When I needed to write Faren, I borrowed Incandescent from Aviators (although Solaire is better at being a hero than Faren, he's more humble. But I think Faren would like to be like Solaire if he could.)

54: Faren's Moment

Damara and Faren had been assigned to guarding the supply camp; Faren had pouted indignantly at first, before she pointed out that she'd learned she was immune to the plague – having died already – and she was also on guard duty. Then he subsided, though he was restless as he patrolled the camp checking on all his newly-trained volunteers. She was pretty sure she was there to keep him pacified, but she didn't mind.

"How are you so calm?" he asked, the second time he came by her post, where she sat on a pile of boxes with her rock gazelle Gina resting at her feet. "I've always thought of you as boundlessly energetic, oh paragon of rangers. I can't bear this waiting, how can you?"

He was just itching for a chance to show off and spout heroic lines, wasn't he? Like a little boy. He was adorable. She had a great view of the surrounding lands from her vantage point. "Couple things... First, I was in the Vigil; they're super strict on discipline. You have to sit still when they tell you to."

"That sounds dreadful."

"I got used to it. But the other reason is my pets." She smiled down at Gina. "They don't spend energy unless they have to. Some more than others, it's true. But I've learned a lot from watching them. You need a lot of energy to keep up with animals, whether domesticated or semi-wild like a lot of mine are, but you need to save it for the right moment."

He nodded several times. "I see. I will try it. Never let it be said that Lord Faren spent himself too soon!" He sat down near her, also looking out over the approach to the camp, away south to the front lines. He leaned on one of his swords – for some reason, he'd traded his usual rapier for a pair of longswords, which seemed a bit reckless to her, even if they were enchanted, but whatever. And she got to admire his new armour some more. It was pretty big and fancy, but Annhilda had surreptitiously checked it out and told her it was quality armour, under the frills and extra bits. Aesthetically, she liked it quite a bit, but she was relieved that it actually worked, too. And he wasn't trying to do something silly in his underpants. Again.

"Do you think there will be a new god of war?" he asked after a while. "I saw the baskets over Balthazar's statue in Amnoon. When I was last in Divinity's Reach, they had not done the same."

"Balthazar never attacked Divinity's Reach or the heart of Kryta like he did Amnoon and northern Elona," Damara said. "The baskets were over his statue in Amnoon from before we even showed up. But I imagine Queen Jennah doesn't want to stir up unrest among his still-faithful adherents back home, right? Even once they learn that he's dead, if they haven't yet."

"Yes, that was what I heard. And indeed, I only learned what happened to him when I arrived in time for your victory celebration. But it's not the same, swearing by the Five! I keep getting it wrong!"

She chuckled. "Me too. But Aurene and Kralkatorrik ate his energy, so I don't think we'll get a new god until we get a massive release of magic and someone to absorb it. But, thinking about when I was last in Divinity's Reach... I think I'm okay with not having a new god of war. People were so unpleasant to each other under his influence."

"Oh, that's just because the other gods were not around to balance him out, wasn't it?" Faren said, and she had to say that sounded pretty reasonable. "I did see some very fine duels from some under his influence!"

"And no one sustained lasting injuries?" she asked anxiously.

"No, I don't think so... I did not partake in any, if you're worried about me."

"I think Humans are fully capable of fighting without a god of war around to inspire them," she said. And who said there had to be Six Gods? The only thing she wondered about was that four out of the five were female – did Grenth feel outnumbered at all?

"Hm? Damara?" Faren was looking at her curiously. Had she zoned out too much?

"Well, one thing we can all agree on is that Joko isn't, and never will be, a god," she said firmly.

He nodded, preening a little. "Absolutely! He shall never conquer Tyria. He'll regret inviting us here to trounce him!"

"My worst fear would be that he becomes a ghost and keeps pestering us after we told him he can't be a lich anymore."

"That would be dreadful. Has that sort of thing happened before?"

Damara shrugged. "Ask the Priory bunch. I like hearing stories, but I don't remember all the details like they do."

"Speaking of ghosts... those queens are nearly as stunning as our good Queen J, don't you think?"

"Are you really planning to hit on a ghost? On two ghosts?" Damara tried not to smirk too hard.

"My dear! Of course not!" He sounded genuinely shocked. "I fear to incite your wrath!"

"What about the ghosts' wrath?" she asked, but she was teasing. "Yes, they're good looking. Should I dress like that?"

The way he perked up made her wonder if she should regret suggesting it.

Guarding was not the most interesting job, but they did have to fend off a few small attacks from Joko that broke through their main lines. What concerned her more was how quickly Rytlock was going through their stockpiles of blackpowder. Annhilda, acting as Rytlock's second-in-command, was kind enough to keep Damara updated on the state of the front so she knew they were getting somewhere, but still... everything was dwindling quite quickly.

"Soon we won't have anything to guard," Faren said to her, having noticed as well as she did how quickly the crates shifted, even if she didn't keep him posted on everything going on at the front. "Will we run out?"

"I don't know," Damara said. "It's going to be close."

Faren's brow furrowed. "We cannot let our front lines down. We must ensure they're supplied, one way or another!"

She looked at him suspiciously. "What are you thinking of?"

He pointed out into the distance. "I'm certain those torches there are an enemy camp. And with all the Awakened Inquest around, surely they must have something we can use!"

"I'm impressed," she said, peering out into the dim twilight. "I figured it was a camp, but I wasn't yet thinking of stealing their stuff. I told Annhilda she should use the Phoenix Dawn to ferry in more from Amnoon, but she's worried about the trebuchets, and it's a bit late now."

"Exactly why we should go ourselves!"

"Hold on!" she cried, before he could go marching off. "We still have to make sure nothing happens to the stuff still here."

"No need!" he said, beaming triumphantly. "Our soldiers will hold this camp while we go to raid theirs!"

"The two of us? By ourselves? And how are we going to carry everything back?"

Faren deflated slightly. "But... we are heroes. We can take them on! I will admit I forgot about the carrying. And I don't know how much we'll need."

"Or even if what we need is there," she said. "Faren, hon, I might be a hero, but I've never done it alone." Shaemoor she'd done alongside Logan. Protecting Queen Jennah she'd done beside Logan again, Mabbran, Phiadi, and even Caoilfhionn. She'd barely been present for the critical part of fighting Zhaitan, though she did save Annhilda there... and in fighting Mordremoth she'd dealt with grunts while her friends did the main battles.

Okay, there was the part where she killed Balthazar. But even that was with Aurene, and using Rytlock's sword.

"But we must do something!" Faren exclaimed, pacing impatiently in front of her. "For Kryta's honour!"

She thought for a moment, then held up a finger. "I'll tell you what we can do. We can scout the camp, and see what they have. If they do, then we can come back with the rest of our troops, since I think Rytlock will have cleaned us out by then."

He punched his fist into his palm exuberantly, then grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Truly, you are a jewel among tacticians! Let's go!"

What did that even mean? His armour was making a racket, as he jogged off down the hill. "Faren! Scouting mission! Try to stay quiet!"

"Right! Sorry!"

She grabbed the next-highest-ranking officer, explained what was going on, and ran after him, Gina bounding beside her.

On the other side of Canach's impressive vine wall, the land was pretty hilly, but growing less so towards the southern shore, and increasingly barren. It was like Joko didn't like living things. Well, Awakened might be able to live without food or water, but it was pretty depressing, in Damara's opinion! But the real problem was going to be getting through unseen. Many of the Awakened seemed rather near-sighted, archers aside, and it was well dark out, but with no cover whatsoever, and Faren in full plate... "Stay close," she whispered, and glided ahead cautiously, a hand on Gina's back.

He was trying, but he still clanked everywhere, and huffed and puffed on top of it. It seemed to take forever to get close to the enemy camp, partly because she kept stopping to check for enemy reactions. This was much more nerve-wracking than it had to be, honestly...

They made it to just beyond the edge of the torches without being detected, creeping at a snail's pace. She didn't know about him, but her heart was beating pretty quickly. This was a job for a Whispers agent like Phiadi, not them. Now they crouched in the dark, near a small pile of stones, peering across the dark ground to the piles of crates stacked up on the other side of the camp, and the small figures of undead Asura hanging around them.

"There aren't that many," Faren whispered in her ear. "We should signal for back-up and attack at once!"

"There's probably more than we can see," Damara answered grimly, trying not to be distracted by her enjoyment of his proximity. "Inquest tend to be small and sneaky. And they could call for reinforcements easily."

They watched more. Did those crates have what they were looking for? Was there a way to tell instead of waiting for the Asura to open one, which might never happen? She could feel Faren being tense beside her, almost jittering. It made her relax physically more than she might have normally, trying to counteract his energy, though she was still plenty on edge internally.

Faren had just braced himself to stand, and she grabbed his arm hard, because she had seen unusual movement from the back of the camp. A big Awakened had emerged from the dark, followed by two waddling Asuran guards, giving orders and gesturing, and others were shuffling the crates around... prying them open... yes, that looked like explosives!

"That's it!" Faren whispered, much too loudly for her comfort. "Let's go!"

She kept hold of his arm. "We need to get back-up! That was the plan!"

"There's no time, they're taking them away! We must sweep in now and take them unawares-"

"Oi!" A shout came from behind them, and Damara whirled to see an Awakened mummy stumbling towards them. "Got some live ones here-!"

Faren sprang up, drawing his swords and slicing the mummy in half dramatically. "Begone with you!"

Every head in the camp whipped around to their direction. "I think we're in trouble!" Damara said, grabbing her bow, scanning the terrain back towards the allied zone. It was clear for now-

"Charge!" Faren yelled, and she spun back around to see him running off into the torchlight.

"Faren-!" Oh gods why was she dating this maniac? She nocked arrows to her bow as fast as she could loose them from her kneeling position, trying to take down every spellcaster or electrorifle-wielder she could see. She couldn't be distracted by watching him in action, even though he was doing really well, slicing through the undead in his path.

Now they'd seen not just Faren's mad assault but that she was picking them off before they could get to him, and shots began to come in her direction instead. She was going to have to move up behind him, they couldn't get separated now. She rose fully to her feet and moved forward, still loosing arrows back. "Okay, go get 'em, Gina! Go help Faren!" Her gazelle bounded forward, trampling Awakened Inquest with her stony hooves.

The big Awakened was confronting Faren. "Foolish humans... so eager to die, you've come to us!"

"But it is you who will die this day! -Night!" Faren cried, engaging the brute in single combat. He was having the time of his life, wasn't he? "For I am Lord Faren of Kryta and I shall lay you low!"

"Empty words for a fop who'll soon be fodder for scarabs," said the Awakened, and she winced at the sounds of clashing metal.

But she couldn't do much else than offer encouragement, kill the ranged enemies, and wait for a shot of her own. She didn't want to draw her own sword and get in the way. "Get him, hon!"

"As milady commands!" Faren ducked a swipe and parried the Awakened's sword into the ground, then went for a lunge, but the Awakened had already recovered with its huge strength, parrying Faren into spinning all the way around. Damara tried not to gasp, leaving Gina to deal with the Inquest, and took a opportunistic shot into the Awakened's chest. She got it in the shoulder, at least, throwing off its follow-up attack while Faren was vulnerable.

And now Faren was recovered, slashing at its arm while it was flinching from Damara's strike. He didn't manage to cut it off, but it growled and its arm fell limp, and he struck again with his other sword, running it through with a shout. "Ha-ha! There!"

The Awakened fell with a gurgle. "Fools... There are still... the scarabs..."

"Nicely done, Faren!" Damara told him, and he brightened like a puppy. "I think we're clear to grab a box or two, but let's be quick – he's not wrong about the scarabs."

"Fear not, doubt not, my dear!" he cried, sheathing his swords and reaching for the top crate, the one they'd already seen was full of explosive devices. "I shall defend you to the end!"

Such a declaration made her very uncomfortable. She would hate for Faren to die, even defending her. Maybe especially defending her. But telling him that would seem... callous, somehow. Ungrateful to the sentiment. "Just be careful, okay? We're all going to make it out of this alive." She popped the lid on the next crate, saw it was filled with the same, and picked it up to follow.

And paused to listen. There was a... buzzing...-!

"Run!" she shrieked. "They're coming!"

Faren's eyes widened, he wasn't that much a heroic fool that he'd stick around when he'd seen what they could do, and together they began to dash back towards the vine wall. She couldn't tell how much of a lead they had over the scarab swarms, but she felt they were going too slowly... Maybe they should leave the crates-!

Movement bounded with a familiar undulating rhythm out of the darkness ahead, and suddenly Rhyoll and Rox were with them. "Rhyoll! Rox! There's – scarabs!"

"Yep, just like I thought!" Rhyoll said. "Light 'em up, Rox!" With a huge fwoooosh, the night ignited in flames. Flamethrowers, Damara acknowledged distractedly, taking advantage of their fiery cover to make it a little closer to safety. There was a whole squad of Olmakhan running past them, now, though only Rhyoll and Rox had the flamethrowers. She could hear Rhyoll's booming laughter echoing across the hills. "And let me show you another feature – the wide-spray nozzle!" The tone of the fire changed, and she glanced back to see a veritable pillar of fire erupting in the night, slowly waving back and forth as Rhyoll scythed it around.

She giggled a bit to herself with what was left of her breath. Were there even any scarabs left to challenge him? He'd clear out the entire plain single-handedly at this rate!

Then a blade came out of the darkness on her left side, aimed at her head-

Clang! Somehow, Faren had seen it while she was distracted and blocked the strike with his vambrace, dropping his crate to the ground to spring in front of her. Gina gave a short scream like only a gazelle could, punting the Awakened attacker away with a headbutt from her stony horns, but there were more-! Faren couldn't get to his swords before they were charged, and he let out a horrible grunt and Damara heard a dreadful sound that she knew all too well.

"Faren!" she screamed, drawing her sword with the moments he'd bought with the shield of his body. He fell past her to the ground, but she was striking his attacker, enraged and upset. She'd kill every Awakened on the field if he'd been slain! She battered their weapons away with brute force, hacking them inelegantly to pieces. The Olmakhan were returning, hurrying to aid her, but she didn't need their help. She was covered in disgusting bits of dried flesh and she didn't care as long as the undead became really dead by her sword.

When the last one had fallen in rasping denial, she flailed around to get back to Faren's side. One Olmakhan had knelt beside him, putting healing spells on him. "Faren! Oh gods, is he all right? Dwayna, please..."

"He'll be all right," said the Olmakhan, then lifted her head and sniffed. "Scarabs coming back, though, and I don't know how much Rhyoll's weapons have left in them. Let's move."

Before they could take him from her, she grabbed his arm and hauled him over her shoulders in a firefighter carry. "Get the explosives!" She ran for the wall, not waiting for the sound of buzzing insects to spur her on. "Oh, Faren, why did you..."

His head was bouncing near her shoulder, and she heard him take a breath. "'Tis my duty to protect you, my... fairest... dove."

Oh gods. He was back to calling her silly pet names. He really was badly hurt. She wasn't going to cry! He wasn't dead! "Hang on. I'm getting you out of here."

"But... the explosives..."

"The Olmakhan have them. Just don't die on me!"

"Never, my brave maiden... You were not joking about your strength." His voice was pained, yet he wouldn't shut up and concentrate on not dying. "I daresay you're the strongest Human I've ever met."

Because she could carry him with adrenaline surging in torrents through her veins, with a horrific death waiting if she slowed down the slightest? She could hear them now, and that pushed her on. She'd seen other Humans do similar things in the Vigil... had lost some of them. Panic had a way of motivating one's body past its limits. Sure-footed, she ran on, charging towards the vine wall and safety. There was the peak with Rytlock's command post... there was the path upwards... elementalists on guard, thank the gods... and she collapsed, panting her lungs out, in the middle of the camp.

"What's going on?" Rytlock barked at her. "Got himself in trouble, did he?"

Damara shook her head, wheezing for air, as she heard the elementalists light up the scarab swarms. She had dumped Faren unceremoniously on the ground and fallen half on him, completely spent. "Both of us... in trouble... Saved me... Got explosives... Rox..."

Rox was actually right behind her, with one of the crates. "Right here. Look what they got for us, Rytlock!" Another Olmakhan proffered the other.

Rytlock sniffed the crates. "Hm. It'll do. We ran out half an hour ago. Good job, take five."

"Going to need... a few more... than five," Damara panted, but she was getting her air back. "Faren needs... medical attention."

Faren looked up and grinned painfully. "I'd do it again, upon my honour!"

"Yeah, yeah, hero-boy," Rytlock said, pointing in the direction of the medical tent. "Let me know when you have proper scars instead of waxed legs."

"Can't I have both?" Faren said, and Damara rolled her eyes and picked him up again wearily, heading in the direction of the tent. She laid Faren down on the nearest available cot and grabbed bandages herself.

"Faren, oh, Faren, seriously, why did you do that?" Now that the edge was coming off the adrenaline, she was starting to shake a little, though she managed to keep her hands fairly steady. She'd almost lost him. She couldn't tell if this whole mission had been vital or foolish. Or, as with so much that Faren did, both.

He opened his eyes to look at her a little petulantly as she unbuckled and carefully removed his armour. "I told you, my dear. I must protect you." He gently reached out and touched the armour in the centre of her chest, the... the place Balthazar had run her through while she lay helpless. He'd seen it, of course, in bed, the deep gouge in her flesh over her sternum, dark reddish-black-brown with pale edges against her warm brown skin, a wound that no one could survive. There was even a matching exit scar on her back. She hadn't known how deeply it had affected him.

She paused before cutting off his tunic around his wounds – of course he was wearing a silk tunic under his armour – and leaned down to kiss him, trying more than ever not to cry. "Love you, hon." He was... foolish, and showy, and they still didn't quite fit together personality-wise – but his courage and selflessness was genuine. It always had been. That was why she'd always liked him, even when he annoyed her.

He looked surprised as she pulled back. She'd never said it before, nor had he. "O-of course. I love you too, my dear." She sniffled a little and he patted her hand where it rested on his chest. "Do not look so, please! Remember I am the handsomest, most courageous, most daring boyfriend you've ever had!"

She giggled through her sniffles and wiped her eyes. "Yes, you are. Good boy."

She heard stomping noises from behind her. "Damara! What the hell were you doing? I'm not surprised Faren would do something like this, but you-"

She looked up at Annhilda with a defensive glare. "Give me a minute to patch him up before you chew me out, okay!"

"Mistress Annhilda," Faren said weakly. "The day needed saving. For Kryta... and Amnoon. So we did what we had to." While he was being dramatic, she could tell he wanted to be much more dramatic about it, and was holding back so she wouldn't worry so much.

"We had a better plan, but you know what they say," Damara said. Now she could see – he'd been stabbed twice, in the left shoulder and side. The Olmakhan healing had stemmed the flow of blood a little, but it wasn't completely closed. She checked inside each stab and scrape, but she didn't see any scarab eggs. He'd been lucky, as far as she knew – she actually hadn't witnessed many people getting infected so she didn't know exactly what she was looking for. But he didn't seem sick. He winced at it, but there wasn't much choice. At least now she could start bandaging before he lost any more blood.

"You disobeyed orders, both of you," Annhilda said sternly.

"We had to," Faren said. Dramatically.

"Actually, it did work out," Damara said. "Rytlock said we ran out of explosives half an hour ago. We got more. No one died. Faren saved my life, in fact."

"I see," Annhilda said. "All right. Faren... you did good. And thanks for keeping my friend alive."

"It was my duty and pleasure," Faren said.

"Damara, will you be able to come for the final fight? We'll need everyone immune to the plague we can get, and you're among that number."

Damara gave a deep sigh. She was still tired. "How soon?"

"As soon as possible. We can't let up the pressure. Of course, if you're too tired to fight effectively, you should stay here. Don't want to lose you now."

"Just let me have some coffee," Damara said, tying off the bandages. The Elonian delicacy had been a literal eye-opener ever since she'd arrived in the region. Faren had shrugged at it – of course the nobles in Divinity's Reach could afford to import such things – but she could certainly use it now. That would keep her going long enough to get revenge on the guy who wanted revenge on her.

Annhilda nodded. "All right. Come when you're ready. We'll start without you. Who knows, you'll probably save the day again." She grinned and left the tent.

Damara stroked Faren's forehead after she finished tying off the last bandage. "I'm going to go with her, okay?"

"Yes, of course, my dazzling darling," Faren said, reaching up to touch her face tenderly. "You represent Humanity now. I have done my part. I made you proud, right?"

He was asking her? After telling her how handsome and brave he was? She bent down to kiss him again. His mouth was warm and comforting. "So proud. You were great. I'll kill Joko and be back as quick as I can. Rest up."