fierce foe,” Achiyo said. “You have told us how deadly the winter is here, and I believe she truly embodied all the deadliness of ice – not only its coldness, but its razor sharpness, its brittleness, its beauty.”
“Yes, the ice weapons she used cut as keenly as any sword or arrow, being of pure ice aether,” Aentfryn said. “But everyone actually did their jobs properly, and no one ended up impaled on an icicle.”
“Not like I didn’t try,” Chuchupa muttered, and Aentfryn glared at her.
“She was not a giant like the other primals we’ve fought,” R’nyath said. “It made for a more difficult target, but on the other hand, I rarely have to shoot at such a lovely target.”
“You didn’t miss on purpose, I hope,” Haurchefant joked with him.
R’nyath chuckled. “No! I’m not an empty-headed nix. I simply found myself wishing I could capture a portrait at the same time. Alas, my skill is in song, not painting.”
“Things got a little hairy when she decided to freeze everything,” Kekeniro said. “We were caught in place, imprisoned in a sheath of ice an ilm thick or more. We didn’t even have time to put up shields or a Sacred Soil. I almost thought we were done for.”
“And you’re the tactician!” Haurchefant said, his heart lurching though they were all safe at his table. “What happened next?”
“I think we were all supposed to shatter with the ice when she broke it,” Kekeniro said, contemplating his mashed potatoes thoughtfully. “But we weren’t frozen through, so the breaking of the ice freed us – though we were not unscathed.”
“I was pretty scared,” Rinala said, taking large sips from a mug of hot chocolate, apparently entranced with both its heat and flavour. “I’ve never had a drink like this before! Is it Ishgardian?”
“’Tis indeed! It is not as common as it used to be, though it is in higher demand than before the Calamity… I’m glad you like it. Please, drink to your heart’s content.”
“But then the tide began to turn,” Chuchupa said, fuschia eyes glittering with the thrill of battle. “She faltered, and then it was our turn to hit back! We weren’t goin’ down to Thal’s domain today! And I punched her, and Tam stabbed her, and she dropped icicles on us and shot us with ice arrows, and it was like ‘zhip-zhip‘ and ‘pshew‘ and ‘krssh‘, and…”
She took over the conversation from that point on, and all they could do was listen to her gleeful reconstruction of the remainder of the battle. Rinala and R’nyath were beginning to yawn frequently, however, and it was not long before they adjourned to bed.
As they were all heading to their quarters, Haurchefant touched Tam’s arm. “If you like, you could come to my personal quarters for a while. I gave orders that the fire in your room be well built up, of course, but I have drinks, if you are interested…?”
Tam hesitated, but shook his head. “Not tonight, lad. The drinks are tempting, as is your company, but I must rest. Tomorrow, unless there’s another emergency.”
“I understand. Sleep well!” Tam ruffled his hair, as Haurchefant chuckled and watched fondly as he went to his room.