Elizabeth wondered if she could really kill someone as she looked into the distance, wondering how she should answer Tara’s question about where she was last night. After a moment’s deliberation, she figured that guilting would be the best strategy. “Do you want to start another witch hunt?” she asked.
Tara froze. “What?”
“Go around, blaming others, ripping us apart?” Elizabeth clarified.
Tara took a step back and gripped her arms around her body. “That’s not what this is,” she said.
“That [is] what this is. Because the moment you start asking those questions, the others will, too, and suddenly, we’ll hate each other as much as the heroes do. That’s what you’re doing.”
“No, that’s not fair. I’m just asking—“
“What if I did?” Elizabeth asked coldly. “What if I betrayed you somehow? Matt is gone. Sara’s treating us like humans. If I did do that, would it be so bad? Or are you just looking past the situation to find the next big bad to obsess over?”
Tara’s eyes welled with tears.
“If you really care—if you really want to live without oppression, then just shut up,” Elizabeth said. “Stop looking for drama and focus on ways to fix it.”
Elizabeth got up and looked at her. “You’re the only person who can unite us, Tara. If you don’t seize this chance to make peace, the outcome’s on you—and only you.” Elizabeth walked away, leaving Tara in a state of conflict, hoping—praying—that she would do the right thing.
2
Sara finished cracking the core of the last dissident and collapsed on the floor. She needed to get back but didn’t have the strength to move. She passed out, with the results unknown. When she awoke, she learned she had succeeded.
3
It was dark when Sara awoke and left for Lemora, feeling the wind ruffling through her hair as she flew her silver glider above the clouds, praying that everything would work out. This was the make-it-or-break-it moment that would determine if she could obtain the treasures to defeat Agronus while the capital was undefended—it was also the moment that would determine how much blood she’d have on her hands when it was all over. When Sara arrived at the castle and fell asleep, she prayed that it would be minimal.
4
When Sara awoke, she learned that something fantastic had happened. The heroes and remaining dissidents were sitting at the same breakfast tables. That wasn’t her doing—it was a group effort from the people she had cultivated for leadership. She later learned that Raul and Emma had forced them to sit together, [Sara’s orders], as Raul interpreted it. But what was more surprising was that Tara was sitting with Emma, speaking to people with a stiff face, encouraging people to get along. Andy, Darius, and Wiles were sitting beside Tim—and neither side would look at each other, but it happened.
“Well done,” Sara said when she entered the room. Once she got to her seat, she addressed their concerns: “I didn’t find Matt and the others. But I suspect they’re taking smuggler routes to the Lemings Kingdom. That means you may face them in the springtime. Until then, prove your loyalty by uniting. From now on, everyone will practice together, even though many will not fight. That’s all.”
And that’s what happened. Sara then led them to their first awkward day of group training, expecting fights to break out—but they didn’t. She imagined they’d break out after her eyes weren’t watching them like a hawk—but they didn’t, then, either. Helen made a full recovery, and the event had patched things up between her and Andy. Tara joined the healing corps with Emma and Emily, and the other dissidents joined other groups. Tim was only suited for the engineering corps, but the bad blood between him, Darius, and Wiles prevented him from joining. Instead, Sara called Tim’s music teacher to the area, and Tim practiced the jenta in the training area to provide music for the group. Turns out, he was a practiced musician on Earth, and two years of training with a court musician had turned him into a remarkable performer. His music elevated the mood, giving some levity in the tense environment.
Tara apologized to Sara, acknowledging that she was genuinely wrong about Jason and was wrong for fueling the fire. Sara just nodded, and restrictions on the dissidents magically disappeared, further alleviating the tension. Slowly yet surely, the groups united and started weaving stronger bonds. This process continued for a few weeks before Sara made the next announcement:
“You will all be given a two-week trip to see the world,” Sara said. “Think of it as a vacation and focus on bonding. It’s the last slice of heaven you’ll get before you experience hell, so make it count.”
The groups split up, with one group traveling to another major city with Edico, another touring an adventuring community with Raul, and a third taking a spa trip to a renowned noble resort town in the Quesca mountains with Emma and Emily. As for Elizabeth, she got mana sickness (when a core becomes off-balanced) at the last moment, and she had to stick behind.
Sara thought that was a damn shame, so she took Elizabeth on a private trip to The Spring, leaving her with Tyran only two days before Matt and the dissidents would’ve woken naturally. With Elizabeth back in place, Tyran assured Sara that he had a stimulant that would wake them around the same time. With that assurance, Sara left, pleased that all the pieces were set. After that, all she could do was wait and hope her seeds came to fruition.
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4
When Matt woke up, he felt like a stiff block of wood. His legs felt weak and burned when bending, and his mind felt hazy. He groaned, and the others did, too. He slowly got up and left the room, only to find others cupping their heads and groaning on the table.
“Oh, good, you’re awake,” Tyran said. “Food’ll be out in a minute.”
Matt looked at him suspiciously. “Did you drug us?”
An icy wind blew inside the room, and Elizabeth and the other group members looked up at Tyran.
“You must be talking about the hot spring,” Tyran said dismissively. “It puts the mind into deep rest. Once you wake up, you’ll feel great.”
Matt didn’t believe him and refused to eat or drink anything else for the next two hours, but to his surprise, once he awoke, he felt… excellent. It was like all the stress and muscle tears he had were gone, and he could think clearly. He didn’t even notice the abnormality within him until it was far too late. Neither did the others and after the first “rest” (when everyone slept since there were no clocks), no one questioned their situation. By the third, life felt normal, and some even returned to the hot spring. But the problem was that they didn’t actually know how much time had passed because there was no sun. Their minds went crazy from the monotony, and days felt like weeks, weeks felt like days, and everyone started getting cabin fever. That’s when the real trouble began. Tension. Annoyance. Pettiness. Slowly yet surely, everyone became passive-aggressive, sowing resentment toward Matt and Riley like a malignant tumor. The two didn’t like that, so they banded together and gathered support, dividing, cracking, and breaking the group apart until it was a breeding ground of angst and bitterness. Yet time moved on, and to their relief, Tyran finally announced that they would meet Prince Halter—
—and they soon did. True to his word, Tyran led them to a bunker with the prince and war generals.
Matt had initially waited for that day, dreaming of the savior figure that would lead them to salvation, but his heart sank when he walked into the room and found a middle school-aged kid sitting with a group of generals who had half his strength. It was at that moment that Matt gave up hope that they had a chance of defeating Sara.
After a discussion about the trip to the Lemings Kingdom, they set off—leaving Tyran behind since he was a spy. It was uncomfortable at the time, but they almost forgot about it until the second day—when Elizabeth went missing. They searched through the forest, called out, used their rudimentary divination spells, and found nothing. She was gone without a trace. But while Riley insisted that they continue the search, Halter demanded they press on for the safety of their group, and so they did. It was a three-week journey to the Lemings Kingdom without silver gliders—and snow was starting to fall. Time was pressing.
5
Sara was tracing her finger around a half-empty wine glass when Elizabeth returned with Tyran. Seeing them and getting a full report made her heart soar.
6
The heroes returned from their vacations at the onset of winter. It was only the second winter that they had experienced, but it felt far worse than the first. It was so cold that the kingdom brought out large fire pit stands that they put into the center of the dining hall, making the area look somewhere between a lawn with tiki torches and a New York alley with barrel fires. Yet the heroes didn’t complain. They ate and laughed and enjoyed their life, talking about adventures from their vacation and how much easier things were when they were frozen in a castle. The carefree life didn’t last long. On the second week back, Sara walked into the room and put elixirs and roots on the table with Tyran.
“This is Tyran Grollis, the Head Apothecary of the kingdom,” Sara said. “As of today, you will start body tempering.”
Everyone was excited—until they weren’t.
The men bathed communally in pits of fire and liquid pain, but the women mostly did it alone in rooms with silence circles.
As for Sara, she finally got rid of her limp and body aches when Emma helped her disintegrate her bones piece by piece, carefully working on the spine. That was the greatest source of trust that she had ever put in someone, but compared to the last time she did it, it was a godsend.
Between body tempering sessions, the heroes worked on mana manipulation, led by groups of the mages. Tim played them music, and during the nights, they sat around fires and told stories. New relationships formed between group members. Emily and Darius became a couple, and Tara and Wiles became really close [friends]. It was so painfully awkward to watch them deny their feelings that Sara wanted to remind them that they were twenty—because she had to watch them squirm. Sara was there for an hour a night, watching over them like a mother, and regretted it eighty percent of the time. Yet Emma loved it, and Raul had taken to drinking with her (during the nights only). It was a good life.
“This is a relief,” Raul said one night.
“What?” Sara asked, looking at her glass and thinking back on how many glasses she had.
“That even you can do this,” he chuckled.
“That’s rude.”
“My bad,” he said. “I was just worried that things would never be… good… again.”
“Life’s never that bad,” Sara said. She drank and shivered. “Until the end of the night when you have to think about it.”
Raul’s eyes sank deeper. “Thanks for the encouragement.”
Sara smiled and looked at Emma. “Hey, come have a glass of wine.”
Emma blushed and shook her head. “Not with people around.”
“Raul’ll keep you in check.” Sara grinned and shook the bottle.
“Hey, what the hell are you doing?” Raul whispered as Emma blushed and considered the wine.
“Teaching you the subtle art of escapism,” Sara said, putting her glass down and picking up another. She poured Emma half a glass (she meant to pour her a full glass, but Sara knew she’d get another bottle if she didn’t leave herself some) and lifted it to Emma. “Step one,” she whispered to Raul, “find something else to worry about.”
Raul tried to protest, but Emma was already there. “Just one,” Emma said. Then she turned to Raul apologetically. “Is that okay?”
Raul forced a smile. “Sure.”
True to Sara’s words, he didn’t have time to think about the things plaguing his life because Emma was sitting in his lap, hugging him, and he couldn’t help but smile as Sara sat there with a mocking smile, watching the fire.
7
King Lemings walked on the embattlements of Teeka’s (the Lemings capital) outer wall. Before him was a force of over fifty thousand soldiers that his nobles had amassed for him. They blotted out the fields for miles, contrasting against the fresh snow they were standing on. This was only one of three armies that would march on Lemora—and it didn’t include the so-called “heroes” that Halter was bringing to them. The heroes had been held up during a major storm, but they would reach Teeka soon, and King Lemings would see their power for himself. Either way, he would not rely on them. This army [was] enough.