Chapter 27: The Founding of the Alliance Part 3: Return to Goldpaw

"Good morning, Roland," the others chorused when he joined them at breakfast.

Instead of returning the greeting, he sat down, rested his arms on the tabletop and declared. "We need to talk."

They exchanged looks and Aranella asked with an expression halfway between curious and concerned. "Is everything all right?"

"Ali Bi paid me a visit last night," he replied and everyone sat up sharply.

"Gosh, are you all right?" Evan asked.

"And what the devil did'e be wantin' with you?" Batu added with a perplexed frown.

"Well first of all his name isn't Ali Bi, it's Doloran. And he's apparently the king of a kingdom called Allegoria."

They exchanged looks of confusion. Tani shrugged. "Never heard of it."

"Nor have I, mun," Lofty added.

"Then maybe that's the name of the kingdom he's building. And that just might've confirmed our suspicions about what we think he's been planning." They exchanged grim looks at that.

"But what did he want with you?" Evan asked.

"Well?" He sighed and massaged his forehead before answering. "He said that he couldn't afford to have me around, and then tried to send me away, first back to my world and then to Allegoria when that didn't work. But it seems I'm under the protection of an entity who calls himself the Conductor."

"The Conductor?" Evan and Aranella exclaimed in unison, wearing identical expressions of surprise and recognition.

He raised an eyebrow at them. "You've… heard of him? I would've mentioned him sooner if I'd known, but I wasn't sure if you had."

"Oh yes!" Evan confirmed enthusiastically. "The stories of the Conductor are some of my favourites!"

"Is that so?"

"He used to make me tell them to him all the time," Aranella added with a wistful smile that soon faded. "I'd never have imagined that he was real."

"Well he's real all right. And according to him, he's the one who brought me here."

"Does that mean you've met him then?" Tani asked.

"Yeah, twice. Shortly after I arrived here and then just last night."

"Gosh you're ever so lucky to have met him, Roland," said Evan. "I would love to meet him myself."

"What do these stories say about him?"

"He's a rabbit-headed man who lives in the world of dreams and often speaks in riddles," Aranella replied.

"A what-headed man?" Tani repeated, looking at Aranella as if she'd grown an extra head.

"I mean… can he be trusted do you think?" Roland elaborated.

"I think so," said Evan.

Aranella rested her head on one hand in thought. "Well… He is mischievous by nature and often takes on the role of a trickster, but he does seem to be ultimately good at heart. By that I mean, he's never wilfully deceived anyone with ill intent, but to be fair that's only so far as the stories go," she shrugged, "so I cannot speak of the man – or being rather – himself. Why do you ask?"

He frowned and dropped his gaze to the table. "It's just something Doloran said…"

"An'what reason d'ye'ave te be trustin'im?" Batu countered with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, you remember what I said about what happened in my world, right? A great explosion? Many people would've died in that explosion, and yet… nothing of the like seems to have happened here."

"Oh," they uttered in unison. "I see," Aranella continued, her expression becoming a pensive frown.

"What about the coup in Ding Dong Dell?" Tani asked. "Didn't a lot of people die in that?"

Roland shook his head. "Not nearly on the same scale as the explosion that destroyed my home."

"If the Conductor is protecting you, Roland, then… then maybe he's protecting our world as well?" Evan suggested.

He frowned. "I guess? But what does that mean?"

"Maybe there's something you need to do here? Before you can return home?"

"Well…" He scratched the back of his head. "He did say he wanted me to heal both worlds…"

"That means you won't be able to go home then, until you've done whatever it is you're supposed to," said Tani.

"It doesn't look like it," he agreed.

"Do you know what it is? That he wants you to do?"

"He didn't say exactly, but I figured it was helping Evan. Seems like I was right though, because he told me last night that I was on track."

Tani raised her eyebrows. "Well that's interesting. He doesn't sound half bad if that's true."

"Well sure-"

"If this Doloran fella were tryin' te send ye'ome, then'e were tryin' te send ye'ome fer interferin'. I be thinkin' that'e be thinkin' yer a threat to'is schemes some'ow. So I wouldn't be trustin' anythin'e be'avin' te say if I were in yer shoes, Roland."

"I guess… But that doesn't necessitate the Conductor being trustworthy."

"Think about what he's doing, mun," Lofty chimed in. "Stealing kingsbonds without a care for the consequences, like. Meanwhile you've told us the Conductor wants you to help. Between the two of them, I know who I'd put my trust in."

Roland folded his arms and frowned. "Well he sure isn't helping his case by being so opaque." Or resorting to emotional blackmail, he added silently. "I didn't even know he was the one who brought me to this world until last night."

Lofty shrugged. "I'm sure he's got his reasons, like."

"Yeah… I guess he must." He looked around at everyone. "So you're all happy to believe that the Conductor has good intentions, and that I should trust his word?"

"We are," they chorused.

He means well, said a voice in his head. Even if it does not appear that way."All right," he sighed. "Then I guess I will too."

"Though a healthy dose of skepticism isn't unwarranted," Aranella added. "But if it's a choice between Doloran and the Conductor, then I would side with the Conductor."

"Fair enough."

"I would also add that just because we are not aware of such an incident occurring in our world, it doesn't mean that such a thing hasn't happened. Not everything that happens between our two worlds is strictly analogous."

"Yeah, all right," he conceded. "I guess you have a point."

"So what're we doing today?" Tani asked. "We wrote up the Treaty of Alliance yesterday, so does this mean we're going back to Goldpaw now?"

"Evan should be able to Travel us there-" Batu sighed at that. "-but as Evermore doesn't have a waystone it will mean we won't be able to Travel directly back, we can only get as far as Niall's forest. So the question is if it's possible to Travel the skimmers with us, because if not, that'll mean we're walking back from the forest, and we'll need to take enough supplies with us for the journey back to Evermore."

"I certainly hope so," said Aranella. "I for one am not looking forward to another few days of camping again, so soon after our previous excursion."

Evan pulled out the page detailing the Travel spell to consult the description. It and the page for the Wind Whipper spell had been returned to him once Qadan had finished making copies. "It doesn't say anything about what can or cannot be Travelled, only that I can't go somewhere I haven't been."

"What about you, Lofty?" Roland asked. He gestured imploringly, "You're our best authority on magic at the moment."

Lofty scratched the back of his head. "It's a good question, mun," he replied. "Anything that's on youer person gets Travelled with you, like, so it's not a case of inanimate or manmade objects being unTravellable."

"Right, so say Evan was to cast the spell while we're all seated on the skimmers, would that count as being on our persons?"

"He managed to take us all with him when he first cast the spell," Tani noted. "So it seems like it has some of kind of area of affect."

"But it weren't be takin' all the leaf litter from the forest back with us," said Batu.

"Then I would suggest that it's a matter of intent," said Aranella.

"That does make sense," said Roland. "So Evan, do you think you'd be able to Travel us and the skimmers down to Goldpaw?"

"Umm," Evan replied, looking about as apprehensive as he probably felt.

"You're still pretty new to this, so it's all right if you think that might be a bit of a stretch."

"I'll try, but…"

He nodded. "All right then. We'll pack enough supplies to take with us just in case you can't."

"Aye, that be the best plan," Batu agreed.

"But… are you going to be all right with that, Batu?" Evan asked.

"Aye aye," he sighed with reluctant acceptance. "If I be keepin' up with the Travellin' then maybe… maybe I'll eventually be gettin' me Travellin' legs."

"Here's hoping," said Roland. "Travel sickness sure isn't any fun."

"It sure ain't, Roland. An'… an' besides that, I be slowin' ye down too when it'appens."

"But we don't mind waiting for you, Batu," Evan insisted.

"Right," Tani agreed with a nod. "You'd do the same for any one of us, Boss."

He smiled. "Aye. Ye be right in that."

"Are we all ready to go?" Roland asked and there was a chorus of affirmation in response. He stood. "Then let's pack what we'll need before we head off."

"Should we grab Chingis again?" Tani asked as they all got to their feet. "If we can take the skimmers with us, we'll need someone to watch them again like last time."

"We were takin' Chingis with us last time on account o'us not knowin' how long we'd be, or what we were te be doin'," said Batu. "That not be the case this time."

"But neither me nor Aranella know how to pilot a skimmer, so-" Roland began.

"Aranella'd be able te squeeze onte Tani's like she were doin' so the other day."

"Indeed," she agreed, and added with a dismissive shrug. "It's no more precarious than squeezing in behind Batu at least."

"Hmm. I guess if we did take him with us, we'd be bringing him along for nothing if the skimmers don't come along too."

"Aye. An' knowin'ow the Travellin' be affectin' me, it'd make more sense fer me to be waitin' with the skimmers while the rest o'ye be'eadin' inte Goldpaw, instead o'waitin' on me te recover."

"But we already said-" Evan began to object.

He held up a hand. "An I be appreciatin' that, Yer Majesty, but as I were sayin' afore-"

"There's no rush, Batu," Roland cut in. "Not everything has to be run at maximum efficiency."

"Right!" Evan agreed.

"Well…" Batu blinked. "When ye put it like that."

"Youe're part of the inner circle, mun, whether you like it or not," said Lofty.

"That's right," said Aranella. "And that means that we look out for each other."

"Aye…. Well… Aye," he said, scratching the back of his neck in a sheepish manner. "If I be that important te ye then…"

"Then what're we going to do about the skimmers?" Tani asked.

"Worst case scenario, we take them with us," Roland concluded. Then he stopped and assumed a thoughtful posture. "Or, alternatively… we could leave the skimmers behind on purpose, and use the walk back to Evermore as a way to build up some more combat training."

Aranella hummed as she mirrored his pose. "There's no denying that Evan could do with the experience… Even if it does entail some more camping."

"I could probably do with it as well."

"I won't say no to bashin' a few skulls," said Batu with a grin.

"The monsters in the Heartlands are certainly different to the ones we're used to fighting in the Canyon," Tani added.

"There's also the possibility that we might be able to catch a ride back from the forest," said Roland. "But either way, leaving the skimmers behind means we don't have to worry about them."

"Right," they chorused.

"Are we all in agreement then?" They were. "Then let's go pack our supplies."

"Let's take plenty of food with us, mun!"

"Honestly," Aranella uttered with an exasperated shake of her head. "We'll take as much as we need, Lofty. I'm sure you can manage until we return."

"I was only thinking of the littlies, like! They're still growing, aren't they? So they need their grub."

"Sure you were, Lofty," said Roland. "Sure you were." He stopped and looked around. "By the way, where are the higgledies?"

"We didn't see them this morning," Aranella replied. "But I wouldn't worry. They seem to be quite capable of taking care of themselves."

"I guess those are the perks of being mostly invisible."

"They're probably still out and about, exploring, see," said Lofty. "Sometimes the higgledies will do as they like!"

"Right. I was just wondering if we should bring them with us, in which case we'd have to wait for them to return."

"They've certainly been very handy so far," Aranella commented.

"Aye," Batu agreed. "If it weren't fer'em'iggledies, yer encounter with Pugnacious prolly would'a turned out very different."

Roland, Evan and Lofty all grimaced at that. "Yeah…" Roland agreed. "Well. You're the king, Evan." He gestured towards him. "It's your call."

"I think we should wait for them to come back," said Evan.

"All right. Then that's what we'll do."

They packed their supplies, collected some money from Gerel – enough to bring their total amount back up to five hundred guilders, and then they waited.

It was approaching midday when the higgledies reappeared. Qadan was once again informed of their plans and left in charge, so it was closer to midday by the time they arrived in Goldpaw. Batu immediately doubled over, clutching his stomach with a groan.

"Ah… Welcome back, Your Majesty," said one of the guards, politely. "If you seek the Grand High Roller, we would ask that you not take up too much of his time." There was a tiredness to his tone that had them all exchanging looks.

"Of-of course," Evan replied. They all turned to face the city and the sight gave them pause. The damage from the fire was now clearly visible in the light of day and was – needless to say – quite significant. The people were out in force and were in the process of stripping out the burned and ruined wood, carrying it off, tidying up fallen debris in the streets or fixing and hammering new panels or planks of wood in place of the old. Some buildings needed more extensive repair work than others, but fortunately all appeared to be at least salvageable, though many would be temporarily out of a home until the work was done.

"Blimey…" Tani mumbled as Evan uttered. "Oh my…"

Batu raised his head to investigate and his eyebrows nearly disappeared into his head scarf. "Bless me eyes… Longfang were sure doin' a number on this place," he said, nausea momentarily forgotten.

"Yeah…" Roland agreed. "You're not kidding…" After a moment of silence, he continued.

"You all right now, Batu?"

"Ah… give me a moment."

"Give me your canteen, Boss," said Tani. So he did. She unscrewed the top and handed it back. "Here. Drink some water."

"Thank ye, lass." He took a long pull and gave it back so she could replace the lid. After a few minutes of breathing deeply, he straightened up. "Right now… I think I can be managin' the climb."

"All right," said Roland. "Let's take it slow." As they were threading their way through the bustle of activity up to Fortune Square, an argument between two dogfolk men broke out. Or more accurately, one of them unexpectedly exploded and the other, though shocked, retaliated.

"He's broken hearted, mun!" Lofty exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in surprise.

"Who?" Evan asked.

"That fellow right there." He indicated the man who had started the argument.

"But I thought What'shisface only broke Pugnacious' heart?" Tani asked.

"I don't think Dolly-boy had anything to do with this one, see." He placed his hands on his hips and frowned. "At least not directly like."

"What do you mean by that?" Aranella asked.

"Well…?" One hand went to his chin – or at least where his chin would be if had one. "I've got my suspicions like, but I think I'd best hold off till I'm more sure. But nevermind that now, we'll have to do something about this won't we?" He said, gesturing to the problem in question.

"Right," Evan agreed. "So what will we need to find?"

"His missing piece is kindness. So we'll have to find someone with some kindness to spare."

"You're the only one who can see into people's hearts, Lofty, so I'm afraid we're not going to be of much help in that regard," said Aranella, shrugging in a matter of fact manner.

"The higgledies can!"

"Higgle!" They confirmed with nods of their heads.

"Youe'll help us out now, won't you?"

"Higgle pig!" They saluted.

"Tidy! Then let's get searching shall we?"

"We'd best stick to the main street so the higgledies can find us again," Roland suggested.

"Higgle," they agreed.

The higgledies were about to depart when Lofty suddenly threw out a hand to stop them as he exclaimed, "Hold on, you lot! I don't think there'll be a need for that after all. I think I see someone!"

"What? Already?" Tani asked as Evan followed his gaze and asked. "Who?"

Lofty pointed. "There, mun. The one with the bucket see." They all looked. A little way up the street, a dogfolk woman was ladling out water from a bucket to the workers and soldiers queuing for a drink. She wasn't wearing a uniform so she was presumably a volunteer. "Look at her, mun," he said, gesturing towards her with both hands. "Positively brimming with kindness, she is."

"Then we should ask her if she'll let us have us some of it," said Evan.

When they approached her, she gave them a polite if confused smile. "Hello," she said. "If you're looking for water, we have some water fountains just ahead where you can quench your thirst. I'm afraid this is being reserved for the people who are working." She added as an explanation. "They get so caught up in what they're doing that sometimes they forget to stop and have a drink! So I'm bringing it to them."

"That's very kind of you," said Aranella.

"We help where we can."

"Indeed. But we're not here for water."

She blinked. "Oh? Then how can I help you?"

"We were hoping to be able to borrow some of your kindness," Evan replied.

"Some of my… kindness?" She looked as confused as she probably felt. "I'm not sure what it is exactly that you're asking."

"We came across a man who is broken hearted," he explained. "And he's missing his kindness."

"Broken hearted?" She repeated.

"That's right," he nodded. "Just like Master Pugnacious."

"But I thought that was just a myth!"

"It's no myth, like," Lofty interjected. "It's real. You saw what happened with Pugnacious didn't you?" He spread his hand as he asked, "Is broken heartedness really so hard to believe after all that?"

"Well I…" She placed a hand on the side of her face. "I suppose not, if you put it like that."

"But now someone else is broken hearted see, and we need youer help."

"If you allow us to take some of your kindness, we can then give it to the man to make him better again," Evan explained.

She looked perplexed. "I'm still not sure what you're asking of me, but… if there's anything I can do, then I would very much like to help in whatever way I can."

"Just say yes, mun!"

"Then yes." She placed her free hand on her chest. "You may have some of my kindness, if that's what you need."

"Thank you," said Evan. He called forth his wand and drew the casting rune for Take Heart. It pulsed and the woman yelped and clutched her heart again when a brilliant ball of light shot out of her chest and into the locket. "Oh!… Gosh…"

"That's youer kindness, mun. Now let's take this where it needs to go." They returned to the broken hearted man. Since they had been gone, their argument had been defused by their friends and the people working around them, and the man had returned to his own work though now in a positively foul mood.

"Um. Excuse me?" Evan spoke, cautiously.

He whipped around and Evan flinched involuntarily. "What!?" He barked. "What do you want?"

"Leave him," said his friend in an exasperated tone. "You'll just make him go off again."

"Oh I will will I?" He snarled back. "Is that what I'll do? I'll go off will I?"

Before another argument could break out, Evan cut in. "Actually I'm here to help."

"Oh yeah?" he snarled again as he glared down his nose at Evan. "And what can you do?"

"You um, seem to be missing a piece of your heart, but we've found another piece, so I'm here to fix it!"

"Fix me?" He repeated, his expression souring further. "I'm not the one who needs fixing. He is," he said, gesturing at his friend. "He can't even do something as basic as hold a plank of wood in place correctly!"

"I told you it was perfectly straight!" His friend objected, throwing his hands in the air in a mixture of exasperation and outrage.

"You call that straight? You need your eyes checked!"

"Oh boy," Roland murmured and shook his head and as Tani rolled her eyes and muttered. "Here we go."

"Enough, the pair o'ye!" Batu thundered. "Yer grievances can wait!"

"Higgle pig!" The higgledies added in agreement.

"No use trying to explain to him, Evan," said Lofty. "Just give him the piece of heart, like."

"R-right," Evan replied. He drew the casting rune for Give Heart and the piece of kindness shot out of the locket and into the man's chest.

His eyes went wide and blinked several times, as if he were emerging from a trance. "Longfang's scales," he uttered, one hand going to clutch his head in disbelief. "I don't know what came over me."

"There's broken heartedness for you, like," Lofty explained, with a shrug of 'what can you do?'. "When a piece of youer heart goes missing, you just aren't youerself. In youer case it was youer kindness see, that made you start lashing out and saying lots of unkind things, didn't it?"

"I'll say," his friend remarked.

"But you've got youer kindness back, now. That means youe're back to being yourself as well."

"Yes… I…" The man turned to his friend, lowering his head in admonishment. "I'm sorry for what I said. Ever since Master Pugnacious' trial, it was as if…" He took a moment to think on the words to best describe how he had felt, running a hand through his hair as he did. "As if my patience had run out. I was so angry at everything. But now that feeling's gone, I'm not even sure why," he shrugged, "I was feeling that way."

"There's interesting, mun," Lofty commented, looking thoughtful. "I wonder if we'll find more people with a similar story?"

"Well, Goldpaw was nearly burned down to the ground," said his friend. "So it's a stressful time for everyone. I'm not sure why that meant he was broken hearted…"

"Ah but broken heartedness is different, see. If we'd've left him as he was, he would've just got worse and worse and worse. You think he was bad now?" He shook his head. "That was just the beginning."

"I see. I suppose I'll just have to take your word for it."

Lofty was unimpressed and he placed his hands on his hips. "Is it really so hard to believe after everything that's happened?"

"Well… when you put it like that…" He conceded. "I guess not."

"Sounds like we've got everything settled here," Roland declared. "We should keep going." So they continued onto Fortune Square.