Elion sat in a narrow strip of shade provided by one of the heavy steel girders of the bridge. Gorman stood nearby, atop a crate set against the building which housed the machinery for the drawbridge. The air hung over the scene, still and heavy.

The entire town, around forty people, gathered in the large gravel area on this side of the bridge. In the past the space had been used as a vehicle parking lot and a space for sorting scavenged goods brought in from the ruins of Kairn Tol.

The townsfolk stood in clumps, by family. The only people not present were stationed at lookout points, watching the infected scavengers for signs of another attack. Aterfel would not be surprised again.

Keyla lingered nearby, hope on her face. She really believed in this chance of rescuing the infected scavengers. Keyla had been scanning the scavengers, searching their faces through her rifle scope, looking for her mother, but had not found the woman.

For her sake, I hope that the woman didn’t drown, Elion thought.

Other townsfolk had been doing the same, searching among the ranks of the infected for missing family members. None had been located. Unsure whether to be relieved by this or upset, the townsfolk murmured uneasily. Theories abounded, none of them satisfying, none of them provable.

Everyone in town knew about Kasm’s Ascendency by now, and held differing beliefs about what it meant. Lines formed as people solidified their opinions about the best course of action. Brynna, an older woman stood to one side of the crowd. She was a vocal advocate for not fighting or killing the scavengers, ever since she found out there was a chance her son might still be alive.

Around her gathered other people who had been particularly anxious about searching for their missing family members.

Opposed to Brynna, standing to Gorman’s left hand side, were several of the leaders of the Aterfel Guard. Kile, his wife Tilly, Zayven, Sophira, and others stood together.

Domas and his sons watched from the back of the crowd, in the middle. They hadn’t lost anyone when Prator’s group had left. Elion noted that Tael remained with Domas and Kasm this time, rather than joining with the Aterfel Guard.

“There is a possibility that Kasm could develop the ability to heal infected,” Gorman was saying. A few people in the crowd turned to stare at Kasm, and the boy shank behind the chassis of his father.

“We believe that there are enough Ascendency stones in Aterfel to help Kasm reach level five,” Gorman continued. “We need five of them. But we only know where four of them are right now. If anyone found an Aurelian Tear near the Altar, that belongs to Elion, and I would invite you to return it. If anyone has any cends stashed away, now would be the time to reveal that.”

Brynna scoffed. “We spent the last of our Cends years ago. Hasn’t been much trade since the The Breaking of The Sky. The rest of us can’t make them.”

“I’m just saying; if anyone happened to find Elion’s missing Tear, we need you to come forward. Without it, this plan doesn’t work.”

Elion watched people in the crowd, eying each other suspiciously.

Gorman continued his explanation. “On reaching level five, Kasm should get a chance to choose the ability Heal Sickness. Then we will need to isolate and capture one of the infected—”

“Sounds dangerous,” Zayven said, flexing his mechanical hand. People around him murmured in agreement.

Gorman ignored the interruption. “We will capture one of the infected, and Kasm will try healing them. Kasm was healed by Heranan power, so it’s not impossible that it works. We will hope that, like most infected we have observed, Selna Aerden makes her way back to the Shard. Or perhaps we will find other Aterfelians among the infected. When they are healed, they can tell us what happened.”

Gorman raised one eyebrow, steepling his fingers in front of him. “But all this depends first on finding a fifth cend.”

“I say we keep looking,” Kile said. “If we don’t recognize anyone we know among the scavengers, we fight.”

“We don’t have any other choice,” Gorman said before anyone else could chime in. “Even if Kasm is able to heal infected, we will still need to destroy the Shard.”

“Destroy the Shard?” Brynna called out. “With what? The distortion field destroys your magic.”

“I’m glad you asked,” Gorman said. “Keyla, would you wheel it out?”

Keyla opened the garage door on the side of the drawbridge machine house and disappeared inside. A minute later, she carefully wheeled a large cart out onto the bridge. A sphere, 3 feet in diameter, hung suspended from a frame mounted to the cart. It swayed slightly in its harness.

Elion felt a pang of pride. He hadn’t contributed much, but he’d still helped Gorman make the thing.

Keyla walked over to stand beside Elion in the shade.

Black cables and wires ran around the dull grey sphere, plugging into various ports. To Elion it looked like underwater mines he’d seen in movies. None of the telltale teal light that marked an Artificer’s magic touched it. The object weighed heavy on the eye; threatening, imposing.

“The explosion at the docks was caused by one vial of hordizine. I received a shipment of these, hoping to use them as a fuel source to power a new reactor design. But when the Tephalian Shard crash landed from space, we were cut off from the resources I needed to complete the project.”

Gorman gestured to the Shard as he spoke. “I stored the crates down at the dock, away from town. If anything went wrong I didn’t want to cause an explosion in town. Hordizine is highly explosive when combined with oxygen, so even though the crates are insulated and protected, an accident could cause the vials to burst open and the hordizine to explode. We saw the results of two vials exploding the other day.

“Elion and Keyla successfully transported 18 vials of hordizine here, to the bridge. I compiled them into the bomb that you see before you.”

Gorman carried on. “Composed entirely of organic and mineral compounds, this bomb will not be affected by the disruption field around the Shard,” Gorman explained. “The destruction at the dock was caused by the explosion of uncontained samples. With almost ten times that quantity, in a carefully focused arrangement, the explosion will be much larger.”

“What makes you think the Shard can even be destroyed?” Kile asked, leaning awkwardly on his peg leg.

“When the Shard first landed, before it started to infect everything with its taint, you recall that I drove out and investigated it briefly. Flakes of the Shard lay on the ground around it, and I experimented with these. They were easily destroyed by heat.”

“What if we don’t find the missing Tear? Is Keyla’s plan even possible then?” This came from a man standing beside Kile. His ear had been replaced by a partial cone of metal.

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“No,” Gorman said. “It isn’t. It also requires Kasm to earn an experience point.”

Keyla grumbled softly. “He’s not being fair. He’s making it sound impossible.”

“I don’t see why we shouldn’t at least try,” a man said. “We don’t have to attack the Shard right away!”

“How long will the bridge hold?” a woman shouted out.

“Perhaps another week, unless we destroy it,” Gorman answered. “But I can’t say how long before the infected figure out how to cross the river and get to our island. They nearly made it the other day.”

“We should blow them up now, before they kill more of us,” someone shouted from the back of the crowd. Kile and Zayven nodded in agreement.

“We need to wait and prepare better! We don’t want to risk killing anyone we know.”

“All because of one woman!” Tilly exclaimed. “We can’t wait and see, we need to take action!”

“That woman is Selna Aerden, though!” someone else yelled.

“You’d want the same if it was your son!”

“But it might not even work!”

The crowd buzzed, its hum growing into a low roar as neighbors argued with one another.

“I have already coordinated with the leader of Upprifer,” Gorman said. “They are willing to join us in our fight, come down the river banks and distract the infected so we can lower our bridge and bring the bomb across. They have already started the journey and will be arriving in 3 days.”

“Call them off!”

“I can tell them to wait, but if there is any chance of Keyla’s plan succeeding we need to figure it out soon. Will someone come forward with the missing Ascendency stone?”

Silence fell across the townsfolk.

“If we do not have that, there is no possibility of rescuing the infected,” Gorman said. “Tomorrow we can go back to the Altar and comb the ground more thoroughly. Everyone go and search their homes. If you happened to pick up the cend, and are considering keeping it to yourself, remember this: you won’t be able to spend it. It’s not worth anything to you right now.”

Gorman surveyed the crowd. “We need to be ready in 3 days to fight the infected.” He looked to Keyla. “You have until then.”

Keyla kicked a rock, sending it skittering across the road. “Three days!” she yelled, frustrated. “We’re not going to be able to do anything in three days! Even if we find the cend, we’d still have to find her. Not to mention getting Kasm some experience! It’s like Gorman doesn’t want the plan to work.”

Elion walked with her, but stayed just out of arm’s reach. He’d already been hit by a few wild gesticulations, and he thought it wise to stay out of the danger zone. Kasm had gone home to practice his new skills, since their plan depended on him earning an experience point.

Elion wanted to help Keyla’s mom too. He just didn’t know how they could do it. This isn’t even your fight. But he needed Aterfel to succeed, clearing his path to journey on to Erod.

“Maybe we can capture her,” he said. “We can get her and hold her captive until we figure out how to cure the infection. Maybe blowing up the Shard will make the infection go away?”

“But where is she?” Keyla said.

“Probably heading back here,” Elion said. “All infected things seem to love that Shard. Unless they’re trying to kill us, they just hang out and bask in its presence.”

“What if she shows up when they’re blowing up the Shard? She’ll be killed.”

Gorman is right. They can’t wait forever. They have to make a move against the infected, Elion thought. But he didn’t say anything to Keyla. He empathized with her desire to help her mother.

“We can keep watch along the river bank,” he said. “We’ll set up a rotation, watch around the clock for any sign of her returning.”

“Shut up,” Keyla growled, her brow creasing. “I don’t want to hear it from you. You’re leaving.”

Elion immediately remembered the conversation he’d been having with Gorman. “What do you mean?” he asked. “How am I going anywhere?”

“You’re going to try to build a boat and float away. I heard you talking to Gorman about it. Don’t try to lie to me.”

Elion stammered.

“I’m not… Obviously I need to leave. My sister—”

“I thought you were a hero, here to help us,” Keyla said. “But you’re just like Prator. Always talking about making things better but just leaving them worse than before you came.”

“No,” Elion said. “I’m going to help you. I’m going to help you rescue your mother and destroy the Shard. Then I need to go. I need to find my uncle and save my sister. But after. Besides, I need to go to Erod. It will be faster for me if you destroy the Shard; then I can cross over the bridge.”

“Why bother,” Keyla asked. “Why pretend like you even care.”

“I do care!” Elion protested. “I don’t think I’m going to be that helpful. I’m not very good at anything, and even if the Shard didn’t inhibit my abilities, they’re not very strong. I’ll help you find your mother. I promise!”

Keyla punched a fist into her palm, her face red with anger and frustration. In an instant, she changed, her body relaxing, face freezing into an icy mask. “Well I appreciate your help so far,” she said, her tone cold and distant.

Elion’s eyes widened, and he took a step back from her. She did not react to him, keeping her eyes locked on the horizon ahead.

“I’m going to go look for your missing Tear,” she said. “I’ll see you later.”

The chill in Keyla’s voice eviscerated any inclination Elion had to offer to go with her. He watched as she walked away from him. He recalled a statement Gorman said earlier, one he’d been turning over in his mind ever since Gorman had offered to keep Elion’s Tear safe.

“You can put it in my safe,” Gorman had said. “That’s where I keep our Skillstones.”

Gorman also had Skillstones set aside, saved for future use.

Keyla’s entire plan turned on leveling Kasm high enough that he stood a chance of healing infected. That meant using at least five cends, two from Elion if they could find the missing one, and three from Keyla. It also counted on Kasm earning an experience point.

But if Gorman even had just two, they wouldn’t need to find Elion’s missing Tear or get Kasm to earn an experience point. If Gorman had more, they could potentially level Kasm even higher, giving him a much better chance of success.

Besides, what downside was there to improving Kasm’s healing capacities? Gorman wouldn’t have to work so hard replacing limbs with steel. Why hadn’t Gorman offered any of his reserve of Ascendency stones?

Elion had a sinking feeling. If Gorman was unwilling to contribute to their plan… maybe Ascendency Stones were worth significantly more than he understood. Or maybe Keyla was right, and Gorman wanted their plan to fail. He sincerely hoped not.