Riven wasn’t one to give in to temptations easily. He had ignored the cigars his classmates back in Norreston tried, among other things, and he wasn’t about to start giving in to temptations now. Though the idea of surrendering to the agony was very tempting. The sword piercing his leg played a melody of pain that made his whole body freeze up and tremble all at the same time. It would be so easy to simply lie down and wait until enough blood had passed out to put him to sleep for good. At least the agony would stop then.

What was there to get back up for? He had failed when it counted, hadn’t he? He was supposed to have stood shoulder to shoulder with Glaven, yet his brother ended up dead at the hands of their enemies. Worse, Glaven had died trying to protect Riven. It was entirely his fault.

Weak. He was so weak. So incapable of summoning the needed strength when it mattered most. He’d failed Darley and Bartle back in Welmark too, after all. He was useless. No one in the world needed anything to do with him for he was of benefit to none. Riven had arrived at Severance Frontier to find a cure for his ailing mother, and after all these weeks, he’d found nothing. Squat. Absolute nil. Soon enough, all else he was connected to would fail as well. Father would be defeated, Rose would be captured, Viriya might be killed for she wasn’t one to allow herself to get captured—

Viriya. And Rose. Riven breathed in, harsh and fast, quicker and quicker. What was he doing, lying here and bemoaning his dumb fate? There were people he could help, friends, family, lives.

And here he was moaning and groaning. Scions, he deserved getting run through by that damn blue sword.

With a curse, Riven sat up. His whole body twinged, the numerous cuts inflicted by Weathering all crying out as one. Damn it all to the Chasm, he was lucky not to have been shredded to ribbons. He shook his head. No. Giving up was out of the question. There were still things Riven could do, still some effort he could put in to make sure things didn’t turn out as dire as he believed they might.

Focus. That was what he did to draw in his Essence, and that was what he needed now to get out of this bind. He leaned forward, hands gripping the hilt of the blue Coral sword tight. It was a little far from his body and he had to really lean in, the resultant stretching making all his wounds flare like he was being shocked.

Riven grit his teeth. This was it.

With a quick, strong tug, Riven pulled the sword out of his leg. He shrieked as the blade rasped against this flesh, more blood squirting out at the tug. The blade had been buried deep, and he had to lay his leg flat to get the right angle and pull the sword out completely. As expected, the motion caused an even greater spike of agony, and Riven swore at everything he could think of. When the accursed blade was finally out, Riven took a shuddering, gasping breath and let the damn thing fall. It clattered on the ground, leaving little crimson trails, like the start of some insane ritual.

Riven blinked away the tears and tried to steady his breathing. Blood was pouring out of the wound fast as a faucet, forming a dark, rapidly-growing pool. Scions, he’d die in a few heartbeats if he didn’t do something. Riven tore away the lower halves of his trouser legs, trying to remember his self-help first-aid lessons. Blood flow had to be staunched first, so simply wrapping the wound wouldn’t do. Not with that deep a hole.

Taking a deep breath, Riven flattened his leg on the ground and stuffed both ends of the gory hole with balled-up pieces of fabric he’d torn from his trousers. He cursed. Chasm, it nearly made him pass out. He had to take a moment to focus against the pain, but his hands remained steady as he then wrapped the whole area of the injury with a longer piece of fabric.

There. He was done. His wound was bound in a neat little wrap that was already soaked with his blood. But the flow of blood exiting his wound slowed down. He’d done well enough for now.

Riven tried to stand. Another little shriek tried to escape his mouth, but he bit down on. Damn it, he’d shrieked enough for one night. Anymore, and he might as well send up flares indicating where he was. Orbray could come pick him up personally.

But where to now? Riven’s eyes fell on the distant form of his brother lying flat on the ground several yards away. The Firstmarked had pushed Riven back hard. He had to stand for a moment and blink hard. Scions, he had survived a literal monster of a Firstmarked, and all because a timer had run out and she had died. He had to count himself lucky.

Scions-blessed, perhaps.

Scions… would Glaven turn into a Deathless? Would Weathering, and Olsten, and Tam back in Providence too? He had been too absorbed by everything that had gone, but now the Essentier from Rattles came roaring back in his head. Darley’s other father had turned into a demon. What would any of them become?

Riven turned away from his brother. His heart clenched as he faced away, eyes prickling again. No, damn it. He had cried enough for one night too. He stepped away. Glaven was dead, and maybe the bastard deserved more respect than lying out here in the wild, but Riven had other priorities. The living came before the dying, always.

It was a difficult trudge. He didn’t really walk, instead using the long, blue sword he had picked back up as a crutch of sorts to drag his injured leg along with him. For all the destruction and madness that had happened so far this night, their little battle had been sequestered into a tiny zone.

Riven had no trouble locating his car. His bag wasn’t hard to find either. The car had survived Olsten’s throw enough to still be in a somewhat recognizable shape, though two of its doors had popped off, its roof had caved in, and if Riven wasn’t mistaken, its engine was missing from underneath its bonnet entirely for some Scions-forsaken reason, as though some thief had come and stolen it away.

No matter. Riven hadn’t been expecting to use this car anyway. He sank against one of the seats with a sigh of relief and began stuffing all the Sept he’d brought from the facility into his large bag.

Once done, he pulled himself to his feet again and walked off. There was some dead Sept in there, but he couldn’t be bothered to rid himself of it at the moment.

He didn’t get far. Two figures were waiting for him near the dead bodies.

“Who are you?” Riven asked.

The taller figure stepped forward. Riven pulled up his Essence armour, and the golden glow revealed the newcomer to be a big man with a patchy beard. “My name’s Raynard.” He nodded at the shorter, stouter man just behind him. “This is Starls. We’re not enemies. You can trust us.”

“Really?”

Raynard raised his hands in the air. “See. No intention of harming anyone here. We only want to talk, and help, if you will have us.”

Riven didn’t relax. He couldn’t pull his sword up and attack thanks to his injured leg, but he had his Essence ready. If they made any sudden moves, he could transfer his shield to them. “You haven’t answered me. Who are you?”

The stouter man stepped forward. He was shorter than his companion, but he still stood half a head taller than Riven. “We’re Rennervation Essentiers. Please, we just want to talk. We can see you’re on edge after everything that’s happened, and you’re understandably devastated, but we’re here to help. Give us the benefit of hearing us out at least.”

“I’m listening.”

The two Essentiers looked at each other. Riven frowned. The look they exchanged was troubling, like it hinted there was something deeper going on they simply couldn’t shout out.

“We were hoping you’d lend us a quiet ear, Riven Morell,” Raynard said.

Riven shook his head. “I said, I’m listening.”

Raynard sighed. “Invigilator Aross sends her regrets. She is unfortunately occupied and thus cannot be of much overt assistance. But she has sent the two of us in secret to find you and help you. You can trust us.”

Too many questions popped into Riven’s head at that, and he had to take some time to parse them into a semblance of order. “Why does Aross want to help me?”

Raynard frowned, probably at the use of the Invigilator’s name instead of her title. “She has no love for Orbray and wants him to be toppled from his perch. She secretly supports Rosbel Morell’s claim to the position. But she cannot make any overt moves for Orbray foresaw this and has his agents, both soldiers and Essentiers, locked in key places. However, she has other ways she intends to help, and we’re just the beginning of that assistance.”

“Oh! So that must be why the Ascension Essentiers were here.”

“Yes, the Lintellant research facility was one of the first areas they overtook.”

“How can I trust you, though? I’ve only just met you, and you’re telling me to give up and go along with you? For all I know, you could be a trap sent by Orbray.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“We foresaw this actually,” Starls said. He dug around in his pocket and produced an envelope, holding it out before him. “There wasn’t much that could convince you, but we received this as surety. Apparently, this letter should convince you.”

“Letter?”

“Yes.”

Riven frowned for a moment. Who in the world could have sent him a letter at a time like this. He limped forward, using the sword as a crutch and wincing at the pain in his leg, but still keeping both eyes trained on the two Essentiers. “Any sudden moves…”

Starls shook his head slowly. “You can trust us.”

Riven reached the stout man and snatched the envelope in his hands. Immediately, he took a sharp breath. He knew this envelope, the feel of the paper so familiar, his hands began to tremble again. It couldn’t be. What in the Chasm was it doing in their hands?

He tore it open, flattening the missive on his hand. The handwriting sent a pang echoing through his heart. His hands shook as he started reading.

Hello Riven.

I hope this letter finds you in good health. It has come to my knowledge that you may be in some trouble soon, so I am sending this letter to people I trust. Which means, you can trust them too. Remember what I said? Have faith. Never forget that in times of great uncertainty, the best decision is to find something to believe in and stick to it. Fight for it. Be impossible to shake loose from it.

And you are capable of that a thousand times over. I know you. I believe in you. I’ve been hearing grave things, but I trust you will look after first yourself, then your father and your siblings. Have faith in them as well.

Remember, my son, to never lose hope. Where there is life, there is hope. There is always a chance, however minuscule, no matter how much it appears as though odds are stacked against you.

Don’t give up. Have faith in those who love you, but most importantly, have faith in yourself.

Send my love to Rose and Glaven.

Eternal Love,

Mother.

A letter from Mother. At a time like this. His hands shook harder than ever, and damn the Chasm, his eyes were going misty again, but he read the letter a few times more. Everything about it reminded him of Mother. Mother, and home. Her curled letters, the way she phrased her sentences, the care she took in pressing certain things.

Riven’s tears smudged the ink. Scions, what he wouldn’t give to get back home now. But what would he say when he got there? How would he have explained Glaven’s death, especially to someone who wasn’t far from death’s door herself? But he needed to go back. Needed a soft bed, a soft touch in his hair, soft words spoken to soothe away the troubles. The softness of Mother.

Stuck so far away, it didn’t seem he was going to feel any of that ever again.

“Is that satisfactory proof?” Starls asked.

Riven rubbed away his tears and stuffed the hammering of his heart for something to deal with later. He was grateful both newcomers pretended not to notice his reaction. “Where did you get this letter?”

“Check the address.”

Riven did so. At the top, there was no mention of his name or the address of his home in Providence. Instead, the name made his breath halt for a second—Aross Rutter. Mother had sent this letter, this so very personal missive, to the Invigilator of Rennervation Demesne. People I trust. Faith.

“All right,” Riven said. “Fine, I trust you and give you the benefit of a doubt. But can we sit down? My legs are killing me.”

#

Riven sat down beside his dead brother. It was only right he give Glaven’s corpse some company before he had to inevitably leave. He was in no condition to dig a grave and wasn’t about to ask two complete strangers to do so. Besides which, there was also no specially-sculpted tombstone.

Company was sadly the best send-off Glaven as going to get.

Raynard and Starls seemed to be a little on edge, sitting so close to death. Their silver Thirdmarked badges glinted despite the lack of light, mirroring the shine of Riven’s own. Their unease set Riven on edge too.

Though it was at least partly his own damn fault. After all, how had a Thirdmarked like him not just survived but defeated a Firstmarked and a Secondmarked?

“I don’t approve of this,” Nivi said, sitting further away from the rest of them there. She had come in after Riven and the other two had decided on a spot to hold their little talk, and her shock at what she’d seen still haunted Riven’s head. He couldn’t get the image of her staring agog at Glaven’s body out of his mind. Nivi was strong though, and she had overcome whatever misgivings to come and sit in on the meeting. Though now she was staring at Riven’s leg injury, and he had no way to hide it. “Providence is a trap. Everyone knows it. Everyone expects it. You walk in there and you’re going to set off every alarm, everywhere.”

“That’s the thing,” Riven argued. “It’s such an obvious choice, they’re going to think no way in the Chasm would I ever return. So it works in my favour if I go there. Orbray can’t think I’m that dumb.”

“You’re thinking a little too far ahead for dear, old Orbray.”

“For what it’s worth,” Starls said. “I also don’t think going to Providence is the wisest of moves. Invigilator Aross asks us to help you help her, ultimately. Providence is in the very opposite direction to the heart of Rennervation.”

“Yes,” Raynard agreed. “If we can free the Invigilator and drive out Orbray from Rennervation, she will be able to rally her forces and we can then truly help Rosbel Morell.”

Riven shook his head. “You need to stop trying to make sense. It’s not going to work. My priorities aren’t Invigilators and who becomes the next big thing or anything like that. I have a friend out there who needs my help. My sister might already be dead or captured for all I know and I need to know for sure. Those are my priorities.”

He didn’t even mention Rio. The lanky bastard was an Ascension Essentier after all, and Riven couldn’t even begin to fathom his intentions. But he owed Rio all the same.

“Riven.” Nivi stared him in the eyes, though he could see it took some effort for her to not look at his wound. She had pleaded with Riven to come back to the facility to get himself seen, only to realize that most of the facility had been burned down or blown to bits. Riven had grimaced at that. That was his fault too. “We both know what Rose would want here, and that’s to think of the greater good. It hurts me to say this, but we need to do what’s best for taking down Orbray, not taking care of individual matters.”

“Again, my priorities are different. Thank the Scions I haven’t been indoctrinated into this cult of the Demesnes you lot have going on. Unlike you, I care more for the people within them.”

“That’s very unfair. You know I care. We’re all trying to do the best thing here, not just for us, but for everyone, and sometimes that involves making temporary sacrifices.”

Riven’s mouth pressed into a thin line as he stared to his left. “Oh? Just like Glaven here?”

They didn’t say anything at that. It wasn’t happenstance that Riven had brought them all over here to this spot where his brother lay, dead to the world for good. The edge of Glaven’s pool of blood brushed against Riven. It kept growing though. Would the other three move if it reached them?

Nivi sighed. “Regardless of what we do, we still need a plan.”

“Why me?” Riven asked the Rennervation Essentiers. He hadn’t told any of them what Mhell had said about the Sept crystal being the Scion’s piece Orbray needed to bring a Scion into the world. “Why did Aross send two Essentiers to come after little Riven Morell?”

“Don’t look so little to me,” Starls muttered as he stared around.

Riven held back his glare. Mother’s letter was tucked safely inside his jacket but he had difficulty trusting them. It was only after Nivi’s reassurances that he had opened up.

Raynard shot him a look he didn’t catch, then turned to face Riven again, a slight glumness settling on the taller man’s face. “I think you may suspect this already, but Invigilator Aross wanted to meet with one of your siblings. She knew Rosiene Morell frequented the Lintellant facility and hoped Miss Morell would show up. Not to say your presence and potential contribution is at all undervalued or will go unappreciated,” he added quickly.

Riven snorted. “You though to get my sister, yet you got two brothers, one dead, the other not much better off.”

Raynard winced. “You’re not with Orbray, and we can be thankful for that much, at least.”

“Listen, I’ve stated my priorities and I intend to see them through.” Riven leaned forward and winced as his wounds flared. Nivi might only have eyes for his leg, but the cuts everywhere else burned like dancing lightning too. “But I do want to honour whatever hope Aross had with me. I want to help. And this goes for my plan as well, Nivi. Soon as I make sure Viriya and Rose are all right, I’ll come back to Rennervation and settle everything here. I promise.”

They didn’t answer for a while, and Riven realized it sounded like such a boast. Who was he to take care of everything on his own? Just a damn Thirdmarked who had lucked his way to surviving against stronger opponents.

“That’s an enormous undertaking,” Starls said. “Are you sure you can handle it?”

“Look around you. Didn’t I handle that too?”

Once again, they had no answer. Whatever and whoever Riven might be, the proof of his prowess lay all around them. Nivi didn’t even look doubtful. She’d seen what he had done in the research facility after all, been witness to how he had used his Essence to save Arrilme and Franry.

“A time then,” Starls said. “Give us a time when you’ll be back.”

“No,” Raynard said before Riven could reply. “I’ll come with you. You can’t do it alone, not in your condition. Like it or not, you need help.”

Riven smiled a little. “I was never opposed to help. I don’t know how we might get to Providence though.”

“Take the car,” Nivi said. She was staring back at his injured leg, brows drawn in a furrow of concern. “I’d like to look at your injuries first though.”

“How would you treat anything with everything… well, gone?”

“Not everything is gone, Riven. Like the car, we saved quite a lot. We’re resourceful that way.”

“But what will you do afterwards? What are your plans?”

“I need to get to Aross. I’m going to take all the people with me too, and she’ll see exactly what Orbray and his goons intended to do.” There was a fire in her voice and in the low glimmer of her eyes. “Starls can come with me, since Raynard is going with you. We’ll set up the Saving Invigilator Aross plan for you.”

That sounded like an enormous undertaking to Riven, but he didn’t comment. It was bad enough he had to deal with everything on his plate, and he didn’t have the mental capacity to worry about Nivi and all else too. Though, thinking that didn’t stop the doubts from nagging him. For all any of them knew, Nivi could end up killing herself.

“Just be careful,” Riven said. “No need to be reckless and throw everything away, right?”

The darkness didn’t hide Nivi’s smile. “Look who’s talking.” She stood up, then approached him, helping him rise with a hand under his arms. Small she might have been, but she was pretty strong. “Let’s get you fixed up a bit. Then we can see to getting started on our operation against Orbray.”

“But what about…” Riven’s eyes fell on Glaven. His brother looked peaceful, at ease in a way he had never done in life. There was even the hint of a smile on his lips.

“Don’t worry,” Nivi whispered. “I’ll take care of him. You’ve done enough for now, so just give yourself a break, okay? Lean on me.”

His heart spasmed at the thought of leaving his brother all alone like this. But they were pressed for time. Riven sighed, limping away with Nivi’s help and the Rennervation Essentiers followed. It felt nice to let go a little, to not have to depend solely on himself to get going. He wasn’t alone. He had help. No one could answer what it might amount to in the end, but at least he could count on others.

He kept a tight grip on his new sword. His sword now, for he had won it hard in battle and Glaven had left it to him as a dying wish—Riven would cut his way to victory with this sword.