"Are you sure we should leave Ny behind?" Said Eira Edursdaughter as she crawled through the ice tunnel she was making under the river, "I know he's a light-warper, but those guards are gonna be looking hard for him."

She looked back down the ice tunnel to see the many faced Kish crawling behind her; the welt on his temple had significantly reduced since she'd first seen him back in the city, though the bruising was still noticeable now that she was looking.

Kish said, "I came for you and you only. I only told you about Ny so Fusil wouldn't send me back. Besides, you know 'e 'ates these tight spaces."

"And he didn't say anything to you?"

"Nah, 'e was gagged when 'e passed my cell, and I wasn't about to shout business down the 'all."

Eira swore to herself and continued her crawl in relative silence while her thoughts whirled around Ny. Her arms burned. Her knees ached. The solid riverbed dragged across her armor snagging on-

"%^&# me!"

"What?"

"Ice on the stomach!"

"Grixovite's 'er built for that, aren't they?"

"Not when clean shaven."

"I thought you'd only 'ave to shave your face."

"Back in the winter, yeah," she rolled onto her back to tuck her shirt back in and tightened her belt to keep it from coming loose, "but in summer clothes it's all or nothing."

"That sounds miserable."

"You have no idea. I can't wait to be gone from this #@$% city."

They continued down the riverbed, being far more mindful of the rocks and pebbles. After almost two hours of crawling and almost turning up the wrong confluence, she shaped the ice into a surface tunnel on the west side of the river, exposing them to the pale moonlight. They both dragged themselves out, and Eira pulled Kish to his feet. When he was standing, Eira crushed the ice as small as she could still muster, then watched as it slowly floated downstream.

"Praise the ancestors that no guards are around this area."

"If we keep 'aving trouble, that might just change. Let's 'ope we can keep quiet-like for a bit."

Eira and Kish turned around and walked North up the riverbank, passing by the completely devastated section of field on the east side during the first of the four hours they spent traveling. Three trees that Eira didn't recognize were present, all three of which were destroyed. It looked like one of them had been blasted from within, the second was impaled by a spike of earth, and the third was folded in two at the middle. Surrounding the trees was a tumult of stone walls and dirt trenches.

"What in the ancestors' name..."

"I 'ave no idea."

"I think I-"

Eira's thought was interrupted as something shifted in the grass near the other bank.

She yanked Kish behind her, shushing him as she watched.

Sweat dribbled down her forehead.

The grass shifted again.

Her fist clenched.

After a brief pause, a large skunk crawled into view, the white stripe made plain by the moon.

Eira sighed with relief.

"I thought we were being followed."

"Maybe try throwing a snowball next time you 'ear something."

Eira replied with a dry laugh.

During the second of the four hours of walking, Eira created an icicle in the palm of her hand at the end of her grip, then shook to ensure the ice's stability. When it didn't break, she tossed it into the air and caught it in her other hand. She then threw it back into her first and repeated. After she found her rhythm, she created a second, and then a third, juggling them slowly, and speeding up once she had her confidence back. When she added a fourth, however, she misjudged the thickness of it and the icicle broke in her fingers, causing her to fumble the remaining three.

"(!&# it, I used to be able to do that easily."

"I remember. 'Ow long 'as it been?"

"Two years. Still, I practiced all the time before the mission, that should count for something."

"Why don't you practice more? Don't you 'ave your own 'ome?"

"My ceiling is too low, and I don't exactly have a lot of privacy other-"

Eira snapped towards the field across the river.

"Eira-?"

"Tst"

She looked over the grass, which waved under the moonlight. A faint breeze.

After a moment, a badger loped out of the grass and meandered over to the river for a drink.

Kish gently pulled her to face him and rested his bare hands on her cheeks. His own face seeming to shift as it always did, morphing into a shape reminiscent of her father.

"I know we've plenty to be jumpy about tonight, but right now you need to relax. We're 'ome free."

There's nothing to worry about.

Peace washed over her like she'd had a bucket of oil poured on her head.

"There's nothing to worry about..."

She gave a tired nod, and he smiled back. When he let go, his face changed again to one of the dozens she didn't quite know. He turned back towards the road, leaving Eira standing in a dazed.

"You comin'?"

"Yeah, yeah, I..." Eira felt the sudden urge to check all of her equipment. "Are we missing anything?"

Kish shrugged. "I dunno, why you ask?"

"I just got the feeling I'm forgetting something," she said, patting down all her pockets. Nothing was out of place.

"If it's important, I'm sure you'll remember. We got Ny, you got your knives, I'm 'ere with you. What else is there?"

"I think that covers it but... *&@^ whatever, you're right. Let's go.

Shortly after, they made it to a pecan tree that had been blasted apart by Fusil's lightning, then turned west for another mile and a half to a cave whose entrance was covered by an oak tree the klovenite Calix grew. Slipping under the roots with ease, they walked down the cavern until they came to a fork, lit by a single torch. When they came to the light, Eira removed the scarf from her henna-dyed hair and scratched at her scalp. 

Ick. It's about time for another round of henna, *&@^$ dry as a bone.

As she was checking her nails for dandruff, of which there was thankfully none, Kish said, "I'm going to check on our progress."

"What's the matter, don't want to wake Fusil yourself?"

"As if. Last time I did, 'e nearly fried me."

Eira's face soured. She hadn't heard about that. She decided to deal with it later. Kish simply shrugged and made his way left to the cages, while she made her way to the right, towards the meeting chamber and the bedrooms beyond to turn in for the night. Partway down, she began to hear shouting.

"-abandoned more of ours!"

"Someone had to make sure he was occupied so we could escape! What were we supposed to do, get all of us killed or captured!?"

"If your plan had failed, you would have led him right to us! He would crush all of us if he knew we were here! Do you have the slightest idea what Djurle is capable of!? Do you know how many of us he's KILLED!? WE'RE HIDING IN HIS DOMAIN!!!"

"AT LEAST WE GOT OUR TARGETS!"

"AT WHAT COST!? I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO OUT THERE AT ALL FOR EXACTLY THIS REASON!!!"

Eira opened the door to the meeting room, and Kalam and Fusil both stopped whatever they were doing as she entered. Kalam stared at her with his brown eyes, his pine-bark skin scraping against itself as he crossed his bare arms. He had a small cut on his jaw, and he looked filthy. Fusil was sweating, making his metallic bronze skin look even more reflective.

"Finally, what took you so long!?"

"Easy Fusil, I wasn't leaving Kish behind."

Fusil turned away from Eira and walked to his seat, his pegs sinking slightly into the dirt as he did. He sat down and ran his fingers through his white hair, and his normally bronzy skin was especially pale.

"Thunder-addled Kish... he didn't happen to get Ny, did he?"

"Actually, we did. What happened?"

Fusil scoffed.

"What happened... What happened is Djurle Iranu is in Thruf, and he's tracking us down!"

A chill ran down Eira's spine.

Kalam muttered, "And he's angry."

"BECAUSE OF YOU!"

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU WE DID WHAT WE-"

"SHUT THE &%$# UP! BOTH OF YOU! I've been back for less than a minute, and already you moronic $%^@( are making me want to eat sand!" Eira sighed. "Just CALMLY give me the rundown. What have I missed?"

Fusil put his hands to his face and leaned back, his chair squeaking as he did. After a short pause, his hands dropped to the armrests. "There's no easy way to say it, we tried to capture him without you. That's how Ny was caught. Calix and Nufot are dead. Arraina was badly hurt. And I just found out that Lilac, Ziza, and Yehbesh are MIA after Kalam failed to listen."

Calix is...

A rough hand caressed her cheek...

No...

A secret kiss under a pale blue sky...

No, it can't be...

The lingering smell of lavender as two became one...

Every part of her being shook with rage.

"How?" She growled.

"I made a bad call. I thought we could take Djurle head-on, but he's working with the city garrison, and he did something I didn't think he was physically capable of during our fight... We should have waited for you before I tried to capture him, but he wandered away from the camp and..." His voice trailed off and he averted his eyes. "Four people paid the price..."

Eira's vision blurred, and she tightened her fists.

They would have known the risks.

Blinking the tears away and looking to Fusil, she said, "This. This is why you're out here, you sand-addled %$@#. I would have thought you learned your lesson when the Ancestor of Stone collapsed a mountain on you. These people are supposed to be your responsibility while I'm in the city; getting them killed and failing the mission they died for is the last thing The Living Ancestors had in mind when they sent you out here."

He rolled his eyes at her, "Don't lecture me like you were there. My grandfather and his adviser couldn't care less about what I'm doing anymore."

"Why did you let him get under your skin like that again!? You, of all people, know how dangerous he is!"

"The more important question," Kalam interjected, "How are we going to deal with him? If we're still intent on capturing-"

Eria interjected, "Out of the question! You can't capture a living ancestor! They're unstoppable! Forces of nature!"

"She's right, Kalam, counting Ny, Kish, and the three you left behind, we're down to fifteen, one of whom is severely injured and five of whom are strictly noncombatants. We can't fight him AND the garrison at the same time; we don't have the manpower. It would maybe another fifty fighters to come close to balancing the scales without my grandfather's help."

"You knew that and still went after him!?"

"I told you, I made a bad call!"

"Calix and I were able to restrain him."

"For how long!? Two minutes!?"

"More than long enough to levy a death blow, Fusil."

Eira's eyes went wide as glaciers. "You can't be suggesting we kill him!"

Fusil said, "My grandfather's adviser would lock you in the bowels of your mind for the rest of eternity if you did that! Killing him is off the table."

Eira sighed with relief. At least he's learned something.

He continued, "The next pickup is still over a month away. With Djurle here, I suspect we'll be found long before then... There's no salvaging this. My mistake cost us the mission. Everything we've been doing the last two years..."

Kalam asked, "So what do we do?"

"We get out what supplies we can," Eira said.

"What about the conscripts?"

"We can get maybe a third of them out of here on our own," Fusil replied. "But they won't make it to Krundíl unless we come across one of the caravans on the way, which I doubt."

Eira asked, "What if we had one of the outreach wagons?"

"I was taking all five into account... But we might still take one to get our other goods. Head back tomorrow and get the one with the tall cover."

Kalam asked, "Can we hide in the refugee camp?"

"The conscripts know our faces; hiding would be a good suggestion if we were doing anything else. Leaving is our only chance. Kalam, get Arraina and the noncombatants out of here at first light, send them back home, and make sure they don't wait for us. If they're lucky, they'll get the next pickup to turn around before Djurle catches wind of them. Tell the others we're leaving at dusk in two days."

Kalam scowled and stormed out. As the door slammed behind him, Fusil leaned forward in his chair, his eyes intently locked on hers.

"Eira. If he shows up before we can get packed and moving, your ability set is the closest thing to a counter we have. If Ny comes back, he can blind him, but if Djurle's got contact with the ground, he can fight, especially with us in a cave. I'm dead on sight. Before you say it, he's already escaped from being bound in a tree once, and chances are he's prepared to do it again."

"What about-"

"His paralysis has gotten worse, Eira. He can barely move without help. We need someone agile to avoid Djurle's attacks, and you have both agility and combat training. He's been allowed to stay only to keep the cages frozen."

She may have outranked him on paper since he'd been disgraced, but even now, Fusil commanded an aura of intense authority.

"You are our last hope of stopping Djurle. I need to know right now if that's something you think you can handle, because if you can't, we need to start begging the ancestors for mercy."

Me!? Fighting a living ancestor!? No, it's- it's- I can't-

Eira swayed in place as Fusil watched her.

"... I... I think so."

Clearly unconvinced, he said, "It'll have to do. We'll cut the conscripts loose the hour we leave, no point in leaving them to starve."

Eira lingered for a moment as Fusil sank hopelessly into his chair. All the time she'd known him, she'd never seen him so distraught, his face so twisted in... Fear. She extended a hand towards him, as Galilahi had for her.

He sighed, "I know what you're doing, and it won't work. Leave me."

Both Eira's jaw and fist clenched. She stepped out of the meeting chamber and almost ran into Kalam, standing with his arms crossed.

"Didn't Fusil tell you to-"

"I'm not about to let two years of work go to waste when there's still a chance this can blow over."

"You can't be *#@^$%( serious!"

"We have a good system, Eira!"

"You heard him, Kalam! The conscripts will recognize us if we stay!"

"Then we kill them."

"By the #$%^ dunes, Kalam!"

"One low return isn't the end of the world."

"You're not the one who gets to make that call! Killing our kinsmen isn't what we signed up for! What happens when they find the bodies?"

"If"

"WHEN! The Living ancestor will find this cave eventually! Fusil knows it. Anyone with sense knows it. For all we know, he could have already found your #$%* trail and-"

"Don't start that again."

"And don't you try ordering me around."

"Look, we can't go back empty-handed. Even if you won't keep up the operation, we still need to warn the next caravan."

Eira forced her way past Kalam, marching towards the communal bed-chamber. If he wasn't going to relay the order, she would, and she would do it happily.

"Fine. Ignore me. But I'm staying, and this would be much easier if you stayed too."