Chương 17: Chapter 16 - Reunited

An icy gust of wind blew through the dark and eerie forest, displacing some of the mist as Ren shot to his feet in the sheltered nook camp, yanking the hobgoblin's cleaver free from his belt as he did. Elowen gave him a brief confused look before quickly getting to her feet as well, white motes coalescing into the beautiful Sword of Aelcryth.

"What do you see?" she said in a soft and cautious voice. Ren didn't answer and watched the darkness attentively as the wind picked up, rustling the forest's canopy just enough for bright moonlight to spill through. Long silver hair caught the pale light, and a pretty, familiar face stared back at him with an unreadable expression.

"… Varrin?" he whispered, but the figure didn't respond. There was something unnatural about this lookalike. Its grey eyes housed no emotion and its facial features seemed just a little uncanny. The figure tilted its head slightly then burst apart into a cloud of iridescent pink butterflies and Ren watched as they scattered into the air, dissolving into motes of light before fading completely.

A heartbeat later, footsteps crunched softly from the opposite side of the camp, prompting both he and Elowen to spin, weapons ready, to face the threat. However, this time it really was Varrin. The silver-haired boy stepped into the firelight with his broadsword held ready in one hand. His eyes were as calm and alert as ever, sweeping across the sheltered nook and taking in the both of them in a single measured glance before he seemed to relax, if only slightly.

"Hey," he said casually, just as Lorelle stepped into the light right behind him, her dirty blonde hair tied back loosely and her silver mask reflecting the orange glow of the fire. Her lantern no longer floated at her back, seemingly dismissed to wherever unused Soul Attunements went. She smiled faintly when she noticed Ren.

"See?" the young Firekeeper said softly, her melodic voice carrying easily through the small camp.

"I told you he'd be here." Ren stared at them for a long moment before lowering his cleaver.

"You—you knew I'd be here?"

"Lorelle did," Varrin answered with a shrug, sheathing his blade and moving closer to the fire. Ren's gaze snapped to the young Firekeeper.

"How?"

"Let me get warm first!" Lorelle responded happily.

"Move over please!" When it had fallen some unknown time ago, the great tree that formed the little sheltered nook hadn't upheaved quite enough earth to comfortably fit a fire as well as four people. So Lorelle had to press close to Ren's side, while Varrin opted to sit just outside the nook's edge.' She smells nice,' Ren admitted to himself, before immediately feeling a flush of awkwardness at how close Lorelle was sitting. It was a soft, clean scent, with something faintly warm underneath it.

It reminded him of the incense that had lingered in the air the first time they'd met. What surprised him most was that the scent had still clung to her despite it all at all. It hadn't been washed away by her plunge into the icy river, nor dulled by the day she would have presumably spent trudging through the wilderness after it. If anything, it had only grown more noticeable now that she was pressed against his side.

And that was precisely when a far less pleasant thought struck him as he wondered what exactly he smelt like. Ren glanced down at his dirty, ruined, and blood-caked tunic before going very still, suddenly and acutely aware of just how close the two of them were.

"…You guys are alive," Elowen said eventually, her surprise slipping into relief as she broke the silence.

"That much should be obvious," the silver-haired boy responded with a scoff.

"Surely you didn't doubt me princess?" He pointed to the sticks with jackalope meat on the end that were still roasting by the fire.

"Is some of that for me?"

"You're welcome to have some," the regal elf said, pulling out a stick and handing to Varrin, who grunted in thanks.

"It's jackalope meat."

"Wait, wait," Ren said, shaking head, "so how exactly did you guys find us out here?"

"I don't really understand why," Lorelle admitted from beside him, "but you are more connected to my Soul Power."

"Ever since we meet each other inside that storage room… I could feel you. Not very clearly of course, just a loose direction, and sometimes faint emotions leaked through as well." Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I can't really explain it," she reiterated, hesitating a moment as she grabbed her own stick of meat before continuing, "it's just what my Soul Power has always done, but not at a level as deep as this." Elowen's gaze sharpened as it flicked between Lorelle and Ren, something unreadable passing behind her blue eyes, but she didn't press for more.

"Right..." Ren cleared his throat and changed the subject.

"Then what happened to you guys after you jumped?"

"We got out of that freezing river further downstream than you guys since we had to backtrack to get to you here," Varrin answered him without hesitating, "Lorelle dried our clothes with fire from her Soul Power, because she can do that as well as track you apparently, then we distanced ourselves from the demons until sunrise. That's when Lorelle said she could sense you." The young Firekeeper chuckled sheepishly, tucking loose strands of her hair behind her ears.

"I-I was distracted by... other things. That's why it took me a while to focus." Varrin scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"She wouldn't stop crying the entire time we walked. It's a wonder nothing attacked us honestly."

"Don't be mean to me!" Lorelle snapped, waving her sharpened stick in his direction.

"I be you would cry as well if your closest friend and master died saving you."

"Just don't let her sacrifice be in vain then," the silver-haired boy responded straightforwardly, "simple as that."

"I'm not going to," the young Firekeeper assured in a sombre tone, the fire's light flickering across her mask.

"I'll go back to Solaris and get Lady Dawn to recognise me, then once I am famous, I'll let all of Aetira know who Lady Agatha was..."

"Good," Varrin said flatly before taking a big bite of jackalope meat. The fire crackled between the four of them as the eerie forest's silence settled once more. Ren cleared his throat and asked the obvious question.

"So… what now?" He knew what he wanted. Ideally, he'd convince Elowen and Varrin to help him get home as well, since it would be a hundred times easier with friends at his side than going at it alone. Lorelle was a different story too. She didn't even know that they weren't from this world to begin with, and Ren wasn't sure if Varrin would get mad if she was told the truth. No one answered him immediately, and the forest canopy shook outside the sheltered nook as the wind picked up.

Lorelle was the first one to speak, her voice thoughtful.

"You said you were headed to Solaris, right?" she said, tilting her head slightly, "Is that still the case now?"

"That was the original plan, yes." Varrin responded, taking another bite of meat as soon as he finished.

"And I still want to meet Lady Dawn," Lorelle continued hopefully, "sooo... our goals align, don't they?" Ren didn't have any reason to argue against it but Solaris had always just been a cover. Something he had come up with on the fly to escape the young Firekeeper's questioning, but if this High Firekeeper was as powerful as the name implied, then maybe...

"Just how strong is she, exactly?" he asked, looking at Lorelle. Her face brightened instantly.

"She's the High Firekeeper of the Firekeeper Pillar within the Church of the Eternal Flame! An Anointed Blessed at only twenty-one and the strongest one of the three Pillars!"

"Or that's what I think anyway..." she added sheepishly.' Anointed is only three ranks above my own...' Ren thought, recalling Varrin's words from the day previous.' Is that such a huge difference?'

"She also gathered the greatest heroes in all of Aetira and formed the Roundtable Hold!" Lorelle continued eagerly, "They carry out her will—doing special missions and dangerous operations, things no one else but the best of the best can handle." Her excitement slowed slightly as a thought struck her.

"…Actually," she added, tilting her head slightly to the side, "Lady Agatha mentioned something a while back. Lord Galahern, one of the Roundtable members, is currently overseeing Pyreridge Bastion." She looked around at the others with her masked face.

"If we reach him, we could try to convince him to introduce us to Lady Dawn...?" Ren leant back against the earth wall of the sheltered nook and staring into the fire. If Lady Dawn was truly that powerful… maybe she could help. Then again...' Sending people between worlds isn't something mortals would be able to do,'he thought, taking a bite of his now cold jackalope meat.' That feels more like a god's thing.' A chill ran through him that had nothing to do with the night air. Still…

doing nothing definitely wasn't an option, so Ren looked up with steady eyes.

"Then Solaris it is," he decided after finishing his mouthful.

"We'll find this Lord Galahern first and see where that leads." Varrin nodded once.

"That's my thought process as well."

"Oh, I was only joking!" Lorelle said, growing flustered.

"I just thought that since we need to pass through Pyreridge Bastion to reach Solaris anyway, I might as well try to get him to introduce me. But it was purely for selfish reasons. There's no need for it if it doesn't fit with your plans."

"Don't misunderstand," the silver-haired boy replied, "we didn't suggest it for you at all. We have our own set of circumstances that would be resolved the quickest if we spoke to the strongest person. Simple as that." The young Firekeeper sighed in relief.

"It's good our goals align so closely then..."

"Because I think I would have been too scared to travel by myself." Lorelle pulled her knees in close and the fire crackled once again.

"No need to worry, Lorelle," Elowen said with a kind smile.

"The three of us don't know each other very well either, so the four of us can grow as a party together!" Instantly, both the regal elf and Ren tensed, realising she'd let slip something she wasn't supposed to.

"You don't know each other very well?" the young Firekeeper asked, tiling her head slightly.

"But I thought—""Tch," Varrin clicked his tongue and stood up.

"How do you expect to be strong if you can't even do things alone?"

"Forget it. I'll take first watch, you guys just sleep."

"Yes! Let's just sleep," Elowen said awkwardly, turning and laying down with her back to the fire. Lorelle complied and without another word, did the same, shifting around just enough due the tight to curling into a ball. Personally, Ren wouldn't have minded telling the young Firekeeper of their origins, he trusted her enough. But if the others didn't see it that way, he wasn't going to force them to change their mind.

There was nowhere near enough room for him to lie down with Lorelle curled up beside him, so Ren opted to simply lean back against the dirt-caked roots of the sheltered nook and close his eyes until sleep took him.