“We run.”

That’s what she said. We run.

Kal stared at the back of Lilly’s head in disbelief. And disappointment. The whole world seemed to have totally forgotten about Jaina, who was just as responsible as he and Lilly were for the Godknight’s escape. And now, so had Lilly.

The Peacekeeper leader, Captain Deepshield, had ordered the gathered throngs of people to prepare quickly for departure. In the meantime, he, the High Elder, and Lilly had stepped to the side to continue their conversation, along with two peacekeepers Kal didn’t know.

Oh, and Windham was there too.

Kal followed their conversation absently, consumed by his thoughts of Jaina and only half listening.

“Okay, then,” Captain Deepshield was saying. “We’re in agreement? The people here, and those we can pick up along the way, are our priority now?”

“Absolutely,” Lilly said.

“Yes,” the High Elder said. Kal could tell the High Elder was reeling, still struggling to regain some of his composure and act like the leader he should have been.

“Um…” Windham said, raising one finger.

“The question becomes, where do we run to?” Lilly asked. “The Gateway?”

Deepshield shook his head. “That’s a big no. From what I’ve heard, the Gateway has been completely destroyed.”

“Destroyed?” the High Elder asked. “I don’t believe it.”

Lilly tilted her head at him and frowned. “After all the destruction you’ve seen today, what we know these guys are capable of, you really doubt they could cut off a mountain pass?”

“I… I…” the High Elder stammered.

“Okay, so no mountain pass. What about the Roaring Mother?”

“That’s impossible,” Windham interjected. “It’s uncrossable. Right?”

Deepshield nodded in agreement. They all looked to the High Elder, wondering if he had information they did not. But he only shook his head.

“Actually,” Kal started, stepping forward. “I think this Order did cross it?”

“How do you know that?” Deepshield asked.

“Yeah,” Windham said, putting his hands on his hips as if he had just caught Kal in something. “How do you know that?”

“I don’t,” Kal said, ignoring Windham and addressing Captain Deepshield directly. “Not for sure. But I live only a mile or so from the river. And when they came and overran my house and killed my mother, they came from the west. And the only thing to the west is Old Mother.”

“But… how?” the High Elder asked.

Kal shrugged. “I didn’t see, so I’m only guessing.”

“You saw that machine they used to keep hold of the Godknight,” Lilly said. “Maybe they have more of them. Maybe they used one to cross the river?”

“I’ve never seen anything like those machines,” Windham said. “Have you?”

He was again addressing the High Elder, who again shook his head in the negative. No wonder he was in such sad straits, Kal reasoned. Here was an Aeonic who had lived for thousands of years, one who the people assumed knew just about everything. The High Elder had probably thought they were right, and only now was finding out he knew very little. It must have been quite humbling for the man.

“The mountain pass and the river are no gos,” Deepshield said, tapping his finger on his chin. “Mountains surround us on all other sides. Impassible mountains.”

“It’s funny,” Windham mused. “The Godknight picked this spot so people couldn’t easily get in. Now there’s now way for us to get out.”

‘Good,’ Kal thought. ‘Maybe now we can get back to how we fight back, how we save Jaina.”

“What about the Godknight?” Captain Deepshield asked. “You say he was defeated and flew away. Surely he’ll come back once he recovers.”

“I don’t know,” Windham said. “He was in pretty bad shape. Maybe he just flew away to die.”

“Windham!” the High Elder shouted. He seemed more hurt than angry at the notion.

Windham shrugged. “I’m just saying!”

“We can’t count on him,” Lilly said. Her father and the captain exchanged glances, equally pained. “He might come back. He might not. But we have to assume he’s not. For these people’s sake.”

“But we have no means of escape,” one of the Peacekeepers, a sleek and handsome young man, countered. “Our only hope might just be that he does come back.”

“We can’t rely on that,” Lilly repeated.

“Which means we’re stuck,” the other Peacekeeper, an older woman, added.

“I might…” the High Elder started, then stopped. He was so unsure of himself now, Kal actually felt pity for the man.

“What, father?” Lilly asked, patiently and encouragingly.

“I might… maybe… know somebody. Somebody who, at the very least, might be able to track down the Godknight. Or make contact with him.”

“No,” Captain Deepshield said. “Please tell me you’re not considering Rumblebean?”

“Rumblebean?” Windham asked, and giggled like a schoolgirl. He was roundly ignored.

The High Elder shrugged. “I’m sorry, I wish I had more to give. I truly do. But if we can’t come up with a way to escape, then finding the Godknight and hoping he can help us might be our only hope.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Which means Rumblebean is our only hope?” Captain Deepshield mused. “Well, shit, then. We’re more fucked than I thought.”

“Who is ‘Rumblebean’?” Kal asked.

“Vithia Rumblebean,” Captain Deepshield responded. “She’s… difficult.”

“How come I’ve never heard of her?” Lilly asked her father.

“I’m two thousand years old,” he reminded her. “You can’t know everybody I ever knew.” But something in the way he answered made Kal suspect there was a deeper reason.

“How do we find her?” Windham asked.

“I know where she lives,” the High Elder said. “She has a small house. Quaint. Keeps to herself, mostly.”

“Thankfully,” Captain Deepshield muttered.

“It’s not too far from here, to the north. An hour’s walk.”

“Okay, then,” Captain Deepshield said. He seemed like a man open to debate and conversation, but once a decision was made, he immediately began carrying it out. A decisive man, a man of action. Kal liked him.

“Quirion, Una,” Captain Deepshield began, addressing the Peacekeeper duo. “Take charge of the citizens. Lead them north.”

“Where north, sir?” Una asked.

Deepshield looked to the High Elder, then, to Kal’s surprise, to Lilly. Lilly appeared taken aback.

“Oh, um…” she started. “I don’t think I know the north as well as you, Captain. Or my father.”

She looked to him expectantly, once again trying to encourage his leadership.

“Yes, well,” the High Elder said. “I suppose… Crescent Hollow? It’s far enough north, surrounded by forests and mountains. It should be safe.”

“You’re not worried about the witches?” Captain Deepshield asked.

“Oh, well, yes, I suppose.” He looked to the pair of Peacekeepers, who waited expectantly for instructions. “Do you know of the Sisters of the Twin Moon?”

Quirion and Una both nodded.

“Yes,” Quirion said. “But I’ve never met them.”

“Yes, well,” the High Elder continued. “They keep to themselves, so they will be surprised by the sudden influx of people. Most of them live in a single village, so give it a wide berth. But make contact, tell them what happened. I doubt they’ll give you much trouble.”

“They have magic,” Captain Deepshield told the pair. “It’s not especially dangerous stuff, but the witches in general aren’t very trusting. Tell them what’s happened, but operate separate from them as much as you can.”

“Understood, sir,” Una said. “I actually have met them. Or at least, been to Crescent Hollow. I don’t think they’ll be a problem.”

“Good,” Captain Deepshield said. “You know the way?”

“I do,” Una said.

“Good,” Captain Deepshield repeated. “Then you’re in charge.”

Una blinked rapidly in surprise. She opened her mouth to speak, but Captain Deepshield continued on.

“There are not many of us, Una, and you’re ready.”

“You’ll do fine,” Quirion added, smiling warmly at her.

“Yes, sir,” she said.

“Quirion,” Captain Deepshield said, now addressing the young man. “Keep your mind open and connected directly to me. I’ll update you once we finish with Rumblebean.”

“Yes, sir,” Quirion agreed.

Captain Deepshield clapped his hands. “Okay, you two. You have your orders. Snap to it.”

The pair offered him quick ‘yes, sirs,’ then hurried away. Captain Deepshield turned back to the group.

“Just us, then, to Rumblebean’s?”

“Looks like,” Lilly said.

“Fine,” the High Elder added.

They looked to Kal, who had not yet spoken up. He’d mostly been a spectator to the conversation, a conversation that didn’t include returning for Jaina. And why would it? They’d made it clear that wasn’t an option for them. There was logic to it, of course. Kal understood. But he’d lost everything already today, and wasn’t sure if he could stand to lose Jaina. Or, perhaps more importantly, what it would cost his soul to abandon her.

He didn’t know these people. Until a few hours ago, they were strangers. Despite the circumstances that had thrown them together, he wasn’t beholden to them. Owed them nothing. He could go with them, or he could stay behind. He could turn back, maybe sneak back into the City Center, see if he could find Jaina. Save her.

He wanted to. And if it was a suicide mission… would that be so bad?

“Farmboy?” Lilly said, breaking him out of his reverie.

“Huh?” he asked.

She took a step towards him and shot the other three a look. The High Elder and Captain Deepshield understood her meaning and stepped away. Windham lingered.

“Could you give us a second, Wind?” she asked him.

Windham seemed to seethe a little at the question, but, looking more than a little exasperated, joined the High Elder and Captain Deepshield.

Alone, Lilly addressed Kal directly. “You’re still thinking about going back for her, aren’t you?”

“Why aren’t you?” he snapped at her, more accusingly than he had intended.

Lilly seemed to take it in stride. “Because we’re now in a time and a place where we have to make hard choices. Remember what we were saying earlier? About always having a choice, and sometimes you just have to pick the least shitty one?”

Kal nodded.

“This is one of them. I’m sorry, Kal, but she’s gone. You can go back. You can make that choice. But you’ll die.”

“Maybe I don’t care,” he said. He could feel himself fighting back tears. “My mother…”

“Everybody,” Lilly said, with far more gentleness and kindness than he would expect from what little he knew of her. “Everybody here has lost something, or someone. Or everything and everyone. Look at them, Kal. Look.”

She waved her hand at the mass of people scurrying about. Some were bleeding, others weeping. Some of their faces were caked with dried mud from the earlier rain. Many of them wore ripped clothes or barely any at all.

Kal’s eyes were drawn to a pair of children, no more than toddlers. Their little faces were frozen in looks of confusion and despair. They didn’t understand what was happening. They couldn’t. And if their parents were with them, Kal couldn’t see them. Instead, they stood side-by-side, holding hands, looking around. Kal sighed with gratitude when a Peacekeeper came to their side.

“These people need us now, Kal,” Lilly said. “They need you.”

Kal scoffed at the idea. “There’s nothing special about me, Lilly.”

“I know that,” she said, smiling. “And despite my father being some big important guy, I’m nothing special either. But we’re here, now, and in a position where we can make a difference. And whether you like it or not, you’ve already made a difference today. How many soldiers did you beat up when you saved my father’s life?”

She was careful not to include the fact that Jaina had been saved as well. “Two,” Kal said. “Only two.”

“Two more than me,” Lilly said. “Or Windham, or my father. I’d wager two more than almost everybody in that group. And whose idea was it to run into the middle of an army to grab some weird floating thingies?”

Kal said nothing. He resented Lilly a little, in that moment. Because she was getting through to him. Making him understand. Making him agree, and, ultimately, make the choice himself.

“You can’t help Jaina, Kal,” Lilly said, firmly but kindly. “But you can help these people.”

Kal felt the tears start to flow, and let them. “I know,” he whispered. And he did know.

“Okay, then,” Lilly said. She reached up and put her hand on his shoulder. “You ready to go, champ?”

Kal looked over his shoulder one last time. Towards Safehaven. Towards Jaina. Towards his past.

He turned back to Lilly. “Yeah. Let’s go.”