They held the meeting the next day. On one side of the table was Amane with Fermin and Ibai to each side, while on the other were Corbin and Ilargi.

“You what?!” Amane exclaimed. “You should’ve told me this immediately.”

“I tried …” Ilargi said.

“Silence. I need to think,” Amane said. “What about him? Did you see the zurgina?”

“Yes, she sent us to find a talking ring. Kemen can now speak with us,” Ilargi said. Corbin was trying to hide how uncomfortable he was and wondered, whether he should say something.

“Alright, at least something went well. I don’t think you quite understand Ilargi, but my responsibilities have grown a lot now. There is no leader of the Errautsuen Uprising now, but it’s clearly between Luken, Oihan and me. In the following months one of us will take command and I have a feeling I can trust neither of them. I need to earn the trust of the people, otherwise I will be left behind,” Amane said and took a breath. She looked towards Corbin. “Kemen, do you understand how these weapons work?”

“Yes, they are weapons from my world,” Corbin said and proceeded to explain everything.

“Hm, very troubling,” said Amane. “Good work both of you. Ilargi I’m sorry I lashed out again,” she said. Ilargi just nodded, but Corbin thought there was a sad tone to it. “Yes, you did good. As far as I’m concerned you repaid your debt of life.”

“No,” Ilargi said. All three of the others looked up in shock, which flustered her a little. “I mean, during the journey when we were attacked, he saved me again and carried me to safety,” she was talking fast trying to convey the story.

“Surely you have also done much for him,” Amane said. Next to her a wry smile was being painted over Fermin’s face, while Ibai was as impassive as ever. Ilargi cut in as soon as she could.

“No, my honour doesn’t allow it. I have to do more. I need to stay with Kemen for a while longer,” Ilargi said. Spots of red were making their way across Corbin’s face. How can she say that with a straight face? At first he had wanted to cut in and reassure Ilargi that her debt had indeed been paid, but he was fairly certain that if he would do so now, she would explode with anger. And to be fair, it isn’t as if I don’t want to stay with her. But what about her? Is this really just duty for her, or does she also want to stay with me? Amane sighed.

“Whatever. In that case I order you to continue to act as Kemen’s assistant until it is decided that your debt has been paid in full. You will honour this arrangement witnessed by me, Fermin and Ibai.”

“I will perform my duty by my honour,” Ilargi answered.

“We will face great challenges soon, but we will also have great opportunities. My scouts have reported, that there is discord between the Kingdom and the Empire. There were some hostilities and deals being broken. I think even some of our sabotages have been attributed to the Kingdom. There is a good chance the Empire will send an army to attack. If we are able to take attention away from us and stoke the fire of their squabbles, we will have many options available to us. But I get ahead of myself. The first thing we need to do is take care of these gunmen. I want you two to take part in this, since you are a good fighter and you have knowledge of these fearsome weapons,” Amane said. Ilargi opened her mouth, but she didn’t allow her to speak. “Before you say anything. As I said, you will assist Kemen, but at the end of the day, he also needs to be useful to us, if he wants to enjoy our protection and shelter.” At this Ilargi closed her mouth and looked down. Corbin decided it was time to join in.

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“It’s alright. I will help, but what do you even want to achieve?”

“They’ve killed many of our squads, some of them were highly trained and well equipped. If even people like that can be disposed of so easily, the answer is obvious. We need to get our hands on these weapons. Since we don’t have anyone to open portals to other worlds like the Empire, we will simply have to take the weapons from them. We also need to think about how to continue our uprising. Should we take credit for sabotage and make ourselves known, or should we try to keep our heads down, at least until a good moment to strike comes?” Amane was almost talking to herself. The rest of them exchanged glances. “We could try to make a public attack in the middle of one of their cities. Maybe even the capital. That would make them talk.”

“Ehm Amane, I think you might be going too far, do we really want to attack civilians?” Fermin asked. She sighed.

“No, I suppose not. But doing nothing has lead us to this situation. Some of our cities are under the control of one or the other, only the most remote ones are free and even that just because nobody can be bothered to go there,” Amane said and quickly glanced around. “I’m sure Luken and Oihan are working together. They are trying to undermine my efforts. One is talking about peace and the other about aggression and attacks. I’m sure they didn’t have those plans just a short while ago. I need to do something impactful, otherwise I’m finished,” Amane said. After a moment she looked at Corbin. “If word of this gets out, I will personally flay you. We will discuss plans in detail tomorrow, now go.”

Corbin looked at Ilargi, but she also seemed to be disturbed by what had just happened. They stood up and as they left the room, Fermin caught up to them.

“She is under a lot of stress lately. Some are even trying to spread rumours that her capture was intentional and that she collaborated with the Empire. Ridiculous. Anyway don’t take her words too hard. But she is definitely right about one thing. We need to take care of the gunmen. I’m counting on you Kemen. Just imagine, if they have enough of these weapons, they could easily take the entire continent, not just Errautsuen Herria. I guess they don’t yet, since they are keeping is such a tight secret, but if they are raiding your world for more, it’s just a matter of time. No army will stand against the Empire.”

“What about the thing with Luken and Oihan?” Ilargi asked

“Honestly I don’t know. I’m sure they would like to be rid of her, but maybe she is being a little paranoid. I’ll talk to her, don’t worry.”

They left Fermin behind and continued to the ground. They saw that one of the giants still sat near the harrespil. She was staring without movement at the ancient tree, which was now overgrown by green vines and flowers. Suddenly, Ilargi stopped.

“Wait here for a moment,” she said and ran off. When she came back, she was carrying 5 loaves of bread and struggling to keep them from falling from her arms. She continued towards the giantess. She stopped in front of her and extended her arms. “For all of you,” she said. The giantess moved slowly and bent forward. She held out her hand and Ilargi placed the bread into it.

“Thank you,” she spoke softly, but the voice still shook Corbin’s insides. She then got up and turned away. A sound of howling winds echoed through the woods, but then Corbin realised that she was whistling as she walked away. Both Corbin and Ilargi looked in silence as she went.

“That was nice of you,” Corbin said.

“It’s part of our tradition. Or it used to be. Many of us have never even seen one of them. They have mostly left us behind.”

“They have died out?”

“No, I mean some of them yes, but I meant that they sailed away to a different land. At least that is the story the people tell. They only left behind those who were unable or unwilling to go with them. That’s why many of the ones left behind can’t even speak,” said Ilargi.

“Did they leave because of humans?”

“Probably, we say that it’s the spread of the Izotal Empire and the Kingdom of Zikinar, but honestly it could’ve been us as well. It has happened long before my time. I guess only Akrewelt knew what had really happened. Sometimes I wonder where they are now. Did they find a new land for them, or did they just stay on the ocean, only going ashore when necessary. Something pulls me towards the sea, like a sort of wanderlust,” Ilargi said then laughed.

“What is it?” Corbin asked.

“No, I just thought it was funny. I’ve never actually seen the sea or the ocean. Or been on a boat for that matter. So it’s ridiculous for me to speak like that.”

“Well, it is honestly very reasonable to me,” Corbin said. Ilargi gave him a sideways glance. “I’m serious. I can relate to that feeling, but for me it was with mountains.”

“I see. I suppose that makes sense. Most of Errautsuen Herria is mountains, so for us it is just part of life, but they are beautiful.”