The nominees sat in the capitol building, mostly covered in bandages. Andal had healed the major injuries they had, but it wasn’t perfect. Just as Andal still had a slight ache in his back from where the arrow had shot him, Jeva, Nalia, and especially Grendala had aches that would stay with them forever. Vicid probably did as well, in his jaw, but he didn’t seem to mind.

Wanrod came downstairs to make an announcement, “We’re attacking Tiermac in three days!”

All the nominees looked up in surprise, and Andal protested, “Three days? Look at all our bandages, Wanrod! Grendal won’t be ready to go in three days!”

Wanrod smiled wider, “Oh, you will. Don’t underestimate what you did when you killed Glorious Manier. The Haverdash have totally changed their attitude toward us. They don’t even attack our scouts! The Haverdash have an unquenchable respect for everyone in Shrodac now, and when the ones who killed Manier move to Tiermac, they won’t want anything to do with it. You were right, Andal! Killing the Glorious Haverdash, that’s what this is about. Three days, then we march on Tiermac.”

Rumbural asked, “Wanrod, what are you talking about? Manier destroyed Rathifan, north of us, and you want us to head further South? The king is dead! We need to secure a new heir!”

“No, we do not. And no, Grendala, you don’t count. Donfas is done, that’s inevitable now. The unity of nations we had that formed this team is growing stronger. We're going to keep up the pressure on the Haverdash, rather than retreating and letting them fight us on an even border. If we make it to Hesin-re we can pull them away from Tubarai as well."

*

Lars hung onto the branch of a tree to stop himself from flying off, and Moxey did the same a few trees over. Lars shimmied down the branch and was able to reach out to another tree, gradually moving over to Moxey. "What's happening? Is it the hill we're on?"

"Yes, I think so. It doesn't want us on it. That's probably my fault, just before we started getting blown upward like this I stepped on a bare patch of ground. This hill seems to be more sensitive than most."

"Well how do we get down?"

"We could wait, but I don't know how long this will last. Let's keep working our way down; there should be enough trees."

They made it far enough to where they could let go and walk away from that hill. Moxey chuckled, "I've probably spent more time in Edezar than anyone else, but I don't think I'll ever be truly used to it."

Lars commented, "I could never. It's like dreaming in a lot of ways, but when you're dreaming you just automatically accept things. Here it feels like you're in a solid, reliable world, but you're not."

"Quite true, but unfortunately we might have to go a ways further."

"Can you at least tell me why we're here now? And, why you couldn't tell me back in Mavozshidog?"

"Yes I can. I didn't tell you then because I didn't want what I've learned to serve as a distraction to those undeserving. See how quickly you can piece it together: everything that dwells in Edezar comes to life, a reflection of something is included in that, and a soul is an entirely unique entity. Therefore what we are doing is…?"

"Hold on, I'm not with you. A reflection can come to life?"

"Yes it can, but reflections aren't normally there long enough for them to gain life. You see it with the reflections of plants by still water."

"Wow. You have this place all figured out."

Moxey made a quick exhale that couldn't quite be called a laugh, "Hardly. There's a lot more to this place, but I'm questioning the fairies about it constantly."

Lars tapped his chest, "What about our clothes? Those don't come to life."

"No, they seem not to. I think it's the proximity they have to something that was already living when it came into Edezar, perhaps some aura of living things effects them. It should be easy to test, we can just leave some clothes on the ground and leave someone to watch them."

"I don't envy whoever gets that job. I don't think I'll be able to guess what you want me to, but I'll keep clarifying anyway, what do you mean souls are unique?"

Moxey raised a finger by his face, "I mean, there can only be one. They are uncopyable, and each distinct. If something has the quality of a soul then you can logically deduce that it must be that soul!"

Lars took a moment to think, then asked, "Those points seem pretty unrelated. Unless, can you make a reflection of a soul?"

"Hahaa! You're getting it! You can, Lars. By reliving your memories, and focusing those memories to a location in front of you, a reflection of your soul can be formed in the Edezar. Which means?"

“I would say it meant that you could make a lesser copy of your soul, but you said it can’t be copied, so I don’t know what it means.”

“It means that when you die, and your soul would go wherever the soul does, that location which wants to become alive becomes the new location of your soul! The soul cannot be duplicated, so it is in fact, your same soul. You are, quite literally, given new life. You don’t have the body that you did, but that could be solved later. The most important step, new life, has been taken care of.”

Lars stumbled away from Moxey with a face of disbelief, “New life? You’re saying that you know how to be immortal, and we’re going to do that right now?”

“Yes, we are. Were we to die again, we would simply have to go through this process again. There is a risk that the reflection could be removed, but that’s why we’re out so deep into Edezar. We are looking for a specific formation that the fairies told me about, which should be an inherently safe space. We’ll go through this process, and the Glorious should as well. I don’t mean to imply they are worried about their mortality. We don’t even know if the Glorious are mortal. We won’t know for decades if they age. I can worry about their mortality for them.”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

*

The time for the attack on Tiermac came. Grendala didn't have the strength in her for a proper curse, so this time she went for a more offensive approach. She had control over all kinds of energies within her, acquired by her diet of unique ingredients. For a lot of the time she empowered her body to be able to fling around the Haverdash helplessly, serving as another person keeping the Haverdash from piling on them, along with Rumberal, and somewhat Hanyr and Andal.

The team had more cohesion this time, actually having experienced leading an attack on a city before. Though, it was also easier to have more cohesion because the Haverdash were applying less pressure on them than they had in Shrodac.

Wanrod's words rang true: the Haverdash we're giving the nominees too much respect. They weren't being aggressive enough, and the nominees could act freely to counter those with strong hallucinations.

The part of the attack on Tiermac that was significantly harder than that on Shrodac was clearing the Haverdash presence in terms of the gas, other drugs, and vines. Tiermac had been under Haverdash control for almost four months, and the Haverdash could change a lot in such a time.

The longer occupation of Tiermac was also clear from the state of the human slaves. Portions of the city (largely in specific buildings the slaves were meant to operate in) were set aside to not be filled with gas, but they weren't able to completely avoid exposure, and not all of the humans worked in such areas. Most of the humans in the city had degraded to barely-recognizable husks, incapable of eating anything but the lightest food and drinking only slight sips of water. Their serviceability was essentially over, so they probably would have been thrown out soon.

The attack was a success, and the Haverdash were driven out. At the same time, Rumberal was not in a celebratory mood. He went to Wanrod to talk privately; "Wanrod, our plan cannot possibly be to continue pushing into Haverdash territory on our own, is it?"

"It is, and if we can push as far as Hesin-re we would have broken up Haverdash supply lines on three fronts."

Rumberal leaned in and spoke fiercely, "What about our supply line, Wanrod? We don't have a supply line! Why does it matter what we have to gain if we are going to die on the way?"

"We're working on that, Rumberal. Remember that Tharrow and I can communicate over long distances. The Haverdash may be in all our adjacent cities, and Rathifan may be in ashes behind us, but as long as we can communicate we can work something out."

"So this is a bet? Stop gambling, Wanrod! If you don't have anything set up, we should stop pushing south! Let's go northwest and make an attack while getting us back to where we can receive support!"

Wanrod and Rumberal held a defiant gaze. After what felt like minutes, Wanrod partially yielded, "I'll discuss it with Tharrow and Brunstrog. We'll see if they think the risk reward ratio is good or not."

Wanrod turned to go, but Rumberal made sure to add, "I don't know for certain we have enough troops for another attack! Have you not been counting our losses? We nominees could do our job well enough, but we can't kill a city of Haverdash ourselves!"

*

Moxey pushed aside the branch of a willow tree covered in shining blue crystals, pushing deeper into an area shaded by thick foliage that was lit only by reflective light. Lars could tell they were going down in elevation, but the uneven ground made that change subtle.

Moxey told him, "This is it. This is the formation I've been looking for."

Lars commented, "I feel a powerful sense of peace filling me."

"Yes, that's something we'll just have to deal with. It is because of the intense peace in this area that it's the spot we need to create the reflections. If they get destroyed by some roaming force, it's pointless. Let's go a little bit deeper before we start, just to be sure."

After they'd walked for another minute, Lars said, "I'm not sure about this."

Moxey gave him a stern, concerned look, "What do you mean?"

Lars hesitated to share his fear, instead saying, "I can't possibly remember my whole life, how could I make a reflection of my soul with only some memories?"

"Ah." Moxey waved his hand flippantly, "That's not an issue. It's not who you were any given second, simply who you are now that you need to reflect. That means you only need the memories you remember." He looked around where they were at, "This spot is good. Let's begin."

Lars interrupted, "I don't want to relive my memories."

Moxey cocked an eyebrow, "I see. I admit I can't empathize with you, as your life has more of a dichotomy than mine. Do not be a coward though, you'd be holding yourself back if you didn't do this."

Moxey approached a dry spot of ground, "Choose an area to put your reflection and start going through your memories; to be mortal or immortal is an obvious choice."

Lars found a knothole in a tree to place his, and started going through his earliest memories. They came to him easily, and it was like he was living them again. His first memory was of fishing on the dock with the men of the town. He was small and weak at the time, but he was able to pull in his first catch all on his own. There was a boy a little younger than him there, but he hadn't caught anything. It looked like he was going to cry, but Lars gave him his fish, and the boy cheered right up. His name was Andal, and they became quick friends after that.

He felt so profoundly different he could barely understand it. There was no pain in that memory, no fear. He felt excited and happy to catch a fish, and happy in another way to share that fish and make a friend. What changed?

The memories continued to flow. He recalled many stories, fantastical or supposedly real, and dreamt again of being like those heroes. He had a particular affinity for those that chose to do the brave thing in disobedience to others, which he related to because of the foolish guidance of his father.

Then he remembered when he and Andal visited that Haverdash house. Wanting to understand the world, and seeing the warnings against it as the kind of guidance that bravery would ignore, he changed his life irreparably.

Lars jumped back and cried out in distress, breaking the reflection he was making. When his ambitious, hopeful outlook was transformed into the pained, angry, fear-filled way he lived now, he couldn't bear it. He looked at Moxey, who was deeply focused on making his own reflection, and said, "I don't want to relive my life. Sorry. I'll wait outside."

Moxey's face kept its meditative expression, but Lars could feel the disappointment.

*

Wanrod called the nominees together, with Tharrow and Brunstrog present. Rumberal remarked, "I hope you're not telling us we're going to be attacking another city in three days."

Hanyr agreed, "Right, at this point we should start clearing the smaller towns of Haverdash anyway."

Wanrod held up his hands for silence, "All your fears have been abated. Not only are you getting what you want, you are getting something we all have hoped for. Tharrow and I have been in contact with the new leadership, the Council of Nations. They have contacted the Council of Six that the Haverdash have via messenger, and we have come to an agreement."

The nominees all shot up in their seats in surprise, and Jeva asked, "We made an agreement with the Haverdash?"

Wanrod smiled, "I haven't said the best part yet. Two of you will accompany a representative of the Council of Nations as bodyguards to a neutral location several miles from here. There, our representative and theirs will negotiate a peace treaty!"

Most of the nominees jumped up and cheered, but Brunstrog interrupted them, "Hold on, let Wanrod finish his announcement!"

They contained their excitement, and Wanrod added, "Those two that have been chosen are Andal and Jeva, because they have the best connection and teamwork out of any two of you." He clapped his hands together, "Now you can cheer."

The advisors left the room with beaming faces, and Rumberal led the nominees in a cheer behind them.

*

Moxey and Lars exited the meadanim to arrive back in Mavozshidog, and a Haverdash immediately ran up to them. "Moxey! We've been waiting for you!"

Moxey told him, "Well, wha-"

The Haverdash interrupted him, "Glorious Manier is dead, killed by the nominees of the Council of Nations, which has taken up authority over all the territories of Donfas!"

Moxey's mouth fell open, and the Haverdash continued, "They since captured Tiermac, and have demonstrated themselves to be a powerful force against us! The Council of Six has been in contact with the Council of Nations, and has come to an agreement that peace negotiations will happen in a neutral area outside of Tiermac!"

Moxey blurted in offense, "Peace negotiations?"

"Yes, and you have been selected by the Council as the representative of the Haverdash! Glorious Trots gave you this message specifically, 'Let them know our terms.’"

Moxey's outrage melted, "Oh, those kinds of negotiations. I see. Give me the exact location, and tell the council it will be done according to their will."