Old trees whispered in the wind, under the gentle roar of a fast flowing river that led to the inland town of Yllimni. The most traveled route was alongside a stream of ice cold water from the Grand Wysmur Ridge. It was a lovely time of year to be walking here in this idyllic place. Despite that, Genik Taturn was in a rather bad mood. He had been walking back for three days straight now. Weary by his steadfast pace, and lack of rest.

A piece of gravel had snuck its way into Genik’s boots. At first he wanted to ignore the annoyance. It tossed around by his toes for a while, then it shifted back, and a sharp ridge dug into the soft arch of his foot. “Gaz tarah! Curse this damned road.” He kicked off his boot to get rid of the piece of rock. It tumbled out, when Genik held it upside down.

He sat down on a boulder near the stream to inspect his sore feet. They had been hurting for a while. Red, and swollen with burst blisters on his heels, the skin peeled off already. Even his calluses were coming apart. The tough dry skin cracking in some places.

Genik sighed he knew he was almost at his destination, a couple more hours perhaps. Ideally he wanted to make it before the evening. He dangled his feet into the cold stream. It stung at first, but then the biting cold started to sedate the pain. “Aah, that feels better at least.” Genik said with some relief in his voice.

“Might as well take a breather” He fumbled in his backpack for something to chew on. His eyes glanced over a piece wrapped in fabric. Instantly his hunger subsided. He thought about what to say to Ramon again. After three days of walking, and mulling over the facts, he still didn’t know what would be appropriate. Words were hard to come by in Genik’s head. Especially when they were supposed to mean something. Everything would be so much easier if everyone could understand a good old grunt.

He let out a long sigh. Genik sprawled out over the rock, with his arms spread out, and his feet still dangling in the cold mountain water. He stared up at the mesmerising sway of leaves dancing in the breeze. “Sorry, I failed you, brother.”

~

“Oi! You alright there?” A small group of travelers stood a good fifty metres away from Genik. They must have spotted him sleeping by the riverside. A big bloke stood ahead of them. He was the one that called out to him, Genik realised. Before Genik was fully aware of himself he answered with a generic response: “Yea I’m fine, just resting.” His voice came out with a deep rasp. He cleared his voice afterwards.

“Oh I see, we was just checkin’ on you. we thought you was dead-'' A woman poked the man in the ribs with her elbow. “What my husband meant to say; is there anything we can help you with?” The two exchanged glances.

“Thanks, but I'm good. Nearly there anyway.” Genik replied. He pulled his feet out of the water. They were properly soaked by now, and turning a little blue. The group came a little closer.

“You heading to Yllimni then?” The big man asked. Genik grunted in response. “Wait a minute!’ The woman butted in. “Weren’t you with the Merchant group that left for Varwick last week?” Genik looked up at her. “Yea, I was.” The folks that had approached him seemed vaguely familiar. “Are you all from around here?” He asked in return. They nodded. Genik continued talking: “I turned back, to deliver a message to Ramon. You heard of him?” - “Ramon the woodworker? yea we know him, alright. Eccentric fella, but good at what he does.” One of the lads answered. Genik smiled at the reputation his friend had garnered here. “That sounds about right.“

The big man looked more at ease, but also eager to move on. He spoke up: “When you do see him tell him the Weaps said hello.” He looked back at his family “Come on, we got to keep moving, alright.” - “May the heroes guide you on your way.” Missus Weap said. Genik Grunted something back. The group carried on. Genik caught on a hint of their conversation as they walked away.

“What was that all about? May the heroes guide you? the bloke’s nearly there.” The man said to the woman, she meekly responded: “He seemed like he needed some encouragement, is all.”

~

A few hours later Genik arrived at Yllimni. It was a picturesque village in the middle of the forest. Small sturdy houses were built with lots of wood and stone from the nearby mountain range. They were sprawled out and built on available terraced grounds. Genik walked through the open town. A few villagers looked up and nodded their heads to him. It was a peaceful place with not much going on. The villagers liked to just keep to themselves here. Genik was glad for that. He was not in the mood to be scrutinised by curious townsfolk.

Genik walked up to Ramon’s house and workplace. The house stood out from the others. The woodwork was impeccable, and somehow managed to be both rustic and modern at the same time. There was a squiggly note pasted on the window. Shop’s closed. So fuck off. He knocked on the heavy wooden door anyway. A muffled groan sounded from inside. Genik shouted: “Open up you mad cunt. I know you are in there.”

A couple long lasting seconds later, the door opened and one of the most bedraggled bachelors of Farhelm stood in front of him. In a luxurious red robe that hung over his shoulders, exposing his bare chest, underneath that he was wearing some kind of loose funky floral pants that looked entirely too comfortable. He took his time to stoically look Genik up and down before he pondered out loud: “I was wondering what sort of illiterate tit would come knocking on my door. But low and behold it is this fucking fruitcake.” They stared at each other for a good couple seconds, until this trademark smile broke on Ramon’s face. That dumb smile, that always managed to erase every shred of intelect from him. Genik had always been fascinated by this look on his friend's face. How this wildly intelligent man could look so incredibly dumb every time he smiled was beyond him.

Genik tried to smile back, but only managed to contort his facial muscles into a sour grimace. “Well then come inside, disturber of peace, and while you do so please explain to me why it looks like someone pulled a tooth out of that mouth of yours.” Ramon said with his usual nonchalance. Genik just grunted in response. They silently walked through the hallway. The house was stuffed with paraphernalia from his travels, plants, books, and sculptures carved out of wood. Upon entering the living room Ramon asked: “tea? Or something a little stronger?” - “the latter.” Genik responded gruffly.

“Allright man, that can be arranged.” Ramon fished two bottles of liquor out of his eternal-ice cabinet. The enchantment stopped working when the lid opened. Wisps of cool air spilled out, and sank to the floor where it evaporated. Ramon passed him one of the bottles and sat down on his lounge chair.

“Thanks,” Genik said as he stiffly sat himself down on the couch opposed to Ramon.

They silently sipped on their drinks, until Ramon calmly spoke up: “So tell me what happened to my little gremlin.” Genik swallowed the lump in his throat: “I don’t know how to properly tell you this, Ramon, we were setting up camp for the night. nothing was out of the ordinary thus far. She had gone off to collect some firewood. she didn’t need to do that, but I guess she wanted to feel useful.” Genik paused for a bit. “She just never came back after that. So we got to searching the area. Scanning everywhere for her steps, or other signs of trouble, we eventually found her left arm. It was severed just below the elbow.”

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Genik looked closely at Ramon's face to gauge a reaction from him. He just sat there almost expressionlessly. His hard eyes staring down into nothing. Ramon took his time, before he broke the silence: “What do you think happened Genik?” - ”It’s hard to say, the cut looked too clean to have been caused by a blade. In all honesty, it looked closer to something that a spatial rend would cause…” Genik said, while making eye contact with his friend: “and you know what that means.” - Ramon nodded slightly: “did you bring it with you? -the arm I mean.” - “Yes, I figured you wanted to see it.” Genik answered as he reached for his backpack. He handed the wrapped up arm over to Ramon.

His atmosphere changed significantly now that he was presented with a tangible part of his daughter. He couldn’t fully hide the tremors in his own hands while he inspected the thin limb. His breathing became more strained, inhaling forceful breaths that were distinctly audible in the otherwise silent room.

Genik had been dreading this moment the whole way back. Guilt and shame ate away at his insides as he watched his friend cope with the bad news he just presented to him.

“She is still alive, I can feel it.” He muttered. - “Ramon, with a wound like that...” - “No! I refuse to accept that.” He immediately interrupted Genik’s reasoning: “she is resilient, and resourceful. I didn’t raise her to be some useless twat.” - “Listen to me Ramon. I’m not questioning your ability to raise a child. But if we think what happened to her is true, then she is now alone in an unknown, possibly dangerous, and likely unstable Inversium, with an untreatable mortal wound.” Genik's voice vibrated through the room with more passion and heat than he had intended. “It would be a miracle if she was still alive.” He added in a soft whisper.

Ramon looked hurt by what Genik just told him. “I asked you to keep an eye on her for me, and make sure she arrived at her new school unharmed. You- you couldn’t even do that.” Ramon said, his voice now clearly imbued with anger and pain.

“Fuck you, man. I was only shadowing her. I couldn’t have forbidden her to pick up some firewood. There were no danger signs at all. What happened to her was pure bad luck. There is absolutely nothing you and I could have done to have changed that outcome.” Genik matched his friend's outburst with his own frustrations. At this point both men were standing up from their seats. The tension in the air was palpable. Any spark right now and the two would ignite. Without backing down physically Genik said: “I am sorry though, for what it’s worth.” He broke eye contact afterwards. Ramon let out a long sigh. “It’s alright, man I know it’s not your fault. I’m sorry for lashing out at you like that.” Ramon said in a tired and defeated tone. He was the first to deflate, and sank back into his chair.

“I just can’t help imagining how scared she must be out there all alone. And I’m not even there for her. you know?” Ramon sniffled.

Genik had never seen his friend so vulnerable before: “Let’s not give up on her yet. If there is a chance that she is still alive, then we have to hold on to that.” Ramon looked up again, raising his head with puffy red eyes. “What do you suggest we do?”

Genik took a moment to formulate his thoughts: “at this point, there is probably a rumour spreading that a girl got caught in a spacebubble in central Kamanut. All kinds of interested parties will perk their ears to that. They will likely send their space-mages to see if they can find or create an opening in the fabric. Then they’ll send in teams to scout the Inversium out. Probably all under the guise of a rescue mission. Make her well-being the focus of everything. In reality they’ll probably just want to pillage the damn place...” Genik looked at Ramon with concern in his eyes: “sorry I didn’t want to splash you with all this cold water.” - “It’s okay man, I needed to hear this.” Ramon responded as he motioned for him to continue.

Genik finished his drink. He cleared his throat afterwards: “I’ve been thinking about this alot on the way back here. The best course of action for us is to make our own team, and try to infiltrate the space itself. We need to find an independent space-mage though, that might be difficult.” - “aye, i hear you, not many of those around.” Ramon said as he ran his fingers through his long hair. “Another drink?” He asked Genik - “Yeah, I don’t want to be sober right now.” - “Same.” Ramon agreed.

~

Ramon slowly opened up his eyes. A nauseating headache welcomed him to a brand new day. A sour burp escaped his throat. “Ughh” He groaned loudly. He got up from his chair , and stumbled through the mess of empty beer bottles. They clinked and rolled over the floor, some leftover beer spilling out. Ramon looked over at Genik who was still passed out. One of his legs had ended up over the backrest of the couch, his head was pressed against the floor in a concerning angle. Drool had pooled around the corners of his mouth. “The fool is going to feel that neck for the rest of the week.” He empathised with his friend, but found the thought amusing nonetheless. The content of his bowels convulsed when he chuckled. Another burp rumbled out. He swayed to the bathroom. Still drunk from the night before. He somehow made it to the toilet without falling over his own two feet.

Ramon leaned over, using his left elbow for support on the wall, while he whipped out his dick, and started spraying in the bowl. The high pressure stream split in two. “Argh fuck off.” Piss splattered around. “Not on my damn pants.” He lamented. The stream turned into a drip. When Ramon’s bowels convulsed again. The contents of his stomach were ejected out. Sour liquid with bits and pieces of his last meal now floated in, and around the toilet bowl. Ramon tried to straighten up when he was done puking. He shifted his weight the wrong way, his foot slipped on the wet floor. He fell over, his head bonking against the ceramic pot. A loud stream of curses sounded through the entire house.

Genik woke up from the boorish stumbling of Ramon’s journey to the bathroom. He found himself in a less than ideal sleeping position. A Lot of blood had flowed from his legs to his head. Every heartbeat hammered in his skull. Like it wanted to crack it open, and free itself from the man’s poor decision making.

Genik contracted his abs in an attempt to lift his head from the floor. Instead he just slid off the couch as a result. A half empty bottle rolled over, and spilled its contents over the floor. The liquid drenched Genik’s clothes. The cold sensation tickled his numbed sense of touch. He groaned: “What a marvelous start of the day.”

The pressure on his bladder urged him to get up, and find some sweet release. Motivated by this singular purpose Genik crawled to the nearest chair to help him get to his feet. He heard Ramon grumble to himself from across the rooms. Genik leaned on that chair for a couple seconds. He felt light-headed as his blood started circulating to his legs again. His vision nearly blacked out there. The sound of someone puking entered his ears. He started convulsing alongside it. “That fucking fool drank way too much.” He thought while smirking. The taste of acid biting into his own tongue.

He walked over to the bathroom door while massaging his neck. Just in time to see Ramon slip, and fall with his head against the toilet bowl. The stream of vile curses that came out his mouth, reassured Genik that his friend was alright. Genik started laughing uncontrollably at the scene of his friend laying in a foul mixture of piss and puke with his fancy pants down on his ankles. When the smell invaded his nostrils, his laughter was interrupted with dry heaving of his own. Sour Liquid pumped into his mouth from his stomach. He tried to keep it in his closed mouth. Instead it sprayed out all over his clothes.

“Serves you right, you fucking bastard.” Ramon had turned around at the commotion behind him. He was still sitting on the floor with a fresh bump on his forehead. “How dare you laugh at my expense.”

Genik slumped down on the floor as well, still heaving. “You have stained me, man, I wasn’t aware of your peculiar morning routines. I don’t think I can ever erase this from my memory.” He said while chortling.

“Yeah? I have to live with an imprint of you projectile vomiting all over yourself for the rest of my life.” Ramon lamented. - “Touché, but please piss off. I need to take a leak myself.” Genik retorted as he tapped into his mana. All the bodily fluids started floating and flowing together into a nasty looking yellowish sphere. Genik guided it into the toilet bowl. Ramon grumbled he finally pulled his pants back up, and let out a wave of his own cleaning magic. The red haze filled the room, and before long everything was sparkling again. They looked at each other knowingly: “not a word to anyone about what happened here in this room.”

~

The two stood outside, looking over a tiny wooden casket. Inside of it layed Thulla’s severed arm. “This feels so damn final. Like I’m burying her for real, and not just her hand you know.” Ramon stated. Genik just grunted. He didn’t know how to feel about this either. They just stood there for a while. “Anything you still want to say..?” Genik finally asked. Ramon answered without much thinking: “Not really, I guess I’ll have to rip space apart If that is what it takes to come get her.” He lazily summoned his mana. Red flashes tore into the ground. Creating a hole deep enough for the casket to sink into. Genik shuddered at the destructive potential of Ramon’s magic.