By The Sword - Homepage

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“What?”

The question hung in frozen air, echoing against the stone walls as well as inside of my mind. I didn’t know who had asked it; my mind had been too preoccupied to figure it out. And it didn’t really matter who’d asked it. I was staring with the same subtle shock as everyone else.

I couldn’t blame them for staring. She had suggested attacking Rath, after all. The mother of destruction herself. The ancient dragon of the mountains who had enough magical power to grind cities into dust on a whim.

My conception of Rath cracked as I thought. As I fought to keep the white flame from swirling and my emotions under control. The stories, myths, and legends mixed with anecdotes all too recent for my tastes. They all flowed together in my head. They tried to come up with some sort of physical manifestation of Rath. Some sort of way to describe her outside of the word destruction itself.

The task wasn’t easy.

So instead of spending all of my energy feeding anxiety, I tried to force reason as well. I tried to return myself to the present and think clearly about what Lady Amelia had said. And with the white flame as active as it was, latching onto my terrifying image of Rath like a leech, I couldn’t help a little joy.

Honestly, it went with what I’d wanted. A large part of my reason for going to deal with Rath’s cult had to do with the beast. It had to do with the warnings Anath had given me. Her cold, emotionless words that had been torturing me since the moment I’d heard them—promising knowledge about the thing I hated most and a way to defeat it if push came to shove.

And Rath was undoubtedly my best shot.

But that thought didn’t dispel my worries. It didn’t quell the rising storm of fear that was pressing in with the responsibility I felt again on my shoulders. Yet, even if she wasn’t my best bet—even if she gave me nothing to help with my quest, I couldn’t have stood around anyway. Not while her destruction only helped the beast with its task.

Though, even that idea left the question of how.

How were we supposed to face a being like Rath? How were we supposed to attack her if we didn’t even know what she looked like?

“Hey!” came a voice as hard as steel. I lifted my head and stared at the commanding knight general who had let the scowl out over her face. The rest of the room followed as well, quieting the restless murmurs and turning their attention toward her. “One person at a time. Please.”

I nodded at that, taking a deep breath of the brisk, magically tinged air in the temple. Kye did the same to my side, rubbing her temple with one hand before she looked back at Lady Amelia again.

“Okay,” another voice cut in. Bane, I recognized. “I’ll reiterate then.” He stepped up, more confidence showing on his face than I’d seen thus far. “What?”

Lady Amelia gritted her teeth. She took one long breath before responding. “Exactly what I told you. My wording wasn’t confusing in the slightest.”

Bane shook his head. “No. It wasn’t. But I almost wish it had been…” He leaned back on his heel. “I thought we came to deal a fatal blow to the Scorched Earth. To the cult that has been tormenting Norn for years now.” The pale man curled a fist. “Not an ancient power that I’d much rather stay relegated to myth or legend.”

Lady Amelia stared at the man, stone-faced. Bane stared back, doing his best to match her expression while masking the glimmers of concern in his eyes. Still, I saw them from across the room.

The knight general sighed. “It is more than that now, unfortunately.” She leaned forward, placing her palms flat on the battle table to prop herself up. “They are the ones doing the damage, yes, but they aren’t stopping or slowing. No matter how much damage we do to them, they have more power waiting in the wings.”

I swallowed, watching carefully as our new leader shoved her gaze down. She stared at the paper in front of her that looked an awful lot like a letter. Her fingers curled, tightening to prevent from trembling. She was fighting to stay composed, I realized. And as she looked up from the letter scrawled in smudged ink, I also realized I didn’t know anything about it. I didn’t know anything specific about what Norn had gone through in the past few weeks.

None of us did.

“Rath is rising,” she continued. “That is a fact whether we like it or not.” Lady Amelia let out a mirthless chuckle. “Her ire is near, as the cult likes to say. And they won’t stop until it arrives. They won’t stop attacking our defenses or convoys—nor will they slow the quakes that have been ravaging our lands, sending our peoples’ lives into disarray and forcing the city around us to crumble.”

Each and every word came down like a hammer, but she wasn’t loud. She didn’t need to be for all of us to hear. Her voice was still soft and serious, holding back emotion at every scene she described.

“And… and it isn’t only Norn. The more they grow, the more reach they have.” Lady Amelia took another breath. “They continue to terrorize us while spreading out over our trading routes and attacking the other mountain states as well. Veron, Ord—neither of them are safe.” She turned back to Bane. “We cannot deal a ‘fatal blow’ to her cult, Bane. It is more than that now.”

Bane nodded shallowly, his skin turning sickly as Lady Amelia stared at him. He opened his mouth again, but nothing came out. There was nothing more to be said.

Because truly, there wasn’t much that could be said. Everything that Lady Amelia had mentioned was true. It affected real people—real lives. It went beyond superficial political relationships or overblown fears of myths. It was real. We all knew that at this stage. He knew better than to doubt her.

That didn’t mean we were content by any means, though. That didn’t mean the pill of going against the mother of destruction became an easier one to swallow. It didn’t. Not for any of us.

I was still flexing my fingers on the hilt of my sword in hope that it would comfort me. Which, granted, it did. But it didn’t do such to the white flame. Its fiery presence still spiraled through my mind like madness, searching for something.

Either way, as long as it left me in control, I let it be.

Alongside me, Kye shifted her stance. “So the solution is to face her?”

All eyes shifted to Kye. She took half a step back at the onset of so much attention, but when Lady Amelia looked over, the huntress stood firm. The knight general let out a sigh and shook her head lightly.

“We do not have better than that,” she admitted, keeping up with her steely tone even through uncertainty. “Combatting the cult is simply too difficult at their current scale. It wastes too much time, and their mages are more powerful than ours. No matter how much that hurts to admit, it’s true.”

I nodded shallowly, images of red-tinged flames dancing back through my mind as I remembered Keris. The rogue pyromancer who’d stolen Arathorn’s package all those months ago. He’d been criminally out-numbered and still lived.

Kye wasn’t convinced. “Congregate forces, then. Draft a plan of attack like what you’ve done here.” She gestured to the battle table in front of us. “Instead of forming a legion, form parties. Spread out and hit them where they’re vulnerable with such a—”

Lady Amelia was already shaking her head. “It won’t work,” she said. “Our forces aren’t trained like that. And even if they were, we have nowhere near enough information about the cult’s whereabouts. Their small encampments shift as regularly as the wind, and they’re too powerful individually.” She let out a gritted breath. “With the promises they have already issued and fulfilled, there is no telling what they could do to a small force at this time. A legion, though? That is the only place where we have a chance.”

Kye sneered. “What promises are you—”

“They get their power from her,” Lady Amelia interrupted as though she hadn’t even heard Kye start. My companion folded her arms. “At this point, it is the only explanation. They draw power from Rath herself and enact preliminary destruction before her ire.” My nose scrunched at the word. “They have killed too many—she has killed too many. It cannot stand.”

A note of finality entered her tone. It rang loud and clear to everyone listening. We all shared silent glances of concern. We relayed this question or that without answers to any. Kye still stood in frustration by my side, but she didn’t take her eyes off the knight general.

“Sir Darrus…” a voice spoke up. One of the knights that I hadn’t bothered to match with a name. The name of Norn’s previous knight general came out more whimper than word.

The knight who’d spoken took a step back and then one furious breath before shoving a hand into the table. Watching him with one eyebrow raised, I tried to understand him. I tried to figure out the sincerity of his actions.

And even if I hadn’t met Sir Darrus himself, I knew how the knight felt. I knew the feeling of losing another knight. A leader. A comrade. A brother. Even if the images of my past were blurry now, I understood.

“Exactly,” Lady Amelia got out, her voice ramping back to serious. “While not the main aspect of this incursion, revenge does play a part. It has to. They have not given us another option. We will deal back the damage they have dealt to us in the only way reasonable. A single target stormed with an overwhelming force.”

I nodded, my head tilting at it still. The logic played nicely in my head. It was smooth and steady, but I couldn’t help pick out the question that remained.

Though, Fyn asked it before I could. “How?”

Lady Amelia turned, fixing him with a curious gaze. “Excuse me?”

Fyn shook his head, keeping up a smile the entire way. “How do we do it? Attack Rath, I mean.” He flicked his gaze around, glancing at no one in particular. “I can understand why, but… how? What distinguishes it from a suicide mission?”

I cocked an eyebrow as my attention returned to the armored woman at the head of the table. Fyn’s words echoed a similar sentiment Jason had tirelessly pressed before we’d left Sarin. The cheerful knight had a much lighter tone while saying it, but the point of it stood.

Lady Amelia grinned, her lips curling upward again. “That is what we have spent the past week preparing for. Communicating with envoys of ours as well as coordinating with the other mountain states. We have been developing our legion for this task exactly.”

Fyn nodded, not fully convinced. He opened his mouth and hesitated for a moment. “How?”

The knight general sighed. “Even with how elusive they are, our constant battles with the Scorched Earth have not been void of use. They have provided information about their tactics, their magic, and their motives.” Her smile rose even higher. “In a recent battle, in fact, a far-flung party of our knights even killed a dragon.”

I coughed, raising my head at that. “A dragon?”

Our leader turned to me, still smiling. “Yes. Her cult brings them out at times.” Her expression faltered. “None of us truly know how they come to be or where they reside beforehand. But the Scorched Earth uses them as weapons to reap destruction. Nobody who fights a dragon ever has the chance of reporting back.”

Across the table, Bane blinked. “That’s true. Nobody does, and nobody ever has.” He furrowed his brow. “Yet a party of your knights did it just recently?”

Lady Amelia regained her stride, nodding. “They did. They were some of our most elite fighters, but during a scouting mission, they killed one of the destructive beasts on their own.”

Bane’s eyes widened, flicking over his leader’s face for some sort of doubt. She displayed none. He grinned. “They survived? That… that gives us information on dragons themselves, does it not? What the beasts look like, and—”

“Not entirely,” Lady Amelia interrupted, angling her head. “The knights returned, yes, but they haven’t been reliable sources of information.”

Bane blinked, wheeling back. “What? What happened to them?”

The knight general ground her teeth for a second. “The apothecaries aren’t sure. Some kind of madness, they suspect. Though it manifests in strange ways, only hindering their minds whenever the subject of Rath or her kin come up. We haven’t gotten much more than the basics out of them even after pressing for days.”

“Basics?” another knight asked. The woman cocked an eyebrow and leaned forward as her eyes bored into the knight general.

Lady Amelia didn’t even turn. “They remember reflective scales and steel-melting fire,” she said, her smile carefully restrained. “The dragon had some sort of massive form, but they say that it shifted, and none have been able to pin it down any more than that.” The knight general shook her head ever so slightly. “Besides that, all we have are the injuries they sustained. Broken bones and burns as we expected, but also damages to their eyes that our healers have had trouble remedying.”

“And we want to attack that?” Bane asked, trying to keep his tone low and hushed.

Lady Amelia straightened and shot him a glare through pursed lips.

“Maybe Jason was right,” Kye mumbled beside me. Turning, I saw her kicking her metal boot against the smooth stone floor in frustration.

And even if I thought they were being a little dramatic, I couldn’t entirely disagree. As Lady Amelia’s vague, second-hand descriptions of the enemies we had to expect fed into my mind, the pit in my stomach deepened. The conception of Rath only evolved into something a sliver less abstract. Somehow, that made it even more terrifying.

Before Lady Amelia could respond, though, another knight took up a question. “What about the corpse?”

The knight general turned, her eyebrows raising to the sky. “Of the dragon?”

“Yes,” the knight responded, tightening a fist to prevent his fingers from trembling. “If they killed it, there should be a corpse, right?”

Lady Amelia nodded briskly, offering a dismissive wave. “There is.” She tilted her head. “Or, there should be, but they defeated the creature on a mountain pass. Somewhere hard to reach—and they have been little help in determining its exact location.” A moment of silence. “Nobody has seen the corpse as of now.”

My eyebrows dropped. I squinted, trying to ignore the restless white flame digging through memories in the back of my mind. I could feel it tearing things up and inspecting them, but my attention was elsewhere.

“What use did their killing of a dragon serve, then?” I asked, pressing my tongue against my teeth and trying to force the information to work. It made sense on the surface. The dragon and the effect it had on the knights, anyway. But there was more to it, too. Lady Amelia had brought it up for a reason.

And she smiled as I finally let her get to it. “It showed us something important,” she said. “Rath and her kin are killable. Through force and will alone.” I tilted my head back in understanding. She barreled on. “We still have the chance of victory over them. For now.”

I nodded, tuning out the soft murmurs of doubt coming from around me. Because what Lady Amelia said did make sense. Even Anath had said that dragons could die. She’d nearly succumbed to the beast herself. No matter how much they hated the reaper, it worked for the world. The dragons were as powerless to stop it as humans were.

The logic left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“But that is why we must act now,” Lady Amelia said. All commotion died in an instant as attention shifted back to her. The knight general took a deep breath and raised her head high. “Rath and her cult gain in power every day. They are defeatable now, but for how long? We don’t know, and we cannot afford to take the chance to wait and see.”

I swallowed, nodding. Beside me, even Kye bobbed her head. She pursed her lips as she thought and still held an ice-cold glare on our leader, but it was softening by the second. It was falling away as the reality of our situation rose up to match it. As our responsibility pressed back down.

“B-But…” a knight started, his voice soft and broken. Lady Amelia turned to him, fixing him with a curious stare. He straightened up. “But, uh. We know that, and what else?” He swallowed in silence. “Where even is Rath? And what assurances do we have that she follows the same rules as other dragons?”

The knight general smiled, the tiniest glint of wicked intent dancing in her eyes. “We know of her temple.”

The knight blinked, glancing to the side before returning to his leader. “You’ve found Rath’s resting place?”

Lady Amelia nodded, confidence returning to her in spades. “The Scorched Earth have found it for us, actually. They have built a temple around it.” She sneered. “Worshipping their mother of destruction over the World Soul itself.” A deep breath washed away the glower that was threatening her features. “Our contacts in Ord have confirmed the location of her temple to a surprisingly accurate degree. The explorers who found it even espoused that it was still under construction.”

A smile tugged at my lips. “By the time we get there, they may still be setting up shop.”

The knight general shot me a shining glance. “Exactly. We will organize our legion here in Norn with all of our best fighters and the support you all”—she gestured around the room—“can provide to us. Then, we will pick up additional reinforcements in Ord.”

“Along with a Vimur,” Lionel added. My eyes narrowed on his confident posture and knowing smile.

And apparently, I wasn’t the only one.

“How do you know that?” Kye asked from alongside me.

Lionel raised his eyebrows and shifted his attention toward us. In the corner of my eye, I saw Kye folding her arms again as if to tell him exactly how adamant she would be until he gave an adequate answer.

With his smile widening, that didn’t appear to be a problem. “It was common information even in the original plan,” he said. Beside him, Laney glanced up and blushed. “One of the Vimur who lives in Ord still owes Marc a favor. And he is calling in that favor for our incursion here.”

Lady Amelia flicked her wrist toward the raven-haired ranger. “Right. Marc has been more than helpful in his additions to our forces. His contributions may very well tip the balance of which side comes out on top. With a Vimur assisting us, I have little doubt that our legion will be more than prepared for the target we face.”

At that, mutterances arose around the table again. But this time, they weren’t filled with as much doubt. They didn’t contain as much unrest. They were more convinced and assured, some even gawking at the opportunity they had gained to work with a Vimur.

I clenched my jaw and nodded, keeping my eyes narrowed the whole way. The term Vimur registered with me. I’d heard it before, after all. But aside from a few stray comments about them being powerful mages and the broadest of stories regarding their power, I didn’t know much about them.

“What assistance will the Vimur provide in Ord?” I asked, raising my voice above the excited buzz.

Slowly, the commotion died down and eyes moved to me. Then they glanced at Lady Amelia. Then back to me.

“We don’t know yet,” our leader admitted. She relaxed her shoulders and propped herself up on the stone table again. “The Vimur are not easy to pin down, and while generally benevolent, we cannot entirely know their motives. All our contact has agreed to thus far is that they will enhance our legion’s arcane capabilities in the face of an enemy like Rath.”

I nodded shallowly, letting her words process through my head. It hadn’t been much information, for the most part. I still didn’t know exactly who the Vimur were, or why the help of one was so important.

“Enchantments,” Kye muttered by my side.

I turned, immediately squinting. “What?”

Kye lifted her head, her eyes widening for a moment. A smirk sprouted at her lips before another full second could pass. “Marc’s contact will probably allot us with enchantments.” She tilted her head. “The Vimur are supposed to be rather good at them. But whoever is helping us could go as far as even attacking the temple with us. As a… magical weapon of sorts.”

Before I knew it, a smile had grown on my face. I nodded briskly and muttered a thanks to Kye before turning back to our knight general. She was once again glaring at the pieces of paper in front of her. But truly, it didn’t matter. As Kye’s elaboration played in with everything else I knew, something was becoming increasingly obvious.

The scale of our attack was huge. Flicking my eyes back out to the doorway where our sectioned-off room led back to the main temple, I remembered how many knights I’d seen in there. Dozens upon dozens, if I’d been forced to take a guess. And that was only the tip of the iceberg.

That myriad of highly trained fighters as well as the support party I’d arrived with already created a formidable force. But with tactics I was sure they’d been preparing for days and reinforcements we would pick up on the way, our scale only grew.

And even if I didn’t understand the significance of a Vimur as our ally, my companions certainly did. They knew enough to perk up from the fear-fueled doubt they’d been stewing in only minutes before. It was important, I realized. Our responsibility was larger than I’d thought, but it was also spread out even wider than I could’ve possibly imagined.

Truly, we were preparing an oppressive show of force.

I smiled, tightening my grip on the hilt of my blade. Looking up again, I watched the slowly-changing faces of the knights around me. Of the rangers, too. All of them were rising to confidence. The same kind of confidence solidifying in my own head.

And the white flame seemed to notice.

Taking a break from its idle actions in the back of my mind, it surged up. Its warmth cascaded over the inside of my skull and I focused a little bit more attention on it. But as it noticed more and more the growing confidence in my head, it became riled.

It started swirling again. It flared more wildly and latched onto memories. My eyes widened and I held up a hand as if to try and calm it from the physical world. It wasn’t very effective. Though, I doubted it would’ve listened either way.

Images flashed before my eyes again. This time, instead of fractured and torn, they appeared blurry. They appeared distant and covered in a fog that was receding away from me at a snail's pace that was somehow still too fast for me to catch.

A horse stopped below me. I held up my hand and grinned. Through the pitch-black night, I watched the orange flame of a camp in the distance. A camp I was supposed to be sieging, some part of me whispered.

Another horse rode up alongside me. The image shifted, tearing to the side until an armored man filled my vision. He smiled at me amicably and I smiled back for some reason. We exchanged words, but I couldn’t catch any of them. They got too quickly lost in the fog.

With another shift of the image, I was looking backward. At dozens upon dozens of other horses and other armored men and women on them. With me at the head, I realized slowly. All of them were staring at me. They were expecting something.

Before I could try and figure it out, the image tore once more. I looked back front at some point. The orange fire hiding behind the hills in the distance was all my eyes focused on. It was surrounded by tents, I realized. And people. All armed. Through the haze, I despised those people. I hated them, becoming overwhelmed by some sense of loathing that spawned from memories I no longer had access too. Feelings of loss I’d long since forgotten.

The white flame flickered idly in my head as I tried to fight my way out. As I tried to break from the control it had gained.

As the blurred world in front of me warped into black, though, I stopped trying. I just let it happen as the darkness swirled around me like a void. Until something changed in it. A glint of light off metal. The form of my sword.

I shook my head violently, ripping myself back to the present. Steeling, I forced my muscles to a halt and prevented myself from stumbling backward. In the corner of my vision, I could see Kye’s curious glance toward me, but I shrugged it off. I let out a shaky breath and simply pushed the flame away to deal with another time.

Around me, the room was a coffin of silence. The excited commotion had died down from its height—even if the expressions it had left behind were still there. But nobody was expressing that excitement anymore. They were all deep in thought. Including the knight general at the head of the table with her gaze still fixed below.

I didn’t, however, miss the assured smile on her face. I knew she felt confident, and I knew why, too. Something about the images the white flame had ripped up had helped me understand why.

We were organizing an oppressive force. And I knew that any enemy could be crushed provided enough force. As long as the force was applied correctly, that was. As long as the enemy was understood.

“What do we know about Rath for certain?” I asked, breaking the spell of silence in hopes of moving the conversation along.

Lady Amelia glanced up, watching me again. “We know of the stories, as a start. The tales of her destruction as a predominantly unthinking and irrational magical being have lined up well with what we’ve experienced. They line up well with her cult’s promises.” Kye opened her mouth, but her question didn’t have time to slip out. “Additionally, our scholars have figured weaknesses in her magic. Enchantments to ward against fire will do well.” She held up a hand. “Plus, our contacts in Ord have given as detailed reports of her temple as they can. We know as much as we ever will about the target we are sieging.”

I nodded, my eyes narrowing by the moment. It was good. Everything that she’d said was good. It was all information that would help us. But as Anath’s warnings echoed through my mind again—almost as a permanent fixture in my thoughts—it didn’t satisfy.

Though, it didn’t seem the knight general was done. “And there are the cult’s promises as well. They have been the most eerily accurate details about her that we may ever get.”

Bane shook his head. “What promises?”

Lady Amelia twisted, sending a stony glare for only a moment. “In preparation for her return—her ire—they have issued promises. They started them months ago before the first quakes even struck Norn.”

“What are the promises, though?” Kye asked.

“The first of them was one we’d disregarded without thought.” Lady Amelia clenched a fist. “They had promised the world itself would tremble as the mother of destruction awoke.”

“Shit,” Bane muttered. “The quakes.”

Lady Amelia nodded. “It came true mere weeks after they’d promised it. And they haven’t let up since.” She swallowed, shaking her head lightly. “The next of their promises came swiftly. They promised that fire would rise to tinge red with her fury.”

My eyes widened. Bane didn’t need to comment for all of us to understand how that one had come true.

“The ones after that detailed their rise to power,” she continued. “Even when our guard started taking them seriously, we were powerless to stop them. The last one to come true was that the entirety of the mountains would either submit or be subjected to her power.” A second of silence. “That one was issued a week before their presence was reported in Ord.”

“What is the next one?” a voice asked, nearly hollow. I barely believed that it had even come out of Fyn’s mouth.

Lady Amelia curled her lip. “They promised that her ire would destroy the last to truly dishonor her kin.”

Fyn tilted his head, a smile rising. Then it dropped. All of his cheerfulness died and he leaned back on his heels. I raised an eyebrow at him, my fingers drumming on the hilt of my blade. But somebody else spoke before I could ask.

“Shit,” Bane hissed, his skin taking on a tinge more fitting of a ghost.

I furrowed my brow and stepped forward, leaning against the battle table.

“Keris…” a voice came from beside me. I straightened up in an instant, the name registering deep in my mind. The images of red-tinged flame and horrible pain lined memories as they rose.

I fell back, the realization collapsing onto me. Keris’ crazed, whispered words played back from where they were stuck in my mind. He’d promised her ire all the way back then. And he’d said we’d disgraced her kin.

Arathorn had wanted dragon’s blood, after all.

“Yes,” Lady Amelia said, her voice soft. In the silence, though, it echoed off the walls. “The favor Sarin’s former lord called in with us, one that forced our hand to sacrifice lives in attaining a package he wanted so dearly—that scar on our past has put a target on our city.”

Cold silence followed. Everyone stood with their lips sealed shut and their eyes wide. Though, nobody was looking at anything particular. We were all just letting the world wash over us for a moment as if procrastinating the realization that what Lady Amelia had said was true.

That silent respite couldn’t last forever, though. We all knew that.

“Shit,” Kye hissed under her breath alongside me. She took a step backward and shook her head lightly. “Fucking world’s dammit.”

The curses streamed out as her face contorted in realization. As the responsibility pressed down on her again. We couldn’t let Norn suffer, after all. She knew that. After a moment she just sighed and stepped back up.

“This legion is our best option?” the huntress asked.

Lady Amelia nodded. “Our preparations have been extensive, and the force we’re assembling will be larger than has been seen in decades. It is our best option and our last option.”

Kye clenched her jaw, but she eventually nodded. “What do we have to do, then? What preparations are left before we…” She sneered. “Before we march?”

The knight general straightened up. “Their last promise was issued barely a week ago. It is what initiated our change of plans in the first place. And it puts us on a ticking clock.” Her expression darkened. “My knights already know the specifics of our plan, and you all know the basics. Over the next two days—under my direction—you all will meet with Norn’s forces to organize. We will march to Ord shortly after.”

I nodded, tension slipping from my chest. My gut was still tied in knots, but it made more sense now. Everything made more sense.

In the corner of my eye, an arm draped in blue cloth raised. “What about lodging?” Laney asked, her voice as soft as a mouse.

Lady Amelia heard her anyway and rolled her wrist. “My knights have been delegated to their usual quarters.” She scanned over Bane and the other armored knights in the room. “The rest of the knights here have been reserved space with them.” She smiled, her eyes flicking to Fyn. “Some of you have even been awarded your former quarters.”

“What about us?” Kye asked.

Our leader smiled warmly. “The Rangers have all been reserved rooms in Norn’s highest quality inn. Talk to the owner of the Mountain’s Hearth, and all should be handled well. It will provide excellent accommodations for rest and recuperation before we march.” Lady Amelia hesitated, once again looking over the weary and contemplative people standing around the battle table. “Something I am sure all of you would enjoy getting to now. We will meet again before nightfall, and then we will begin organizing the next morning.” She cocked her head. “Dismissed.”

The room around me erupted into commotion again. Tired and fairly muted in the grand scheme of things, but it was commotion nonetheless. We all acknowledged Lady Amelia’s dismissal, and before I knew it, we were filing out. The sea of plated metal around me thinned as everyone fanned back into their groups.

By the time we’d made our way out of the temple, Kye and I were walking alone. Even Lionel and his group had already split off and were talking up ahead as they made their way to the inn we were supposed to be staying at.

Walking after them with our boots scraping against the paved stone road, neither of us talked. Kye just looked at the ground with her face halfway morphed into a scowl. And I just hunched my shoulders, letting my fingers tap on the hilt of my blade as we walked.

After a while though, the silence became a little oppressive.

“Well…” I started, lifting my head and glancing at Kye expectantly.

“Shit,” she answered, not budging an inch.

At that, I could do nothing but agree.