It took a minute for her words to fully set in. I stared at her in shock, Marci reading my emotions jumped off back to my shoulder. My mouth worked open and closed as I tried to find words to express the jumble of emotions I was feeling. I scanned around the clearing to look for threats, what was going on?

“Sylar.”

“Sylar!”

“Sylar, look at me. You have an identification skill right? Use it on me. Look at my health.” Nadia said.

My mind was spinning at the calm way she was speaking of betrayal. I triggered Identify and realized Nadia had shared her entire interface with me. It didn’t make any sense, why would she speak of betraying me and then share everything?

Nadia

Age

41

Race

Human

Class

Captain

Level

22

Strength

17

Stamina

41

Agility

21

Intelligence

30

Wisdom

30

Charisma

8

Luck

1

Armor

40

Health

60/123

Disposition

Friendly

Reputation

Trusted

Titles

...

I cut it off at her basic stats. It was a lot of information to absorb at once and I needed to keep my guard up. Her stats were good but nothing that could threaten me with Marci and Van by my side. Van's emotions were confused and he didn’t know if he should regard Nadia as a threat. I projected calm until I could understand what was happening. I asked Van and Marci to scout out our surroundings and make sure we were alone.

“See how my health is at half? That's the punishment for telling you about the trap. Just speaking of it without permission will continue to damage me, watch. Use Identification after each statement.”

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“The King wants to kill you and claim the bounty on your head from the leaderboard. No one knows what it is, no one in Etes is on the leaderboard except Rale and the King won’t touch him while Norx threatens.”

I watched her health go down to one fourth. “Stop! Ok! Just stop and let me think.” I shouted at her.

Yelling out in frustration, I ripped a bush out of the ground and threw it futilely against a large tree. This was all happening so fast, I wish Arthur was here to help me see the truth. Was this part her plan? The King's plan? Why would she tell me now and risk dying?

“I don’t understand why you're telling me this if it risks you dying in the process. What is the goal?” I asked after a few minutes. Van and Marci had confirmed we were alone.

“I won’t die. We tested it out during the march here. It takes half your health each time and will leave you crippled but it won’t kill you. My goal is to keep you from falling in the King’s trap. Captain Tuol and I came up with a plan that can work for all of us.” She replied calmly.

“I got my orders directly from General Rale, so he will get a notification that I disobeyed them by telling you about the plan. Captain Tuol believes that General Rale is on our side and will fight for us. He has to maintain his public allegiance to the King to keep Eter from collapsing. If we are right, we will have his support.”

“I don’t understand. You are working against the King? What about your family?” I asked her.

“I don’t believe that my family will ever be set free, Sylar. The King...you have never met him, seen the anger, the cruelty that holds him now. I have served Eter my entire life and will continue to do so. Eter needs a regime change and you are the only person strong enough to help us.” She was grimacing again.

I checked her health and she was down to ten health points left. “Ok. Ok, just stop hurting yourself for now, drink a health potion and we can figure this out.” I begged her. Watching her health tick down so low was making me nervous. I had no hate for the woman, I didn’t want her to die.

“I can’t, Sylar. For this plan to work we need to be working together. I am going to abandon my position and renounce Eter. We have tested this as well, fifty of the members of the advance first army unit that went to the mine have undergone the process. We planned it slowly over seven days to try to hide what was happening.”

“I filled Arthur in and agreed to wait and tell you once we left. The rest of the army is spreading out to gauge the reactions in the other towns of Eter. Some will join the Old Mining Camp if Arthur will have them. We plan to fan the flames of insurrection against the King from every town in Eter. He will have to fight or step down.” She said with conviction as she bled from both corners of her mouth.

Her health was down to one. She was gasping for air as she continued to speak. “I will be unconscious for some time, we do not know exactly how long, it differs from person to person. You will have to protect me until I wake back up. Once I wake I will swear allegiance to you, Sylar. You will know if I ever betray you.”

“Wait! No! Why me? I’m just a kid. Arthur should be the one you swear too. Why are you doing this now? Out here?” I responded. I was getting angry at being used like this. This was all planned and I was the only one in the dark.

“You are a symbol, Sylar. People need something to believe in, you will understand. You yourself have a symbol do you not? Lorne Till was one of the greatest infiltrators in the history of Eter. His legend is known throughout the army. I served with him on a few missions myself.”

“Does the thought of your father not inspire you? Start a fire in you to be better? Reach above your station for more? Symbols are important. You are young, native to Eter and known to the entire world through the leaderboard. We can rally the people around you until the King has no choice but to respond by force.” She took a deep breath like she was contemplating her next statement. Her health was at one and she looked to be in tremendous pain.

“Once the King does that, the rest of the bricks will fall and the wall tumbles. The people of Eter will rise up with the support of the first and second army and we can depose the tyrant. Whoever takes over next will be better, we can turn our attention to Norx and defend ourselves after.” She finished and closed her eyes. She was laying on her back now.

“I am going to renounce Eter now, General Rale will be notified and I will be rendered unconscious. You will have to carry me some of the way to save time. If we follow this trail down to the southern border of the forest you will find a small trading town that gets traffic from Sumain and Aiath. Keep your cloak up and match it to any style you see, you will not be easily noticed amongst the crowd.”

“If I am not recovered by then, leave me in the town at the Short Step Inn with Risco. He is an old army friend and he will take care of me. We should have an agent there to help you make it back to Etes. Once there I will try to find you and help in any way that I can. I hope to be with you all the way.”

“I know this is a lot to put on you, Sylar. You carry the hope of Eter with you now. May the Eternal bless you and carry you in his winds.” Her body convulsed and she lay silent.

I triggered Identify and her health was at one and not increasing. I tried to pour a health potion down her throat but her health wouldn’t rise. This was a framework enforced penalty and would run its course. Marci glided back down to my shoulder, Van standing beside me. Confusion rolled off both of them through our bond.

I spent a few moments trying to explain such a complex situation before giving up. I projected trust and friendship and they responded in kind. I asked Van to pick Nadia up and carry her. He pounded his chest once in agreement and walked over before roughly grabbing her and throwing her over his shoulder. I cringed and checked her health, still at one.

Looking up at the canopy above showed that it was maybe midday. I wouldn’t make it to Etes tonight with this wrinkle in the plan. I gathered my pack and checked my bow and spear. My nerves were on edge, Kingsworn hiding behind every tree. I asked Marci to fly above in a wide circle and keep an eye out for any movement.

I followed Van down the old trading path and tried to calm my thoughts. I never expected this to be easy but I didn’t think the plan would fall apart so fast. I wondered why Arthur agreed to this without talking to me. I trusted him and hoped he was making the right decision. Fighting off the first army advance unit was one thing, fighting the entire might of Eter was impossible.