Aki

Ren told us that they were supposed to meet with Kaede on the island, which, I learned, was called Julbar. I asked Savri to go to the wharf and check if someone had ferried the girl there already, and to get us some supplies and new clothes for Ren. Her previous set was drenched in her blood so it would not do.

Per our new friend, Kaede had recently come back to the Yamaoka estate which prompted the clan leader to speed up her plans. Instead of waiting for Leera to find out if the river goddess was actually there, they would all meet up on Julbar and look for her together. If she wasn’t there then Kaede would perform the ceremony instead. It would be less formal, but as far as Ren was concerned the second best option. So as Rennie was preparing to go, Kaede went ahead.

After Sav left, I asked Caeileera to help me gather our things. We left Lilyth with Ren because being Lady Ereshkigal's voice completely wore her out. I was getting seriously worried about her. So it came to me as no surprise to find Lilyth fast asleep in the chair when we came back, and Ren watching over her instead. This made me trust the former clan leader because she didn't use it as an opportunity to escape or to harm my girlfriend.

Instead, she just looked at Lilyth lost in thought.

‘You know guys… ‘she whispered. ‘I was wondering why would you guys go this far for a stranger. Especially one you know to have done horrible things in the past. But then I realised… you are all basically strangers to each other. Lilyth told me you’ve been together for what… eight days? And yet you seem well on your way to becoming an actual family.

I did a quick mental math.

‘Yeah, this is the eighth day we’ve been together. Second with Sav. As for the bad things you have done… I don’t know. I think everyone deserves a second chance. But… I just don’t know. Something in me just screams against giving you one, but turning you in just after we saved your life also feels wrong.’

‘Thank you for your honesty,’ Ren smiled sadly. ‘I don’t expect to be ever forgiven. You do realise you will be outlaws due to helping me though?’

‘I am already one,’ I said, rage building inside me. ‘I was chased out of my home because some douchebag demon is my grandfather. Lilyth says that the Inquisitor does not have legal authority to do anything to me, but I doubt it would matter if he caught me.’

‘Yes,’ Ren sighed. ‘He probably couldn't do anything to you in the city. But outside of it… who’s to say what really happened? Even inside the walls of Ror-Bhyk… people have a tendency to look away. For all it matters… I am sorry this happened to you.’

‘I doubt people would handle me differently if they discovered what I was,’ Caei said.

‘Leera didn't have issues mostly due to average people not being aware of what a Sanguine is. I doubt Temple Dragoons or the Inquisition would have… similar issues. She stayed away from Ror-Bhyk and Tyr-Mel whenever we got a whiff of them showing up. Oh…’

Ren looked on the verge of tears again.

‘I just realised,’ she continued. ‘Another reason I Went here now was due to an Inquisitor coming, apparently looking for a demonborn girl. That's you, isn't it?’

I nodded.

‘Fate is a cruel mistress,’ Ren sighed. ‘I heard… things got bad in your village after you left.’

Oh no.

‘We suspected as much, based on Lilyth's interaction with one of the Dragoons, but don't know the specifics,’ Caei answered in lieu of me.

‘If you wish, I can tell you. But it will not be easy knowledge.’

I have to know.

‘P-please tell me.’

Ren asked me to sit down on the bed. I did.

‘So…’ she sighed heavily. ‘The way this was relayed to me is that the Inquisitor was furious you got away. He… he… hanged the village elder since he suspected it was him that tipped you off. There was a riot during the execution and some of the villagers were killed trying to save him. I am so sorry.’

Each word from Ren felt like a stab in my heart.

No. No. No!

The last thing I fully remember from that moment was tears flowing to my eyes and Caei shaking Lilyth awake. Then things were a blur. I remember Lilyth embracing me, the warmth of her body, her whispers that it wasn't my fault. I think that at some point Caei joined. But, when my memories returned it was just Lilyth with me in the room we used to hide our gear in. We were sitting on the bed there, and Lilyth had her hands wrapped around me.

‘Why did Matis have to die?’ I sobbed.

‘Because he was capable of one thing the Inquisitor wasn’t: love,’ Lilyth said, her voice tearing up.

I saw she had been crying too.

‘I don’t think I ever hated anyone as much as the Inquisitor,’ I said.

‘I don’t blame you one bit, babe,’ Lilyth said. ‘He will get what's coming to him. I promise you.’

‘Thank you. I want to be the one that does it. For Matis.’

‘For Matis,’ Lilyth agreed and kissed the top of my head.

So we just sat there for a while, me nuzzled against Lilyth, either in silence, me telling her about Matis, talking about us or just crying together.

‘I’ve been wondering about one thing,’ I said after another period of silence. ‘What if our Caei also chooses Ren?’

‘I don’t think she will, but if that happens we must respect her choice. That's the hand we’ve been dealt with and we shouldn’t blame Caei for making that choice if she does make it. And hey… It’s not like they will leave us.’

‘No, I guess not. And we still will have each other, won’t we?’

‘Together till the end, Aki,’ Lilyth smiled and I kissed her.

A few minutes later Sav came in to check in on us. I saw that she had slightly puffy eyes too.

‘How are you guys doing?’ she asked.

‘As well as it’s possible given the circumstances,’ Lilyth said.

‘The fucker will pay,’ Sav said. ‘Don’t worry, Aki. We’ll get him.’

This only made me want to cry more. My friends were willing to jump straight into the fire to avenge a man they didn't know.

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‘W-why…’

‘Because we care about you, Aki,’ Lilyth said. ‘And you cared about Matis. That's enough. The blatant injustice of this does not help the Inquisitor, either.’

Sav nodded vigorously.

‘We all feel like this. Even Ren began once Caei told her about Matis being the one who took you in after your mom died. Anyway, I did get confirmation that an elf matching Kaede’s was taken to the island yesterday. I arranged transport for us but we need to get moving, as it is getting dark and the story about us had a lot of time to make rounds. So sooner or later someone might come by to finish the job.’

Pull yourself together, Aki. It’s showtime.

‘I’ll cast some protection spells on Ren to ensure no one snipes her,’ Savri continued. ‘But we still need to be careful since they are not… fool-proof.’

‘Wouldn’t they be afraid of attacking us, given what happened in the tavern?’

‘That’s irrelevant from our perspective. We have to assume they will attack.’

I shook my head.

‘I have so much to learn.’

‘It’s fine. You are nineteen, I believe, and thrust into a situation waaay over what should be expected of you. That's what I am here for, I guess. Lilyth too to some extent, though I am sorry to say that, sister: you don’t know as much about this stuff as you think you do.’

‘Ren told me the same thing,’ Lilyth said. ‘I guess I really need to learn some humility.’

‘An epiphany a lot of people really could use,’ Sav said wryly.

When we got back to the room Ren and Caei were in, we saw they were sitting on the bed holding each other. It was clear they too were crying. Upon seeing us enter, Ren got up, walked over to me and hugged me.

‘I’m sorry, Aki,’ Ren said. ‘Had I known… I would have tried to be gentler.’

‘I don’t think there is a gentle way of breaking news like this,’ Sav sadly whispered, shaking her head.

Caei was the next to hug me and then it was time for us to get going. I would have more time to mourn my dad later.

On a brighter note, Savri was able to get us some food that wasn’t preserved fish. Hardtack and cheese weren't the best kind of food, but would do in a pinch. Unfortunately, the only clothes that Sav could get for Ren on short notice was a featureless grey robe. We probably wouldn't be able to get anything better for her until we got to a larger town. We left the room to let her change in private.

'Did you ever have to break the news, Sav?’ Lilyth asked after closing the door.

‘Once. Me looking like something that tortures condemned souls in the afterlife meant I was spared that duty.

‘I can imagine,’ Lilyth shuddered.

‘The one time I volunteered for that was for this one guy from my squad. I knew his wife, and me and Paul… Captain Rykers - my squad lead, we would hang out with them. So… it felt fitting that we tell her. Just seeing us without Serge broke poor Jane. Then we delivered the hammer blow.’

‘How did he die?’ Caei asked. ‘If I may ask?’

Savri was silent for a moment and then let out a barely audible whisper:

‘The Lady of Bones took him. A lot of good people died that day and… we never got the bitch.’

We didn't press Sav for details about that incident. It felt like a story she needed to tell, but she was not ready for that.

Once Ren was done dressing there was one last question to consider.

‘Do you know how to fight?’ Sav asked her.

‘I have some archery training, but that's about that.’

Savri handed her Ulrec’s arming sword.

‘We are fresh out of bows so this will have to do.’

‘I don’t know how to use it…’ Ren protested.

‘Lesson One: Pointy end goes into the enemy stomach,’ Master Sergeant Adzhenair shut her down. ‘I can teach you more later. I imagine our resident slimeshield could use some pointers too, so you will have a sparring buddy. I’m less versed in dual-wielding falchions or glaives, but I will figure out a way to get my hands on you and Caei, Akster.’

‘But…’ Ren still wasn’t having it.

‘No “buts”, cupcake. We are happy to help you but you WILL need to carry your weight around. Especially if we ever get separated. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?’

Savri’s tone suggested that the question had only one correct answer. Ren saw it too, so she nodded.

‘Good. Let’s go, then.’

Luckily, no one bothered us on the way to the pier. The ferryman, a balding middle-aged man with brown hair and a goatee, was grumbling about it getting late, but an extra one hundred Divines shut him up.

I could see Lilyth, who was sitting next to me in her elf form, struggling to stay awake during the boat ride, so Sav sighed:

‘Drink a stamina potion. We need you on your legs for a while yet. It should give you an energy boost for a few hours. Even in your… state, I wouldn't recommend doing that too often.’

Lilyth wordlessly took hers out of her pack and drank it. Almost immediately, some life returned to her, but even I could see that it was less “regained strength” and more “adding in a twig to keep the fire going.’ I really hated the state Lilyth was in.

‘You guys Seekers?’ the ferryman asked. ‘I heard what had happened in the tavern.’

‘Something like that, yes.’ Ren answered.

I couldn't help but notice she and Caeileera were holding hands. I could feel a small pang of jealousy seeing that, but we agreed with Lilyth to give our girlfriend as much space to figure this out as she needed. And, ultimately there being some level of affection between the two, was not unexpected. And friends hold hands too. Lilyth must have felt my distress, perhaps my tail betrayed me again because she took my hand into hers. I wished we were alone because I really needed a hug.

‘Never heard of an all-female party,’ the man said. ‘But then again, we don't have a lot of Seekers up here.

‘There are a few parties like ours down south near Caiverhold,’ Rennie deftly answered. ‘More work there.’

‘Gotcha Lassie. Come all the way up here to seek out the River Goddess, eh?’

We looked at each other, not sure what to answer.

‘Yes,’ Ren answered, without waiting for our input. ‘Can you tell us more about her?’

‘Only know the few legends you likely already heard. I’m not a local mind you, I grew up in the Principality of Denyr to the south of Ror, so I only know what I heard when I moved here.

‘Humour us, please.’

‘Very well, lassie. Not much else to do, anyway. So the River Goddess, her name supposedly is Kersea, has been seen as a sort of protector of Julbar since the days of the Old Empire. You know… protecting the place from evil, granting wishes that kind of stuff. At the centre of the island, there lay a mountain, where the spring for the large stream they have there is. Supposedly, there is some cave there in which the River Goddess resides, but if it's true I have no idea where. Never put much stock into the legend anyway. Always been a worshipper of the Light, though to each his own I say. Anyway, some man from Pik-Cas, the village we are heading to, said he had found it and spoke with the goddess, which is probably the reason why the rumours started spreading around again. But… thing is he is saying the goddess is only willing to speak to him and he will be relaying her wishes to the people.’

‘All this for a charlatan,’ Lilyth shook her head sadly.

I saw Ren’s face grow gloomy and realised that my girlfriend was addressing her and not the ferryman. Our new friend must have noticed that too.

‘Wish, I had better news for you lassie. Should I turn her around?’

‘No,’ I said. ‘We still have our friend to find.’

‘Sure thing.’

We spent the rest of the journey in silence. The ferryman dropped us off on the small wharf they had in Pik-Cas, then said his goodbyes and set off home. I didn't blame him for not wanting to stay, as Len-Cas looked like Ror-Bhyk in comparison to it. Even I thought this place was a backwater, as the “village” was just a few falling-apart wooden huts. The only building that appears to have seen any sort of maintenance was the two-storey high tavern the walls of which were lime-covered and seemed to have been actually painted at some point in the past five years.

‘I hope I didn't overstep my bounds, Ren said once we were out of the ferryman’s earshot.

We gave each other confused looks.

‘You didn't,’ I said. ‘None of us could handle this as well as you did, I think.’

‘I think what my Dark Lady is saying is “Thank you for volunteering to be the party diplomat”, ‘Lilyth smiled and squeezed my hand. ‘We accept.’

I really couldn't put it better myself.

‘So you are the one in charge!’ Ren exclaimed. ‘I was really confu…’

She trailed off seeing the mildly amused expression on Lilyth's face.

‘Used to be,’ she said. ‘Was really bad at it.’

‘So it must be you, Savri.’

‘Nope.’ she laughed. ‘Only in battle.’

‘Leera couldn't lead a column on a straight road… so…’

My friends all pointed at me.

‘We are still kind of trying to regain the flow, I think,’ I shrugged.

‘But she just…’

‘...said you were now our diplomat. It’s because you are not just the best person for the job, you are also the only person among us capable of doing the job.’

Ren was looking at us in a mix of shock and horror, the thought of “what have I gotten myself into” painted on her face.

She would fit right in with us.