Splinter Angel Chapter 219 (Patreon)

The next morning, Ana woke to rhythmic breathing. The rhythm wasn’t entirely familiar, but the sound of the breaths was.

Outside, moving stiffly in a space no more than two-by-two feet, Nari performed her exercises. With her right arm in a splint she couldn’t use her longsword, so instead she used a short one with an eighteen-inch blade, wielded in her non-dominant left hand. The only one awake other than her and Ana was Mabb, who had the dawn watch. He gave Ana a silent wave then went back to studiously ignoring Nari, who probably should have still been in bed.

Ana, with all her experience in convalescence, was impressed that the Swordswoman was up at all, much less exercising. It boded well for the day ahead.

With nothing to block their sight of each other it wasn’t long before Nari stopped her exercises, ending on a low cut followed by a twist at the ankles that left her facing straight back, the blade following the movement in a three-quarters circle. Then she stood smoothly and gave Ana a tired smile.

“Don’t tell Trislain,” she said.

“You have my word,” Ana replied. “You’re back on your feet fast.”

“A Vitality Enhancement,” Nari admitted. “And thank you. I suppose I should have started with that. I… I’m not sure how to do this. It’s been some time since I had to thank someone for saving my life.”

“But it’s not the first time.”

Nari looked over toward the tent that Rayni shared with Jisha, as though to make sure her sister wasn’t listening, then shook her head. “No.”

“Well, you’re welcome. When did you wake? You were still out cold when I had my watch.”

“Not sure, to be honest. Middle of the night sometime. Lara told me what happened, me pushing her, the demon… I was pretty confused. I don’t remember any of it.” Then she laughed wryly. “Lara was so mad. She hid it terribly.”

“I can imagine. She seems like the type who’d never forgive herself if the woman she loved died for her sake.” Something they had in common, she admitted silently.

Nari didn’t answer. Her attempt at mirth died and she looked down, seeming to shrink in on herself, and Ana didn’t need any of her Skills or Perks to see how vulnerable the Swordswoman was in that moment.

“She does love you, you know that, right?” Ana asked. “As much as you love her. Even I can see that. If it hadn’t been obvious ever since I first met you two, yesterday would have proved it. She was a wreck the whole time Trislain tended to you. We could barely get her to let you go long enough to dress you again afterward.” When Nari still didn’t reply, Ana asked, “She hasn’t told you, has she?”

Nari shook her head slowly. “No,” she said, barely audible.

“Have you?”

“No,” Nari repeated, then added, “I couldn’t. If she doesn’t feel the same way, I couldn’t—”

“She does. Like I said, even I can see that. And if you need a second opinion, ask literally any of the other women here. Hell, I doubt any of the men have missed it, either. Komaki knows for sure. I’d be surprised if Mabb didn’t, too.”

“It’s that obvious?” She turned to Mabb, who’d stopped pretending not to see her. “Mabb… is it?”

Mabb just smiled and gave her a look of infinite patience.

Nari turned back to Ana, eyes wide and shimmering with fear and hope. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Shit.” Nari looked back toward the tent where Lara still slept. “I should tell her.”

“Probably, yeah.”

Like a switch had been flipped, all the uncertainty and doubt left the Swordswoman. She looked at the sword in her hand like she wasn’t sure what to do with it; like walking the few steps to where the scabbard hung on a stunted tree would be an unacceptable delay. Instead she approached Ana, flipping the weapon with an easy toss and catching it by the blade before offering it hilt first.

Ana took it. What else was she supposed to do?

Nari smiled a twisted smile that was equal parts excited and terrified. After a moment’s hesitation, she grabbed Ana by the shoulder. “Thank you,” she said, with an intensity in her eyes that Ana had theretofore most often seen on people she was about to lead into battle. Then as quickly as she’d put her hand on Ana, she let go, striding with quick steps towards the tent she shared with Lara.

Ana watched her go, sharing a bemused look with Mabb as she weighed the sword in her hand. Then she quickly went over to the dangling scabbard and sheathed it, wiping her hand on her trousers; the leather on the hilt was warm and damp.

“Nari?” Lara’s voice came from their tent, confused with sleep and scared in a way that Ana had heard for the first time the previous day. With Ana’s sharp ears, overhearing others was a given; this time, she didn’t make an effort not to listen.

“Sssshhh. Hush. I’m here,” Nari replied.

“Gods, I dreamt that she couldn’t catch you! And then I woke, and you weren’t here. I—”

“I was right here,” Nari objected softly. “Just two feet away.”

“But you weren’t here! Gods, Nari, I thought you were gone, really gone, and— I love you, Starling. I love you so much that sometimes I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Ana froze. She almost laughed; not at Lara’s words, but at the pause before Nari gave off a soft, defeated laugh and replied, “I love you too, Lara. And I’m so sorry for scaring you.” As their words softened and devolved into kissing and whispered confessions, it was all too easy to imagine Nari’s exasperation at having finally psyched herself up to admit how she felt, only for Lara to blurt it out first.

With an amused huff, she tuned them out. She had her own morning routine to tend to — slightly modified to account for her hand, which Trislain still didn’t want her to use at all if she could help it. Apparently there had been a lot of cracked and broken bones, and he wasn’t satisfied that they were all healed.

At least it hadn’t looked like an inflated surgical glove since their first morning in the Splinter.

It wasn’t long before Messy joined her, which at one point included dipping down to lift a half-heartedly protesting Ana on her shoulders to do her squats. Messy was followed by Jisha, then Rayni, and then the rest of her Party. With half the camp doing morning exercise, Komaki only took one look after sticking his head out of his and Trislain’s tend before grinning and joining in.

Mabb and Trislain didn’t join, instead getting started on breakfast, and Lara and Nari didn’t even leave their tent until well after Ana called an end to the session. But it had felt good, having so many join in. Normal. Ana had enjoyed her classes back in Summer Angel. She’d found herself missing them more than once. Perhaps once Trislain declared her hand fully recovered, she could start their new Party members on some simple martial arts?

She’d have to ask over breakfast. That, or she’d just do exactly what she had this morning: start with her friends, and see who joined in.

As they ate, Nari declared that she wanted to try the descent again, and Trislain cleared her to continue as long as she always had someone by her side, paced herself, and didn’t try to use her right arm. That shouldn’t be a problem; Lara didn’t look like she intended to leave Nari’s side any time soon. Besides, they had all day now, and between them, the Party should be easily able to help her past any particularly difficult sessions. And so, with the sun not yet risen over the dawnward mountains, they walked down the steps from the platform again. They went around the bend and under the waterfall, then rounded the place where Nari had fallen, this time blessedly free of suicidal demons. There they soon found a tall, roughly square pillar, where a series of ledges and carefully hewn steps let them descend dozens of feet and double back.

The second time they passed under the waterfall they walked along a long, deep notch in the cliff face. The spray was, sadly, worse, to the point where Mabb insisted they get their rain gear out. They were all thankful for that after passing through; even with their oiled leather cloaks on, the spray found its way to their skin in places. They’d’ve been drenched to the bone without them.

They passed under that same waterfall a third time, over two hours later and much further down. By then they felt nothing. There wasn’t even a trickle of water on the cliff wall; the sun and the wind had conspired to dry it as it ran down the rock.

Ana ended up having to use her wings once, carrying Nari past a particularly difficult passage. The trail was a foot’s breadth wide there, for several yards, and they had to hold on firm to a long, narrow notch cut into the wall some four feet up. The surface of the rock just by the edge, and the lack of vegetation just below, suggested that the trail had until recently been wider. So did the jagged surfaces of the notch; time hadn’t smoothed it yet. But that was the last real difficulty they encountered. The rest of the descent was strenuous, and they had to take their time, but there was no real danger. Whoever maintained the trail was doing a good job. 

That didn’t mean that nothing happened.

They couldn’t have had more than a few hundred feet left when Lara raised her hand and declared, “My Danger Sense is picking up something below. Something it seems to think that I should be nervous about. Komaki? Rayni?”

“Nothing,” Komaki said. “Whatever it is, it isn’t aware of us. Or isn’t paying attention, at least."

Rayni said, “Nothing yet.” Then, a few long seconds later, “Yeah, there it is. Dangerous, but nothing we can’t handle together.”

“Keep going or wait?” Lara asked the group at large.

“Keep going,” Rayni said without hesitation. “Anyone think different?”

No one objected, so they continued. With the gradual slope of the trail it took some time before Ana could hear steps and rustling vegetation below, and it was another while before a cheerful voice rang out, so high and bright that it might as well have belonged to a child. “Ho on the trail!” it called up to them with quick excitement. “How goes the descent? Actually, don’t answer! We’ll be face to face in a minute, no need to be shouting. You’ve got a wide bit coming up. Wait there, would you?” Then, by the sound of it, whoever it was picked up their pace.

There was indeed a wider section coming up; not nearly wide enough to camp, but enough for a group of people to stop and catch their breath, or for a descending Party to let an Ascending one pass, or vice versa. From there they saw a tall walking stick and a wide-brimmed hat appear, followed by the rest of a lone figure dressed all in what looked like undyed leather and carrying the mandatory pack of anyone moving about a Splinter. The trail hairpinned back on itself not much further ahead, and as their fellow traveller went around the bend the bright-eyed delight on their sandy tan face became visible.

They didn’t just sound like a child; they looked like one, too. As Ana tracked them with her full focus, wary but not really expecting any kind of hostility, she estimated them at three-and-a-half feet — about the same as Sitri the Tranquilizer. Which was an appropriate comparison, seeing how this stranger Inspected as a Level 34 demi-fae Arc Mage.

She wondered if Simt had been particularly tall for a demi-fae. The Kineticist had been about four-foot even, considerably taller than the other demi-fae Ana had met. Then she thought, Arc Mage. Not Archmage. Which should mean—

Ana’s speculation was confirmed when Kaira chirped, “Oh! Oh, a Lightning-mage!”

“I am!” the demi-fae mage called up the trail, still far enough away that they must have had an excellent Perception and possibly something like Ana’s Keen Hearing to have heard. “Give me a moment!”

Half a minute later they’d joined the Party on the wide ledge. There hadn’t been any hesitation or consideration at all; they’d just stepped right up, stopping with their back to the open sky and doffing their hat. “There we are!” they exclaimed, then spoke in a near uninterrupted torrent of words. “Lotri the Arc Mage, at your service! Haven’t seen you all before. You’re all rather low Level for this Splinter, aren’t you? Most of you, at least. I like that! Shows gumption! Good on ya! How’s the descent been?”

“A demon dropped on us,” Nari replied in the sudden silence that followed, turning to show her splinted right arm. “Otherwise good. Um… Nari, Swordswoman.”

“Good, good!” Lotri said, craning their neck back to look up the cliff wall for a moment before facing Nari again. “Well, sorry about the arm, but looks like you got that fixed right up. Travelling with a Healer! I’m not half jealous, am I? Oh, and there’s the young Evoker! Hello! Another Lightning-mage?”

“Lightning and Fire!” Kaira replied, matching the other mage’s energy with worrying ease. “Hi! Kaira!”

“There’s a nice combination! Not much to choose from in the Classes if you want to play to both Crafts, but what’s available is good! Good on ya! There’s a fella, usually hangs around the guild hall if he’s not out… Rosco? No. Rosgo? Rosgo! That’s the guy! Elfin, pale as snow, hair like the morning sky. You should talk to him. So, you all heading down to the settlement for the alignment?”

“We’re heading to the settlement, yeah. Anything we need to know?” Ana asked, not letting the sudden change of topic catch her off guard. She deliberately slowed her speech a little to balance out Lotri’s rapid-fire speech. Then a thought struck her, and she added, “Did the alignment happen yet?”

“Nope! Road’s safe, as far as I could tell. Someone’s gone ahead and filled in that divot down by the treeline, and about time, too. And there’s two days left to the alignment,” the mage said, looking out across the valley while twirling their hat lazily around their finger. The settlement wasn’t visible from where they stood, but that didn’t bother the mage. “Afternoon, probably. Maybe evening. Plenty of time to get there if you don’t camp first thing once you get down. Probably get there in time even then. You all thinking of heading out? Hope not! I just met you!”

“No. Not heading out. At least I wasn’t planning to,” Ana said, looking between the others, one eyebrow arched in a silent question.

“No,” Lara agreed. “I don’t think we are.”

“Wonderful! Might see you back there sometime, then! Especially if you stay at the Onyx Oracle. Clean, fair prices, good beer, get some decent musicians in there on the regular… got to be honest, my sister runs the place with her husband. Tell them I sent you and they might give you a discount. Might not. Hard to say. Now, I better shimmy on up if I want to reach the top before dark! Good to meet you, Nari, Kaira… the rest of you. And remember, young Evoker: Rosgo! Usually hangs around the guild hall. Talk to him about his Class! G’day now!”

With that the Arc Mage twirled their oversized hat and flicked it into the air, where it flipped once before landing square on their head. Then, without waiting for another word, they hurried off up the trail.

It took a moment before anyone spoke. It was like Lotri had used up all the words, leaving an impenetrable silence behind them. The first person to make a sound was Lara, who snorted softly and said, “Lightning-mages,” with a little what can you do of a shrug.

“That certainly was an encounter,” Messy said, nodding slowly before turning to Ana. “What did you have in mind when you asked about the alignment, Angel?”

“We need to get there before the portal opens,” Ana replied. “If Serené comes through—”

“Then we need to get out,” Messy finished for her. “Right.”

“If not, it would still be a good opportunity to mask our arrival,” Mabb said. “A full Party arriving irregularly would be newsworthy, and hard to keep quiet. Especially with five of us not being Bluesky. If we could blend in with other new arrivals, we would only need an explanation for why we didn’t change our affiliation before coming through.”

“We might not even draw any attention at all if we avoid the temple of the Sentinel, if they even have one!” Messy said, a hopeful smile splitting her face. “Goddess be good, we may actually get some peace and quiet!”

“Except for all the demons we’re gonna slaughter,” Kaira corrected her.

“Except for that,” Messy laughed. “Alright, I’m going to shut up about this. I don’t want to tempt Fate any more than I have already. Is everyone good to continue?”

“Give me a moment,” Torden pleaded. “It just dawned on me what Kaira’s going to become with a few more Steps in her Crafts, and I’m trying to make peace with it.”

Kaira laughed, then blew a long, loud raspberry at him. “It’s not Lightning you need to be worried about,” she said once she ran out of air. “We need to find an Immolator or something so you can see what a deeply dedicated Fire-mage is like. I’ll even get you a nice jar of burn ointment first.”

“Please don’t threaten your friends with bodily harm,” Messy sighed.

“I’m just saying!” Kaira cackled, then shouldered her pack and took off, doing up her straps as she went.

Behind her, Torden grimaced. “How long?” he asked Omda quietly.

Omda shrugged. “Five minutes.”

“How long until what?” Ana asked.

“Until Irry starts getting in her own head about having gone too far and us abandoning her,” Torden said. “Come on. We’d better follow her. It’ll start with her trying to put some distance between us, and I don’t want her alone.”