I am not a mad deity, but I remember a world in which I am.403Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo9otvIYKqp
“They took it,” Djince said, his voice deadpan. 403Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnHbUj5hO6
I hadn’t heard him speak in almost twelve hours. We had pushed Ethis into the marsh, then slept. Rather, I slept. Djince paced. When I awoke near mid morning, the campfire was out and Djince was scrubbing down Ethis’ bedroll. He would rip into its cover before ever getting out all the blood, but I didn’t say anything to stop him. Everyone mourned in their own way. I figured that Djince mourned by doing.403Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpinFGPbjdh
Around noon, I started gathering up my things, but Djince was sitting catatonic, staring off into the marshlands, his brow furrowed in concentration. That was when he chose to speak.
“We have to get it back,” he said.
“What? I thought they just came here to cause chaos.”
He looked over at me as if he was surprised to see me there. Maybe he was. “Our letter bag,” he said.
“Your sensitive correspondence? Why would they take it?”
Djince looked away from me.
“Djince… You don’t have to tell me. I’ll guess. Were the Mordis Eyes following you and your brother because the House of Veris is trying to move against them openly and they wanted to intercept the messages?” When Djince eyed me curiously over his shoulder, I said, “Bingo. Alright… So what? You want to go get the letters, but you also want revenge, right?” He shrugged and looked away. “Right again. Let’s go for three… You two stumbling upon me--the chosen rival and enemy of the villainous Mordis Eyes--was a big, fat, coincidence.”
Djince didn’t look back at me.
I came up behind him and put my hand on his shoulder. He flinched, but held my gaze for a moment before he looked out on the marsh and said, “There was a rumor. We decided to see for ourselves. It was a game--just a game. We didn’t take anything seriously. We didn’t rescue you in the desert because the both of us were trashed. We could only follow the boyos back to Hearthwir and sober up. Then we rescued you. I didn’t believe it…” He eyed me and said, “I still don’t know what to believe.”
“Whatever you believe, you know the Mordis Eyes killed Ethis.”
“On your word, no less,” Djince stated, but he didn’t sound accusatory. He was simply stating what he believed. “You said his name. Now he’s fish food.”
“Stop… I know what I did. The question is… what will you do? You said we have to get the letter bag back, right? Then let’s do that… How do you plan to track fifty different Mordis Eyes, any one of which might have the bag?”
“I don’t see you trying to come up with anything helpful. All you have is questions.”
“And hope. I have hope!”
Djince snorted out his nose. “Well… at least there’s that.”
I let out a breath, trying not to let him frustrate me. “You can see things, can’t you? Things that are far away? You’ve been watching them, haven’t you?” Djince slowly looked up at me then, his green eyes flashing. “Ethis told me… So?”
He carefully nodded once.
“Have any revealed the bag?”
He grit his teeth. I saw his jaw clench. No.
I put a hand to my chin. “Hm… Well, have you at least narrowed it down?” He pointed east and north. “Where would they take it?” Djince’s expression turned into one of realization then and he smacked his own face. Been there, bud. He pointed east. “Well! Isn’t that a coincidence. We’re heading east too, aren’t we?”
The lone Kallos stood then and handed me Ethis’ rifle. There was a tension in him, like a strumming cord. It was exhilarating. His purpose rolled off him in waves, infecting me with an energy I couldn’t name. He nodded at me then and said nothing more. Maybe he was saying thank you. I didn’t ask. I took the rifle from him and went to Ethis’ gravbike, straddling it and palming it to life.403Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVZQHb38Ni
When life gave you lemons, you made a pitcher of sweet revenge.
This was a sentiment I could understand. It stupefied me that I could understand retaliation, but I couldn’t justify killing to survive. Perhaps I was just starting to think like a human being.
What a dreadful thought.
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