“Show me that it’s possible to get your kind in line, and maybe our next meeting won’t start with me incinerating you.” Assuming the Anatla haven’t already done so by then.
We drop Anoures off a kilometre from a major village on our path north again. Considering her strength and influence, she’ll have a crew of heqet sailing her towards whatever throne she sits in no time. The only reason I don’t dump her in the village proper, is my lacking desire to be attacked again.
The heqet’s face grows strained. She sighs and forces a smirk. “You’re giving me quite the challenge, you know? But I shall do my best.”
I nod at her, grateful that she’s taking it seriously.
“I do hope that when we next meet, it will be under better circumstances,” she says. “Though I wouldn’t oppose a good fight.”
I’m not sure I ever will return. Even ignoring the Anatlan threat, I have no desire to continue interactions with the heqet. Sure, Anoures hasn’t been horrible, but until their kind chances their ways, it will never be pleasant.
“Um,” Leal raises her voice. “You experience incursions from the Henosis, right? Is it possible we could come to some sort of defensive agreement regarding them?”
“No.” Anoures shakes her head without even considering. “Not only would my kind balk at such agreements — and break them even with me reigning them in — we enjoy their attempts. Why would we want them to stop?”
I shake my head, not expecting any better, as Leal lets out an “Ah, right.”
We don’t delay our departure any longer. Leal says her farewell, and we’re flying through the air once more. My flames burn, desperate to get back. I want to get back quick. We’ve already been gone so long, and my grand elders should have finished up with their discussions.
I have no way of knowing whether they went well. It’s still a concern that things might have flipped in my absence, but having taken some time to step away, I realise I was unnecessarily concerned before I left. Even if New Vetus and áed cannot come to an agreement, it’s unlikely any side will try anything. Nobody is looking to incite war, after all.
Besides, even if it came to that, the grand elders are strong enough to keep Elder Cyrus and Enya safe.
Despite how much I wish for cooperation between our races, it is not an imminent concern. Rather, I would hope to spread the word of Armageddon and the Anatla that will cause it. My elders should have encouraged Tore to spread such knowledge, but it’s a topic I would understand if he preferred to keep hidden.
As much as I disagree, it is possible that knowledge of the end of the world might very well spread panic and disorder amongst the people. The benefit gained by having everyone knowing, and working to the same goal might be impacted by the ensuing chaos inflicted by peoples fear.
I believe it is a far better option to spread the word, but leaving that decision to each nation’s leaders is by far the best option. They know — or they should — their own people. We have started with New Vetus and the ursu, but things will become increasingly more complicated once we reach the pact nations.
I don’t envy my elders having to deal with the complexity of so many nations and opinions all at once. I’ll be heading to Riparia, so the task will fall in their hands, again.
As we fly, I notice Leal doesn’t flip through her notes. After such groundbreaking discovery, It is strange that she’s not nose-deep in books as she has been with all her free time until now. Instead, her eyes pin to the horizon, not turning away despite the ours that pass. She’s lost in her own world.
“Is there something wrong?” I ask.
She blinks, and turns to me, suddenly realising where she is. Her head turns back to the horizon ahead of us. For a few moments, she simply bites her lip, considering her words.
“Solvei,” Leal starts. “What do you intend to do?”
“Go to Raparia, of course,” I say. “Isn't that what we planned?”
“No, I mean after that.” Her eyes meet mine again. “Say Riparia helps us, and we create some barrier that can hold the Anatla away from cities. What will you do then?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “Keep trying? Search for some way to continue on? Being limited to cities doesn’t sound ideal.”
“Would you fight the Anatla?” she asks.
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“They are as strong as Titans.” How could I even try?
“Despite that, would you?”
Where is this coming from? Leal’s eyes reveal nothing but the seriousness of her question. I go to deny her; why would I fight something so overwhelming? But my words don’t come.
Considering a scenario in which the Anatla have already breached our world, and threaten the lives of those I consider close, what would I do?
The answer comes easily.
Simply look at where I am right now; over an endless mass of water hundreds of kilometres from the continent. For weeks, I’ve flown over the very thing that terrifies my kind most. If I had not already been determined to risk myself, I wouldn’t be here.
“Yes.”
Leal nods, as if expecting such. “Then I’m coming with you.”
That surprises me. I thought for sure she’d go back to locking herself away to study more of her markings. Especially with the advent of the inscription we found. Plus, her father is still in New Vetus. I doubt she’d want to be far from him for long. Considering how vast the world is, it is unlikely we’ll be back to New Vetus often at all. With both Anatla’s links to the world we’ve found being at the absolute fringes of civilisation, any new leads to follow will not be close.
“Are you sure?” I ask. “The beings that knew of Armageddon were all certain of its coming. Are you sure you don’t want to make use of the time remaining?”
Her nod is slight, but determined. “Before experiencing the emotions and thoughts of the other me, I’m certain I would have locked myself away in some room in Flehullen’s academy, and spent all my time decoding theories from the inscriptions. But the alternate version of myself left me with a lot to think about.”
After a short pause, she continues. “I don’t want to regret my choices. I want to live in a way I can be proud of, whenever I look back in the future. As much as settling in with other researchers to uncover the secrets of the world is my dream, it is not something I think I will look back fondly on. Not when my choice is to ignore the state of the world to do so.”
“I want to stick with you. And even if it means… making the hardest decisions, if it is for our world’s survival, then I’m willing.”
She doesn’t say it, but by hardest decisions, she means war and murder. I was not expecting this level of resolve from Leal. She’d always been opposed to death, but had a soldier’s mentality of it being necessary. This felt different. More like she’d be willing to do anything for even the slightest chance of success.
The Leal that killed me must have left a deep impression on her, and if the Ember Moon wasn’t just above the Titan Alps in the direction we are headed, I would have asked her to prove she hadn’t shifted back.
This was… an impressive resolution, but I also worried for my friend. It was not great to see her shift so violently from the child I’d once met years ago in a city bordering the desert. Then again, was I anything like the girl she’d met back then?
I grin at her. “Well, I’ll be happy to have you.” For a moment, I consider, then continue. “Now that I think about it, of my team, you’ve only met Grímr so far, right? I’ll have to introduce you to the rest.”
Hopefully the lot will be together then. I know everyone had to split ways for a bit for their own reasons, but it would be nice to travel together again, however unlikely the results of the war has made it.
Remus, I know, is trying to tie together the pact nations with the last strands that connect it. A difficult task, I’m sure, considering how many troubles have hit that land in the past while.
Bunny was fighting in Vanguard against the Theocracy. That was a while ago now, and I’m unsure what has happened there since travelling to the wasteland. Their invasion stopped with the end of the mermineae war, but it could have just as easily begun again afterwards.
After spending a few months with me and Leal, Grímr head back to join Remus. He never said he would visit his family, but I have to wonder if he ever spent the time. I know there is some tension there — and I wouldn’t want to intrude on his own issues — but from my conversations with him, I don’t think he hates them.
Jav… I’m not even sure what he might be doing. After he’d spent a few months recovering from the torture he’d experienced prior the war, he’d come much the same as before everything happened. Hopefully, it hadn’t been an act and he actually was better. With Remus at his side, I’m sure he will have recovered.
With the second collapse, I’m sure the pact nations aren’t in a good state. It is unlikely my team will have the leniency to up and leave with us for a sudden journey to Riparia… unless we can actually convince the nations’ leaders of the reality before them.
Well, we’d originally though it would be an almost impossible task, considering the only proof we had was my hearsay of what Kalma said, and some old áed texts likely to be seen as unreliable. Especially when those same texts recorded fantastical stories that oft contradicted one another.
But the arrival of the second Collapse, as horrible as it is, might be enough to convince the leaders of the pact that Armageddon is coming. Considering the undeniable presence that accompanied each, I’m sure there isn’t a person alive that doesn’t realise something truly horrifying is occurring.
Again, as I have become accustomed, my sight falls on the Ember Moon. Her burning light washing over the land in its comforting, yet intense glow. The orb cradles just above the horizon, sitting barely atop the Titan Alps. It’s strange to see the moon so low; no matter if I was in the wasteland or in the pact nations, it never changed position. Always fixed. Does its location in the sky mean anything? Is it lowering with the oncoming Armageddon?
I would like to believe Eldest has the strength to protect us all forever, but the struggle she’d shown during the Collapse is concerning. When the next quakes come, will she still be able to hold the Anatla back? Is Armageddon held back entirely by her efforts, or is there more holding them back? Even having found such a relic from the past, and taking its knowledge for our own, there is still so much we don’t know. I want to relax, and be relieved by the discovery we’ve had here, but can a few lines change the course of the world?
I doubt it will be that easy.
Regardless of difficulty, my words to Leal were not lies. I intend to face it head on. And I’ve not felt this in a long while, but my current strength will not be adequate.