Eight 5.39: The Journey Home

The next morning, we found some small game that we butchered and cooked up—a squirrel and a couple of rabbits—and talked through our plans for the light we’d collected from the Maltrans.

Before leaving the fortress, we’d stored all the darklight in the Hoarder’s Pocket. We hadn’t even weighed it; there’d simply been too much to deal with. I had, however, weighed the silverlight. The scale we carried wasn’t intended for that kind of volume, so I’d had to do it in batches, and the grand total had come to approximately one hundred sixty thousand points’ worth.

That was enough silverlight to take one of us to Level 19. We’d been warned, though, that our souls needed time to become accustomed to being silvered. Rushing ahead would only damage our paths, so we’d split the silverlight between us.

We could’ve saved it, and we did talk about that option, but one of the lessons we’d learned from our experience against the Maltrans was the feasibility of actively hunting silvered creatures. We were seriously capable of it, especially when planning was on our side. But what would happen if we didn’t have that planning time? When we faced an emergency or unpredictable situation? That was when our weapons and gear would prove critical. The obsidian knife had taught us that.

So, after some debate, I fed my share of silverlight to Princess Lily. It wasn’t enough to silver her, so instead of tainting the rest of her growth with darklight, Yuki offered to help her finish the journey with some of his share of the silverlight.

Honestly, it was amazing. The bow had already lost the rough-hewn look when she became dawn, but at silvered her limbs lengthened and became even more supple. Drawing her was sheer pleasure, and when released, the arrows punched through a tree trunk over two feet thick. The arrow heads and shafts were even undamaged. The bow’s authority had extended her influence to protect them.

There was a charm to Princess Lily now, a natural beauty hard to dismiss until it came time to hide, at which point she became unnoticeable—the bow becoming one with the land alongside me.

I was so incredibly pleased with how the investment turned out.

As for Fala, she chose to silver Bearbane. The shaft thickened at first, then thinned to fit her smaller hands. The spearhead lengthened with the point becoming nearly invisible to the naked eye and the edges sharpening. With these changes, the weapon looked more like a polearm now, but she didn’t have any issues running him through the hunters’ spear forms.

The other half of Yuki’s share went to help Bearbane finish his journey to silvered, but they didn’t seem to mind. From what I knew of them, they were simply pleased we’d increased our likelihood of survival. Fala and I could’ve risen halfway to Level 15 instead, but the weapons would prove more useful for the stage we were at.

###

On the journey back to Voorhei, we admired the natural beauty of the land and generally acted like tourists along the way, though we did stay away from the towns and cities. Life in the empire had revolved around the worship of Brother Sun and Sister Moon, and the secret of their deaths wouldn’t be kept for long. A power vacuum of that size was going to suck in all kinds of civil strife.

After Voorhei, we talked about heading toward Dolbec’s Rock to visit Agath and Moon. And Crost’s apprentice should be nearly finished. Wouldn’t he be surprised to find me silvered now? I could just picture him gnashing his teeth that I’d leapt ahead of him again.

After that? Who knew. The world was ours to explore.

###

An eeriness clung to Slaughter’s Hollow despite the death of the Spirit King. The mists lingered, casting a damp blanket over a barren land that was only beginning to recover. I felt the green heads of sprouts just starting to poke out from the ground.

Spreading my influence through the mist in the air, I felt movement within—two bodies, one crouched over the other as if ministering to them.

My authority whined at me to head to the rock at the far end to ensure the tear between life and death was still sealed. I shook my head at it, and walked toward the two bodies instead. I had a feeling they were people we knew.

We found Wilaeina sitting beside a prone Melwei. Under her eyes were deep, dark circles, and bandages covered her forehead, as well as wrapped around her torso, the left side of which was stained a rusty red.

Melwei moaned. His left forearm was gone from the elbow down, with the upper arm tied to his chest to immobilize it. He, too, was bandaged, with evidence of cuts and punctures along his chest and other arm.

There was no sign of anyone else. We already knew what had happened to Butrus, but Kana and Tru? Perhaps they were out hunting or, better yet, having inappropriately timed sex. Which I knew wasn’t the case—no other creatures moved through the mist—but I hoped.

“Peace,” I called out. “We mean no harm.”

Wilaeina rushed to stand, pulling a knife instead of picking up her spear. The wound to her side must’ve been worse than it looked.

“It’s John,” I said from within the mist. “And I have Emma here with me.”

She searched the area from which my voice came and saw it was me when I stepped into view. The caution didn’t leave her eyes, though. We’d ostensibly gone deep into the Maltran Empire, and she couldn’t be certain that we hadn’t been turned into their agents.

“Where are your guides?” she asked.

“We don’t need them for the way back.” My hands were empty of weapons, and I gestured toward Melwei. “May I approach?”

Wilaeina’s eyes flicked to Fala behind me and back. “Just you.”

I nodded and moved slowly, crouching beside Melwei and carefully lifting the bandages to examine the injuries underneath. Everywhere I looked there was blood seeping from exposed wounds. It was a wonder none had become infected, that the man was still alive. But then again, he’d become silvered in the intervening days, as had Wilaeina.

“My congratulations to you both for your progress on the Path to Perfection.”

“Thank you,” she replied. “It came at great cost.”

“Will you allow me to pour water onto his wounds?” I asked.

She bit her upper lip, and probably didn’t even realize she’d done it. Her eyes kept flicking back and forth between Fala and me, Emma and John.

Wilaeina asked a question of her own: “What was it like in the Maltran Empire?”

I smiled. “Quite productive. We made a handsome profit and more than achieved our goals.”

“So you’ll go back then?” she prodded. “You found the people… charming.”

“Oh no, I don’t think so. We heard some distressing rumors on the way out, and good sense dictates we seek out opportunities elsewhere.” I looked up at her. “It’s a wide world.”

She blinked like she wasn’t sure what she was seeing. I must’ve been at least partly convincing, though, because she nodded. I uncorked the waterskin at my side and began the process of healing Melwei’s wounds.

Fala moved with Dog’s Agility to catch Wilaeina before she fell. The guide’s legs had collapsed under her.

“You really are all right,” Wilaeina said with relief.

“Oh, the Maltrans tried to convince us of the merits of partnership.” I made a shooing gesture with my free hand. “But there are opportunities everywhere. Why limit ourselves to one place?”

“But how did you resist?” The words came croaking out of Melwei. He’d opened his eyes and spoken.

Fala moved into his view and said, “You have your secrets. We have ours.”

Once he was stable, I moved over to Wilaeina to tend to her wounds. I couldn’t help noticing the tears slipping from the sides of her eyes. It was as I’d feared then—the others of their team were lost.

“What happened?” I asked.

“We killed a monster beyond our ability to safely hunt,” she said, looking away.

“And yet it need doing,” Melwei said, his voice weak.

He’d recover soon enough. Once I took care of Wilaeina, I’d switch back to bring him up to full health. These two—and the others—were heroes. They were hiding it, but that didn’t make it any less true. Though, I’d love to know how they’d hid their intentions from me. Nothing in their talents, both old and new, indicated a proclivity for that kind of subterfuge.

‘We all have our secrets,’ Yuki said, observing through my eyes.

A truth, I replied.

###

We left Slaughter’s Hollow the next morning without our former guides. We swung by the rock plugging the hole in the veil, and it was as we’d left it. My authority finally relaxed.

The rest of the trip was eventful, but not enough to carry the weight of history, not like foiling and assassinating Sister Moon. At our relaxed pace, we drew silvered and dark creatures to us, and hunted those we could and hid from those we couldn’t yet handle.

Continuing the plan we’d set for ourselves, the silverlight fed our gear.

During the quiet moments, we checked in on the Deer God, and he let us know about the interesting animals moving into the areas devastated by the landslide. He was thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to show them who was boss of the territory.

We also called ahead to Mumu and the family to keep them apprised of our journey back. It was obvious from their voices that they were relieved. They even started showing up in my dreams again, now that they knew it wouldn’t be a distraction.

None of them asked about what we’d done on our trip. They were just glad we were safe.

Bihei talked about moving up her wedding date to take advantage of our visit to Voorhei. That meant rushing some of the preparations, but the effort would be worth it. I told her I looked forward to it, and hinting at a surprise, I shared that I’d met someone I wanted to introduce to the family.

Fala smiled at me as she listened to them going wild on the other side of the line.

###

The Glen glowed under the moon’s light. Fala and I sat together beside the pool, the sound of the waterfall masking the crickets chirping and frogs calling. A campfire spread its warmth to encompass us both.

We could’ve pushed on to Voorhei, but the two of us wanted one more night alone before reuniting with the family. As we leaned against each other, I couldn’t help thinking that the Glen looked different with Heleitia no longer sleeping under it, without Fala tied to it like before.

The two of us had come so far, with events changing us along the way, and yet we’d held true to our deepest desires.

Ever since I’d become silvered, I’d felt a hunger to find my life’s purpose. My influence tilted this way and that, seemingly diving into every steam and pool of water to find a direction, latching onto stray details to see if they fit onto me.

Eventually, my authority did settle, and I was fine with that. Its aim aligned with my beliefs; it respected the place and the people I’d come from.

My purpose, though, was a different thing, and it was to live my life. To never let go of the idea that it was me who got to choose how to be—who to spend my time with and how we spent that time.

Diaksha had changed me. Of course, it did. The people here also changed me—that was another inevitability—but it was my hand controlling the rudder as the boat shot downstream. Life’s purpose was to live life. It was that simple. It was that hard. I was just glad to do it with such wonderful people by my side.

Fala put her finger against my forehead. “You’re thinking too much.”

A smile slipped out, and I gave my beloved a kiss.

In the background, hidden in the network, Yuki snickered.

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Author's Note: And that's it, y'all. The last full chapter in book 5. There's a single perspective chapter that will publish shortly, and then an announcement.