Having not played Endwalker yet, I’m certain that this stuff is important, they’ve hinted that it’s important in SB patches, but I don’t know why yet. It’s got some good thematic material, though.
Chapter 45: A Child’s Cry
“It went that way!” “Find it, catch it!” The Maelstrom soldiers were shouting to each other, the entirety of Camp Overlook in an uproar. Aentfryn had gathered something about Titan’s imminent summoning, and a kobold being spotted on the edge of the camp. The Maelstrom wanted to capture it to question it about Titan, and they were acting like utter fools about it. This was one reason why he disliked Grand Companies. Large groups of people acting together became stupid.
Tam was also looking about in curiosity, and suddenly his expression darkened in anger. “Hey!” he shouted, and did a dragoon-jump right in the middle of camp, landing with a burst of flames that drew everyone’s attention. “Cut it out!”
“Well, what do you want us to do!?” Commander Bloeidin demanded. “It’s a kobold!”
“The kobold is a child,” Tam said, and he sounded actually angry. “I thought you people cared about children more than any other demographic. Any non-murderous volunteers to help me meet – not catch – a baby?”
“I will,” Aentfryn said, nearly surprising himself. He had no particular fondness for kobolds, but at least they weren’t sahagin. And Tam was right – children of any species deserved the right to live in safety; he was surprised and pleased that Tam also cared so much. And even if Aentfryn knew he looked scary, he knew how to be calm, and to show that he had no hostile intentions. “Everyone stand down,” he said. “We will find the kobold. If they have not run back to O’Ghomero by now.”
“I’ll aid you,” Alisaie said.
“And I,” said Alphinaud.
He hoped that the child was not being used as a spy or a saboteur. Even if the child themselves were innocent, he would not put it past unscrupulous adults to use them.
The Maelstrom stopped running around in a tizzy, and the other Warriors of Light gathered near the middle of camp, out of the way, finally. “Eos, Selene, guide me,” Aentfryn said, and the fairies saluted him playfully and fluttered off. Even if Tam’s supernaturally-good vision had lost sight of the kobold, they would find it hard to hide from a pair of fairies who could detect aether.
The two of them led him to a bush on the outskirts of camp. “They’re here?” Selene nodded and gestured. Aentfryn squatted down in front of the bush, trying to peer through it. “Hello there?”
“S-stay back!” cried the kobold, cowering. “Away, far, back!”
“I’ll stay right here,” Aentfryn said, but the kobold scampered off anyway. Ah well. Everyone ran when they’d been recently terrorized, especially small animals and chocobos like he was used to. It might take a couple tries to calm the child down enough to get him to stand still. And then would come the true test of earning a measure of trust.
Tam walked up slowly as Aentfryn got to his feet. “I don’t think I’ve seen him before. He’s very small.”
“I don’t want to make him feel trapped,” Aentfryn said. “You’re familiar with kobolds, will he know of you even if you don’t know him?”
“I can see if that helps,” Tam said. He had left his lance behind. “It would help if I looked like Kekeniro right now, I think…”
“Well, you don’t, so get moving,” Aentfryn said. Sure, Tam was six and a half fulms tall and possessed of a fierce face with strange mismatched eyes, but he was acquainted with nearly everyone in Eorzea, including the beast tribes. Why wouldn’t this work?
“Please, wait!” Alphinaud exclaimed, and there went the kobold again, bolting away from Alphinaud, who trotted after him, arms outstretched instinctively. “Please, we mean you no harm!”
“Let him run, Alphinaud,” Tam called, walking in the general direction of the fleeing kobold.
Aentfryn followed his fairies, who were trying to play with the kobold child as if they hadn’t a care in the world. The child was understandably not inclined to play with them back, but they distracted him long enough that Aentfryn could come close to him and sit again. “You’re very brave. Won’t you tell me why you’re here?” He kept his hands in view and relaxed.
The kobold shrieked, but only backed away a little this time, vibrating violently. “P-P-Please, d-don’t hurt me! I only wish to talk. Yes, yes, just talk…”
“Talking is fine,” Aentfryn said. “I don’t want to hurt you, and neither do my friends. Just take some deep breaths.”
The kobold panted, still frantic, but gradually calming. Aentfryn sensed Tam, Alphinaud, and Alisaie waiting a little ways behind him. “I… I come in peace,” said the kobold. “You… promise not to hurt me?”
“I promise,” Aentfryn said. “Anyone who even thinks about hurting you here will have to fight me first. And my friends will protect you as well. Does that sound good?”
“Yes. Yes, that sounds good. They were trying to kill me!” the kobold suddenly burst out.
“They are not very intelligent,” Aentfryn said. They hadn’t actually been trying to kill the child, but he doubted the child would care about the distinction after all that trauma. “That said, I’m not the important one. Would you like to speak to our leader?”
“Y-yes… Yes. I would like to speak to your leader, your chief, boss, leader. No one will hurt me?”
“No one,” Aentfryn said. “Come and meet my companions.” He got up, a little creakily, and slowly beckoned the little kobold to follow him.
“So this is our wily kobold infiltrator, is it?” Alisaie said dryly. “No wonder the soldiers were on edge. He could very well give one a bruised knee.”
The soldiers all gave them grimly gleeful looks, and Commander Bloeidin came up to meet them and cheered raucously. “Huzzah, we’ve got him! Fine work, Scions! So, little one – thought you could sneak into my camp, did you? Plottin’ to steal my crystals, were you!?” Tam growled at him, stepping to block him from the little kobold.
“No, no, no!” screamed the kobold in a frenzy of fright. “I came to talk! To ask for help! But when your soldiers saw me, they drew their weapons and shouted, and I… I-”
“Now, now, let us all take a deep breath and discuss this like civilized… individuals,” Alphinaud said.
“Mayhap we can talk somewhere quieter,” Achiyo said, coming forward from where the Warriors of Light had waited, with a little smile for the kobold. “There are too many loud folk about. We don’t wish to frighten the child further. We will take care of this, Commander.” Her tone was still gentle, but final – no Maelstrom were invited.
They went to a shady spot under a gnarled old tree. Vivienne and Chuchupa hung back, keeping an eye on the soldiers, who all steered clear of them. Alphinaud and Alisiae sat down under the tree, and Alphinaud patted the ground beside them to invite the kobold to sit with them too. The other Warriors of Light grouped off to the side, not wanting to make a crowd.
“There we are,” Alphinaud said calmly. “What is your name, child?”
“Pickman Ga Bu of the 620th Order!” the kobold chirped, still tense and vibrating. “At least… I will be a pickman… one day.”
Alphinaud smiled. “Well met, Ga Bu. I am Alphinaud, and this is my sister Alisaie. These are our friends, the Warriors of Light. The person who found you is called Aentfryn, and there is Achiyo, our leader. And now that you know our names, we can be friends too. I apologize for the soldiers. They are afraid of kobolds and not accustomed to being gentle, though they are kind in their own way when they are not afraid. You said you came to ask for help, Ga Bu. Why to us, and not to your own people? What happened? Can you tell us?”
Ga Bu shrank into himself, holding his hands over his mask. “I… um… er…”
“No one is going to hurt you, all right?” Alisaie said gently. “Not while we’re here. I promise.”
Ga Bu whimpered. “Th-the… The patriarch, he… he’s…” He gulped and burst out full volume. “The patriarch is going to summon the Great Father again, and you have to stop him! Beat him, fight him, stop him! Ga Bu’s parents said they didn’t want it, along with many others! But the patriarch wouldn’t listen. He was so angry – raging, fuming, angry! He said that if they didn’t have iron in their hearts, they would serve as coke for the furnace. And then the guards took my parents and the others away, and I haven’t seen any of them since…”
“‘Coke for the furnace’?” Achiyo questioned faintly.
Alisaie looked furious. “I did not want to believe it… but I have heard tales of foci fashioned from the bones of beastmen, which worshipers use in their rituals, hoping to summon more powerful incarnations of their gods…”
“By the Twelve,” Alphinaud whispered, pale as his hair. “That is… That is sickening.” Tam actually physically retched. The otherworldly alien still did not have an idea of how low desperate people could sink, did he?
“I thought those foci were, like, made from already-dead people,” R’nyath said in a shaken voice. “That’s horrible.”
Ga Bu threw himself down on the grass. “No one listens to Ga Bu, no matter how much he cries – pleads, begs, cries! They do not listen, only talk about punishing the overdwellers and praising the Great Father. Ga Bu loves the Great Father, but he loves his parents too! So please, help Ga Bu stop the patriarch and save his parents!”
“We certainly shall do so,” Achiyo said, with a look to the others. Ga Bu had more to say, though.
“I heard Great Father Titan loves crystals. Cherishes, covets, loves them, and if we gather enough, He will return. That’s why the patriarch told everyone to go forth and gather them. So I was thinking, if we take all the crystals away, maybe the Great Father won’t come?”
Alphinaud smiled warmly at him. “Very good, Ga Bu. I was just thinking the same thing. Do you know where these crystals are stored?”
The kobold bounced up, clapping his little hands. “I know, I know, oh oh oh! Several spots, each defended by a different order! Ga Bu wanted to steal them, but he was too afraid to go alone. Yes, yes, too afraid to go alone. But together we can take them away and hide them! Come, come – Ga Bu will lead you!”
“We will be ready in just a moment,” Alphinaud said, standing. “Achiyo, Kekeniro?”
“I will tell Commander Bloeidin what the situation is,” Achiyo said. “You must get started without delay. I shall catch up with you.”
Some of the crystals had been located and gathered up to be given into the custody of the Maelstrom; Alphinaud’s sharp eyes had noticed that many of the crates had once had Ishgardian markings, pointing towards smugglers bringing them to the kobolds. But the last cache was gone, and they suspected already within O’Ghomoro. Time was short if they were to rescue the imprisoned kobolds. R’nyath went back to Camp Overlook with the crystals, as the others infiltrated the mountain.
It was less difficult for the ten of them to be stealthy than Achiyo had feared. True, they were a large group, but the rocky, uneven tunnels were so wide, and filled with so much machinery, that there were many dark shadows where even a large group could hide as kobolds went past. Their footsteps did not sound out of the ordinary among the hundreds of others that echoed, so as long as they were not directly spotted all was well. She still did not like it, hated having to be sneaky, fear of being caught worse than fear of having to fight, but they made it to the inner aetheryte without incident.
The kobold patriarch was hustling his underlings around Titan’s chamber; here were the missing crystals, their crates being spread across the floor of the summoning room. Behind them were rocky lumps. “Quicky, you clods! Briskly, swiftly, quickly! I will not suffer any further delays!”
Alphinaud’s voice raised in command as Vivienne, Chuchupa, and Aentfryn drew their weapons. “Lay down your arms and surrender! We have your crystals. There will be no summoning this day!”
Many of the kobolds shrieked and hid their faces. “Overdwellers!?” cried the patriarch. “Here!? But how did you-”
“Where are my parents, Patriarch!” squeaked Ga Bu, in a frenzy of defiance and fear. “Where are they!?”
The Patriarch slowly looked to one side. Achiyo looked, and made a tiny gasp as she realized – the lumps piled there, which she had taken for rocks or maybe more containers of crystals, were… the still, unmoving bodies of several kobolds. Ga Bu slowly crept up to them, so small and alone. “Mother…? Father…”
“‘Coke for the furnace’?” Alisaie muttered, and turned to the Patriarch with rage in her eyes. “You monster. How could you!?”
The Patriarch did not move. “I… We are but servants of the Lord of Crags. We are His, that He may drink of our blood and partake of our flesh – that He might draw upon the strength of His children and defend them from the tyranny of the overdwellers!”
Alisaie looked like she was going to lunge at him, but Alphinaud stopped her. “No, Alisaie. Not yet.” He took a deep breath. “I understand, Patriarch. I do. Your fear, your anger, your hate… You would do anything to protect your people – anything to deliver them from despair. Whatever it takes to ensure that those who threaten you can never do it again. But in your single-minded pursuit of this objective, you have brought suffering on your own kith and kin. You have sacrificed the lives of the very people you sought to protect!”
“No, Alphinaud,” Vivienne said quietly. “You don’t understand, except through logic. None of us truly understand. Maybe not even me. It is a visceral feeling, consuming you from the pit of your stomach. You can have sympathy, but you cannot know. Were my people under such threat, would I balk at sacrificing one Duskwight whom I do not know? I hope that yet I would. And still. The hope of sacrificing a few, even an unwilling few, to save many… that does not sound like one easily turned aside. Is it not better that many be alive, though they suffer, than that many suffer just as much and then perish?”
Alphinaud paused. “Perhaps you are right- But it need not be this way! We can renounce this bloody course! We can work together to build a lasting peace!”
“Another peace to be abandoned at the overdwellers’ convenience!” spat the patriarch. “Oathbreakers, all of you! Liars, betrayers, oathbreakers! You take and you take and you take, and when you have had your fill, you sue for peace. You promise that this time, this time is the last – until you grow hungry again! And when we dare to defend ourselves, you declare that this ‘beast tribe’ cannot be suffered to live! That our god drains the land of aether, and brings naught but suffering – death, destruction, suffering upon us all! I will hear no more lies from you and yours, overdweller! You’ve ruined your own lands – you’ll not ruin ours!”
“You are right,” Achiyo said, and several of her friends flinched in surprise, and maybe fear, for her voice was cold as ice. “Yet this child…”
Ga Bu reached out to touch his parents; they did not move. “I said I’d come for you, and I did! I’m here… I’m here… I’m here… Say something, please. Please…” He began to break down into panicked sobs. “PLEEEAAASE!!!”
The crystals in the crates began to glow, consumed, and stones about the platform began to drift up to join together. Aphinaud and Alisaie took a step back, startled, and the Warriors of Light took a step forward – for Titan had been summoned.
Ga Bu screamed. “Wake up… Wake up… wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up- WAAAKE UUUUUUP!!!”
Titan burst out of the stones – not as large as last time, yet still large enough. The adult kobolds cheered as Titan loomed over them, then hesitated in confusion. And he punched, wildly, sending kobolds flying. “Seven hells!” Alphinaud cried, ducking flying pebbles.
“Get out of here!” Vivienne told the twins. “We’ll take care of this!” The Warriors of Light charged, and Vivienne cast dark magic at Titan… who ignored her. He ignored the spells of Kekeniro and Rinala. What was happening?
“Ga Bu!” cried Alisaie, for now Titan was peering down at the kobold child, curled beside his parents, mumbling to himself. “Alphinaud!” she called, taking off running for Ga Bu as Titan wound up for another strike.
“Got it!” Alphinaud called back, and summoned his carbuncle – right into Titan’s face. Achiyo followed it up with Flash, and Titan reeled.
“Good going!” Kekeniro said. “Now go back to camp, we don’t want any of you Tempered!”
“On our way!” Alisaie said, and holding Ga Bu, she Teleported. After a pause, Alphinaud followed her.
Titan, freed from the carbuncle clawing his face, did not seem inclined to sit still or pay attention to any of them the way they had become accustomed to primals behaving. It was like… It was like he was throwing a tantrum. He screamed in a voice of grumbling stone: “I’m here… I’m here… I’m here… I said I’d come! I said I’d come!” He pounded on the floor, and stones fell from the ceiling.
“Llymlaen’s arsehole!” Chuchupa cried, dodging one. “Did he absorb Ga Bu’s spirit as well as the crystals?”
“I’m hypothesizing that he absorbed Ga Bu’s prayers more than anyone else’s,” Kekeniro panted, running away from another punch. “I’m myself praying that’s not just wishful thinking!”
“Mother… Father… I can’t… I can’t find you… Why… Why… Why… WHYYYYYY!!!” They all had to stop and cover their ears from the deafening shout, and Achiyo’s horns were ringing when the echoes had died away enough to hear again.
“I don’t want to kill a child!” Rinala wailed. “He really isn’t in there, right?”
“I don’t know,” Aentfryn said. “But we can’t let this Titan free, he will destroy both kobolds and non-kobolds alike!”
“I’m sorryyyy!” Rinala cried to the primal.
Titan was weak, compared to the last time they had fought, and at length they gathered, pale and shaken, alone in the centre of the room. “There is no more we can do here,” Achiyo said. “We must return to the camp and see if he survived.” She started the Teleport.
She found the three of them beneath the tree again, with R’nyath waiting by them anxiously. Ga Bu was staring silently at the ground, unmoving except for his breathing.
Alphinaud looked up at their approach, and came to meet them. “I must apologize, everyone. I should have known better than to let him accompany us, given what we were like to find. But you… succeeded?”
“Yes,” Achiyo said sombrely. “Titan is no more. But he cried out with Ga Bu’s words – is Ga Bu… yet himself?”
“He has been like this since he regained consciousness,” Alisaie said. “We believe he can hear us, but he has made no attempt to respond. He is almost certainly still in shock, but… But we cannot discount the possibility that he succumbed to the primal’s influence.” She swallowed. “I know what happened. Gods help me, I was there. But the thought that we might have to…” To slay him for being a Tempered, Achiyo filled in. “Seven hells, he’s just a child!”
The Maelstrom camp was rejoicing that they would not have to fight Titan themselves, but Aentfryn was restless. He did not like pirate parties at the best of times, and now sat more ill with him than ever. So when he saw Alisaie taking Ga Bu out of the camp, he followed them.
Alisaie had just made herself comfortable on a cliff-edge overlooking the ruins of Nym, when she heard his tread and turned to see him. “Who goes there? …Oh, Aentfryn. Hello. Forgive me for straying from the camp. He hasn’t been feeling too welcome, to say the least. I thought a change of scenery might do him good, but…”
“You have no need to ask my forgiveness, nor explain yourself to me,” Aentfryn said. “Do you mind if I sit with you? I have no fondness for the Maelstrom either.”
Alisaie gestured to the grass on her other side, and Aentfryn carefully lowered himself to sit on the ground. The fairies flew out before them, also looking at the view, before giggling softly and diving under the cliff to explore.
“It’s so quiet out here,” Alisaie said. “The stars spread out before us, beckoning across time and space… ‘Dawn may banish even the darkest night.’ How bitterly beautiful, those words.”
“Vivienne would agree with you,” Aentfryn said. “And so, I think, would Tam, believe it or not.”
“And you?”
“All of existence is a balance,” Aentfryn said. “Hope may come with the dawn – but only because the day is the time when we can see to take action. Night is not evil; it is the time of rest – or would be, were we in a place of mind that we could rest. Yet… watching the stars may be restful, even if we cannot sleep, and if you love the night you may have no fear that it will vanish forever. We cannot have day without the night. You cannot have dawn without dusk.”
Alisaie thought about it. “I should be stronger for all my experiences, yet my heart aches more than ever.”
“You are young,” he said. “‘Twill ache more as the years pass.” That wasn’t comforting, was it. But she wasn’t exactly in an easy line of work.
“Is that how I am stronger, that I can withstand more grief?” Alisaie asked sardonically. “My travels have been enlightening, but I cannot say that I have enjoyed them. I have lost count of the many petty crises that I was helpless to resolve, and of the people whose actions I could not understand.”
“I know,” Aentfryn said. “I feel much the same.”
“There were others, of course,” Alisaie said. “Good people. People with whom I felt a kinship… whose lives I could not save. I found myself asking what it was all for. Why try if I was doomed to fail in the end? But then I recalled Grandfather’s words to my father, years ago, before he left Sharlayan behind forever. ‘To ignore the plight of those one might conceivably save is not wisdom – it is indolence. We must all protect that which we hold most dear in the manner of our own choosing.’ …We have to try, do we not?”
Aentfryn grunted and looked away. “Why do you think I’m still with these idiots?”
Alisaie laughed softly. “Of course, it’s one thing to try and another to do. There were times while I was tracking the Warriors of Darkness when I falthered – when I was afraid. But then I thought of my brother, of Urianger…”
“Yes, Alphinaud is an idealist to the hilt…” Aentfryn said. “You balance him with sense. Even if you don’t see it that way.”
“Thank you,” Alisaie said quietly. “Though he seems to have matured recently. I’d never tell him so, but sometimes I find myself thinking of him almost as an elder brother.”
“He’s made some improvement,” Aentfryn said. “He grows, as all those who live do. And that is one reason why I am still here, that the two of you may continue to grow and come into your own.” When they hit adulthood, however, they were on their own. Or so he was telling himself.
“As long as the sun rises – and sets – we can but carry on,” Alisaie said. “For the sake of those we hold dear.”
Aentfryn nodded, and glanced at the silent Ga Bu. He wanted to speak to the boy. To tell him his own parents were passed on, to tell him of the other Scions who were parentless – Vivienne, Achiyo. That while none would love him the way his parents had, yet he might find someone to care for him as a child ought to be cared for.
He did not. It was far too soon and would only harm far more than it helped.
Achiyo and Rinala were sharing a tent, as they often did when on the road. Their preparations for sleep were subdued. Achiyo had caught tears running quietly down Rinala’s face from time to time, and envied her. She wanted to weep, at how unfair it all was, at Ga Bu’s plight, at how the situation on Vylbrand seemed no closer to resolution and she was powerless to make a significant change for the better. But she could not in front of others.
“I hope he’ll be…” Rinala began, while brushing her hair, and stopped. “Do you think any of the other kobolds will adopt him? Or will they think he’s a traitor, even though he just wanted to help his parents?”
“I do not know,” Achiyo said, still inspecting her armour. “You will have to ask Tam, he knows them best.” She sighed. “It has given me much to think about. After the way we brought the Dragonsong War to an end, I cannot blame Alphinaud for thinking we can do the same again. But Ishgard had learned the futility of war, after a thousand years of it. To admit their fault, to wish to change their view of their neighbours. I do not think Limsa Lominsa has.”
“So Admiral Merlwyb won’t take us seriously if we tell her she needs to stop pushing the kobolds,” Rinala said.
“I think not,” Achiyo said. “She is used to getting her own way.” The circumstances were different, too. Ishgard’s war had been about power; Limsa’s was for resources. She did not think that what territory fell under Limsa’s sway was wholly overcrowded. Merlwyb had alternatives. And the fact that she refused to take them when this was the result angered Achiyo. “What about Thanalan? Do you suppose we will have to go and contain Ifrit next?”
Rinala sighed. “I hope not. Probably. I guess. But then I don’t know why the Amalj’aa attack us, they don’t seem to have a reason like the Kobolds and Sahagin and Ixal.”
Achiyo was silent for a long moment as she smoothed down her bedroll. “I am also minded that we were sympathetic to Ga Bu because he was a child. If he had been anyone else, the soldiers might have killed him. We ourselves might have been less understanding and courteous. And that shames me, to think that we have treated these people as lesser simply because they live differently than we do, because they look different. We have fought them thinking they were naught but villains, killing them when they have opposed us. We were more open to the dragons.” Her frustrations flowed out – too freely. Rinala was staring at her, visibly more upset than she had been a moment before.
“Um… well… we can try better next time,” Rinala said, putting out a hand, trying tremulously to comfort her, when she was the one who clearly needed the most comfort.
Achiyo sighed and gave her a weary smile. “You are right. We must use the past to make a better future, always. And now I resolve to be gracious to any who approach me, dragon or mortal, beast or non-beast, even Garlean or Eorzean, no matter their age or standing. And if I falter, you can remind me.”
Rinala relaxed a little. “Y-yeah. I’ll be kind to everyone too.”
“You are already kind to everyone,” Achiyo said, her smile growing fondly. “If the world were yours, no one would work harm on each other no matter the reason. I pray you never lose that compassion.”
Rinala brightened under the praise. “I’ll try! Okay. I’ll also try and sleep now.”
They lay down and turned out their lantern. But Achiyo could not sleep, thoughts spinning repetitively through her head for over a bell, maybe two. She was not the only one. After she heard Rinala roll over for about the fourteenth time, she let out a sigh and whispered to the other side of the tent: “You cannot sleep either?”
“No… You too?” Rinala also sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m just… worried about other things too.”
“Such as…?”
“Thancred…” No surprise there. “He just seems so angry and upset all the time now, with everything and everyone. And I know… I know he’s missing Minfilia, and I…” Rinala choked back a tiny sob. “You keep telling me it’s not my fault, but…”
“It’s not your fault, nor your responsibility,” Achiyo assured her. “I do not think he is perhaps very good at handling his feelings…” Though she was one to talk.
“I want Minfilia back. I want Yda and Papalymo back. We’re doing better than we were before, the Scions, we helped a whole country, but I want everyone to be back together like we used to be. We were happier then. And I keep trying to be cheerful for him, or in spite of him, to try and keep his hope up, but it’s… He won’t even look at me. And it’s hard.”
Achiyo sighed again and reached out her hand to the middle of the tent. “Take my hand.” Rinala did so. Her hand was much warmer than Achiyo’s. Achiyo was very much not a touchy person, but Rinala was. A Miqo’te thing, perhaps? R’nyath seemed to be as well. “I do not know how we can help Thancred. But we will. In the meantime, let us help you. Let us keep your spirits up.”
“Okay. Thank you.” Rinala squeezed the hand. “Do you think Aymeric really likes you? R’nyath said he definitely did and that’s why the teasing people stopped, so that he wouldn’t feel like he was making your life more difficult if he overheard.”
“I do not know,” Achiyo said, staring at the roof of the tent, her right arm awkwardly out to the side. “He is kind to me.” He was kind to everyone.
“But I bet you’re not awake because of him. You don’t seem like you’d lie awake thinking about, um, romance.”
Achiyo had to smile. “No, long years of being a mercenary, an adventurer, have taught me to sleep when I must sleep, no matter my heart’s opinion on the subject. No… my mind is troubled by other things. …By that moment when we faced Zurvan.” She reached with her left hand to trace where the almost-invisible scar lay beneath her tunic, her mind already settling back into feeling it again, the helplessness, the certainty that she would die. “I have never in my life before been so close to death, knowingly, despite all our deadly battles. I know some of the others have died, and returned… I wonder if it troubles them, or did in the past.”
“Oh. That’s… a lot more serious than boy problems. I feel bad now.”
Achiyo gently squeezed the hand she still held. “You have other worries. It is not wrong to have other worries. I would far rather you have… ‘boy problems’ than war trauma.”
“Okay, that’s a good point,” Rinala said, squeezing back again, reaching out with her other hand to take Achiyo’s hand in both of hers. She probably thought it was comforting. “It would be best of all if none of us had war trauma. I’m sorry you got hurt so bad.”
“You saved my life,” Achiyo said, smiling a little. “I am grateful for your skill.” She just did not like those long moments before the Benediction had enveloped her. Feeling her heart beating her lifeblood away, unable to breathe properly… She breathed in this moment. She was alive. Her heart beat even now, calm and steady, and her breath flowed through both lungs. She deliberately relaxed her shoulders, her jaw. “Let us attempt sleeping again.” It would come eventually.
The next morning, they gathered where Alisaie and Ga Bu had taken off to, within the camp but away from the majority of the soldiers. “How is he?” Alphinaud asked.
Alisaie looked at them. “Brother. Commander Bloeidin. Something tells me you are not solely here out of concern for his welfare. But to answer your question, there has been no change. He will not speak or eat – I’m not even sure if he slept. If he did, he seems none the better for it. He just… shuffles about with that same expression on his face…”
“He needs time,” Vivienne said. “He lost his world but yesterday. ‘Twill take moons before he’ll find… a new normal.”
“What is to be done with him?” Aentfryn asked. “We should send him to his people, should we not? There must be a kobold order somewhere which can raise him.”
Alphinaud shook his head. “We do not know if he has been turned, and it may take some time to be evident one way or another. Maelstrom Command will look after him.”
“I can imagine that going poorly,” Tam said. “Why not take him with us – to Mor Dhona, at least? There are junior Scions enough to take care of him, and with less prejudice than Maelstrom.”
“And take him even further from his home?” Vivienne said. “Strip him of even that?”
“It is a difficult circumstance,” Kekeniro said. “But it is only temporary, right? It’s awkward to stand here talking about him when he’s right here, but maybe when he’s feeling… um… up to talking again, we can ask him what he would like to do.”
Alisaie turned to Commander Bloeidin with a very fierce look. “You will look after him, won’t you, Commander – and treat him with every kindness? He’s still in there. I know it. Beneath the anguish and the despair, he’s still fighting with all his heart. He deserves to be given that chance. Until he comes back to us – until we know for certain what has become of him.”
Bloeidin nodded, and more agreeably than Aentfryn would have thought. “Aye, aye, you needn’t worry. If he hadn’t risked his neck to warn us and help you secure the better part of the crystals, this could’ve turned out a damn sight worse than it did. We’ll not soon forget that, and nor will Maelstrom Command.”
Aentfryn knelt to speak to him. “If you are not against it, I shall visit you from time to time. I will make sure they really do treat you well.”
Alisaie nodded, and knelt beside him. “I’m so sorry, Ga Bu. I truly am. You should never have been made to… And I know I cannot possibly understand… Mayhap there is nothing I can do or say. The pain, the anger… the helplessness… …Hold fast to the memories of better times. Remember them as they were. And when it hurts so much your heart feels fit to burst, let it burst. Let it burst, and fill up again with your love for them. And never, ever forget.”
Ga Bu stared… somewhere in her vicinity. “…Come along, little one,” Bloeidin said eventually, gently enough to please Aentfryn.
Ga Bu slowly looked at Alisaie. “I… I will remember them. And you, Alisaie. Thank you…” He dropped his gaze again and slowly trundled off after Bloeidin.
“Have faith, Sister,” Alphinaud said softly. “Your words have reached him. In time, he will recover… And those who orchestrated these events will be made to answer for their crimes.”
Alisaie stood, her face hard. “A thousand times over, aye. There will be a reckoning.”
They had just left Urianger, who told them that the Warriors of Darkness were facing a choice between being annihilated by Light, and destroying their world to return it to the Lifestream so that its inhabitants might at least be reborn. He had also told them that more crystals had been sent to Little Ala Mhigo, and thither they were now bound, when they received a linkshell call from Thancred.
“Right, are you all listening? Good. I have tidings. The Temple Knights raided the smugglers’ warehouse less than a bell ago. A cursory interrogation of the prisoners yielded confirmation that they were in the employ of – and I hope you are sitting down – a man in black robes.” Tam snorted, R’nyath chuckled.
He sounded like he had returned to his old self, Achiyo thought. The investigation must have reminded him of past exploits. Perhaps he would begin to recover now.
“Then you have them? And the crystals too?” Alphinaud asked.
“What few remained, aye,” Thancred said. “Regrettably, it would seem they dispatched one final shipment in the hours before we struck. ‘Twas bound for Little Ala Mhigo, we are told, where it will be received by members of a local Resistance group. Since Ser Aymeric’s men no longer have need of my services, I have a mind to head that way.”
“As do we, by happy coincidence,” Alphinaud said. “We learned of he shipments but a few moments ago.”
“Hah! And there I was thinking I might finally be one step of the Warriors of Light and their little helpers.” Thancred managed a chuckle. “…Ah! Wait a moment! There is more! And I defy you not to be surprised by this revelation. The leader of the Ishgardian smugglers was formerly in the employ of one Eline Roaille – the infamous Ivy herself!”
Alphinaud frowned. “Once again, Thancred, I fear I must inform you that-”
Alisaie frowned harder, interrupting her brother with a hand gently to the face. “Thancred, with whom else have you shared this information?”
They heard the confusion in Thancred’s voice. “About the smugglers? No one. As I think I mentioned, the raid was less than a bell ago. I was planning to contact Y’shtola next, but is there someone else you would have me notify first?”
Alisaie slowly relaxed, but her frown did not change. “No… there isn’t.” She disconnected, and looked at the others – and then walked out of the Waking Sands without a further word.
“What in the world has gotten into her?” Alphinaud said.
“Is all well?” Thancred inquired.
“I’m not sure,” Alphinaud said. “But nothing is immediately amiss. We shall see you in Little Ala Mhigo anon, I am sure.”
“Safe travels,” Thancred said, and disconnected.