“Time to go.” Whitetune stood over CJ’s shoulder as everyone in the shelter was heading out into the morning light.
CJ looked up. Larl was still laid out. They kept him clean, cool, tried to force him some soup, but he was still down and hadn’t said a word.
“I don’t think he can be moved,” CJ said, his voice a whisper. “I mean, I’m not sure. Look at him.”
Whitetune did look, his head turning to look at the priest’s shallow breathing. Then he puffed up, his wings flapping once behind him. “Doesn’t matter, we have to move now.”
CJ spotted Mae and Alyss. Mae wasn’t facing him, but Alyss locked eyes with him for a moment. Then she turned away and lead Mae out of the building by the hand.
“What if he dies while we’re traveling?” CJ asked, looking back at Whitetune. “Are you going to take responsibility for that?”
Whitetune came around and knelt at Larl’s bedside, right in front of CJ. Then he turned to look at CJ, their faces nearly level. It was hard for CJ to read Whitetune’s emotions, the man always seemed stonefaced. But he held the stare for a moment before speaking.
“Are you listening?” Whitetune asked.
CJ noticed the change in tone. His speech was less accented. CJ nodded.
“We have to get everyone to safety. A priest of the wards would want that, even if their life was lost to make it happen. Larl is a… strange man, but devoted to Akahi. Don’t disgrace that out of fear.”
Whitetune reached out and pulled Larl’s eyes open. He stared into Larl’s face, while CJ watched Whitetune. The winged man’s face twitched, just slightly, then he let go of Larl’s face and stood up. “He improves, prepare to go.” He was speaking in the more common tongue again. CJ was picking up on when Whitetune was speaking in his native language, even if he would never get to hear what it actually sounded like.
“What?” CJ said. As Whitetune walked away. He checked on Larl himself. The man’s eyes were distant for days, unfocused and inattentive. When CJ pulled Larl’s eyes open, the priest’s eyes sluggishly tracked over to CJ.
CJ released a long breath, and a tension released from him that felt like a year’s worth of frustration all out at once.
“Okay Larl,” CJ said. “I’m sorry I got you into this. But hold on, okay? We just have to take another trip.”
Larl’s lips moved. It was slight, but it looked like he was trying to speak. CJ leaned in with his ear right over the priest’s lips. He was talking, and he gave CJ a message. CJ sat up and nodded.
After they figured out which skyman would carry whom, they were off again. While the wind persisted, it was light out now. CJ could see that they were up on a high hill, surrounded by mountains. The shed was something like a safehouse or rest stop, out of the way and meant for this exact purpose. There was a large brazier nearby made of stone, probably a way to mark that it was being used.
It didn’t look like there was an easy path to the shed by foot. A thin path up winding hillsides.
When they were high enough up, CJ stopped watching. He hated heights, and anything longer than a peek would make his stomach rise into his chest. That also meant he couldn’t watch them move on his map, but he didn’t know the area anyway, his map was useless. He kept himself busy by double checking information in his Field Guide. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as helpful as he hoped.
|Greywind|
|Human Notable Person|
|A leader, probably part of the Ashen Cult. Known to be from our world. Able to act as the pillar for more Ash Walkers than should be possible.|
He needed to ask about the prophecy. Why would this Greywind person decide to come here and become a villain? CJ previously had the feeling he was being lied to, but he got past that. This though, a secret that could have changed how he viewed this whole prophecy, it might be too much.
He was left to think about Greywind and the battle for some time, until his carrier told him they were coming down.
CJ opened his eyes and saw a building complex high up in the mountains. It was four different structures, suspended above a chasm by what looked like intricate bridgework. Ropes, wooden platforms, and suspended metal, crisscrossed an area of jagged rocks and caves. CJ tensed up again, unsure where they were supposed to ‘land’ in the mess of thin bridges. But he was put down on a wide rooftop with the others. The skymen didn’t stay down, they took off to an area near the edge of the complex. But the Akahi survivors were pointed to a stairwell in the middle of the rooftop, so they headed down.
The inside of the building wasn’t too different from the safehouse. It was mostly open, but with partitions. There was a desk there as they came down, a light table with a bored young blond man sitting behind it.
“Welcome,” he said with his head leaning on his right hand, “to the Dragonspine outpost of the Goldfeather Post.”
“The what?” CJ asked, raising an eyebrow.
He had the head of makeshift stretcher for Larl’s, and Welma was carrying the legs. Welma spoke up. “Maybe we can introduce you after we have him safe,” Welma said.
The receptionist got up enough to look at Larl’s situation.
“Oh,” he furrowed his brow. “The Wards are just around the corner, they should be able to look at them.”
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“Thank you,” Mae said. She didn’t look CJ’s direction, but she added, “Please take him there you two. I have more questions here.”
CJ checked with Welma and then they got going. If there were healers here, then they made it. Larl was safe after all.
He could hear some of the conversation as he left. “Ma’am, regardless of your position I must remind you of the neutrality of the Goldfeather-“
They passed a few makeshift rooms before a priest spotted them in the hallway. It was a young woman with yellow and green hair. She had wings, also yellow. When she saw them she immediately called for help, and two others popped up. It was another woman that looked rather similar to her, and what seemed like a young boy. They helped CJ and Welma carry Larl in.
Their ‘House of Mercy’ wasn’t massive. It seemed like they had benches along the edge for people to sit and rest, they were cooking in a large stew pot in one corner, and there were beds in the center. Every bit of space was accounted for.
After Larl was down, they went to work to look him over. The girl that spotted them had questions.
“How long has he been like this?”
“Did you staunch the bleeding right away?”
“Has he been responsive the whole time?”
“Any food or medicine that makes him ill?”
By the time CJ and Welma finished answering, CJ needed the benches along the edge. Welma joined him. Her face was healing from the battle, though she still had her previous scars.
“What is his place?” CJ asked. “Goldfeather post?”
She nodded. “They are a courier network that works across the lands. They use outposts like this, usually out of the reach of us Fieldfolk and Hillmen, to collect and distribute letters and packages.”
That was remarkable. CJ remembered seeing a small building in Scaleback with a golden feather sign.
“Seems dangerous, especially with a war going on.” CJ said.
Welma shrugged. “They’ve made their position quite clear. The Goldfeathers don’t deliver messages of war, and they will not endanger their workers. If you want your post, you must keep the peace. In exchange, they use their Attunement of Haste to get important packages places swiftly and securely.
CJ watched as the priests of mercy worked on Larl. CJ owed the skymen, Whitetune in particular, a debt he didn’t know he could ever repay. He smacked his cheeks a little to perk up.
“Eastman,” Alyss said from the ‘doorway’.
CJ turned. She was peeking her head in. She looked over to Larl, then back to CJ.
“Lady Mae wants to speak to you.”
He thought about making a comment, thought about arguing, but instead he nodded and went with her.
They didn’t have far to go. Around one corner, and they were in a hallway created by moved walls. At the end was an actual room with a solid door. They walked in. It was big enough to use as a conference room for half a dozen people if there were chairs. As it was, there was only one long bench in the room, and Mae was sitting on it.
She was still wearing her armor, though only wearing the undershirts for the top. Her face made it clear she walked through a battle, next to a massive fire, nearly had a building dropped on her, and then was flown up a mountain. She looked exhausted and dirty.
CJ was sure he didn’t look much better. “Hey, you wanted to talk?”
Mae nodded. She put her hand on the bench beside her. Byr’s sword was laying there.
“Yes, sorry.” Mae looked down, then looked him in the eyes. “It probably feels like I’ve been avoiding speaking to you.”
CJ chuckled. “A little. But with everything that happened, that isn’t unexpected.” He didn’t know how to stand, it felt like a weird interview.
“CJ, I…” She took a deep breath, then let it go. “I lost.”
She left it there. Again he felt that roiling field of emotions in the room. It wasn’t just Alyss, or him, Mae was troubled too. But to say she lost, he didn’t know if that meant what he thought it did.
“Yeah I mean, they had a whole zombie horde. We knew the odds were against us, right?” CJ said. He took a step forward.
Mae put a hand up, palm toward him. CJ stopped in place.
“No,” She said. “I mean before that. When we walked out of the hall and accepted that declaration of war, we lost. They have my father. Whether through tricks or foul magic, someone is acting as the Duke of Akahi.”
She looked at him, narrowed her eyes, and then leaned in further. “Do you know what that means? Do you have any idea?”
He stood up straighter. That almost sounded condescending, like she wasn’t sure he knew what was at stake.
“That’s why we went to fight, isn’t it? They have your father, don’t you want to get back to him?”
She sighed and lowered her head. “It means I’m not the acting Duchess, CJ. It means I don’t have any legitimate station. I’m a nobody, and everywhere we go I’ll have to lie and steal and struggle to even have a hope that they will help us.”
CJ looked at Alyss, but she looked off toward the side wall of the room instead of meeting CJ’s gaze. So he looked back at Mae. The woman had tears in her eyes. This wasn’t just about losing the fight for her, it was some sort of crisis of faith. She didn’t know who she was.
“Well I’ve never been a duchess,” CJ said. He wanted to chuckle, but it felt wrong and hw as tired. “But I know about fighting and struggling for what I’ve got. If you want to fight for this and you’re worried I’m not down for it, I can still try. I mean, that was bad, I’ll admit it, but-“
Her gaze slowly rid to meet his, and his words died in his throat. As a tear went down her cheek, she shook her head no.
“I cannot return home to the waiting arms of an ash walker, but they control the title of the Duke. So I do not represent them, and they will not have me. That means your alliance is improper, you understand?”
CJ blinked. She was right, in a way. If she didn’t stand with Akahi, then what did that mean for his alliance?
“I am not the duchess, no one would recognize me as such.” She held her hand over the center of her chest. “I hereby relinquish the title, and release all those who are sworn to me.”
CJ’s eye brought up a prompt.
*Allegiance Lost*
He bit his lip. “Look princess, I don’t know if this-“
“And as for our bond…”
CJ’s heart skipped.
“We don’t need to do that,” CJ said.
She tapped the sword at her side. Her gaze turned to the weapon for a moment, and then went back to him. “I want you to end it. Our oath no longer stands, does it?”
“But can’t it?” CJ asked. “Don’t you still want to fight for Akahi?”
He didn’t know if he wanted to fight for Akahi. He wasn’t sure what they did now, or how they managed to make any change. Alyss told him the truth he wasn’t willing to see. They were never going to win that battle.
“I’m not a general, I can’t replace Byr’s prowess on the battlefield. But he wouldn’t want you to stop, would he?”
She pulled the sword into her lap. “I spoke to him, briefly, in that final moment.”
CJ did see her sitting with him. He didn’t know they really spoke to each other. “Really?”
She nodded. “I’m free now, CJ. I don’t need to do this. I’m just dragging everyone into danger over and over. Please, end this.”
He opened his mouth to talk.
Alyss stepped forward. “You always said it was her choice to be in the bond, Eastman.”
She was right, he couldn’t keep her there.
*Relinquish Bond?*
He did it, and felt the disconnect. No longer was he feeling their emotions swirling around with his.
Alyss and Mae both let out sighs. Mae tapped the sword with her fingers in succession. She didn’t look at him again.
“I’ll see about getting you a ride away from this place. You are free to go. I’m sorry that I brought you into all of this, CJ Eastman.”
He waited to see if she had anything else to say, but she didn’t look away from the dead knight’s weapon. CJ looked to Alyss. There was the slightest sadness there, but otherwise she stood next to her Duchess.
CJ turned and walked out.