Diana raised her head as Aiko heard the wheezing and limping of Jonah coming closer to her. Beside him was Kalyah, constantly trying to stop him from moving. As he reached the cobblestone, each step brought a grimace of pain, but he kept going. Finally the healer caught him around the stomach and stopped him in place.

“Jonah, you hurt yourself,” Kalyah protested.

“I just hit my metal knee, it’s fine,” he said, still focused on Diana before him. His feet kept trying to move towards her.

“There’s a bone attached to that knee,” the Pixie stressed. “Miss, can you please keep him there?”

Diana closed the distance, setting her hand on his sweat dampened chest. “Why do you move like a man possessed?” she asked. Through her palm she felt his heart thudding, trying to break free it seemed. His mouth struggled to form words and he merely smiled, awkward and full of teeth at her. His bronze skin was warmly lit in the tavern light, the classic cloudy glass that turned people to blobs inside made him glow out here. The tiger brushed along his other leg, distracting him as Kalyah applied a prayer to his injured leg.

Lucy approached, hooves moving daintily in the faint music of the celebration beside them, a devious grin on her face. “He was so worried about you princess,” she said, poking Jonah’s cheek.

“Ah, I am unharmed, completely untouched even,” Diana said. She glanced back at the remaining Hero that hovered around her. The Ranger nodded, moving towards the tavern. Close enough to see the battle scarred Elf, Jonah was startled by the man's appearance. A squint of the eyes showed his silent approval, and he gave the princess a gesture of waiting around the bend.

Jonah, able to stand on his own, gave the Elf a signal back. Ryul’s brow raised and he touched his thumb to his chest. Laughing, Jonah touched his hand to his opposite forearm. A muffled sound came from Ryul with a tap to his temple and fast gesturing of one hand. Jonah replied by pinching his thumb and forefinger together, shrugging. Ryul nodded delightedly, lifting his flat hand from his chin. There was water in Jonah’s eyes as the Ranger gave off a restricted laugh, moving to the pub with his hands behind his back.

“You can understand him?” Diana asked in surprise.

“Yeah, I guess I can,” Jonah said, trying to calm himself.

“He’s just speaking elven sign language,” Kalyah said with a shrug. “Though I don’t know how you know it Jonah.”

The Traveler shook his head. “It’s close to the sign language of my world, a lot of things here are like that. Close,” he said. “My mom taught me some, when I was a little.” He touched his pinched finger tips of both hands together. “That’s ‘more’, I used it as a baby, instead of crying. I mean, I don’t remember it, but my mom talked about it all the time. There were some deaf kids in my school, and I had a customer who was deaf.” He shook his head. “I never thought I would use it here.”

“I think you know a lot more than you let on, a whole world of knowledge,” Diana said with a grin to him. He flushed at her, mouth moving in the same stunned formation of words that never sounded out. It was Lucy that giggled at him.

Kalyah supported his arm and back as he wavered in place. “Diana, Jonah made it all this way to see how you were doing, he wanted to talk with you,” she said, gently leading him forward.

Diana took his arm, wrapping hers with his as a proper lady does, except he was leaning on her. The pressure of him lightened the dark that had laid heavy on her. He grinned anxiously at her. Their respective armor, leviathan hide and Ironwood pressing together as he did his best to stand tall.

“We’ll try and get you a seat inside. I want to hear what they’re saying. How they’re spinning this,” Kalyah said, looking around her. “Damn bird couldn’t contain himself.”

“You know he worships the captain. I think I can hear him yelling in there,” Lucy said, jerking her head to the front door.

Kalyah inclined her head, taking Lucy’s hand, who swelled at the touch. “See you inside, miss,” she said, rushing off with the demon.

Jonah was quiet for a moment, his green eyes darting around in thought.

She waited on him, the faint sounds of celebration held no appeal for her.

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you with the rest of the Heroes?” he asked, his focus now on her. Of the many men who had attempted to court her, few had done it with such shaky nerves. Why should the rich and powerful be poor in confidence? Genuine awe was hard to come by in most royals, as many were Sorcerers, blessed from birth.

“You make it sound as if I belong with them,” she said with a weary sigh.

“You were, you do,” he said, stammering. “You went with them, they got the bad guys, that’s a win, right?”

She shook her head. “There was no man alive in there,” she said, turning him away from the path to the pub. She led him to the nearest street lamp and the glowing ring light close to its base. “There were only burrowers, Watchdogs of the gods. Serpents that are longer than these streets.” She gestured about with her staff to the rows of peaked houses. “They had swallowed the Ash Makers whole, our disturbance of the scene is what brought them out of their tunnels, hungering for more.” She grimaced. “Within their bellies were the partially digested people in their ashen coats. Apparently the coats are indigestible to them, so the Rider plucked each out and made a point to show them off. Were you witness to his macabre flag?”

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Jonah nodded and made a sound of disgust. “That’s pretty fucked up,” he said with a deep scowl.

“I agree, a primitive defilement,” she replied. “Be glad you weren’t there to see their bodies, some were rotted down to the muscle and tendons. Some had their skin in places, others showed their bones.” Her gorge rose again at the smell and she paused, Jonah gagged loudly. She waved her staff in the air, dispelling the image from her. “The only magic I truly used was to dispose of them.” She pointed to the distance, a trail of trickling smoke off behind the grove trees. “They are cinders, I couldn’t do much else…” She gripped her staff in anger.

“They must be pretty strong, the Heroes,” he said quietly.

She regarded him for a moment before nodding. “Yes, many times my elders, they moved with such efficiency,” she said. “I froze in place when the beasts burst out of their tunnels and by the time I flung a rock, it missed and three were already dead. The Guardian only brought one head, because it was the only one to remain intact. He split one’s body in half like a knife through cake. Angelina blew one’s head to bits. The Rider and Ranger made short work of theirs as well. More came and the cavern was caked in blood.” She gestured at her clothing and armor, an exhale of fury rising out from her. “I was washed clean like a child by Angelina.” Her tiger brushed against her leg with a low chuff and reassurance, but it didn't help much.

“I’m glad you’re safe, I’m sorry they were showing off so much,” Jonah said with a frown.

The boiling temper lowered in her and Diana smirked. “They were, they still are,” she agreed.

“Yeah, they aren’t interested in promoting you, but themselves,” he said.

“I did nothing,” she said pointedly. “Save the disposal of their gruesome trophies.”

“A lotta people get rewarded for doing nothing,” he said with his own smirk. “In my world at least. Kalyah was convinced they killed those people, but they’re still spinning it. Profiting off people dying like that. And you can’t take it, which I think is good.”

She stared at him, pleased by his insight. The attention made him turn away, occupying himself with the grove of trees. There was little to see but the growing shadows. “There is one more thing that bothers me,” she said, and her words brought him back.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“The Rider, well, two things I suppose. He is what caused the snakes to attack, stomping around as a child might,” she said, scoffing in annoyance. “What he hit was strange though, it was an alarm underneath a bedroll, everything was pushed around, so it might not have been under it originally.”

“An alarm clock?”

“No, it was far too loud for that,” she said, a fear settling into her. She checked around, the tiger assisting her. There was no one, but she kept moving, deeper into the empty streets. Jonah followed, his arm trembling against hers. They were alone, out of range of any hearing, she hoped at least. “Don’t repeat this on the boat, please.”

“No, of course not,” he said, eyes wide. “You can tell me anything.” He was almost excited, she thought, but that would fade.

“During the war, there was a supposed practice known as ‘bed thumping’. A rumor, truly. I always thought it was a tagline for the Order,” she said in a whisper. “The claim was that Heroes and our countries’ armies… killed Ash Makers in their beds. In their camps, in their homes, and anywhere they were found.” It was hard labor to voice her thought.

He gasped. “How awful,” he said in hush. “Oh God, that’s flat murder…” A grimace was etched into his face.

“Exactly,” she said. “Blodwyn deserves the torment of the Tombs. Her army, though, was young people who she tricked, who knew no better.” She sighed. “Kalyah is keen to remind me of this and I admit my hatred has been blind sometimes. I have never seen a living Ash Maker. Those corpses in the cavern were unidentifiable. They were drafted, I suppose, as many were from our side. Some that served were rather young. I… I cannot imagine them dying in their sleep when they were dedicated to the battlefield…” The dread made her shiver.

“I yeah, just murder. Dishonorable, disgusting,” Jonah said as if to himself and with a following shudder. “That alarm, you think it was a warning so they weren’t killed.”

“Possibly, I’m not sure.”

“Ugh.” He bared his teeth in a sneer. “Did they mention it to you? The Heroes.”

She shook her head, worrying the wood of her staff with her thumb. “No. The Guardian did mention having to kill young Ash Makers that were trying to kill him,” she said coldly. “You know him though, little is a threat to him.”

Jonah frowned. “In my world some… armies used children to set off explosives. The soldiers are scarred by that, forever,” he said. “I mean, of course, right?”

She agreed, pausing for a moment. Aiko heard footsteps coming closer and the flutter of a bird’s wings. Atop the lamppost that they had departed sat Gray the parrot. It wasn’t there the whole time, was it? The creature wasn’t magical to her knowledge, the Pirate had gone through a couple of the birds in her time. It was living and breathing, but was it spying on them? Or was she being paranoid?

Angelina rounded the corner, her blouse held together with a single button in the middle. Her cheeks were covered in lipstick kisses, working her way to tipsy with the blush behind her scales. Her eyes betrayed her, snapping to sharpness as she scanned them. With a smile, her expression lightened again. “Princess, dear, why aren’t you celebrating with us?” she asked. “You made those Ash Makers into ash, that’s plenty of reason to be praised. The world is rid of them for good.” She raised the mug in her hand. “Come on, come on, plenty of kisses to go around!”

Diana bristled at such a mention of what she had been telling Jonah. The parrot flew off its perch with a loud beat of its wings and into the night. Its breed wasn’t native to the surrounding land, why did it bother pretending it was wild? Or was it off to spy on someone else?

Jonah tightened his grip on her arm. “I’m not really good with crowds,” he said quietly.

“Don’t be silly, Traveler, the princess and you need to join the celebration together,” the Pirate said with a dimpled grin. “You should enjoy all the time you can get with her. Once you’re stable enough, you’ll join the rest of my strays.” There was a certain sinisterness in the glint of her blue eyes. Her loose curls cast a heavy shadow on her face, her lips straightening out. Jonah’s brows furrowed, trying to read her severity. Suddenly the Pirate’s look switched and she broke out into guffaws. Turning around, she beckoned them. “Come on, come on! So many drinks are being poured, so many songs! They need their princess to join them. Come on newbie, come on!”

Diana and Jonah followed along and into the tavern, which was overflowing with excitement. A fine celebration for the dead men pulled from the bellies of beasts. They would all scatter at the sight of those that wore the ashen coats hanging as a banner above the door.