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Refenial sat at the campfire Talot had made in the small rocky dip that they had camped in.

Refenial had luckily been wearing his Rucksack given to him by Old Mother Hecate. Hildegard, as he had to keep reminding himself, she was really called. With that, they had enough camping supplies to get by, even if things were rough.

Talot poked the fire gently with a stick, sending a few crackling red embers up.

Nox was dead. So were Matrill and Helus. Nia was missing and maybe dead. He couldn't be sure with such a fierce attack on the city.

Why was he still fighting? Why was he fighting against the impossible? The world was malevolent and capricious. Why fight for those he cared about when all he could do was fail them and watch them die?

On the first day, he'd considered just giving up and lying there on the altar till exposure or thirst had taken him. He wondered if he'd made the right choice in choosing to fight, to survive, fighting seemed pointless against the sinister nature of the world.

He rallied himself against the inevitable evil of the world time and time again, but here he sat, broken and beaten. His maudlin thoughts went round and round in his mind.

He heard Talot sigh. "It'll do you no good to think yourself into holes."

Refenial glanced up at him, momentarily brought out of his stewing thoughts.

"I've been there too. The world can feel empty." Talot said, looking at him.

"I lost everything again today," Refenial said softly.

Talot sat quietly, poking the fire. He paused for a moment before poking it again with a hint of frustration. "I'm not good at this, Refenial. My son died too soon for me to get the hang of it."

Refenial sat silently, unsure what to say.

Talot spoke again after a moment. "Things haven't been easy. More people than I care to mention in my life have died. More has gone wrong. That's life. But that ain't important, well I mean it is, but it isn't. y'know what I'm saying?"

Refenial shook his head as he tried to understand the man's point.

"Aggh!" Talot said in frustration, his open mouth showing off his missing teeth. "Let me put it this way. Why do you think I became a plumber?"

Refenial shrugged.

"Ok, well. How easy is it to burn down a building? It's easy, right?"

"Yes?" Refenial said, feeling more and more lost by the direction of the conversation.

"And it only takes a second, a candle and a bit of hay, and you've got a fire. Now what about building a house? That's harder. Even a badly made house takes a lot of work. To get the hang of how even to do a small part of it well takes years."

"I'm not sure what that has to do with anything?"

Talot nodded, "It takes a second to burn down a house but weeks or months to build one."

"Yes," Refenial said haltingly.

Talot poked the fire harder with the stick. "Look around you, it's not just houses, it's everything. Fields, food, tools, clothes, everything. It's not just fires that are quick and easy. Theft and murder can be."

"I'm still not sure what you mean. That doing bad things is quick and easy but that doing good things is hard? I already know that."

"Then look around."

Refenial looked around the rocks, trying to understand Talot's point.

"No, not like that. I mean, look around at the world. If evil is so quick and easy and good so slow and hard, why are there fields, roads, cities, friendships, families, and children?"

"Uhh..." Refenial paused, realizing he didn't actually have an answer to this question.

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"Life isn't easy. Life isn't fair, and sometimes it's even cruel. People make mistakes and get a bit grubby sometimes. All of that, and there's still roads. There's still roads, and children that smile, and plumbing that sometimes works."

"But I keep losing people," Refenial said.

Talot looked at the fire and threw the stick into it, watching it burn, "Roads sometimes have bandits, sometimes children die, and sometimes plumbing breaks and fills houses with shit. That's life. The real part is if you use that as an excuse to start burning or start building."

The pair sat in silence.

Refenial stared deeply into the fire, considering Talot and arson.

He remembered what he'd wondered before.

"Talot?" Refenial asked.

Talot looked up at him but said nothing.

"Why didn't you volunteer to go to the village to see if it was safe?"

Talot seemed to consider the question for a long time as the fire between them flickered a soothing orange.

"Because that would have been stupid," Talot said at last.

"But you rescued me today."

"That's not the same. I saw you in front of me. I knew you were alive. I knew I could do something. The village... I'm just a plumber. Some people can do the heroics..."

There was another long silence.

The sound of a pebble falling nearby brought both Refenial and Talot out of their ruminations.

Refenial drew his dagger while Talot picked up a large stick.

A figure loomed out of the dark, towering and crimson. Refenial pulled back.

He relaxed as he realized the red was only the light of the fire on the white and gold clothes of Elagabalus.

Refenial breathed a sigh of relief. Talot seemed to relax slightly to see their unexpected visitor was at least human.

"It's ok, Talot. It's Elagabalus. He helped me."

Elagabalus gave a flamboyant bow to Talot. "Thanks for Rescuing young Refenial. I've been searching for him since the attack. I was terrified that something may have happened to him."

"You know Elagabalus, the Morning Sun?" Talot asked, his mouth hanging wide in shock.

"Like I once told you, Refenial. I am rather well known. Perhaps tales of my heroic deeds will one day even reach your ears." Elagabalus looked around as if trying to find somewhere to sit but seemed dissatisfied with the hard ground and remained standing.

"What happened? Did you stop that person, the Traveller?"

Elagabalus frowned deeply and leaned forwards almost imperceptibly but otherwise said nothing for several seconds.

"No." Elagabalus said finally.

"They said who I was, and they claimed the massacre was my idea."

Elagabalus smiled sympathetically, "Thankfully, I have many connections with the Order. I will be able to sort things out, so none of this will be held against you. It will take several days, though."

Elagabalus pulled out a chair from seemingly nowhere. It was golden with white fabric, and carefully set it on the ground next to Refenial, gently shaking it to make sure it wouldn't wobble before sitting down.

"I lost Nia and Nox. He, I found his arm."

Talot swore under his breath, and Elagabalus leaned over, still in his chair and patted Refenial's shoulder sympathetically.

"it must have been awful. I think you should sleep, it's late, and I've always found things are easier to process with a fresh mind." Three tents in sacks appeared in Elagabalus's hands, one after the other.

Refenial didn't argue, and soon he crawled into his private tent. He lay there, his eyes stinging with both tiredness and sadness.

When He'd first awoken in the ruins, he'd hated the claustrophobic dreams of the temple that always woke him with a jolt. Now he was glad for them. He was sure if not for them, he would be seeing Nox's face in that final moment for many years to come.

[https://i.imgur.com/oMrGBK6.png]

The gentle chorus of dawn woke him, and he looked across, the position of the rising sun visible as it spread warm light across the white canvas of the tent.

He realized, through all of yesterday, he hadn't cried. He remembered how much he'd cried when Maxit had died, a boy he'd only known for a single day. Yet he'd known the others much longer, especially Nox.

He chuckled morbidly to himself. Perhaps there are only so many tears to shed in a person's life. How much grief can a person take before each tragedy is just one more drop in an ocean?

He heard the sounds of someone moving around outside. He opened his tent flap stepping out into the sun of the morning.

Elagabalus had produced a frying pan and was frying some eggs over a reinvigorated fire.

"Ahh, your awake, Refenial."

"Yeah," Refenial said as he smelled the delicious breakfast on the air.

In a few moments, he'd sat, and Elagabalus had handed him a huge fried egg sandwich on a plate.

Elagabalus started cooking his own, and as he did so, he asked, "Where were you headed, Refenial?"

Refenial thought about his response for a moment. "I was going to the capital, to the academy."

Elagabalus nodded cheerfully. "Well, since you were targeted like you were by the Traveler, I think we should travel together, at least til you get there. I was going to meet up with Mother, but if she found out, I left a young boy like you alone just to hurry back. Well, I'm not sure she'd ever look at me the same way again."

"I thought you needed to go speak to someone to clear my name?"

"Don't worry. I have friends in high places." He chuckled as if at some private joke before continuing. "I have made sure it will be all taken care of. It will take a few days, and there might be a couple of loose ends, but I don't mind dealing with them."

"I'm not going without Nia. She's a friend of mine who was in Stonehaven during the attack."

Elagabalus nodded, "Of course, we can stay a couple of days first. I'm sure she'll be fine. After breakfast, if you give me a description, I'll go and look for her."

Refenial ate his sandwich, lost deep in thought. "Do you know why the Traveller targeted me?" he asked after a moment.

Elagabalus looked up from his cooking and frowned. "No, I've been fighting against them for a long time. They are known for their random acts of destruction and odd behaviour. Worrying about their motivation is pointless."

"Will they target me again?"

"Maybe, maybe not. That's why I'll travel with you." Elagabalus said with a smile.

The sound of rustling came from Talot's tent, and he poked his head out, "That smells amazing." The man said with a gap-toothed smile.

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