The day had come at last. Renado gazed at the work he had done, after a half-hour of sharpening his sword’s blade and polishing the smooth steel. It wasn’t the same weapon he had wielded last year—to everyone else, two-year’s past—but it would serve him well in the future, he hoped. He had donned a boiled leather cuirass, which was a little more armour than he was accustomed to. Still, many of the soldiers of the Great Isle, many days south of them by sails, wore big suits of plate armour.
The others had accepted the equipment provided by the Isle of Dusk magicians—Woodro had opted for a lighter variant of leather, a simple tunic with metal studs on the shoulder panels, while Asar asked for a specific sword from the offering, before the others could speak. It was a slightly longer blade, with a hand-and-a-half hilt.
“I was hoping to catch you before you were all geared up,” a feminine voice said.
It was Tassina, wearing a new grey and green skirt over her pregnant belly. Her braided hair complimented her glowing cheeks, but her smile was plagued with a certain distress. Renado stood up and sheathed his blade. “Tass,” he said, surprised. “What are you doing here?”
The other soldiers bowed their heads respectively. “Walk with me,” Tass said, nonetheless.
Ren tilted his chin and followed. The sun was just starting to rise over the small island, casting long shadows through the scattered trees on the hill. They walked past the small shrine of the Tether. The only way to get anywhere in the settlement was to walk past it. “I don’t have a lot of time,” Ren said, after a few moments passed. He wanted to get the Journeying over with, like downing some awful tonic quickly and as painlessly as possible.
“I just want to thank you,” Tass said, smiling.
Ren shrugged. “It’s not just for you that I’m doing this,” he said, quietly.
The pregnant woman walked slowly. She was strong, stronger than she ever had been, but even in her fifth month of pregnancy, her baby slowed her movement. “Not just for that,” she said, quietly. She put a hand on his arm and they paused. “Lerran might have been dead, they all might have been dead. For weeks, it was just you and I. It was my choice to stay, and you did the same. Now, you continue doing what Lerran and I ask of you, even though this is hardly the great Family we once were.”
“It’s not in my nature to abandon those I work for,” Renado said. “I’m not a leader. I do as I’m told, and I try to do it well.”
“But you do make choices,” Tassina said. “And I’m grateful for them.” She took both his arms and pulled him into an embrace around her. He wasn’t certain how to hold her, given her bump, so he leaned forward awkwardly to pat her back and smiled when she laughed.
They faced one another again, as the pleasant sunlight warmed them. “I hope you’ll be home in time to see how big I’ll get,” she said, giggling.
“I plan to be,” he murmured. “Or at least, as much as these things can be planned.”
They walked back the way they had come, quiet again. Lerran, Captain Urro, and a few others had gathered to see their foray off. As they walked, Ren asked, “How is Lerran? Do his headaches persist?”
“He sleeps erratically and wanders sleeplessly through the house,” she told him. “The continued healing gives him ample energy and strength, but his mind is pained, so they have stopped. They say the damage is done and cannot be undone.”
Ren stopped in his tracks and bit his lip. “That was not his agreement with them. He is right to be angered.”
“Telan is looking into other options. He’s spoken to a few of the greater magicians, apparently, the priestess Pralla and others.” When Renado ceded his frustration and continued to walk, Tass stopped him with a hand on his leather sleeve once again. “It is not just his anger. He is unwell, Ren.”
“Do you fear for yourself?” Ren asked.
She shook her head. “He’s not touched me. But I worry for others.”
Ren regarded Tass with wide eyes. He looked back up at the hill at Lerran, standing amidst the others. His brother wasn’t smiling, but he certainly wasn’t acting poorly. He looked back at Tass, and shrugged. “I’ll say a word to him before I leave.”
She nodded and they continued across the settlement’s center. Karsef separated from the others and waved him over. They were all itching for this ordeal to be over. “Telan and two others are ready,” the loyal warrior said. “And I’ve been told that’s enough to send us across the known world…”
“I’ll be along in a moment,” Ren said. Lerran was already stepping away from Asar, having shaken his hand, to say his farewells to Renado. The two shook hands first, but Ren put his hand on his brother’s shoulder and guided him aside from the rest.
“Ren,” Lerran said, quietly. “I cannot thank you enough. We had nothing after the riots in Sheld. I remember watching the smoke rise over the roofs. There could be nothing after that. But we are still here.”
Ren nodded. “Don’t forget it. I hope your strength continues to return, but remember: if you’re feeling dizzy or off, remember to sit down, rest, and keep your temper.”
Lerran regarded him quizzically.
With both hands on Lerran’s shoulders, Ren brought him close and whispered in his ear. “If you hurt Tass or the baby, I will kill you myself. I risked life and limb for you three. You won’t undo it,” he promised. He pulled back from their embrace but didn’t waiver from Lerran’s shocked eyes. It was not the first death threat he had given, nor the last he would.
“If it came to it,” Lerran mumbled under his breath, “That’s exactly what you should do.”
Ren snorted, and let his shoulder slacken. “See you on the other side,” he said, and turned away. He walked briskly after Karsef, to where Asar and Woodro waited also. Altogether, the four faced Telan and two other magicians. Ren had not made their acquaintance. Perhaps he should have.
“Are we ready?” he asked. “Supplies, just in case? And arms aplenty.”
Woodro chuckled. “The latter being the most important, of course.”
“I like a good meal in my belly, thank you very much,” Asar murmured. The magicians scoffed; they had already said that bringing supplies was unnecessary.
It was Telan who next spoke. “Are you prepared?”
Renado looked back at Tass and Lerran. Omma and Captain Urro watched from the shade of a nearby building. He looked back to Telan. “We are.”
Telan looked to his peers, and suddenly all three were looking at the group, eyes panning back and forth. They said nothing, nor did they move. Ren looked at his friends. He didn’t feel anything different, no sense of the world changing around him.
When something did happen, it happened a lot quicker than it had on the ship. On the ship, a second had passed after the mast vanished before Ren had. This time, he was looking at Woodro; abruptly, the warrior wasn’t there, and then neither was Ren.