Ashflows

Slyran watched as his daughter and son came back down the steps and met up with Isa before going outside.

"I'll just be having them out front," Isa said softly, her feline eyes trained intensely on Lorzio, who simply smiled at her. Slyran's children's voices audibly shuddered when the valendi's teeth bared in what was supposed to be a calming gesture which simply did not work. As Isa ushered them outside and the door shut, an awkward silence fell over the room as the faint sounds of their feet trudging through snow grew quieter and quieter.

A silence that was soon broken by Cailynn's voice, her tone as cold as ice, "What the fuck are you doing here, you conniving skink? Give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't turn you to ash."

Slyran raised a cautious hand to his wife and said, "Cailynn, please—"

Cailynn's eyes shot daggers at him as her face contorted with disgust. "Are you seriously going to fucking defend him?!"

Slyran bit his lower lip and said, "N-No but—"

Lorzio raised his hands to show he meant no harm and said, "I know you're still upset, Moon—"

"Upset?!" Cailynn recoiled. "Upset?! I'm more than fucking upset!" She shouted as she jammed her finger into the valendi's chest. "It's because of you that Cyrus is dead! You killed her! You fucking killed her!"

Slyran balled his fists as his teeth pierced his lower lip when they clenched filling his mouth with the taste of iron. Taking a deep breath, he looked at his wife and shuddered as he stepped forward and gently gripped her shoulder. "Cailynn, I'm upset too, but please, let Lorzio speak."

Cailynn's lower lip quivered; her eyes red as tears began to form on the brim. With a quick wipe of her wrists, she cleared them and sniffed before taking a deep breath to steel herself as she glared unimaginable hate at the man across from her.

Lorzio looked back at her, his face steely and emotionless. He finally blinked, his guttural tone wavering slightly. He said, "I know it's my fault, Moonweaver."

Cailynn rolled her eyes and said, "Stop it! Stop calling me that! I've forsaken that title long ago."

Lorzio lowered his head. "I'm aware of that," he said. "I just got caught up in the moment. My apologies." He shook his head and looked up at her. "No matter what I say, Cailynn, I know you'll never forgive me or see things as I do."

"We can both agree on that," Cailynn said as she crossed her arms.

Lorzio took a tentative step forward and lifted a clawed hand out to her as if requesting that she take it. "But I come to you and your family with urgent news that I know will help you." His voice wavered.

Cailynn's head cocked to the side, and she scowled. "Why should we care what you have to say?" Sylran's hand gripped Cailynn's shoulder reassuringly once more.

"Because I want to make things right!" Lorzio said as both of his hands reached out pleadingly.

Slyran's eyebrows raised as Cailynn flat-out scoffed and laughed, her head flung back as she gleefully howled as if the man had made a joke.

Her husband sighed and closed his eyes. "Cailynn, please, let him speak."

"Speak?" Cailynn looked at her husband, giggling as she wiped the fresh tears from her eyes as she sniffed and scowled. "This snake,” She sneered, “wants to slither into our home and repent." She looked back at Lorzio. "Do you honestly think you can ever make things right?"

Lorzio flinched and shook his head. "No! I'm not sure; I doubt I'll ever be able to make things right, but that doesn't mean I can't try at least." He lowered himself to his knees as both Sylran and Cailynn looked down at him, surprised as the valendi groveled. "I know there is no place left for me in the Current when I go and that my time on Enora is coming to a close. Yet please, allow me the privilege of knowing that at least when I go, I know that I helped the ones I wronged." He looked up at the two of them. "Please, I have nothing to gain from this. My employer doesn't even know I'm here, and the information I have will surely make it so that I'll lose my head if they find out. So please, I beg, let me speak." He bowed his head.

Sylran looked at Cailynn, who scowled, closed her eyes, and then sighed. Her face softened ever so slightly, yet her eyes still raged with an inferno as she reopened them and looked at Lorzio.

"Fine," she said. "You can say your piece and leave. Now get up." She jutted her thumb upwards.

Lorzio nodded, pushed himself to his feet, and dusted off his pants. "Thank you, Cailynn. May we use your table?"

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"As you're aware, the Sovereign Right has eyes nearly everywhere," Lorzio said as the three of them cleared off the kitchen table. Stacking their children's books and school utensils off to the side, Lorzio reached into his suit to pull out a manila folder and place it on the table.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

He opened the folder and began to spread out finely typed documents and scrycaptured pictures of what seemed to be aerial images of camouflaged installations that are just barely noticeable and maps.

"Two years ago," Lorizio continued, "I was promoted to be the Guiding Hand, and I oversaw much of the intelligence coming in and out of the organization, and what we uncovered was deeply troubling." He looked to Slyran and Cailynn as they sifted through the documents on the table; their faces scrunched and squinted as they read over the finely printed text.

Lorzio placed both of his palms on the table and said, "Darkness is coming to all of Enora; the Rusivite's are preparing for something drastic, and yet more importantly, it'll happen here." He tapped on the table. "Oren will be on the frontlines."

Cailynn looked up from the document, her brow knitted in a bit of skepticism. "There hasn't been a war in over two millennia; Lorzio, G.A.N., has kept the peace since the Twilight War; surely if Rusimia was going to attack Heinmarr," she tapped the map of the Heinmarr and Rusimia border, riddled with battle lines. "The rest of the Global Alliance would interfere."

Lorzio nodded his head in agreement. "You're right to think that, and they will. Yet Rusimia is not alone in this." He reached for the folder, sifted through more of the documents, and produced a handful of others written in various languages, such as the xhin tongue and khemu, the spoken languages of the Xing and Kossastan empires. "The Warrirors of Light are mustering their forces, and those documents there explain the cry for a Keshmeniri, a Great Crusade."

"You're fucking kidding me," Slyran muttered under his breath as he looked over the papers. "The bastards want to strike the Wall. Religious nuts, they're going to plunge the entire world into war if this is to be believed!"

"Exactly." Lorzio nodded and reiterated, "An attack on the wall is an attack on all." He took a deep breath. "From what my boys have shown me, Rusimia has already called upon thirty thousand able bodies and has been stockpiling weapons and gold for their war chest. Supplies and troops have been subtly shifting towards the border for some time now, and estimates have it that they plan to attack in roughly one and a half to two years."

Cailynn and Slyran glanced at one another and then back at Lorzio. "Why did you come to us with this, Lorzio?" Slyran asked as Lorzio glanced at him, dumbfounded.

"I told you already; I want you both and your children to make it out of here. Leave, leave, before this war breaks out." He gestured to the front door. "Find some place safe. The two of you are well off and have experience on the road; find a summer home away from all of this, like Yankston or Kaesolona."

Cailynn took a deep breath and gently took Slyran by the hand. "Do you believe him?"

Lorzio gasped, "Why would I lie? What possibly would I have to gain from this?"

Slyran closed his eyes and thought for a second. "Everything he said correlates to what Herbert told me. Mr. Olson apparently is also aware of something big going down, but not in this much detail." Slyran pinched the bridge of his nose. "I thought it was just rumors. You know? The Rusivite's are always posturing and flexing their muscles, yet if this is lining up to be true…" He took a deep breath, looked at Lorzio, and said, "I believe you, and I thank you for coming to warn us."

Cailynn nodded, her mood visibly softening as if hearing Slyran's words removed a weight from her shoulders. Though, as she looked at Lorzio, her expression still held a bit of firmness. "Thank you," she said. "If Slyran believes you, then I will too." The question that comes next, though, is what to do."

"You leave," Lorzio responded almost instantly. "Toss everything into a wagon and go and go far."

"Well, thank you, Mr. Blaxen, but it isn't that simple. Unlike the last time we met, we have children now. Rounding them up and uprooting everything would be devastating for them. Not to mention a costly endeavor; while we are well off, we're not that well off. We don't even own a strider or a wagon." She sighed.

Slyran came over to Cailynn and gripped her shoulder once more. "Well, just as Lorzio said, we have time, Cailynn, just not a lot of it." Slyran said as he draped an arm around his wife. "We'll figure something out; we always do. I can check by Harold's when the snow fall lightens and see if he has a strider available, and I can check by Henderson's shop and commission a wagon."

"Yes. You do have some time, but it is of the utmost importance that you find someplace safe." Lorzio straightened up. "I won't be taking up too much of your time, though I'll let you know I will be staying in town for the remainder of the winter and spring for work. I'll be at the Step Right Inn."

"Well, now I know where to keep Luna and Varis away from," Cailynn muttered under her breath, and Slyran snorted.

"Again, thank you, Lorzio." Slyran stepped forward. "I'll help you clean this up and take you back out to your strider." He stuck his hand out respectfully, and Lorzio took it and shook. "If we have any more questions, I'll reach back out.

Releasing his hand, Lorzio nodded before hesitating. "Oh, one more thing. Major General Holser's third brigade will be arriving in Oren come spring, as the rest of his division has been instructed to bolster the Strickland line. So, expect this place to get crowded."

"Are they not doing the Frostland March this year?" Slyran asked as he began to place all the intelligence papers back into the folder.

"I don't recall hearing it'd be cancelled." Lorzio picked up the folder and stuffed it into his coat. "And I doubt the Kaiser would risk canceling such an event." The two men straightened up and nodded to each other, as well as Cailynn. With a deep intake of air, Lorzio donned his hat and said, "Farewell, Cailynn." To which the elven woman didn't respond.

As Lorzio and Slyran approached the front door, Lorzio's gaze darted to the window, where a fleeting shadow passed by. As Slyran unlocked the front door, he remained silent but narrowed his eyes.

"Ah shit, it's bloody cold. I hope you bundled up well," the elf muttered as he gestured for Lorzio to step out.

With his trench coat snugged up, Lorzio went out onto the modest front porch and swiftly cocked his head to the right, where the snow-covered shrubs in front of the house sat iced over. He gazed in the direction of the window and observed little footprints facing right up against it; then, as his gaze drew to the left, he caught sight of a young Elven girl's expression peering at him from behind a bush. A combination of his snort and smile—which revealed his teeth—caused the girl to squeal and duck behind the shrub.

"I forgot to mention Slyran." He snarled mischievously.

"Aye, what is it?" The man said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and began to trudge towards the large, dark-scaled land strider at his property fence. He could see Isa trying to stop Varis from provoking the creature.

"Your children, they're adorable."