Restaro is dying.

Xeph’s statement hung in the air. Callan stood there, stunned into silence. It was such a random piece of information. And not one he had expected at all. Stubbornness and pride, sure. Maybe even a bit of domestic trouble between husband and wife. But this...

“Care to explain that a bit more carefully, oh wise god of pebbles and hills?”

I should think it obvious, said Xeph, apparently choosing to ignore the dig. He’s showing all the classic signs of rutain separation sickness! While the physical symptoms are minimal, to anyone familiar with the condition it’s as evident as—

The god’s words cut off with the finality of a gate clanging shut. Callan stood there a moment, letting the silence build between them. He could practically feel the god squirming uncomfortably inside his skull.

Ah, that is—

“I want you to think very carefully about exactly what your next words should be, Xeph. Very carefully.”

Xeph gave a polite cough. Well, as polite as sand blowing off a dune could be, anyway. Ahem... Good news, mortal? I appear to have uncompressed another memory.

“Good, Xeph. Very good. Now, why don’t you explain it to me. Use small words.”

How am I supposed to know what you consider a ‘small word’, human? The term is extremely arbitrary and particular to the individual—

“Focus, Xeph.”

Hmmph. Separation sickness is a condition unique to the rutain. When the gods created the elevated races in their divine wisdom—stop laughing, mortal!—we did so with a specific task in mind for each. For the rutain, this was as vessels.

Callan blinked, trying to parse out the meaning of that statement. “You mean like... avatars?”

Exactly. In many ways, rutain are the perfect creatures to host a god’s magnificence. But in others, they were found... lacking. Ultimately, the project was considered a failure, though many gods still prefer rutain hosts as their avatars. Or at least, they did in ancient times. Perhaps the trend has gone out of style while I slept.

“Yeah, please refrain from referring to wearing a living creature’s skin as a ‘style’ in the future, if you don’t mind.” He rolled his eyes. “So what does this separation anxiety mean for Restaro? Does he need to be made into an avatar?”

Sickness, not anxiety, human! And no, he does not. My fellow gods were able to alleviate the worst of the separation sickness from the rutain, but most still need to at least pledge their loyalty to a god. Those who do not—or worse, once had a god and then lost their faith—suffer a slow wasting illness that eventually claims their lives.

“Okay, yeah, that definitely sounds bad.” Callan let out a shudder. He’d been far too close to that fate himself, and it wasn’t one he wanted to experience again any time soon.

What I do not understand is why the rutain would allow himself to remain in such a situation. Especially when we have arrived to provide such a perfect opportunity for salvation.

“Actually, I think I get where’s he’s coming from.” Callan’s mind went again to his mother’s cousin, a man who’d chosen to start life over from scratch rather than accept what he saw as charity. Or maybe there was more to it than that. Based on the hints Kivi and Sadie had dropped, it seemed this was a rather sensitive issue.

Actually, that brought up another question. “Why didn’t Kivi just tell us all this last night?” he mused, as much to himself as to Xeph. “Seems like we could have helped with the whole situation a lot easier if we’d known what was going on.”

Xeph was silent for a moment. It is possible she doesn’t know the particulars herself. Or the farmer’s wife has sworn her to secrecy. Rutain are quite prideful about the condition, and few among the other races are even aware of it or believe it to be anything more than a rumor.

“Huh. Prideful is right. Well, I suppose we won’t know without asking.” Callan frowned. “Which I don’t know if I want to do. If Kivi thinks I’ve been prying when she asked us not to, she’s gonna be pissed.”

Such elegant phrases you’ve brought from Earth. Truly your species has gained enlightenment beyond measure in the last few millennia. Does this revelation change your plans at all?

Callan thought about that for a moment, then shook his head. “No. If anything, this makes the work I’m doing all the more important. We’ll stick with my original plan. Speaking of which, let’s get back to it. No way to know when Kivi and the others might return.”

----------------------------------------

By the time Kivi and the others did return, Callan had made it all the way to the northern curve of the wall. Thanks to the food from Sadie, his apotheosis was recovering rapidly—he guessed about three times as quick as normal, though he couldn’t tell for certain without a watch.

Unfortunately, his progress with Wurmchain was nonexistent. Xeph continued to offer different advice, kept reminding him that he’d only achieve this through repeated practice and growing more accustomed to the flow of power, but Callan couldn’t feel anything but frustration.

They might have been delayed a bit with their stopover here on the plateau, but Aos still lay ahead of them. He worried he wouldn’t get the method of adjusting the chain under control in time to be useful.

And of course, his frustration just made further progress impossible.

By the time Kivi entered the yard, Callan was dripping with sweat, and about ready to hurl his Wurmchain at the wall. Only the likelihood that it would cut the stones apart and ruin all of Restaro’s hard work stayed his hand.

“Avatar, I bring great news. I located a boulder only a fifteen-minute walk from here that should prove large enough to suit the creation of a tower. If you’ll come inspect it, we can begin construction at once.”

Callan glanced to where the sun was already halfway towards the horizon. “Can it wait until tomorrow, High Priestess? I’d rather do the work when I’m fresh.”

A frown wavered across Kivi’s face, but it was gone in a flash. Instead, she pressed her lips into a tight smile and bowed. “There are still many hours of daylight left. Are you certain you won’t at least visit to make sure it will meet your standards?”

“I mean, there’s not much in the way of standards besides ‘big rock’, but sure, I can manage that much. No more work today though, Xeph has been running me ragged.”

Am I to always play the accused in your fantasies, mortal? That is twice today you’ve heaped blame at my feet without allowing me to defend myself!

Suppressing a grin, Callan followed after Kivi. They passed through the stone arch and out into the surrounding fields. Something that looked suspiciously like wheat but was probably that adle the farmers had mentioned last night grew in abundance.

A short distance away, they encountered Restaro, combing through the wheat stalks, a blade in hand helping him cut into the large pods at the top to access the seeds inside. A short distance away, Sworv and Paeral wielded similar weapons.

At Callan’s questioning expression, Kivi gestured towards the brothers. “I hope the avatar does not mind, but I offered Restaro the aid of our priests as a way to repay his hospitality.”

She turned to the rutain, who had paused his work and was watching with one hand resting on his hip. “Restaro, I apologize, but can we inconvenience you for one further night? Our work should be done by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.”

“Hmm. Shouldn’t be a problem. Especially with these two helping me get the harvest up before any pests have a chance to get to it.”

Kivi nodded in thanks, and they continued on their way. Several minutes passed in silence.

Hmm, I think our high priestess is still angry with us. Well, you. Xeph chuckled. Are you certain you don’t wish to inform her of the situation? It can hardly be considered prying if it was I who informed you as to the facts of the situation, and her advice might prove useful.

“Not until I know what she knows for certain,” Callan muttered.

So ridiculously overcomplicated. But as you wish.

They arrived some ten minutes later at a large, flat stone. It wasn’t quite as large as the one they had built the first tide tower from, but Xeph assured Callan there was more than adequate quantities of stone available underneath the dirt. It seemed they had their tower.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“How far away is this from the other farms around here?” he asked Kivi.

“Still closer to Restaro’s farm, but not by much. The lilish community in that direction is perhaps a half-hour, and there is a small farmstead also an hour or more past that. I cannot speak for certain, as I did not travel out of my way to meet them. It is apparently a single forfiliin who prefers not to be disturbed.”

“Still, half an hour... are you certain we shouldn’t just go on to this lilish place and build a tower there as well?”

“I did consider it, which is why I chose this location over several others that were more in-between. This is still easily accessible by Restaro and Sadie, still reachable even if they are caught unawares.” Kivi paused, then bit her lip. Callan wasn’t sure if it was an act of frustration, anger, or worry. “Avatar, may I ask... are you certain we cannot build a tower closer? Lud are quite good diggers, it wouldn’t take myself and the others that long to dig down to useable stone—”

Callan held a hand up to stop her. “High Priestess, last night you asked me to trust you. Know that I do, but I need you to trust me in turn. Can you do that? Can you trust that Xeph and I are doing the best we can for your friends here?”

“I wouldn’t call Sadie a friend, exactly, but...” Kivi sighed. “Of course I trust you. I’m sorry for doubting your word before. It is just, I had such hopes of success, and to learn otherwise, it made me feel powerless. I do not like that feeling. After what happened in our village, I never wish to feel that way again.”

For a moment, Callan memory flashed back to Ligo looming over Ishe, his hand burning bright. The lud boy’s frightened scream, and his eyes begging for Callan to save him. He ground his teeth. “Believe me, I understand that feeling more than most.”

“I’m certain you do. Thank you, Avatar. For trusting me, and for doing what you can to help these people. It is a great deal of effort for little gain...”

“Hey, don’t worry about that.” Callan placed a hand on Kivi’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “We need to get to Aos, but whatever is happening there can hold another day. Besides, this was a great opportunity to work on refining my powers. So it’s not like it was a total loss.”

When Kivi smiled up at him, it was like the sun breaking from behind a wall of dark clouds. Callan felt his heart swell. “Truly? You’ve achieved a breakthrough?”

Immediately, Callan’s happy feelings evaporated. “Let’s just say progress was made, and leave it at that.”

They started back towards the farm. About a minute into the journey, Kivi slipped one of her hands into his own. Callan glanced down. His surprise must have been plain on his face, as Kivi gave him a comforting smile. “Do not read too much into it. Holding hands is a common lud practice. A result of us needing to keep an extra pair occupied, I suppose.”

“No, no, I figured that out the first day of our journey and saw Sworv and Paeral.” Admittedly, seeing the two old twins walking hand-in-hand like a pair of lovers had been a bit of a shock, but Callan was starting to accept some of cultural differences at face value.

He continued, “It’s more that you haven’t held my hand since you became high priestess. I was starting to wonder if something about the promotion made it awkward.”

“Haven’t I? Hmm.” Kivi shrugged. “An omission I’ll just have to correct going forward.”

They didn’t talk anymore after that, but every time Callan glanced down at the lud girl at his side, she wore a satisfied smile on her face.

----------------------------------------

Mortal. Mortal!

“Blugha?” Callan blinked and opened his eyes.

Ah, so eloquent. Truly, you have a way with words.

“Yeah, yeah.” It took a moment for Callan to get his bearings. In the distance, the sun was just rising over the tree line, leaving the sky overhead stained such a dark purple it was still nearly indistinguishable from black. “I thought I told you not to go waking me like that again.”

While I do regret the need to break such a recently made promise, one of our followers is approaching and I thought you might wish to make yourself more presentable. As in, not lying in the dirt amid a puddle of your own drool.

Callan glanced down but couldn’t find any drool. It seemed he’d nodded off during his work with Xeph last night. Scratch that—he’d been intentionally napping between bouts of work to let his Apotheosis recover more quickly. At some point he’d simply failed to wake up.

And now it was morning.

Had he managed to finish his work in time? A quick inspection of the wall showed that yes, he had. Everything that could be done without being obvious, anyway.

From out of the nearby barn stepped Paeral. He yawned and stretched, then seemed to notice Callan. The lud’s eyes went wide in surprise. “Avatar! I wasn’t expecting you to be awake so early.”

“Yeah, well I felt like getting a decent head start on the day for once.” No way was he telling the man that he’d technically never gone to bed the night before. “Are the others still asleep?”

“No, they should be down any—” Paeral cut off as Kivi and Sworv stepped outside. The former’s eyes darted back and forth before finally finding Callan. He saw her entire body sagged with relief.

“Avatar, there you are! When I couldn’t find you in the loft I grew worried.” She studied him for a moment, then added, “Xeph did not overwork you last night, did he? You look more tired than when we went to bed.”

“No worries there, priestess, I’m rested enough. Well, enough for today’s labor, anyway.”

“That is good to hear.” There was a stern note in Kivi’s voice. Had she been afraid he might try to put off the tower project for another day?

Actually, after yesterday, he couldn’t entirely blame her for worrying.

It was only a few moments later when Restaro stepped out his front door. As he descended the steps to the yard, he studied all of them curiously. “So eager to help in the fields you couldn’t sleep? Or are you off to build this tower of yours at last?”

“The second one, I’m afraid,” Kivi said, giving a little bow. “Once our work is complete, we’ll be departing. There is much traveling ahead of us today if we wish to reach Aos.”

“Hmm. While I think little of that yeth community, I won’t fault you your business there.” Restaro glanced at Callan, then added, “No offense, of course.”

“Uh, none taken?”

Shortly behind Restaro came his wife, once again with a basket of freshly baked bread. It occurred to Callan that she must have been up well before the sun rose in order to make it. Not like there was a local grocery store to run down to and pick up a few loaves for breakfast.

The thought made him think of breakfasts back home. Occasionally, on a lucky weekend, he and his dad would ride the light rail to Westlake, then hike up Capitol Hill to Half & Half, their most favorite little donut spot in the whole world.

The last time they’d gone was just a few days before Callan’s diagnosis. He hadn’t had much of an appetite after that, a fact he was sorely regretting now. Would he ever get to try one again?

Shaking his head to dispel such worries, he accepted a loaf from Sadie, then set out after Kivi and the others for the building site.

Their work went about as he expected. Paeral and Sworv quickly finished up using their single burst of Shape Stone, then returned to the farm to aid Restaro’s harvest while he and Kivi continued refinements. Amazingly, Kivi managed to eke out a fifth use of her orison, something which Xeph said was an unheard accomplishment given the short time she’d been practicing.

Several hours later, another tide tower stood amid the trees and scrub brush, tall enough that Callan couldn’t see over the top from ground level.

“Not bad for half a day’s work,” he said, turning to Kivi. “Still hoping to push on and do the same at that lilish community?”

“If we can manage it. I fear, however, that should we take the time to build another tower today, we will be forced to wait until tomorrow to cross to the next plateau. There are no bridges to Aos, so the trip into the canyon will be lengthy.”

“Huh. Didn’t realize we were that close.” Callan shrugged. “Anyway, let’s go gather the others. I think we’ve done everything here we can.”

“You are probably right, Avatar.” Still, the way Kivi glanced back at the tower as they made their way through the trees, Callan could tell she didn’t quite feel that to be true.

They found both Restaro and the two priests back inside the farmyard, loading grain into barrels. The farmer barely glanced up at their approach.

“Done with your work? Suppose you’ll be wanting your workers back, then.”

“Unfortunately,” Kivi said. “Still, I hope their efforts made up for the cost of the food you so generously provided.”

“Hmm. Suppose we’re about even on that front.” The rutain had a satisfied smile. Callan could practically see him weighing an imaginary scale in his mind. Balancing out his perceived debt against their own.

“In that case, we’ll be taking our leave.”

“Actually, is Sadie around? I wanted to thank her for the delicious meals,” Callan said. All eyes turned to him.

“I imagine she’s in with the little one,” Kivi said after a moment. “Why don’t you allow me to pass along the message.”

“Oh. Uh, I was hoping to do it myself?” Callan winced at the way it came out more a question than anything. No one else seemed to notice.

“If it’s all the same—”

“No need to concern yourself over me,” Sadie announced, stepping out of the house and descending the steps. “I heard you were preparing to leave, so I threw together a little something from the trip.”

“Sadie.” Her husband glanced up, a frown etching the corners of his mouth. “Our guests have their own supplies, I’m certain. And their journey is only taking them across one more plateau.”

“Oh, none of that, darling of mine.” The farmwife laid a hand on her husband’s chest, and his frown withered before it. “The high priestess is a friend, and what are a few gifts among friends?”

Restaro said nothing, though his face clearly indicated his thoughts on the matter. Turning away, Sadie handed a small basket to Kivi. “Please, enjoy. And feel free to return the basket on your homeward journey.”

As Kivi murmured thanks, the farmwife turned to Callan. “Did I overhear you wished to thank me?”

“Ah, yeah.” Callan rubbed at his neck. He’d been hoping to speak with her privately, but maybe he could manage it on their next visit. “The food was excellent. Best I’ve had since arriving in this—on the plateaus.”

“Avatar.” There was a note of wry humor to Kivi’s voice. “Do not judge my village’s cooking too harshly simply because we lack for ingredients at the moment.”

“You know what I mean, High Priestess.” Callan glanced back at Sadie. “Anyway, thanks. Guess we’ll see you guys whenever we make our way back. Hopefully won’t be too long.”

“Of course, Avatar. Safe journeys.” The woman bowed deeply, giving Callan a brief glimpse of the babe once again strapped to her back before she straightened.

So is that it? Xeph asked as Callan turned away and made for the front entry. You are just leaving matters unresolved? What about her husband? We need to claim him as a follower—for his good as well as our own!

“Not every mystery needs resolving, buddy,” Callan muttered.

Perhaps not, but I dislike leaving this one as it stands. Though I suppose the rutain is unlikely to succumb to separation sickness before our return, but at the very least, we ought to—

“Oh, Avatar?”

He turned and found Sadie hurrying after them. The woman paused by the gate and gave him a shy smile.

“Is something wrong?” Kivi asked, stopping beside Callan.

“No, High Priestess. At least, I don’t think so.”

“Then...?” The open question hung in the air. Sadie glanced between them, and Callan thought she looked rather embarrassed. Was she trying to communicate something to Kivi about her husband without the rest of them understanding?

“It is just, I thought the avatar was going to explain what he has been up to before departing. When he said nothing, I started to wonder.” At Callan and Kivi’s blank expressions, the rutain woman added, “About the wall.”

Oh. Callan felt his stomach drop out.

“Wall?” Kivi’s voice made plain her confusion.

“Yes. This wall.” Turning, Sadie lifted a foot, then slammed it into the stone wall, heel first. It made a dull thunking sound as it struck.

Not so much as a single stone in the wall quivered. Almost like they’d been fused together.

As they had been fused together.

Kivi’s brow knitted inward. She turned towards Callan.

“I can explain,” he said, quickly raising his hands.