Chapter 37 – Rune Dreams

As the docks of Lakewest came into view once again, Flik wondered if he really ought to buy a residence here, given the number of times he'd been through the port lately. He wiped his brow with the edge of his wide, rose sleeve. The excess fabric was making him very sweaty. He hoped things would be better once the sun was down.

Riou was further forward on the boat, talking amiably with Eilie, Meg, and Millie. Nanami, having not made her peace with Meg, stood to one side, trying to strike up a conversation with Luc, who ignored her. Fitcher was also on board, looking nervously about, as if he expected some creature to leap up out of the lake and start attacking. One other traveler was on the boat too. Clive, the quiet gunner, had come along to escort Fitcher to Greenhill. After that, he planned to head north for Forest Village, on business of his own.

Flik asked him to elaborate, but all Clive said was, "She's there." Then he shook his head violently, walked to the stern of the boat, and sat down to check his weapon.

When they arrived at the docks, Fitcher and Clive rode off, wanting to get to Greenhill as quickly as they could. Flik, exercising his role as "leader," decided to spend the night at an inn. The group caused considerably less stir this time, and no one seemed to recognize Riou for who he was. That didn't mean they weren't noticed. In fact, many of the dock workers seemed to be pointing at Flik and laughing. At the inn, he found that he had to pay more than anticipated, since Nanami stridently refused to share a room with Meg.

The following morning they rode west out of the town, Flik on his black mare, Nightstar. The day was hot, but not unbearable, which was good, because Nanami's mood was extremely sour. She had no experience riding sidesaddle and was not very happy with the unnatural position. Making her mood worse was the fact that Millie had defected over to Meg's side, and Eilie was too busy chatting with Riou to help Nanami out. Pilika, as silent as ever, was on a brown pony.

Eventually, Nanami and Pilika ended up riding with the group in the rear, which consisted of Flik and Luc. The three of them went along in silence for some time, Nanami throwing dark looks ahead, Luc sneering at everyone's antics, and Flik ignoring everything. After Nanami had grown bored with this, she tried to strike up a conversation.

"Flik, when do you think this war will be over?" she asked quietly.

The question caught him off guard. He looked over at her, trying to gauge her reasons for asking. Her face did not give him any hints, except that she was clearly not happy the way she normally was. He worked his response over in his head a couple of times and finally answered, "I'm not really sure I know. There are a number of things that have to fall into place before we can begin to challenge Highland with anything like equal numbers. However, what we're doing today will bring the end closer."

Nanami frowned. "I'm just worried that the war will go on forever. What if it does? I don't want Riou to have to fight day after day."

"Well, neither do I. I want the fighting to end as much as you do, and that's why I'm doing everything in my power to help your brother."

"You could always run away, you and your brother," Luc said mockingly. "Then you would be free from all of those concerns."

"Luc! Don't say such things," Flik barked menacingly. The wind mage shrugged and trotted his horse in the direction of Meg and Millie. Or rather, he tried to, but Luc was not a terribly good rider, and his horse decided to walk over to the side of the road and sniff at some flowers. As the rest of the party continued on, Luc sat in his saddle and flailed with his legs, attempting to make his horse move. Eventually his horse started after the others of its own accord.

Nanami giggled at this, and Flik, sensing that her mood was better, took the opportunity to respond to Luc's challenge. "You shouldn't take him seriously, Nanami. I know the obligations seem daunting now, but running away would only be selfish. Not only that, but it wouldn't bring peace, either. If anything, it would only make more people suffer, because Highland would see our weakness and become emboldened."

Nanami's smile wavered, but held. "I know, I just don't want to see Riou hurt. I worry that he doesn't understand what fighting a war means." She paused for a moment, considering her words. "When Riou and Jowy were in the Unicorn Brigade, I did a some work at the clinic in Kyaro. I never saw too many soldiers, but there were some who were missing parts of arms and legs. And there were some who were broken in spirit. I don't want my brother to end up like that."

Flik carefully kept his emotions off his face. He knew there'd been more than a few times where he'd almost lost limbs. He looked up at Riou, speaking happily with Eilie. Then he looked back at Nanami. "I can't say what's going to happen. All I can tell you is that I will do everything that I can to make sure that your brother gets through this okay. As I'm sure that you will, too."

Nanami looked away from him. "Yes, but what if it's not enough?"

Flik did not have an answer for that, and Nanami did not continue the discussion. They rode along in silence some more before she decided to speak to him again. This time they talked about different styles of training, comparing Master Genkaku to the elders of Warrior's Village. He kept his end of the conversation light, telling her a number of humorous stories about his failings at specific elements in his training.

He was rewarded by her laughter and for the first time in the trip, Nanami seemed to be in a good mood, smiling fully. When she paused for a moment to complain about the heat, Flik regaled her with a story from when he was six, about the year with no summer. Nanami was incredulous, but he recalled from his memory the one winter in his life where more than a foot of snow had fallen in Warrior's Village, and the following summer had been exceptionally cool.

At some point, Flik noticed that Meg and Millie surreptitiously glancing back at him and Nanami. Nanami must've seen them too, for her answering grin was practically triumphant. Flik tried not to sigh. He did not want to be part of a group of girls' power plays. Meg eased her horse back towards Flik, coming up on his other side. She and Nanami smiled frostily at each other across Flik's line of sight.

The conversation continued in bits and starts and Flik found that he had to carefully balance how much attention he paid to each girl. Luckily, Millie also joined in, and she served as a neutral ground through which Nanami and Meg could speak. Thus, as the day wore on, this strange group approached the walls of Two River. Flik and Eilie were out front. Then Meg's barrel, Gadget, rolled along with Bonaparte resting on top. Next came Flik and the four girls. Finally, Luc brought up the rear. He had long ago given up on riding his horse and was simply leading it along on foot.

Once inside the city, Riou directed Flik towards an inn that, ironically enough, shared the same name as the academy in Greenhill. There was a moment of confusion as they stood before the proprietor and Flik waited for Riou to settle accounts. The innkeeper scratched his bald head in a puzzled manner and prompted, "How may I help you sir? You appear to have come from far away."

Flik suddenly remembered his part in this operation. "Uh-yes, help. Um, we're on our way to Greenhill, looking for rooms to spend the night."

Now that the conversation was proceeding down a normal avenue, the innkeeper became more solicitous. "Indeed. How many rooms shall I put you down for, mister…uh, you haven't given me your name yet."

"Fl-" Flik bit down on his own name, making a sort of strangled noise, before finally saying, "Bluto…yes, I'm Bluto, ex-gladiator of Falena. We'll need two," he saw Nanami pointedly put up three fingers, "no, three rooms for the night."

"You'll want stabling for your horses too, and meals, yes?"

Why was he having so much trouble with this? Flik shook his head and answered, "Yes, of course."

The innkeeper looked completely baffled by the competing signals. Riou stepped up beside Flik and said, "You must forgive my bodyguard. He's rather unused to northern lands. We'll take food for us and stables for the horses."

Bowing, the innkeeper replied, "Very good, young master. I'll see to that right away. If you will just seat yourselves in the private dinning room, we'll bring something to eat right out."

The proprietor slipped away to see to their horses, but a waitress led them to the private room. As they were walking, Luc came up beside Flik and said under his breath, "Nice going, mister bodyguard. Real smooth."

Flik ignored him. He was listening to the whispered discussion Riou was having with Nanami. "Can't you at least try to get along? I don't understand what happened between you and Meg, but she seems nice enough. We're all going to have to work together in Greenhill."

"She insulted you and you say she's 'nice enough'?" Nanami retorted softly. "You're obviously blinded by all that leg she's showing off. Have it your way, then." She stormed past her brother in a huff, oblivious to how much she was showing off in her green dress. Riou looked dumbfounded by the accusation.

Dinner was roasted lamb in gravy, mint jelly, green beans, and honey glazed potatoes. The food was so good that nobody said anything for a while. Eventually, Nanami asked, "How are we going to look for Lady Teresa if we have to take classes? Won't it seem suspicious if all we do is hang around the campus looking around?"

Luc shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not taking any classes," he announced. "I suppose I'll have plenty of time to look."

Millie glared at him. "You've got to take some classes! Do you want to blow our cover?"

"Oh joy," Luc said. "What, you think it won't blow our cover when I know more about rune sorcery than my teacher?"

Millie stuck out her tongue at Luc. Riou took the moment to jump into the conversation. "We'll have to cover as much ground as we can. Perhaps we can set up our classes in a staggered sequence so that somebody is always free to be looking."

"I can check the library," Meg declared. "I'll be looking for that book, anyway."

"I'm not sure we want to be sneaking around alone," Eilie said. "What if somebody catches us at it? What if there are Highland soldiers who are also looking?"

"I don't think the soldiers are going to go around accosting students," Riou answered. "But we ought to be discreet. Also, Flik, I think we're going to have to rely on you a lot. You'll have more free time than the rest of us, and you'll be at liberty to go into the town. Of course, once the weekend rolls around, we can spend all day looking."

"I agree," Flik replied. At that moment, he heard a faint scraping against the door. The talking came to an abrupt halt. Riou glanced at Flik for advice, and Flik mouthed, "Keep talking." Then he quietly got out of his chair, pulling his sword free.

"Meg, do you know what kind of classes they offer?" Riou asked, trying to sound natural.

"Um, yeah." Meg eyed the door and answered, "They teach just about everything: history, law, mathematics, rune magic, music, art, literature, even weapon maintenance. About the only thing they don't do is military strategy."

Stepping softly, Flik worked his way up to the door. Checking the grip of his sword in his right hand, he carefully placed the left on the knob.

"That sounds cool," Nanami answered.

"Sounds boring," Luc added.

Flik swung the door open, keeping the point of his sword forward and high. He was ready for anything from the hallway.

Well, he was ready for almost anything. He'd expected to find someone nearly his own height and so had to look slightly down at the flash of orange coming at him. It was a slender teenage boy…no, she was almost certainly a girl…who responded to the drawn weapon by slamming her fist, and wooden wrist guard, right into his stomach.

He could hear his gasp escaping his mouth and fought to keep a grip on his sword. The girl did not stop her attacks, her orange fighting robe swirling to reveal brown shorts as she kicked a leg with a foot guard at him. Flik had his sword ready this time, wood and steel clapping together. For a moment, he thought he had the advantage. Then she adroitly lunged forward on one leg, sending the other, which he'd assumed was safely pinned against his sword, up and past the blade, right into the side of his jaw.

Lights exploded in his vision as he fell backwards. All he could think was, some bodyguard I turned out to be. The back of his head hit something wooden and unyielding, the floor. Before he could properly see again, he felt Riou running to aid him. He heard the first impact, wood against wood, as Riou used his tonfar. Flik shook out his head, trying to follow the fight. Both Riou and the girl seemed evenly matched, each lunging back and forth from offense to defense.

Suddenly, in the middle of a series of parries, the girl stopped and said, "You're pretty strong! Almost as strong as master."

As if that was a signal, Riou also lowered his guard. "Why were you listening at the door?"

Flik groaned and tried to get to his feet. Nanami and Meg jumped up from their seats to help him, one on each side.

"I heard you were going to Greenhill," the girl said, wiping sweat out of her short, messy brown hair. "I was going to ask if I could join you."

"Lovely way to ask for an invitation," Luc commented.

"Master Reen!" the innkeeper's voice called. "Is everything all right?" There was the sound of footsteps approaching. Riou gestured the girl into the room, and everyone took their spots at the table. Everyone, but Flik, who found the newcomer had taken his place. He leaned back against the wall and tried to clear his head. The footsteps stopped by the closed door and the person on the other side knocked loudly. "Master Reen." It was the innkeeper. He stuck his head in through the door to survey the room. "One of the guests heard some scuffling. Is everything okay in there."

"We're fine," Riou announced. "My bodyguard had an unexpected slip, but everything's okay." Flik colored in embarrassment, hearing Riou use his failure as the cover.

"As you say, young master." The innkeeper's footsteps retreated back down the hall.

Riou sighed. He almost sounded frustrated. "What else did you hear?" he asked the girl.

The girl put a finger to her chin. "Let's see. You were talking about classes and schedules and going into town on the weekends." Then she casually added. "Oh, you were also looking for Lady Teresa."

Flik tensed, his hand reaching for his sword. It came up empty. The blade was still lying on the ground several feet away, where he'd dropped it when the girl had kicked him.

Luc shook his head. "Great, she knows everything. We can't let her leave."

"I don't want to leave," the girl answered. "I'm looking for my master, but I can also help you." She looked directly at Riou. "And you're very strong. It'll be fun hanging out with you."

As unobtrusively as possible, Flik walked over, picked up his sword, and re-sheathed it. From his vantage point, he could see that Nanami was not entirely pleased with the idea of another young girl interested in Riou.

"This is serious," Nanami said sharply. "We're trying to get Lady Teresa away from Highland. It could even be dangerous. You sure you want that?"

The girl drove her fist into her palm. "I'm no friend of Highland! I said I'd help you out, right? I've got to be more useful than that scrawny boy over there." Flik, much to his relief, saw that she was pointing at Luc.

Luc stood up to his full height. It wasn't very impressive. "I-I'm not scrawny!" he sputtered. "I'll have you know that I'm the number one apprentice of Lady Leknaat."

"If you're going to work with us, you'll have to follow my orders," Riou declared. "Or, if I'm not around, you'll have to listen to Bluto."

The girl glanced over at Flik, sizing him up. He felt his jaw twinge. "That's fine," the girl said cheerily. "My name's Wakaba, a student of Master Long Chan Chan's school of martial arts."

There was a quick round of introductions, and Flik noticed that Riou continued to hold to their cover story. When Riou mentioned Kanakan, Wakaba interrupted with, "I'm from Merseto. It's to the east. Have you every been there? There are lots of ruins nearby. Have you ever seen a kangacorn?" From there, the conversation rapidly turned to the merits of kangacorns versus horses.

After a time, Flik suggested that they should retire for the night, since he wanted an early start the following morning. Despite that wish, he did not sleep overly well. He knew it was useless to worry about searching for Lady Teresa before he arrived at Greenhill, but somehow he couldn't stop himself being anxious. While he lay awake, staring at the ceiling, he realized that he wasn't the only one who was restless. Riou shifted back and forth in his bed, not really awake, but not fully asleep either. Luc slept soundlessly, or if he was awake, he hid it well.

They left the following morning after a quick breakfast and a settling of accounts with the innkeeper. There was a short delay while they got a horse for Wakaba, and then Flik led them down the city streets, heading for the river. The southern section of Two River City, the human part, consisted of broad squares and long avenues with shops, residences, and alleys filling in the spaces all around. Luckily, the streets were only just beginning to get crowded, so the group made their way to the river in a little under an hour.

At the Lana River, Flik paid out more potch to hire a ferry to take them directly across, rather than try to wander through the warren that was the Winghorde section of the city. The Winghordes were latecomers to Two River, and their section had a very haphazard look. Small wooden buildings were jammed onto a series of islands in the middle of the river, all connected by wood walkways. Of course, the Winghordes could fly, so they didn't need to worry so much about whether or not it was difficult to walk along the planking.

There were many boats out on the water this morning, small river craft from Tinto and sluggish, broad-beamed trading vessels designed for the lake. The river crossing took about half and hour, and then they landed on the north shore of the Lana, in the kobold section of Two River. Flik found this part of the city to be much like Kobold Village, except on a larger scale. Small houses dominated, with trees growing all around them. The only difference Flik could detect was that these kobolds also had centralized training ground, a fenced field with numerous practice dummies. There were kobolds training on those dummies, preparing for war.

To his surprise, he saw that one of the participants was a tall, well-muscled man in bright yellow pants and a small blue vest. His brown hair was done up in a series of long rolls, which looked a little like sausage links to Flik. He had no idea why this human was training with kobolds and didn't have the time to go over and ask. The party rode on.

There was no definite end to the kobold section. The kobold houses simply petered out, replaced by more and more trees. Soon, Flik and the others were riding down a broad lane that cut through the middle of a forest. By the time the sun had climbed to noon and they stopped for lunch, the forest had opened up onto rolling plains. The day was shaping up to be hot again, with very few clouds in sight.

After lunch, they were on the road again. The girls, all six of them, were out in front, carrying on a vigorous discussion full of laughter. Nanami even seemed to be able to tolerate Meg today, though she still didn't speak directly to her. Flik, Riou, and Luc trailed behind and for a long time said little.

There wasn't much sign of human development on the land, but as the afternoon wore on and they traveled further north, the party began to pass more and more farms. Here the crops were well underway, and Flik could see people working out in the fields or tending to livestock. The road that they were on eventually came to an end, intersecting with an east-west highway. They turned west, heading for the distant forest that signaled the location of Greenhill. The area here was relatively built up with little villages every few miles.

Flik was looking at the pale thin sliver of the Scarlet Moon when Riou quietly asked Luc, "I've heard you have a True Rune. Is that correct?"

Flik glanced down in time to see Luc trying to compose his face. "I do. The True Rune of Wind," he answered.

Riou hesitated for half a minute before he spoke again. "Do you think your True Rune is ever trying to tell you something?"

Luc answered with a question of his own. "Why do you think your Rune is trying to tell you anything?"

"I'm not sure. I just keep getting these dreams, no, visions, and I don't know what they mean."

Curiosity suddenly got the better of Flik. "What do you see?"

"Cities and armies marching, scenes of devastation, of things falling apart. I saw Muse, but there was no one in it, and a huge golden wolf floated overhead. There was another city, one built into a mountainside, and our flags flew from the ramparts, but the army was in mourning."

"The wolf might mean the Beast Rune," Luc commented.

Riou nodded. "I saw the fort, too, back in East Muse. There was a battle going on in my vision. And…I saw us fighting near Dunan Castle, fighting desperately against Highland, against the White Wolves." Then Riou looked directly at Flik. "I've even seen you in my visions."

Reflexively, Flik placed a finger on his throat, right over his throbbing pulse. Immediately, he jerked his hand away. This was the second time he'd heard those particular words. "What did you see?" he asked with trepidation.

"I saw you and Viktor carrying me out of a castle. I have no idea where it was."

Flik shook his head, trying to steady himself. "I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about things you can't understand, Riou. You'll only fatigue yourself."

Riou looked unconvinced. "I know that, but I do want to understand. The Bright Shield Rune is trying to tell me something, it's trying to talk to me. If I could just figure it out, it might tell me what path to walk, what mistakes to avoid."

"Why do you think the rune is trying to tell you that?" Luc asked haughtily. "Why do you think the rune cares what you do?"

Riou stammered, working his mind hard for the response. "Well, I was told that the True Runes have wills, that they think. So doesn't it make sense that the images I see are some form of communication? That my Rune wants me to understand something and to act on it?"

Luc stared intently at Riou. "Yes, the True Runes have their own wills, but why do you think they care about you, or anyone? To what end do they exercise their wills? Perhaps the Bright Shield shows you these things simply to taunt you, to show you the inevitability of things."

Riou remained silent, brooding. It fell to Flik to ask, "What do you mean, 'the inevitability of things'?"

"The True Runes have their wills, they each struggle in their great balance, like some cosmic game. Where do you think we fit in that game?" Luc kept his eyes firmly on Riou. "We are pawns. Pieces the True Runes slide across the board for their own purposes, for their own amusements. They don't care about our suffering. If they really did, why don't they intervene and help us? Why don't they end all the senseless wars, all the dying, the cruelty and oppression that we face? They don't because it serves their game."

Riou's response was immediate, and calm. "It's not the runes that cause war, it's us. People kill each other. People are cruel and oppress each other. It's our choice to do those things, and that's what makes them vile. If we were only toys for the Runes, then none of those things would make us feel outrage. But it's more than that, Luc. It was my choice to bear the Bright Shield Rune. It called out to me and I accepted. Why would it show me anything if I was only a pawn?"

Now it was Luc's turn to pause. Finally, he said, "I am glad you had the illusion of choice, Riou. I never did. I have always had my Rune. My first memory is of being aware of it. There is not a minute of a day where I don't feel it tugging at me, pulling me onward. Once, when I was still in Harmonia, before Lady Leknaat took me out of that place, they told me that the True Rune was the only reason I exist."

"I can see why you crave freedom," Riou replied sadly.

Luc snorted. "Tell me, does your rune show me in its visions? What comfort does it offer for my future? What path should I follow?"

Riou slowly held up his right hand, eyes searching the Bright Shield. For a moment, he said nothing, but suddenly the Bright Shield Rune flashed, just a momentary pulse of light. He looked back at Luc. "I saw you, lying on the ground, resting against a girl's blue skirt. She held your head in her hands. There were ruins, collapsing all around you." He broke eye contact with the mage. "I'm sorry, that's all I could see."

Luc snorted again. "How typical. I ask for a path and all I get is an ending. A lot of good that does me."

"Heads up, guys!" Nanami shouted. "You're riding right past Fitcher!"
Startled, Flik swept his head around, trying to make sense of his bearings. The sun was setting to the red west, falling through parallel lines of clouds. The forest that denoted Greenhill was much closer. More importantly, they were in the middle of a village, having ridden a few paces beyond the inn. And Fitcher was there, waving for them to join him.