“Oh hey Ruby. Sorry about this.”
Ruby didn’t look as angry as I had expected her to be. She still looked frustrated at not being let in on my plan, but I didn’t have the time to explain it well. I also assumed that she might refuse if I explained it in full.
“Were you planning on using me as a cushion from the start?”
I shrugged even though the simple action of moving my shoulders hurt. “I was hoping you could use your wind attunement to help soften the landing. This part, I didn’t expressly think about that. It just sorta came with the rest of it.”
Destroying the iron chariot was the riskiest thing I’d done so far. It could have also killed Ruby if I had lost focus, which did make me feel a bit bad. We would have died either way if I hadn’t pulled it off, but she was probably in the most danger out of any of the people in the plan other than myself. Whether she understood that fact or not was something I couldn’t know.
“Eh. Still, can you get off of my lap?”
“Everything hurts.”
“Get the fuck off.”
“Ok…”
I slowly moved up, getting off of her and taking my time standing up. Everything in my body felt like it was on fire. I didn’t know if it was the effect of mana poisoning or simply the amount of effort I put into exerting control over my flow. I noticed that Elm was crouching nearby, studying my body from head to toe. When I started to get up he offered his hand which I used to pull myself to my feet, but immediately stumbled afterwards.
“Kid, you ok?” He asked, still eyeing my body.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit… woah.” As I stood up, I finally got a good look at the iron chariot. Rather, I got a good look at where the iron chariot used to be. The entire land in front of me had been erased, and the only pieces left of the chariot were its wheels which now lacked anything to be attached to. The path of destruction continued behind the chariot and into the forest, clearing away trees and the earth for longer than I could see.
“I did that?”
“Who the fuck else could have done that?” Elm said, chuckling a bit. He hit me on the back to congratulate me, which led to me lurching over in pain. All of the muscles in my body were sore. It felt a lot like my nights after I started my apprenticeship under Elm, only much worse.
“Ah, shit. You should probably rest.”
I shook my head while slowly returning to a standing position. “I’m fine. Just need a few minutes to reset. Probably not as hurt as you are, even though you don’t want to admit it.”
Instead of denying my accusation, Elm simply shrugged. “Ain’t enough to stop me from fighting. Don’t know how you’re still alive right now, but I guess the world really is playing favorites with your dumb ass.”
Yeah, and apparently it’s starting to get conversational.
The more I thought about the mana talking back to me, or at least what I thought might have happened, Sera’s joking proposal of me being some figure of prophecy felt ever more real. I could save talking about it with Elm for later, since we had to focus on getting ready for the next leg of our journey and helping the penal laborers.
I also had to deal with the dead.
***
“5 dead. 2 miners, 3 penal laborers. What do we do?” Sera’s solemn gaze was shared by everyone who was currently inside the refinery cafeteria. I was still sore all over my body which didn’t help my focus. After the losses, we now only had 63 people. Luckily, none of them had changed their position on following me and were still willing to continue on the path towards the next camp.
“We do another funeral. They need to be given rest. Leave the bodies of the guards where they were.” I spoke in hushed tones. Talking loudly hurt my chest.
No one disputed my response. It seemed that a funeral for the dead was necessary for us to move on, even if it would take up more effort. I hated the fact that we had lost even more men just at the start of our journey. Another pyre wasn’t that hard to build and it was a way to respect their passing in a traditional manner.
“And what should we do about the penal laborers? Are we taking them with us or are we letting them go free into Boralis?”
Elm said they should go free and we should keep small. I trust his word.
“We tell them that they’re free to go where they want. Let them get the first run at the supplies of the camp for their journey. I’ll tell them about the dangers of our journey, but we should allow them to join if they want. After the massacre they just witnessed, I don’t think too many of them will have the motivation to experience that multiple times.” I was going to have to give another speech which I was already dreading. I’d probably be a bit of a deadweight for a few days while I recovered, but I could at least help with rallying people and making decisions.
I took a moment to survey the room and get a good look at all of their faces. These people had already been through the worst. All they wanted was some time to breathe and to know that they had true freedom, while also being able to share that freedom with others. I couldn’t just rely on myself coming up with insane plans at any moment. Doing that always puts myself and others in greater danger than necessary. I had to get stronger and better at strategizing. Luckily, we had some time in between our current situation and the next big fight. I could regain my strength and work to get better for the sake of the people following me.
“Sera, can you get a crew to do a search through the refinery for supplies and tally them up for me? Take Mell with you. Alex, I want you with me to help talk with the penal laborers once I’m done. If you can ask a few other people to help gather them up, that’d be really great for me to give the speech. If you find any of them of interest or any of them who want to join us, get back to me. And Elina?”
Her head perked up at the sound of her own name.
“Yes?”
“Go and study the workshop for the iron chariot. I need to figure out any weaknesses we can exploit in future fights. We can’t let something like this happen again.”
Although unspoken, there was a collective agreement over that statement. I wasn’t going to let another situation with the iron chariot happen again, and I wasn’t going to try that primer trick any time soon for the sheer amount of danger it put myself and everyone else in. There was no doubt in my mind that we would see more of those things in the future.
***
“Hello, penal laborers of Arlin!” I loudly proclaimed, although the act of doing so caused me to wince. “My name is North. I was once a mining slave. I mined much of the magore that you refined at this location. However, we broke free from our bondage and destroyed that place. Now, I offer that same freedom to you.”
The penal laborers still looked overwhelmed by all that had happened in such a short period of time. In the span of a single day they had gone from death-bound refinery workers to free men and women. It did look like the majority of the people who were working here were men compared to the all female penal laborers of the camp.
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“You can go your own way from here on out. If you go to the north, you will go into Mylia and have the opportunity to go to the coast. There are other paths as well, but that one is probably the safest. My cartographer is willing to provide copies of the map, and we will allow for you to take as many supplies as you need and can carry. Gather the supplies you need to go in your own directions and use your new freedom. If you wish to fight for the freedom of others, you are welcome to join us. However, it will be a dangerous path that not everyone can follow.”
I took a deep breath as I finished my speech, nearly collapsing forward until Alex caught me and kept me up straight.
“As he said, we’d like for you guys to choose your own paths in the future. We’re going to stay the night at the refinery, but it’s best if you get moving quickly.” Alex held me up with his hand on my back. He was doing this a lot better than I was. “Again, if you wish to join us, come to either me or North.”
The crowd slowly dispersed and went their separate ways across the camp to prepare for the next day. I took my time getting off of the small platform we had used for the announcement, only to fall when I was about half way. Once I raised my head from the ground, I could see a man looking at me who looked completely unlike the rest of the penal laborers. He was a lot more physically fit and in strong condition, but what stood out the most was his skin and hair color.
Is that guy Ireborian?
His tan skin and steel hair looked the exact same as Elina. It didn’t make sense, since the refineries and camps were using Arlinians as the penal laborers for the most part. His eyes connected with mine as he took a moment to study me. On his left cheek, there was some odd marking that looked like it had been burnt into the skin. The slaves also had markings on our necks, but we were starting to remove them or deal with them as our journey went along. However, a mark as visible as that wasn’t something I’d seen too often. I turned away from him and back towards the refinery. I had a lot to do, even if I wanted to take a break.
***
I watched the movement of supplies throughout the camp, resting on one of the chairs that had been removed from the cafeteria. A few of the slaves and a few penal laborers had interacted with me, asking questions or thanking me. I was burnt, and it was starting to show. As I watched one penal laborer start to argue with another over supplies, I felt a heavy tap on my shoulder. I turned to see the same Ireborian man that had caught my interest earlier.
“Hello.”
“Hi?” I had expected him to have a much deeper voice, but it was actually quite pleasing to the ears.
“I was hoping to join you in your journey. I believe I shall be of some use.” He said pompously, putting a hand on his chest. His well defined body gave a sense of validity to that statement. “You state that your mission is to free others from bondage, no?”
“Yeah. Do you have an aptitude or anything?” I wasn’t necessarily requiring people to have one in order to join, but it would be helpful. The penal laborers were putting in the work, but they weren’t going to be as much of a powerhouse on the battlefield like a mage. I took a quick look at the situation with the penal laborers to find that Elina had stepped in to break them up and deal with the argument.
“Sadly, no. However, I have spent many years on the battlefield against Arlin and am well trained with a sword.” the man said. I immediately switched focus as I heard those words.
A sword?
We didn’t have a swordsman that I knew of in our group. With how Arlin fought, I’d generally thought that a person who used a sword would be limited in their ability.
“You’re a swordsman?”
“I am. I was very well renowned. I was able to cut through Arlinian body armor with ease before I ended up as a penal laborer. I would like to relive that time, if you would allow me.”
Eh, one more person couldn’t hurt. Especially after our losses. And being able to do that means that he’s really strong.
I slowly got up from the chair to meet him. After talking with him for so long, I finally realized that I hadn’t heard his name.
“What’s your name?”
“My name is Wanderer.”
Wanderer?
Noticing the slight confusion on my face, he sighed.
“I am unable to use my previous name. Thus, I call myself Wanderer.”
First Twig, and now this guy? What’s with people ‘losing names’?
“I can work with that. Wanderer, I’d be glad to have you join us.” I extended my hand outwards to him, and he almost immediately grabbed onto it.
“Sorry North. Deserter, do you have any last words?”
I turned to my right to see Elina with her burner pointed directly at the head of Wanderer, ready to fire.
***
My mind took a moment to connect all of the events that had transpired in the few seconds that I had grabbed onto the man’s hand.
“Elina, what the fuck? He said he’s going to help us!” My hand hadn’t been removed from Wanderer’s grip, and I turned to him to see his reaction. Instead of panic or any attempt at self defense, he looked weirdly disappointed.
“I should have seen this coming. North, you should probably back down. This lady here is just doing what she’s supposed to.”
My eyes darted between the two individuals. The event had clearly drawn a lot of attention as we were now surrounded by other people. I forcibly ignored them to focus on the issue in front of me.
“Elina, what’s going on?”
She finally took a moment to turn away from the other Ireborian man, letting her other hand drop from the burner and down to her side. There was a righteous fury burning in her eyes that I’d never seen before.
“This man is a deserter. Don’t you see the mark on his cheek?”
“Ok, he’s a deserter. Why are you trying to shoot him?”
To the surprise of us both, Wanderer interjected.
“In Irebor, deserters are given a punishment of the loss of your title, banishment, and a permanent marking to show your sins. If you are an Ireborian, you are supposed to kill those who have been marked as deserters on sight, which you can clearly see happening right now.” Wanderer’s face remained completely static the entire time he talked. He didn’t show any sign of fear or anger even with the burner still directly against his skull.
Why are you so calm about this?
“And you’re just ok with this?” I asked, hoping to see something stir within the man.
“I’d prefer to not die.”
“Elina, please. He said he could help us. He’s got experience against Arlin, and we just lost 5 people. We need to keep up our numbers.”
Elina turned to me. That righteous fire in her eyes was now directed at me.
“North, I joined because you said you would allow me to live the Ireborian dream. You’ve been doing that so far, and that is why I continue to follow you. What is happening right now is also part of being an Irebor warrior, and I will not let you take it away from me.”
It was wrong. Even if this was part of her culture or heritage, it was wrong and I needed to stop it. Something inside me was telling me that Wanderer could help us and I wasn’t ready to lose him just yet. It made me feel a bit like Nicole to have this thought, but he wasn’t a person I could just throw away before I got something out of him.
Plus, it’s not like we’re free of sin either.
“I can’t let you do that. You’ve been allowed to live the Irebor dream because of me, and I would like you to keep doing that. For now, let me use him.” The words ‘use him’ felt disgusting coming out of my mouth. “If he tries to desert again or if the time feels right, I’ll allow you to kill him. But for right now, he’s of use to us.”
“You trust the words of a man who has already been a traitor in the past?”
“I don’t. But I know that if he betrays us in the future, you’ll be there to track him down and kill him.” I spoke in earnest. The man had no reason to follow me other than to live out his cultural dream, yet he had already betrayed Irebor. I’d be fine working with him for now.
Elina stared at me, pondering the offer I had just given her. After what felt like an eternity, she slowly lowered her weapon from Wanderer’s head and brought it back to her side. Before I could even relax from the tension, she had already moved over to me and was directly in my face. That righteous fire still persisted in her eyes.
“I have followed you because you have given me righteous combat against Arlin. As long as that continues, I am willing to continue following you. However, I will not follow a liar. Be careful to uphold your word, as I will not be lenient in the future to you or him.” Elina’s dark and anger filled voice made me want to back away from her.
“I promise to follow my word.”
Elina finally took a breath, placing away her burner.
“You will be held accountable for that, North. Do not betray my trust.”
As Elina slowly walked away, I had the sinking feeling that I had just set in motion something that would come to bite me in the future.