Chương 78: Healer's Faith

He was looking down a thin set of stairs devoid of a railing, spiraling downward into an abyss without end. Each step was hewn from black stone, and from somewhere close by came the unceasing trickle of water. He was already a few steps down, his naked feet cooled by the material. He ran a claw over his patchwork body, slick scales and muscles that were not his. Something called him, and he glanced back.

Above him, shifting shades of beasts and horrors clawed at the black stone, screaming and twitching, desperate to reach him. He knew what they wanted. They wanted him to turn back, but he could not. He had to descend. He had lost them. But something else was down there, waiting for him. And he had no choice but to let it embrace him. The staircase shuddered beneath his feet, and the shadowy beasts roared in jubilation. Then a smooth, familiar voice whispered across a vast desert of sand.

"Heal." He obliged. Partway up Saint's Summit, where plumes of white smoke billowed from churning industry, a house stood nestled between rattling machinery and winding steel tubes. Vines with flowers in bloom snaked up the stone facade, spilling over the balcony on the second floor. The suns, one with a tint of purple and the other with a faint blackness, shone through the glass. Captain Edmund stood in full suit with his eyes in the distance.

Two identical children around the age of twelve were preparing breakfast for themselves as an orange cat sat alert on the table, eyeing the ham and rustic bread. A fair, young woman with blond hair and green eyes, in a black dress and matching hat, moved across the creaking floor with two ceramic cups of steaming coffee.

"I don't think you will be able to see them from here," Astrid said as she looked at her captain through her rounded, thick glasses. He gave a faint smile without a shred of joy that nonetheless reached his eyes.

"The bureau is getting more persistent with all the sabotages, another church was burned last night. But I will deny them today as well," he said. Astrid nodded and gazed toward the light seeping through the balcony glass. On the other side, a potted plant stood. It was small, the bark as smooth as a newborn's skin with a single pair of purple-tinted leaves. Despite its minuscule size, a miniature haze of white condensation surrounded it.

"Your experiments are making progress, I see?" Edmund said with a nod toward the shrub.

"It looked to be wilting just yesterday." Astrid shook her head.

"Don't worry, it's confirmed not to be poisonous. But I can't find a soil that suits it enough to flourish." The captain held the mug with both hands.

"Do you also feel it? That pressure to grow?" Astrid glanced at him.

"For the first time… yes. But I am not a fighter. I was content learning, prying secrets, and laying puzzles. I have had no interest in strength. I am not a warrior, nor will I ever be."

"But the world beyond the walls made it clear to me. From here, the secrets beyond demand me to ascend. So I will try to oblige and continue, even without them."

"If you can move on, then you already have that strength," the captain said to his eloquent healer.

"Not yet," Astrid said with a shake of her head.

"When we lost him the first time, I was confident in moving on. I did not even apologize to him for it. I stood by that decision, logical, unclouded by emotion. My reasoning was sound." Edmund took a sip of his coffee as Astrid continued.

"This time their odds are arguably worse. And yet… how can I doubt them again, now that I have been proven wrong once before?" She sighed, glancing at her captain. His smile was gone.

"Astrid," he began.

"Yes?"

"When did I become such an emotional old man?" he asked. She looked at him through the spectacles. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

"Do you truly want my answer?"

"Sure," he answered with a shrug.

"I would say you always were," she replied without delay.

"You grow attached to the broken. Our cat is the sole survivor of a house fire, and the scout is illiterate with skin thicker than plated armor. To him, kindness was as foreign as the land beyond the walls." He flashed a grim smile, but she did not stop.

"And Elenya, your sword?" Astrid said softly.

"A runaway murderer who drinks to forget, and for whom violence is the key to every lock. You were always selfless and kind, even the Old Flame knows that. But your tendency to fix what is broken really resonated with those two. Because..."

"Because they had what we lacked. Outstanding talent and potential in the eyes of the Flame," she finished, nodding as she spoke without remorse. Edmund gave a dry chuckle.

"Those two can be frightening, but so can you. Dissecting me like that." She took a sip from the cup of coffee.

"I warned you." Edmund sighed, then spoke with a hint of sorrow.

"I have seen too much, lost too many. I cannot go on, Astrid... not anymore. If they do not return, I am disbanding the Company. It has been in my family for six generations, but it will end with me. I will take the twins and put them in a decent school, buy an apartment a few floors up. It will not be the Von Ager College like she wanted, but it will have to do."

"It is only been two weeks. I will choose to believe for a while longer," Astrid said, hooking a stray lock of golden hair behind her ear. Edmund looked out through the balcony glass, rays of light streaking down on the bustling city far below.

"Never took you for a believer."

"Elenya showed me its power. Who am I to deny such results?"

"I have been a Fireling for years, decades even," Edmund answered.

"Kindled more than enough. I thought the hold at Sternthal would push me over the edge. I was selfish to use them for that end. But this seems to be as far as I can climb. Edmund the Selfless, it seems to be my final name."

"They would have wanted it no other way, and it could still happen," Astrid said. Edmund looked to the outer wall.

"I wanted to feel that rush of a new name again, but perhaps that selfishness is my last hurdle."

"Perhaps your next will be Edmund, Captain of the Wounded," Astrid said with a shrug of her shoulders. Edmund shook his head.

"No, I think it would be something like Edmund, Mentor of the —" A furious knock came from the door on the first floor. Had Edmund looked at his flame at that moment, he would have seen a faint shudder pass through it. Instead, t hey both looked toward the stairwell, then back to each other, neither showing any change of emotion except a slightly raised eyebrow on Edmund's stoic features.

"I can get it! Maybe Wretchy and Elli are back!" Jonna said cheerily, with half a sandwich smudged on her face. Edmund turned around, putting a hand on the shoulder of his daughter.

"Clean yourself up, love. I will answer it," Edmund said with a forced smile and walked down. Jonna looked around in embarrassment, and her twin laughed with glee as the cat Whisky swiped a piece of ham unnoticed. The cat darted off to hide beneath the worn cushions of the sofa. Astrid stayed by the balcony, looking into the distance past chimneys and spires.

"Surely it could not be that simple," she said in a low voice, speaking to herself. A conversation was happening by the door. The low and melodic voice of the captain interchanged with another voice, out of earshot from the residents of the upper floor.

"Good news," Astrid whispered to herself.

"Or terrible." Soon Edmund returned, walking up the stairs with heavy footsteps. Astrid had turned her head before he even became visible. As he gradually came into view, she studied his expression. Nothing but his regular soft smile, with wrinkles creasing the corners of his eyes. Whatever facade the captain had, it was capable of containing both crushing defeat and unexpected joy. Astrid's eyes grew to slits.

He gave her a glance which revealed nothing, then walked up to the twins by the table, crouching down to their level.

"Do the two of you remember when I told you Elenya and Wretchy were lost?" The two nodded with big smiles as they finished their breakfast. Astrid was only watching from the window.

"Here it comes," the healer whispered. Edmund cracked into a smile.

"Well, they are back. But Astrid and I need to go see them. I do not have time to get a caretaker in place, so the two of you will have to come along." The twins looked at each other and threw their hands up in the air, shouting with joy and sending bits of breakfast flying to the floor. The rain of half-eaten food lured out the feline predator from hiding once more. Edmund gave them both a kiss on the cheek as he stood up.

"We have to leave in thirty minutes. So pack up," he said as he turned around and walked to Astrid. Jonna, or perhaps Jenni, grabbed the meowing cat and held him up in the air, shaking him with exclamations of words that included "Trip." On the other side of the room, Edmund leaned over to Astrid and whispered in her ear, "They are in Stonemourn. Elenya is in stable condition, but the kid is not. The local healer is doing what she can, but they asked for help. He is not deemed stable enough to move.

The military is busy, and the bureau prioritised asking us." Astrid stared straight at him as he continued.

"I accepted, of course. The train leaves in ninety minutes. Are you worried?"

"Of course," she replied.

"But had they shown up unscathed at our door, I would be even more so." The captain gave a genuine laugh.

"This time, they cannot fault you for lacking faith," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it gently before continuing.

"No sorrow. Pack up, and bring Whisky. They will need some emotional support," he said as he walked to his room to gather his essentials while whistling a cheery tune. Astrid gave a quick glance out of the balcony. Outside, the clouds played in the light, and the city churned with activity. A flock of pigeons flew past the window as she spoke to herself in a low voice.

"It actually worked."