by SunnyJustice » Tue Jul 04, 2017 4:46 pm
The Desert
"Are you sure about this, Blythe?" Peregrine stammered as they continued through the sand. Boy was the desert cold when the sun wasn't shining. Peregrine had grown up in the islands, which were always pleasantly warm even at night. His sister Ondine didn't even use a blanket. Peregrine did though. He hated the cold.
"Yeah! I know Camilla's camp is right there! That's what the map said," Blythe said with utter confidence. He still wore that smile, even though Peregrine knew his friend was just as hungry and thirsty. The sun hadn't risen. It should have risen so long ago. Peregrine had lost track of how long they had been lost, exactly.
"You mean the map we lost in that sandstorm."
"I'm a great navigator," Blythe said. "Don't worry, Pigeon! I, Blythe Kale, will save the day and find Camilla! And then we're both gonna get into an army for sure!"
"W-well..." Peregrine took his friend's hand and kept trudging at a faster pace. "Anything would be better than being a messenger again."
"Yeah, that's for sure!"
Even Blythe was agreeing with him that this was horrible? Peregrine breathed a sigh. This really was a tough situation they got themselves into. They should have rationed out their food and water better. They should have only navigated at night when the stars were out. But no, they had to mess everything up by rushing. Now they were late and they couldn't find their way anywhere. Peregrine wanted to sit down and just cry.
"Just behind the next sand dune. I can hear her right now!" Blythe squealed excitedly, beginning to run. It was hard to sprint through the sand, but Peregrine followed his companion. He could hear it too, the sounds of blades clanking against each other. Hope blossomed in his heart again. It was Camilla's army, and they were having a sparring match!
"We're gonna surprise them all heroic-like," Blythe whispered, "And jump right off the dune into their camp!"
"Got it," Peregrine agreed.
The boy followed his friend to the edge. Just before they jumped, Peregrine realized something was wrong. But it was too late. They were sailing off the edge, and not towards any human army.
It was a huge rhinoceros-like monster, with a seven-foot metallic horn it had been sharpening upon a rock. Peregrine had read many books but this thing had never appeared in any! It grunted in rage and pawed the ground.
"Ohmygosh run!" Peregrine screamed. He turned to run, but Blythe was on the ground crying. Peregrine saw that his leg was- ohmygosh he had broken his leg ohmygosh what in Great Solara's name do I do...
"Please get up!" Peregrine begged as the monster began to charge. He couldn't leave his friend to die, not after all they had been through. He grabbed Blythe by the wrists and began to pull him along. But the towering creature was much, much faster than the boys could ever run. It lowered its head, and the blade glinted even in the darkness. The boy froze, too terrified to even yelp or move, as the monster's horn stabbed right into-
-Not Peregrine, but a tall spear-wielding figure who had leaped from above the next sand dune.
"Stand down immediately." Said the stranger in a deep, calm voice. He slowly pointed the spear towards the bewildered-looking beast.
The metal horn was lodged inside the spearman's chest. It was, ohmygosh it's coming out the other side it's coming out his back what the disgrace is this!
"Child." The spearwoman was speaking to him now. "Take your friend and run. I will handle this."
"Ohmygosh," Peregrine stammered as he picked up Blythe in his arms. Adrenaline and fear was giving him strength, where he normally would struggle to carry his friend. He took off as fast as he could, trying to block out what had just happened. Peregrine ran until he couldn't run anymore, and took refuge behind a sand dune. He placed Blythe on the ground. His friend had passed out, and ohmygoshohmygosh are you okay?!
"Blythe?" Peregrine whispered. "We are never doing that again, okay? Please be okay."
He curled up beside his friend in a little ball, and just rocked back and forth, trembling in fear. They would be fine, they would be fine. They wouldn't end up like... like the spearman who had just saved them.
As if on cue, he appeared, calmly walking out from behind the sand dune. He was holding the seven foot long blade that had just been stabbed through him. There were wounds all over the spearman, including one that looked fresh from this battle. A slash mark across his throat.
"AAAHH!" Peregrine yelled, scrambling back frantically.
"Shh," The stranger said in a calm voice. "Do not worry. I am here to protect... Ah. This is merely a paper cut. Do not be scared for my sake."
Peregrine stopped flailing, mostly out of exhaustion. He lay in the sand as the spearman approached. The stranger seemed to be purposely holding the weapon with the 'business end' pointed up, away from the boys.
"I heard Camilla's army has been searching for you," The spearman said.
Peregrine relaxed a little. If this stranger was with Camilla, he couldn't be all that bad. Even if he was a completely not-human undead being. "Y-yes..."
"I set out to search before they did. My name is Acacia. I will bring you to General Camilla now, if you will do me one favor." The spear...woman? said.
"W-what is it?" Peregrine ventured, trembling even worse. What if Acacia wanted him to give her his soul?
"Please do not tell her I am alive." Acacia lowered her head with an expression seeming to resemble sorrow. "I should not be alive."
"Okay. I won't, I promise." Peregrine replied very quickly. He wasn't sure what she meant, but he just felt bad now. He regretted misjudging the spearwoman. The messenger didn't press her though; she didn't look like she wanted to talk. Peregrine stood up, feeling still a little afraid and protective, as Acacia picked up Blythe in her arms. She made it look easy.
"Climb on my back," Said the spearwoman. "And would you like to keep-"
"No! Please get it away," Peregrine stammered. She was talking about the horn.
"As you wish." Acacia threw the metal object with what appeared to be a casual toss. It flew, and flew, and Peregrine didn't get to see where it disappeared to.
He accepted her piggy-back ride and clung to her broad shoulders tightly. The spearwoman set off running at a slow but sure pace. Peregrine felt bad now.
"Thanks for helping us back there," The boy told her quietly. "And thanks for taking us to Camilla. I'm really sorry about the way I acted. I was scared..."
"No worries." Acacia told him. "You must have thought I was a 'zombie'?"
"Yes, and..." Peregrine shuddered, remembering she still had those wounds. "You still..."
"I will be fine. Do not worry about me." Acacia chuckled, but it quickly stopped.
"I have lived through far worse."
---
???
It was so dark here. At least the nightmare was over. Only now did Solara realize it wasn't real, but the anguish and guilt still lingered. She had expressed her disappointment at Amber, only to get attacked by a traitor the next second. And Solara knew she wasn't the only casualty. Those children... Her children...
She had to return to them, before anything else happened. But somehow she couldn't go back. Something was stopping her from reforming in the living world.
"I'm gonna keep you here," Cackled Agatha's voice. Solara didn't need to turn around and check.
"... What is it?" Solara asked her. She didn't quite understand what Agatha wanted after all this time. Destroying Hesenia was 'funny' to her, but toying with people wouldn't accomplish anything.
"You don't get it, kiddo," Agatha said with a harsh laugh. "This is just as funny."
At this point Solara was just unamused. She turned around slowly, to face the laughing demon with her wild black hair. It moved in a wind that Solara could not feel.
This woman was standing between Solara and her children.
And that was unacceptable.
"Don't you feel that?" Agatha snickered. "That's anger. Your anger. I'm not controlling it at this point. I only neeed to wake it up. Can't you feel it building?"
Solara realized she was glowing with light and heat that provided no warmth, only burning destruction. She could not return to Hesenia like this. She took a deep breath and let the deadly glow die from around her. She calmly gathered it all back inside, not breaking eye contact from Agatha.
And she sent a focused beam of light directly at the demon.
Laughing, Agatha simply sidestepped before disappearing into the darkness. She became one with the shadows, which seemed to thicken and fill the already-blank area. But soon Solara could see shapes in the darkness. They slowly came into focus, and she was looking at an image of the Sanctuary. Her children...
The picture zoomed in on Luno. Solara felt her heart breaking when she saw the fatigue in his darkened eyes. The exhaustion that ran so deep, even the marrow inside his bones seemed to tremble in her vision. She had never seen her husband like this. What was happening?
"I'm not going to show you your precious 'children'. You're going to watch him suffer," Said Agatha's disembodied voice. "It's all because of you too. He wouldn't be so weakened unless you were. It's all your fault."
This misbehavior was completely out of hand. Solara fired another pulse of light towards the direction of the voice, but she heard nothing but persisting laughter.
When Agatha spoke again, it was in Xia's voice.
"Nothing you do will change anything at all."
And then Cilan's.
"You have failed your purpose."
The same voices, the same words from that nightmare. Solara took a deep breath. She knew Agatha could not trap a phoenix forever, even a weakened one. She would just need to hang on until the demon's time ran out.
And then she would help her children. And her husband. She would not let anything happen to them anymore.
---
Celestial Tower
Clotilda would yell at Jonah for laughing at her later. She believed she was pretty good at pretending to be angry. She would put on her scariest creepy face and scream her head off at him. Clove would probably be able to do that for a good five minutes, before she broke down and started laughing her head off too. Blair was annoying as disgrace. But honestly, it was definitely funny to exchange insults back and forth. Clotilda loved people who she could yell at without getting in trouble for getting in their face.
She really wanted to get into Xia's face, though. At this point, Clove didn't care about getting in trouble. She wouldn't even care if her mother, Queen Solara herself, got her in trouble. The knife-thrower was getting angrier by the second. Her little brother hadn't gone mad and murdered innocent people, when he lost his family and future Queen.
When Jonah took her hand, Clotilda squeezed it murderously. She didn't have much physical strength, so she knew she would probably not hurt him too much. This was one of the times she felt fortunate for not being her mother. It would be rude to break all the bones of his hand.
"This insolent little twerp is lucky I'm already dead," Clotilda snarled. Her anger was building, mostly because she was hiding her shame over her own death. She didn't want anybody to see her like that.
She practically jumped into the ceiling (not really, but she was pretty freaked) when Kelly showed up. Shadow Mom had a knack for being partially psychic or something. Clove crossed her arms as Everyone's Mom spoke to Cilan about the embarrassing death. Oh great, people actually knew about that before her idiot brother brought it up. Clotilda felt her face getting warm at the thought of how many people might already know. Cilan was kind of sobbing quietly into Kelly's arms, but just because he was getting emotional didn't lessen Clove's own embarrassment.
'An act of mercy', Kelly called it. Well Clove would need to look up that word in the dictionary. It was not even in her vocabulary, even though she had a guess for it.
Everymom then hugged and spoke to Clotilda next. Clove couldn't really look her in the eye though, too awkward. Wait, Kelly actually thought she 'didn't give up'?
"Well you see, some of my friends like to brag about how they survived- er, didn't really 'survive'- their horrible deaths. I never really told them that I got my little brother to finish me. Thanks for not laughing at me, but it's not really something to brag about either." Her face went even more red when Kelly kissed her on the cheek.
"I'll ask you about the funny story after we take care of this. Hey Cilan, you can go back at any time since you're not gonna destroy anything, but can you promise me something?"
"Yeah?" Her little brother looked so pitiful with those puppy-dog eyes.
"Take care of Mom and Dad. I feel like there's something wrong, but I can't figure it out." Clotilda's face showed frustration, but she was just hiding her worry. "And don't get into any more stupid fights that involve you dying a hundred times. Or I'll make you watch embarrassing videos of yourself as a kid."
"You can help me by destroying those," Cilan told Kelly quickly.
"That's not what she meant by help, you idiot."
"Oh wait. I don't need to destroy anything. I have nothing to hide." Cilan was smiling again, but the way the corners of his mouth twitched up... Was he smirking at her?!
"I'm gonna KILL you!"
---
The Island
"Ohmygosh!" Myrtle squealed. Somehow, his voice was even more high-pitched than it normally was. He took Grace seriously, and had no doubt that she would be the next General.
"When you become General," He said, "Please let me join the army!"
Of course, he said it in a very quiet whisper. If Ondine heard, she would probably lecture him. She was like a scary mom who waved around scary swords.
Actually... eh, she wasn't scary.
'Momdine' was actually quite friendly when she wasn't telling Myrtle to go home or something. Come on! He just wanted to join the army and fight like all his friends. Just because he was a boy, didn't mean he was a complete weakling. He wanted to try to use a spear like other Adamsons.
Once the story was over, Grace was talking about how zombies weren't real. Myrtle crossed his arms with a fake angry face (which he was really bad at doing) and an exaggerated, high pitched 'hmph!' until Grace mentioned Agatha dying from those stab wounds. Then the boy started giggling. Agatha wasn't really human, she was this demon thing that Myrtle heard in a lot of creepy stories. And a lot of funny stories!
People would make up all kinds of hilarious joke stories that involved Agatha getting killed embarrassingly, like the one where she chased the boy with flight-powers. He had led her to run right off a cliff. If Agatha was like, a real human person, Myrtle wouldn't be laughing. But she was definitely not a human being.
Grace actually agreed the rumors might be true. Myrtle's eyes lit up, and he thought he probably looked as bright as Solara right now. "Ohmygosh! You're right! I'm related to real live phoenixes so it's probably possible! Wait wait wait, maybe I'm actually a phoenix. Come on Ondine, you have to let me join! And maybe I can find Auntie Cay and-"
"No, Myrtle," Sighed the General.
"Awww!" Myrtle turned and decided to 'ignore' her. He would only talk to Grace and the others (unless Ondine actually got upset, then he would say sorry a million times). "But you're right Grace, it's super dumb to assume we know all the powers that could possibly exist, right? Ooh what do you think I'll get?!"
---
Birvale Beach
Everything was still a blur. Waverly couldn't stop seeing red, and not because of anger. He wanted to get the deaths out of his mind, but he couldn't. It was the only thing he could think of. His brother, who was at worst a harmless prankster, was dead and... why? Why would that girl do this to them? "I don't understand..."
Amber asked him something, and Waverly looked up. He knew his expression was probably glazed-over. She was saying something about family, but the words didn't exactly get through to him. Waverly was about to ask for Amber to reiterate, but Kale started speaking. Waverly could somewhat understand what was going on now.
"Y-yes... I..." The boy picked up his brother and stood up shakily, almost falling over. He took a deep breath as he willed his legs not to tremble. It didn't work. Waverly felt better that Sorcha and his companions were here to protect each other, as they said. But after what he just witnessed, he didn't think he would ever stop shaking.
Add that to the unnerving feeling of being watched by... someone... somewhere... a smile in the darkness he couldn't see, and perhaps he didn't want to...
The darkness and the ocean breezes had chilled Waverly to the bone, even though he was used to them from his childhood. Something had changed along the way. Maybe even just now. It was so cold he was shivering, but he was also sweating. He hadn't wanted to detach himself from the group hug, but he needed to. He had to say goodbye before they left this cursed place for good.
As a child, Waverly was like any Aguado. He loved the beach, he loved water. Now he wanted to turn his back and never see the ocean again.
He walked down to the shore, then waded in. The water was freezing cold but Waverly barely minded, he was already cold enough from inside. He walked until he stood about chest-deep in the water, holding his brother. It was easier to carry Samuel now that the water was helping support him.
"Mariana," Waverly said quietly into the dark waters, "Can y-you take m-my brother? Keep h-him safe?"
He wasn't expecting a reply. He didn't know how his family did it. Probably he was doing this all wrong. Waverly didn't know what to do. Should he just leave him here? Or join the others and bury him in the jungle? Or...
He didn't have to make that decision.
The tide itself took Samuel from Waverly's arms with surprising strength. The boy could do nothing but stand and watch as his brother was swept out to sea, slowly taken underwater by the waves.
"He will be safe with me," Said the voice. It was a melodic woman's voice that reminded Waverly of home, of his own mother, not the horrible fake who had murdered everyone.
"Mother?" Waverly decided to take a chance.
"No," Said the voice. "But I am still watching over you. Now go to your new family."
"T-thank you." Wiping away tears, he obediently turned around and walked towards the shore. He waded out of the water and rejoined the others. His new family, Mariana had called them.
"Amber," Waverly said, now walking by her side. The tremble in his voice had faded just slightly. "Y-you're right. We're... we're family now."
He turned to look at the others. Kale and Fern. Celeste and Vivien. Ivana and even Sorcha, who had just arrived. They still had each other, didn't they?
Waverly had made up his mind. He would come with them, wherever they would go. Sinking into hopeless despair was too easy. After all, he couldn't be hurt much if he only expected the worst. But seeing everyone here, helping each other and protecting each other, despite all that had happened...
Well, it filled him with enough hope to keep going.
---
Capital City
Alastair was grateful for Virisia's help. Once she had dug the hole, Alastair placed the body inside gently and began to fill the dirt back in. Virisia had left, seeming to be tired.
She deserved a break.
Alastair took his time burying the body. He thought of his own daughter, the hatred in her eyes as the necromancer Yina called up her ghost from the dead. Alastair had been upset even then. Hearing those words from Cyrena, who had forsaken him as a father. Would she maybe forgive him if he started being a good King? If he devoted the rest of his life to protecting Hesenia, which he had almost destroyed?
He had finished filling in the hole, just in time. His hands were trembling too hard to use the shovel any longer. The King was remembering the night Cyrena's body was sent back to him, from Queen Solara. His young daughter had died trying to assassinate Solara, and why? Because she wanted to impress her father. Because she wanted to finally be noticed. And when Alastair realized his mistake, it was far too late.
Some horrible noises from inside Parliament disturbed Alastair from his painful memories. The King clenched his fists. This could wait; he needed to make sure people weren't killing each other. He went inside and rushed down the hallway. By the time he arrived, three bloody bodies were already on the floor. He had arrived just in time to see Virisia walking away from them. What was going on?
"What happened here?" Alastair demanded, feeling his familiar anger begin to rise. He knew his most loyal assassin never attacked without reason. She was the most likely to prevent fights within the allies of Parliament. So then, what had these three done to warrant murder?
---
The Sanctuary
Timpani finally jolted awake with a basilisk-like snarl. Wait, basilisks didn't snarl. What did then? Timpani didn't really care, she was pretty ticked off about that stupid... whatever it was. Normal people would call that a 'dream', wouldn't they. Well that load of disgrace wasn't real and never would be. Agatha could go disgrace her family name with a Participation ribbon in an athletic event against kindergarten boys. If Agatha thought a ridiculous dream like that could do anything, then Agatha herself was the real joke.
Grumbling and cursing under her breath, she literally rolled out of bed and barely landed on her feet. Her back was aching. Maybe those stupid kids from the village outskirts had pranked her. She wiped her eyes, wondering why everything was still so dark. Hesenia was freakin' flat. Those round-Hesenia theorists were dumb. It should have been light by now, regardless of the season. This was stupid.
And not only did her back ache, but her legs felt shaky. What the actual disgrace. Timpani sat back on her bed-
"BED?!"
What in the name of Judge Zelkova's grandmother! Timpani had never slept in her entire life until now. She remembered it all clearly now. They were at the Sanctuary. It was dark because of some stupd curse. She and Mayne had been settling down for a nap, at the base of an old oak tree. She was using the adorable lil cook as a pillow and everything. Wait.
Mayne! Where the disgrace was he?
Timpani took off running, barely holding herself back from smashing through the door. She heard something crack but she didn't care. She didn't bother with the stairs, rather leaped over the railing and landed with a CRASH on the floorboards below. She tore through the house and ripped open the back door (which produced another crack), then sprinted towards the oak tree. How the heck did they get upstairs from there? Had she freakin' sleepwalked carrying him?!
And he wasn't even at the tree. Timpani was going to kill Agatha for this. She would turn the disgrace into something resembling her own lasagna she tried to cook once. She would cuss Agatha out so vulgarly, all children within a ten kilometer radius would need to be evacuated to a preschool. The sheer hatred in the swear words would kill Agatha all over again. This senile old woman had no right moving people around.
There was some kind of commotion on the far side of the clearing. Right by the treeline. Timpani could make out reddish hair, and she didn't need to be told twice. She sprinted towards the people, easily overtaking Luno, who was already approaching them. Sure enough, Mayne was there. Timpani breathed a sigh of relief.
And then she realized he had his arms around Xia. Timpani clenched her fists, but decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. Mayne was calming her down after what appeared to be a bloody fight. Timpani scowled, seeing the bodies and the bloodstained trident. Mayne, her Mayne, could be in danger. But Timpani was hesitating to attack Xia without confirmation. Maybe there was a great mistake. Timpani had grew up with Xia, who lived on the outskirts of Windwoods. But most people still considered her part of the village. Nobody left her out of anything, unless she herself didn't want to join in. Timpani had warmed up to the kid after a while. It was highly doubtful this girl would start stabbing innocent children for absolutely no reason.
Before she could demand an explanation, Xia started saying ridiculous things. Timpani scowled at the mention of Agatha's name, and she clenched her fists even tighter. That lowly outhouse scum of a woman. What the disgrace did Agatha think she was doing with Timpani's friends?
"You are awake," Timpani informed Xia very clearly. Yeah. Timpani had never slept before until tonight, so she was definitely disoriented once she woke up. Maybe Xia had just woke up too. Hard to tell with the constant darkness overhead and the moon always shining. Xia just needed a reminder.
As for Timpani. She needed to know what the disgrace was going on here. Jen and Regina screamed at Xia for something she must have said, and Jen's fire suddenly began incinerating the grass. It died down quickly, without destroying anything else except people's shoes. Anna was trying to calm people down, mostly Jen who seemed extremely upset. At least Jennifer had regained control before her supernatural fire killed anyone, but this was still outrageous. Timpani clenched her teeth, shaking her head at the behavior all around her. Nothing was making sense here.
"I will, Flynn. Do not worry," Luno's situationally inappropriate calm voice sounded inside Timpani's head. "Rowan, Flynn is going to get Lily. Cyprian is already gone, but please help any-"
The healer arrived at a frantic run, looking horrible. He wasn't crying at this point, but tears had worn visible streaks across his exhausted features. He fell to his knees with such a devastated expression that even Timpani felt bad.
"I was... I was t-too late..."
Timpani clenched her jaw. When she spoke, one could easily hear her mother's influence in the deep, gruff undertones of her voice. "Can someone explain what happened here."
Luno finally arrived. Why he had been freakin' walking at such a slow pace, Timpani didn't understand. Well until she saw how wrong everything was. Luno's usual smile was gone, and his normally-optimistic golden brown eyes were darkened with an unknown emotion. Yes, something was certainly wrong. The moonlight coming from the sky was only half as bright as before. What in the name of Ada's girlfriend.
"I'm sorry," The old King said in an uncharacteristically labored and quiet voice. "Everyone was under a curse from Agatha. Cyprian came back to the Sanctuary, and he accidentally killed Silas by touching him. Xia killed Cyprian for it. Cadence and Cedar are also..."
Luno trailed off, but gestured to where Cyprian had fallen. The boy had landed against the two elders, who were now soaked with his blood and equally motionless.
"I'm so sorry, my children. I had not even realized he was there. The evil Agatha brought into this place, the hate and anger I can feel right now, it is making me so tired." Luno shook his head slowly.
Timpani was swamped with first confusion, then rage. And then finally something like grief. She had never been an emotional person. But Silas, her best childhood friend... was dead because of...
"Ignorance," Timpani said with deadly, forced calm in her voice. Her face showed her rage and she did not hide it. "Four people died today. All because people acted without thinking."
"Regina?" Luno said quietly, placing a small hand on the blonde's arm. "I need to talk with you somewhere quiet."
Timpani breathed deeply. Regina was the person here who seemed most likely to continue fighting. Jen and Xia were upset beyond anger, and both of them had a friend to calm them down. Luno and Rowan were not going to fight, And Timpani knew she wouldn't. She was going to protect her friends, not beat them up for stupid reasons. While she could understand Xia's anger, Timpani didn't approve of it. Xia was not blameless. She had technically killed three people, possibly more, since Cilan was missing completely from this scene. Knowing Cilan, he had charged into the fray early and got himself killed. So that was five deaths because of sheer impulsiveness.
Rowan had gone to his father's side, and was completely silent, just kneeling there and staring down. Timpani heaved a sigh. She would need to pay her respects to Mayor Cadence, her sister who she never quite made peace with. But first she had to take care of those still alive.
She walked a step closer, and slowly knelt beside Xia and Mayne. Timpani tried to convince herself, she was just protecting Mayne in case Xia tried anything. But who was she kidding? Xia was her friend too. That energetic girl with the bright blue eyes. She had finally given Silas courage, something even Timpani had failed to do for her best friend. And now he was gone, and she was broken.
"Hey," Timpani murmured. Her voice had gone back to normal. It was still rough and stern, but it did not sound like Vulcana's rage any longer. "We're here for you now."
She put her hand on Xia's forehead, then slid her eyelids shut. "Now shut up and sleep, 'kay? Please."
There, she said it. She used manners. And what was Agatha going to do about that? Huh? Absolutely nothing. "That's what I thought," Timpani thought vengefully. Agatha was going to get some serious justice. Timpani was furious just seeing her friends like this, and she made a mental promise this would never happen again. Freakin' punk was going to get a sword through her ol' ribcage.
Timpani sat down and put her arm around Mayne, showing gentleness that surprised even herself. No doubt he deserved a hug after everything that happened. And Mayne, by calming down Xia, might have spared the lives of everyone here. Had the situation escalated, Xia, Jen, Regina, everyone... They all might have killed each other out of rage. And they would never get a chance to right their wrongs.
Timpani was silent for a long while. Who had saved the day? It was not the tough, strong warriors like Jen and Timpani herself. It was not knowledgeable old Luno who could see into their minds. It was not the powerful healer Rowan, or the sharp-minded Flynn. No. Today everyone's savior was Mayne. Sweet, kind, timid little Mayne. Her Mayne.
"I'm so proud of you," Timpani told him. "My little hero."
