The demon was drawing near. He brought the knife up, violent intent written all over his face.
Her nerve broke. She flung herself out of the way with a cry of fear, hands shooting up to protect herself. She needn't have bothered. He flew past her, pausing only to kick open the doors. She glanced at him just before he bolted from the room. He looked down at her, and all she saw was contempt. "Weak," he snarled.
His eyes flickered back to green, and he was gone.
"Stop him!" Someone cried again. As though that wasn't already on everyone's mind.
Aria sat on the ground as the stampede rushed past her. She already knew it would be too late. He had a head start, and at any rate, she sensed that if Saint Dane didn't want to be caught in a footrace, he wouldn't be.
She and Jani stood at the same time, and Jani said tonelessly, "You let him get away."
Aria didn't meet her eye. She just looked at the disarray of the lab before her. It didn't look terribly different – just a few scattered notes and a handful of broken beakers. The only difference was that almost everyone was gone, chasing the man whose discovery threatened to put an end to everything they had accomplished.
What could she say? 'Sorry I'm such a coward'?
Her throat constricted and she squeaked, "Sorry I'm such a coward."
Jani glared at her, and Aria finally looked up to meet her eyes. She expected disgust, a bellow of anger, more accusations that she was useless.
She didn't expect Jani to slouch and say, "Whatever. I get it. That guy could scare the pelt off the Bak'tu. Can't really blame you for saving your own skin." Her voice sounded heavy.
She knew it was Saint Dane, then. Looking at the cuts on her arm and leg, the blood that was drying on her face, she said, "You didn't move. You tried to stop him."
She shrugged. "You don't have anything here worth dying for. I do."
Aria flinched.
A minute later, the scientists flooded back in, all talking at once. Their voices started bouncing off the walls, filling the room with panic.
Kahlin's voice cut through the cacophony. "Enough!" She yelled, her voice clear and deep.
Everyone stilled and turned to look at her. She addressed them. "We all knew this could happen. Unfortunately, this coincides with another piece of bad news. Councilor Grail is missing, presumed dead. The Milago will likely be driven to violence without their advocate for peace, and once the knight brings the tak to his superiors, the Bedoowan will seize the mine and be ready to retaliate against any attack from the Milago." She paused, then said, "It seems that war is upon us. You know what we must do."
The scientists looked at each other miserably. A few of them looked like they wanted to say something, but soon, everyone was nodding.
Aria felt a sense of dread. What did Kahlin mean? What did they have to do?
She wouldn't find out by just standing there. As the crowd dispersed, Aria made her way to Kahlin, insides writhing with guilt. This was her fault, and Kahlin would surely realize that. The woman caught sight of her and Aria braced for the accusations, but before anything could be said, Steric's voice rang out.
"Jani!" he cried, and ran to his bleeding daughter.
He reached out to her, careful to avoid her injuries, but at once Jani's lip curled in anger. "Piss off!" She spat at him, and slapped his hand away.
He looked at her desperately, clearly not knowing what to do. Aria looked at Kahlin, but decided that their talk would have to wait. She'd deal with the repercussions of this soon enough. Right now the least she could do was take care of her friend.
Sensing the hostility Jani was exuding towards her father, Aria stepped between the two. She looked at Steric and said, "She's fine, mostly. I'll take care of her. Don't worry about it."
She put a hand on Jani's shoulder and led her around her dad to the back of the room, towards the medical station. Steric looked like he wanted to follow, but Aria shook her head at him. Jani was obviously not in the mood to be coddled right now.
Kahlin turned to Steric. "Do not worry. I will tend to your daughter's injuries. At any rate…" She looked at Aria, gaze unreadable. "I need to talk to these two."
Aria swallowed heavily. As she glanced around she realized that everyone in the room was staring at her and Jani. They all knew exactly who was to blame for this, too.
She walked past them, head down, trying not to meet anyone's gaze. Her shoulders were hunched up near her ears and she felt like a turtle trying to hide inside its shell. Jani walked shamelessly beside her, and it seemed like she couldn't care less about the people glaring accusations at them.
She could hear Kahlin's shoes striking the stone floor just behind them, and soon they were in the hall, then the medical station. Aria sat Jani down on a low table then started moving around the room collecting medical supplies.
Kahlin silently helped her, grabbing everything they needed, and began treating Jani's wounds. Like Aria's, they were long but shallow. Not life threatening, or even particularly debilitating. Aria wished she could offer Jani an ice-bag for her nose, which was swelling, but there didn't seem to be any refrigerators on Denduron.
Aria jumped when Kahlin addressed her. "It seems you were followed."
Her mouth went dry. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
Kahlin's voice was even. "No. I didn't think so."
Well, at least she didn't think Aria was an active traitor. She was still a traitor though – just because the treachery was accidental didn't make it okay. "I'm sorry," she said again.
Kahlin didn't reply, merely kept working on Jani's injuries. Aria noticed that Jani barely flinched at all as her wounds were treated. Aria had squawked and whimpered the whole time, and her injuries hadn't been half as bad as Jani's were. Again, she felt a wave of shame.
She wanted to curl up and hide, but that wasn't an option right now. She needed to find out what Kahlin's plan was. "What did you mean when you said, 'you know what we have to do'? What is your plan now?"
Kahlin's voice was inflectionless as she explained, "The lab connects directly to the tak vein. All of our supplies are here. We will gather our research and our notes, take what supplies we can, then leave and try to blend back into our societies. Once we've evacuated, we will set a fuse to ignite the tak vein and destroy it."
Aria was aghast. "What? No! You can't! We need the tak-light. It's the only way to prevent a war!"
Kahlin's eyes flickered over to her, her gaze cold and unyielding. "The instant that knight delivers the tak, this mine will be seized, and us with it if we do not hurry. They will not listen to us, not with a war on the horizon. And with unrestricted access to pure tak, the Bedoowan may very well use it to expand militant control over the Milago. Even if that does not happen, they will almost certainly take the tak and use it to wage war on our neighboring tribes to secure whatever they need."
She paused to let this sink in. "Once we destroy the tak, the Milago and Bedoowan will lack the resources to become conquerors. They may fight amongst themselves, but peace will return eventually. As I said before: if a small war is all it takes to ensure our long-term survival as a people, then that is what will have to happen."
Aria's mind buzzed with the implications of this. True, destroying the tak would prevent a massive war, but if the tribes attacked each other now, there was no way they would remain peacefully united in the long term, especially if things kept getting worse due to the Tryptite shortage.
But there was nothing Aria could think of that would help at this point. If Kahlin and Steric could present their findings in a calm and reasonable atmosphere then odds were good that the tak-light plan would be adopted, the mineral de-weaponized. But the current atmosphere was anything but calm and reasonable. Each side feared attack from the other. It didn't matter who got the tak – the other side would be whipped into a frenzy by the thought of their enemy possessing it, and at that point a full-blown war would only be one violent altercation away.
In fact, Aria was beginning to realize that the scientists were in even more danger than they suspected. Saint Dane would almost certainly try to convince whichever side he gave the tak to that the scientists were in league with their enemies, and that they needed to be arrested at once – perhaps even killed outright. The lab would be ransacked, the research scattered and destroyed. Saint Dane's goal was war. Without the scientists and their research, there was no way the tak would be used as anything other than a weapon.
She sat down heavily on the bench, head in her hands. That was when Jani spoke, voice thick.
"What are you two talking about? Blow up the lab? That's idiotic."
The two looked at her, a bit confused. Kahlin, evidently thinking that Jani was concussed from the blow she'd taken, explained gently, "The man who hit you was a Bedoowan knight. He got a tak sample, and is going to take it to the council and convince them to seize the mine."
Jani let out a deep snarling sound, and Aria looked at her in alarm, thinking that she was more angry than she'd realized. Then Jani gurgled and spat out a huge wad of bloody phlegm on the ground.
Gross. Very, very gross.
Apparently, however, that wad of phlegm was what had been causing Jani to sound so out-of-sorts. Once it was out of her throat she spoke again, and her voice was as fierce as ever. "Who cares about the stupid knight? I don't see why the plan should change. Give us the samples and let's go tell the dumb councilors!"
Aria gaped at her. There was no way that could work.
Could it?
She thought about it. Saint Dane would no doubt be on his way to one or both of the factions with the tak, intent on whipping them into a frenzy. Given Grail's disappearance, Aria suspected he would take it to the Milago.
If they wanted to have any chance at a peaceful resolution, she and Jani would need to act fast. War was coming, but until the fighting started there was still hope. So long as neither tribe possessed the tak–
A thought occurred to her. Voice tight with excitement, she said, "Hey – what if we blew up the entrance he used?"
Kahlin looked at her in surprise. "What? Blow up – what?"
Jani cocked her head, then grinned. "Hey, yeah. The only reason we know how to get here from both entrances is dumb luck. We followed dad halfway here from the west entrance, Tarek led Aria out through the other entrance, and she was able to find the way here somewhere between the two because she saw some guy running down one of these tunnels a couple days ago. If we blow up the mineshaft near the memorial, Saint–"
Aria brought her hand up to her throat and make a frantic slicing motion. Apparently that translated as 'shut up, shut up, shut up!' in Dendur-ese, too, because Jani changed tact. "Uh, I mean, that knight probably won't be able to find his way back. At least, not without a lot of looking around. We can just seal off the path he took."
Kahlin looked speculative. "Yes, I suppose we could…but we could not keep them away indefinitely. They know the general location, and about the false wall. It will not take them long to find us."
Jani said. "Yeah, but at least we'll be able to keep everyone off your back until we can convince the councils to hear us out. It'll buy us some time to try and fix this."
"And for you guys to gather up all of your research," Aria added.
Kahlin's hands continued working on Jani's injuries, but they slowed a bit as she considered the possibilities. "Yes. I suppose so. If we can keep the Bedoowan from seizing the mine…"
"Or the Milago," Aria added.
Kahlin looked at her strangely, and Aria realized she had just made a whoopsie. Kahlin didn't know that the knight and Maal were the same person, and that either faction could end up seizing the mine. "Why do you think that knight will take the tak to the Milago? He is Bedoowan."
Aria opened her mouth to say something, but absolutely nothing came to mind. Crap.
Kahlin's eyes narrowed. Voice clipped, she said, "I think it is high time you tell me what is really going on here."
What's really going on here? She thought back to Alder's flip-out when she'd told Jani everything. If she started telling even more people…
No, that wasn't an option. Unfortunately, blatantly lying wasn't going to be an option either. Kahlin was already beginning to look dangerous, and Aria was pretty sure she would finally be risking the woman's wrath if she tried feeding her any more lies.
Just then, Steric popped his head in to check on his daughter. "Jani, are you – gah!"
Upon seeing his daughter half-undressed on the table, his face turned beet red and he slapped a hand to his eyes so fast Aria thought he might have just given himself a shiner that would rival Jani's.
Jani, who looked equally mortified, picked up a clay bowl and chucked it at her father's head. "GET OUT!" She screeched.
Steric's head ducked back in just in time, and the bowl shattered against the wall. "Sorry! Sorry!"
"KNOCK NEXT TIME!" Jani bellowed.
Aria clamped her teeth together to keep in a bray of laughter, and even Kahlin looked like she was biting back a small smile. The look on Steric's face had been priceless.
Kahlin decided to focus entirely on Jani's injuries after that, and soon the medical supplies were being stuffed back into their normal places as she pulled her leathers roughly on over the bandages. Jani grumbled unintelligibly the entire time.
Aria was very, very grateful for the interruption. It had given her a moment's breathing room to figure out what to say to Kahlin.
She decided it would be best to talk to Steric too. Assuming he was still just outside waiting to make sure his daughter was alright, Aria called out, "Okay, you can come in now."
Sure enough, the door opened cautiously and Steric's head slid into view. He looked about tentatively, and only once he was sure he wasn't about to get anything else chucked at his head did he enter.
Kahlin said, "She has a few scratches and a broken nose, that's all. She'll be fine."
Jani stood up, walked to the chair in the corner of the room, sat down and began brooding. Aria was relieved. At least things were mostly normal again there.
Then she turned to Kahlin and Steric. She'd decided that, since she couldn't tell them about the Traveler stuff, she would just have to tell them everything else and hope they believed her.
Kahlin had just finished putting the bandages away when Aria said, "I haven't been entirely truthful with you. Honestly, I still can't be. There are a few things that I just can't tell you. But I'll tell you what I can. Okay?"
Kahlin looked skeptical. Steric just looked confused, obviously not having been suspicious of her as Kahlin had been. "Okay. What can you tell us?"
Kahlin looked at him with mild annoyance, but rather than taking the time to inform him of the incriminating nuances and suspicious omens, she just sighed and sat down. She waved a tired hand as though to say, 'go ahead.'
Aria didn't stay standing this time, but instead pulled over a chair and plopped down. Her side was aching again. Just a bit. "Okay. I can't tell you how exactly I know this, but I can guarantee you that the Bedoowan knight who just stole the tak is in league with councilor Maal, and both of them have the same goal – a massive, tak-fueled war."
Strictly speaking she was only about 99% sure that that was what Saint Dane wanted, but Alder had seemed pretty sure of it, so if she was wrong, she could just blame him for it later.
She realized that Steric was a bit behind the times when he yelped, "A Bedoowan knight stole some of our tak? That's what all the commotion was about?"
Kahlin groaned. "Steric, for the love of – yes, you dolt! Do you ever pay attention?"
For the first time, Steric looked at his Bedoowan counterpart gravely, and his tone was dead serious when he spoke. "You will have to excuse me for not keeping up, Kahlin. I had more important things on my mind."
His eyes flickered over to Jani, who was looking resolutely in the other direction, her leathers black with blood. Aria could have sword she saw her face color at her father's words.
Kahlin looked abashed. "Yes, of course. I'm sorry." Then, to Aria, "Very well. If you do not intend to tell us how you know this, what else do you have to say?"
Aria bit her lip, then continued. "My uncle and I came here to help get the Bedoowan and the Milago back to living peacefully together again. I can't explain why it's important, but trust me – it's really, really important. But I think that knight figured out what we were trying to do, and might have had my uncle arrested."
This was conjecture on her part, but it seemed likely enough. After all, everyone else loved Uncle Press, as far as she could tell.
This, at least, seemed to settle well with Kahlin. "I see."
Aria kept on. She didn't really want to say this next part, but hey, in for a penny, in for a pound. "Alder and his apprentice, Tarek, are also working with us to keep you guys from going to war. They know about the lab, too."
Kahlin looked furious, and even Steric's mouth popped open. "You said you weren't going to tell anyone! Who else did you tell?"
Kahlin tone was not encouraging. "You told a Bedoowan knight about the lab, immediately, and the very next day another one follows you back here. And you are quite sure the two are unrelated?"
Aria's face warmed at the implication, but before she could say anything Steric spoke up. "Now hold, Kahlin. I know Alder. He is a good man – you have said so yourself. I do not believe for one moment that he has betrayed us. My only worry is the information getting out so rapidly."
Kahlin looked at him, expression pained. "Steric, you are a trusting man–"
"Trusting?" Steric said, a bit indignantly. "I may have lacked subtlety, believe I was stricter than you when we were deciding who to invite to our little setup! You were bent on bringing in Gotrick, as I recall."
Kahlin blushed. Whoever Gotrick was, Aria sensed the reference wasn't something Kahlin was eager to go into. She moved the conversation along, saying, "Very well, very well. This whole ordeal was an accident. What else can you tell us?"
Aria, glad for Steric's support, concluded, "I don't know exactly who else is in on the plot, but I'm fairly certain it's small, and directed at generating instability between your tribes. The knight could deliver the tak to either the Milago or the Bedoowan, so there's no way to tell which direction the attack will come from. For the moment, I think it's best if you and Steric stay here and get ready to evacuate and blow the mine if anyone finds the lab."
Kahlin tilted her head curiously. "And what will you be doing, whilst we are preparing to evacuate?"
Aria replied, "Jani and I will take samples of the tak-light to the Milago and Bedoowan councils and try to convince them that a war isn't necessary."
Kahlin seemed hesitant, but Steric said, "I think that sounds like a good idea. Kahlin? What do you think?"
For just a moment, Aria saw the woman's tough-as-nails façade falter. Fear flashed in her eyes, and it occurred to Aria that she, too, was standing at the precipice of a disaster that could tear apart everything she had ever cared for.
She closed her eyes, opened them, and then nodded. "Very well. It is not much of a chance, but I suppose it is a chance, nonetheless. We will fetch the samples for you. Jani, are you fit to travel?"
Jani stood up and said, "Let's go."
Steric looked alarmed at the idea of his injured daughter running off into danger, but Jani once again quelled him with a glare. He stood up carefully and said, "I'll go prepare some tak-light. Aria? Would you come with me?"
Aria nodded. Kahlin said, "I will scuttle up some food for you. You'll want lunch before you go."
Aria didn't really feel hungry, but she knew that if she was going to be running around all day she would need some sustenance. Jani perked up at the mention of food, and immediately follow Kahlin to the rations room.
Aria followed Steric out to the lab. Her head dropped again as several gazes came to rest on her.
Out of the blue, Steric said, "I'm amazed that Jani has taken to you so well. I wasn't sure if she had any friends at all."
Aria was startled by the comment, but quickly replied, "Actually, she already had a couple before I came along. Their names are Dakka and Rill. The three seem pretty tight."
"Tight?" He asked.
"Uh, I mean, close. You know, good friends."
Steric, who had reached a storage cabinet and was now rooting around for the samples, said, "Ah. Well, that is good to hear. You see, I've barely seen her at all in the last year or so…since her mother died."
His voice sounded shaky, and Aria finally realized where all of Jani's angst came from. She'd lost her mother. And with Steric spending all his time in this lab, it had probably been like losing both her parents at once.
She felt a stab of sympathy for the family. "I didn't realize. She never mentioned it. I'm…sorry for your loss."
He took a few bags out of the cabinet, turned around, and handed them to her. "Thank you. But I do not deserve much sympathy. In an effort to escape from my pain, I threw myself into my work, desperate for a distraction. Jani had no such distraction, and thanks to my selfishness, she also did not have a father to console her."
Aria thought that was a fair assessment, but wasn't about to lay into him for it. "Well, I guess I can see why she's upset with you. Maybe once all of this is over, you two can spend more time together. Talk about it."
He shook his head. "I do not know if this can be fixed. Honestly, given these last two days, I am afraid to even try."
Now Aria looked at him sharply. "Don't say that. It's never too late to try. Maybe it won't work, but she's your daughter. You need to at least let her know that she still has a parent if she wants one."
He looked stricken. He sat down heavily at an unoccupied lab bench nearby and rubbed his temples. "Yes, I suppose you are right. I just…"
Aria didn't wait for him to finish. "You messed up. Bad. But Jani is tough. She'll get over it. Now, show me how those tak-lights work?"
It seemed like her words lent a bit of vigor to the man, and he sat up a little straighter. He took one of the samples and held it up to show her. "Yes, of course. It's very simple, just pull the string, light the fuse here, and set it down..."
Aria examined the little pouches. It was a very easy setup. The substance inside was thick and gooey, darker than tak and also denser, she thought. The leathers they were wrapped in had been coated with something to keep the substance from burning through them – very impressive. Fireproof pouches.
He continued, "It also isn't as delicate as tak. You can hit it with a mace and it probably won't explode. Probably. Don't test it."
She wouldn't. And regardless of his reassurances, she handled the stuff gingerly. He gave her three lighters, which she stuck in her pouch. One for her, one for Alder and Tarek when they met up, and one extra.
Steric spent some time filling her in on some of the things she would want to relay to the councils – their tak-light stock, production costs, additional uses they were studying – until Jani and Kahlin got back. Once they met up the four of them made their way over to the exit. Kahlin handed them a couple of lumpy packages. "Here is some lunch for you. It is not much, but it will do for a few hours. I will tell everyone what the new plan is. Please, be swift. Do what you can. Return to us as soon as possible."
"And please," Steric said. "Be careful."
Aria nodded, taking the packages and peeking inside. Bread and fruit. Jani snatched hers moodily and said, "Yeah, don't worry. Just try not to blow yourselves up while we're gone."
She turned to leave, and Aria followed her, waving goodbye to the two. She heard Kahlin call for attention as the doors closed behind them, and the two made their way down the well-lit corridor. They didn't speak as they made their way back through the mine.
As they walked, Aria started organizing her thoughts. She contemplated the situation she'd found herself in, and she was coming to the conclusion that she was liking her involvement in it less and less. When they got to the exit, however, Aria saw something that froze her musings in their tracks. There was a form laying face-down and unmoving outside the tunnel.
It was Tarek.
Aria ran forward and knelt beside Tarek, feeling for a pulse. He was warm and…yep, heart was still beating. "Tarek? Tarek, are you alright?"
Jani leaned over and together they rolled Tarek over onto his back. No response. Jani undid the straps of his armor with her uninjured arm, reached under the leather past the shoulder, grabbed something, and twisted.
Tarek's eyes shot open and he shrieked.
Jani sat back and laughed as the Traveler came to life. He was rubbing his chest through his light armor and said, "Why? Why would you do that? What happened? Where am I? What's going on?"
Aria facepalmed. Well, at least he was awake. "Hey Tarek. Are you okay?"
He didn't look okay. He looked fairly upset. "My head hurts, among other things! What happened?" He demanded again.
Aria said, "I don't know. You were just lying out here, unconscious. Do you remember anything?"
Tarek plonked back down, still rubbing his chest, and his face scrunched up in concentration. Aria waited for him to piece his memories together, and at last he said, "Yes, actually. I was waiting, and after a while someone showed up. Who…? Ah, that's right. Commander Sawil! He is in charge of protecting the roads between the villages. He asked why I was here, and I fed him some bear-hair story about meeting up with a girl. He pointed towards the mine and asked, 'is that her?' and…" He paused and frowned. "I don't remember what happened next."
Jani said, "Heh. He must have sacked you when you turned around to look."
Commander Sawil. Well, now they knew another one of Saint Dane's personas. With luck they could use that information to help convince the councils that there was an active push for war, especially if they could pin something concrete on him.
Tarek raised a hand to the back of his head and winced, so Aria thought it would be a good idea to check him for injuries. She moved behind him and gently pushed back his hair. Sure enough, there was a large, bleeding gash on his scalp.
Her stomach turned. Thankfully, she was better at dealing with other people's injuries than her own. "Do we have any medical supplies?" She asked.
Jani pulled off her pack and tossed it to down. "Kahlin gave me some."
Aria reached for the bag, flipped up the flap, and started rooting around. Sure enough, there were bandages and a small container of some salve that was probably a disinfectant. She started to work on Tarek's injury while Jani unwrapped her food and started eating.
Tarek plucked a canteen off his hip and took off the lid. "That's ridiculous. Commander Sawil? Why would he attack me?"
As they spoke Aria moved around to the front to start wrapping his bandages.
He began to drink and Jani said, "Red hair, green eyes? That was Saint Dane, you idiot."
Tarek choked on his water, spraying it right in Aria's face. She blinked it out of her eyes while Jani laughed hysterically again.
Tarek regained his breath and said, "Sorry, Aria. Saint Dane? Wait – I finally met Saint Dane?"
He sounded excited, like getting knocked out by their archnemesis was the highlight of his year. Jani snorted and said, "Yeah, but I guess he didn't think you were 'Traveler' enough to bother introducing himself. He just bonked you on the noggin and left you in the dirt!"
Jani continued to snicker, and Tarek sounded upset. "What? Where is he? Where did he go? I'll be happy to show him what I'm capable of!"
Aria's temper broke, just a bit. "Oh, I'm sorry, you think Saint Dane isn't paying enough attention to you? Well, he paid a fair bit of attention to Jani. Look what happened to her."
For the first time, Tarek seemed to see the bloodstains covering Jani's leathers. He yelped. "What happened to you?"
Aria scowled at him as she yanked the bandages tight, causing him to wince, and began to tie them off. "Saint Dane dashed in to the lab and stole some tak, and is about to tell everyone exactly where they can find this place. Jani got in his way, and he almost filleted her."
"Filleted?" They asked at the same time. Aria guessed they didn't have that particular cooking term here, but wasn't about to explain it to them. If she could piece together their colloquialisms – bear-hair story indeed – then they could deal with a few of her vocabulary choices.
"Look. The point is, you don't want Saint Dane's attention on you. If he thinks you aren't worth addressing one-on-one, don't start jumping up and down yelling, 'Oh, me! Pick me! Shoot at me next! Stab me next, please! Send a few giant, ravenous quig bears, and mountain lions, and sharks after me next, please!'"
Tarek's head tilted oddly. "Sharks?"
Aria opened her mouth to reply, but then shut it. Why did she say sharks? There were no quig sharks – were there?
She shook her head and dismissed it, not sure where the strange thought came from. She packed up the rest of the medical supplies and said, "Doesn't matter. Bottom line is, this isn't a game. Going on an adventure is a lot of fun until the gunfire starts."
Another question. "What is gunfire?" Tarek asked.
Aria stood up, ready to get moving again. "Guns are weapons we have on our territory. Little metal things, smaller than bows, that shoot tiny pieces of metal. Saint Dane has one, and he almost killed me with it the first time I saw him."
Tarek swung his pack off his shoulder. "Wait, is it something like this?"
He pulled Saint Dane's gun out of the pack.
Aria could have smacked herself. She'd completely forgotten that she'd grabbed the thing in their scuffle two days ago. Tarek must have picked it up, and had had it this whole time. Thank goodness he hadn't shot himself with it. "Yes! Can I have that? It's crazy dangerous."
"Doesn't look dangerous," Jani scoffed.
Aria inspected the gun to make sure it wouldn't go off on its own. Safety, on. Thank goodness. "Trust me, it's dangerous. A bullet travels way faster than an arrow, and the projectile is a lot denser, so it will go through things an arrow won't. Also, it takes skill to make a bow and arrow dangerous. Anyone can fire a gun. Not necessarily well, but luck can be just as lethal as skill when it comes these things."
Jani looked at the weapon thoughtfully. "Think we can use that on Saint Dane the next time we see him?"
Aria shuddered at the thought. "Nuh, uh. Even if Press hadn't told me we aren't supposed to use stuff from other territories, I couldn't shoot anyone. Not even him."
Tarek frowned. "Saint Dane gets to use dangerous weapons from other territories. Why can't we?"
"Why can't we do the same bad stuff our enemy is doing? Gee, let's ask Alder the next time we see him."
Tarek's face went red as he tried to backtrack. "Ah, never mind. You're probably right."
"Besides," Jani said as she stood up again. "With your aim you'd never be able to hit him. I'd be more worried if I was standing next to him."
Tarek looked confused. "Why? Does she have bad aim?"
Aria groaned as Jani began recounting the story of their encounter with the demon traveler in the forest two days prior, obviously not upset about discussing her rescue from Saint Dane if it meant making fun of her rescuer. Aria pulled her lunch bundle from Kahlin out and began eating.
"So she actually strapped the backpack to his face?"
"Yeah, do you believe it? And then I kicked him right in the sanjaberries and we took off running!"
They laughed again and Aria sighed through her nose. Well, at least they were enjoying themselves. As for her, she was feeling pretty miserable. Once she'd made sure Tarek was okay, she'd gone back thinking over the morning, and she didn't like the conclusions she'd come to.
Kahlin and Steric had had everything under control before she'd shown up. Given time, they'd probably have come forward with the tak-light themselves, and the problem would have been solved. But she'd led Saint Dane to the lab, and now he was in a perfect position to start a war. No matter how she looked at the situation, it worse for her involvement.
Why had uncle Press brought her with him? She was worse than useless. She was responsible for everything that was about to happen. And as much as she wanted to hope things could be fixed, she just didn't know if they could be.
She wanted to go home.
For the first time since Alder had told her about the flume and how to use it, she was seriously considering it. She was sure she could make her way up the mountain alone, as much of a pain as it would be. As for the quigs, so long as she was extremely careful, she wouldn't wake them up. And if she did, she had the whistle to buy her enough time to get to the flume.
What about uncle Press? If she left him, what would happen?
She picked up a rock absentmindedly and started tossing it up and down. If she left him, he would be fine. Everyone loved him. Half the people she'd talked to probably referred to her as 'Press' niece' the moment she was gone. Besides, she couldn't do anything else for him.
What about Saint Dane? What would he do if she left? What would happen to her friends?
She watched Tarek and Jani jostle each other as they made ready to move out, and thought that if Jani wasn't injured, the two would probably have started a wrestling match just for fun by now. The idea that either of them needed her help to stay safe was ludicrous. They were fighters. They were Traveler material. All she'd done since she got here was try to do the bare minimum so she could go home without feeling like total garbage.
Once again, resentment flooded her, hot and bubbling. What right did anyone have to tell her she hadn't done enough? She'd tried, hadn't she? And if things hadn't turned out okay, whose fault was that? She hadn't asked for this! She hadn't wanted this! She'd tried telling them, time and again, that she wasn't the right person for this job! What did Press think would happen, leaving her alone like he did?
She drew back her arm and flung the rock into the forest. Suddenly she didn't really care that he was imprisoned. Heck, he was probably a lot safer than she was right now. Had he nearly been butchered by Saint Dane the last two days? Had he been chased all over a strange, medieval village, nearly had the stuffing kicked out of him, been lost and confused and alone? She didn't think so.
That was it. She'd had it with this place. If she stayed, she'd probably just end up making things worse. She'd find Alder and take the tak-light to the Milago council, but that was it. After that, she was going home. Alder, Tarek, Jani – they could handle it from there.
Speaking of Alder, though…
"Hey, Tarek. Did Alder say where and when we were supposed to meet up when you saw him earlier?"
Tarek replied absentmindedly, "No, he just said he meet us later. I guess he'll find us. For now, we know what we're doing, right? It's fine."
Aria was beginning to get sorely irked by Tarek's ultra-relaxed approach to everything. It seemed like all he cared about was getting to be part of the action whenever it popped up. "Okay, well, here's the plan," she said, and she could hear the irritation in her voice. "We have the tak-light, and we need to take them to the councilors before a war breaks out. I guess since Alder isn't here, you'll have to go alone. Can you manage?"
Tarek looked surprised, but quickly puffed himself up and said, "Yes, of course. Let me see the sample."
Aria pulled it out and showed it to him, explained everything he needed to convey – about Grail's disappearance, Maal's involvement (and now Sawil's, too), the scientist's concerns – then gave him one of the lighters. "Just take it to the Bedoowan council and tell them everything. And if Sawil is there…uh…avoid him like the plague, okay? Just wait until he's gone. In the meantime, Jani and I will find Alder and deliver a sample to Kore."
Tarek nodded. "Alright. Though, to be sure, you are absolutely sure that Sawil is Saint Dane? Accusing a commanding officer of treason is no small matter."
Aria nodded. "I'm sure, and if things turn out alright we can get a couple dozen people to collaborate the story. Almost everyone down there saw him."
Tarek still looked worried, but brushed it off. "Alright. Are you sure you two can manage your own part alone?"
Jani snorted and said, "Duh. The leg isn't that bad."
Aria glanced at it. It hadn't exactly looked bad in the medical room, but it had hardly looked good either. "Yeah, I guess we'll be okay. Anyways, once we find Alder, he can do the heavy-lifting. Worst case scenario, I can take the sample by myself."
Jani shot her a surly look, but held her peace. Tarek said, "Good idea. Well, if you'll excuse me, m'ladies…"
And with a chivalrous bow that triggered Jani like a red flag to a bull, Tarek winked at them, turned about, and took off into the forest in the direction of the Bedoowan town.
Jani finally stood, and Aria made to help her up. Her hand was shoved aside, though. "I'm fine. Let's go."
They set off in the direction of the Milago village. Sure enough, Aria could barely tell that Jani was injured from the way she carried herself. She wondered if Kahlin had given her painkillers, or if such a thing had even been discovered on Denduron yet.
Aria felt sure that if she'd gotten the same injuries, she'd probably still be hunkered down on a cot. With a sigh, she followed her injured friend in the direction of the Milago village. She needed to find Alder, deliver the sample, and convince Kore not to storm the mines.
Then, she was going home.