The Mantle of a Hero
Upon moving back through Ivydale Glen and bypassing the Sorrowing Meadows (much to Fidget's relief), Dust and his now doubled-in-size party had come to a rest in Roan Pass, right at the foot of the Blackmoor Mountains. A campfire had been set up and Fidget had quickly busied herself with scoffing as many roasted marshmallows as she could, much to Dust's chagrin.
"You're gonna get too heavy to fly, you know," he commented as Fidget ate her tenth marshmallow in five minutes.
"Oh, shut up and let me enjoy this," Fidget bit back, her words slightly muffled due to her jaw starting to get glued together. Ash giggled from her perch on a nearby fallen tree as she read through the tome she had brought with her.
"No problem with indulging yourself every now and then," she smiled. Dust pouted before Ahrah spoke up.
"If I recall correctly, Fidget would do either this or fall asleep every time Dust opened up the map during our last journey together," it stated simply. Dust shot a glare at Fidget who mumbled something in protest.
"You three sound like you've got more history than this kid's age would suggest," Kim commented from his spot by the fire. Ash resumed her reproachful glares at her friend, making sure that he stayed in line around Dust but Dust himself merely shrugged.
"I guess," he replied. "I'm still trying to remember it all."
"Again…" Fidget mumbled, having unstuck her jaws. Kim and Ash both frowned.
"You had memory issues last time as well?" Ash asked. Dust grimaced.
"I remember not remembering anything when I first met Fidget," he admitted. "The Blade of Ahrah told me that my name was Dust, but even then I don't think I remembered that name."
"Did you get your memories back in the end, Kid?" Kim added. Dust scrunched his face up, trying to remember, but this time he was met with nothing but thick fog in his memory that only swirled dizzyingly when he tried to search for the answers.
"If I did, I don't remember now," he sighed.
"Oh, come on!" Fidget groaned. "After all that and it's taken another knock?"
"I guess the Elder might have some answers," Ash shrugged. "We can ask him when we reach New Zeplich." Dust nodded in agreement — Elder Grey-Eyes had known him before, he was starting to remember. He had to have answers.
"You never answered my question back in Denham," Kim said, poking a log. "Aside from finishing what you started fifteen years ago, why are you doing this?" he asked. "If you only just started remembering what you are today then you're already pretty far in your journey."
"Kim, it's who, not what!" Ash snapped reproachfully.
"I'm just asking a question," Kim muttered back. Dust flinched but tried not to let the comment get to him.
"It's…my mom," he replied. "She's a Moonblood sympathiser…the last survivor of Zeplich Village."
"Ginger?" Kim asked. He'd seen that woman plenty of times around Denham now that she worked as a physician. Her story was famous among the Moonblood people. "She's your mother?"
"She took me in when she found me as a baby…when I was reborn, I guess," Dust explained. "Anyway, the Royal Army attacked Aurora Village and she stood up to the Captain. When they saw me she told me to run…by the time I got back they'd taken her."
"So you're hoping to rescue her?" Kim realised. Dust nodded. "I see." Ash was glaring at him warningly. "Ginger's a good person. A lot of Moonbloods talk about how her family defended our kind during the war."
"Yeah," Dust answered softly. "She's told me about them a few times. She doesn't like to talk about what happened to them though."
"I don't blame her," Kim sighed. "She didn't deserve to suffer such a tragedy, but life seems to dish out cruelty to the people with good hearts."
"Well, 'life' needs to rethink its priorities, 'cos that's just plain unfair," Fidget grumbled.
"She's done so much for me," Dust continued. "I…I have to help her. At first, I guess what I wanted to do was just rescue her and go home, but now I know that won't help in the long run."
"Well, then, you're a smarter kid than I gave you credit for."
"KIM!"
Kim ignored Ash and continued to speak to Dust.
"Listen, I'll help you save Ginger," he promised. "But if you turn back on what you just said and try to go home, then, trust me, I will be right there to drag you back into the fray and keep you there until you end this mess," he said with a warning tone to his voice. Fidget shot upright.
"Hey! Ease off, already! You big bully!" she snarled. Dust had shrunk slightly. "Dust may be Sen-Mithrarin but he's still a kid! Quit piling the pressure — you're not helping!"
"It's okay, Fidget…really…" Dust protested weakly.
"No, it's not okay and you need to ease off the heroic selflessness," Fidget snapped. Ash decided now would be a good time to change the topic of conversation before things got violent.
"What exactly did Ginger tell you about her family, Dust?" she asked. "Papa's good friends with her, so I've seen her a few times. I just…don't know much about her." Dust was incredibly grateful for the change in conversation.
"Well, they lived in the mountains for nearly her whole life," he remembered. "Although I think they had a cottage in some kind of plain before then. She doesn't remember that very much, though."
"Was it just her and her parents?" Ash asked. Dust shook his head.
"No, she had a brother, I think," he said. "She's never told me his name, though. He…he died, not long before Sen…I mean, I first came into the world," he explained. "And she believes it's not a good idea to speak the names of the dead…" Fidget frowned and shot a glance at the Blade of Ahrah, who flashed a few times but otherwise remained silent.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Ash murmured. The conversation was once again turning dark so Dust motioned his head towards the tome in the young Moonblood's lap.
"That your magic book?" he asked. Ash instantly perked up.
"Well, it's not technically mine," she shrugged. "It used to belong to my grandparents…not that I ever knew them…but I've been using it to study magic," she explained. "Trying to bring back the culture of our people and help our Warmblood neighbours, really."
"Sanjin said you already surpass a lot of experienced Mages," Dust smiled. "What exactly can you do? Aside from the fire thing," he added quickly, remembering how Ash had started their campfire earlier, saving them a lot of trouble. "Which, by the way, thank you for that." Ash cringed.
"I can do a lot of elemental stuff," she said modestly. "Electricity's my personal favourite."
"Now that's a tricky one to pull off! Took me a fight with a crazed deity to learn that technique," Fidget exclaimed. "Combine that with Dust Storm and monsters won't stand a chance," she added, shooting a grin at Dust.
"Aren't you worried you'll have competition, Fidget?" the boy snickered. Fidget stuck her tongue out at him in response. Dust then turned to face Kim again. "Ash said you're a pretty good shot," he said. Kim smirked.
"Well, I don't like to brag," he shrugged. Fidget eyed him suspiciously — he still wasn't in her good books after the way he'd acted towards Dust.
"Supposedly you can shoot an apple off a tree from a hundred yards," she remembered. Kim rolled his eyes.
"That was one time and a total fluke, Ash," he huffed in protest. Ash shrugged and went back to her reading. "But I can still give you an idea, even if it's dark." Dust looked interested so Kim stood up and brushed himself down before removing one of his pistols from its holster. Now, Dust wasn't exactly familiar with this kind of weaponry — most of the guards in Aurora preferred blades, spears and bows — but even he could tell that it wasn't like other firearms.
"Did you make that yourself, Kim?" he asked in genuine awe, his eyes shining like the teenager he still was despite everything.
"Sure did," Kim said, twirling the pistol proudly. "Now, watch carefully because I'm not wasting ammunition on demonstrations." He cocked the pistol and held it out, aiming at the trees nearby. Fidget and Dust both squinted — they could barely see anything in the shadows even with the light of the fire. Ash kept reading as Kim fired a single shot, sending a round whizzing through the air. A thud sounded as something fell off a tree. "Be right back."
"How'd he shoot at something in the dark?!" Fidget hissed in Dust's ear. Dust didn't get time to reply as Kim walked back over, an apple in his hand that had a clean cut across the stalk. "How far was that one?" Fidget asked, trying to hide how impressed she was.
"Forty yards?" Kim shrugged. "Can't aim much further than that in the dark." He tossed the apple to Dust who fumbled with it before settling down. "Now get some sleep. I'll take the watch."
"Okay, the guy's getting back into my good books," Fidget mumbled as she took the apple while Dust began to settle down to sleep. Dust coughed up a small laugh — there Fidget went again, trusting based on how satisfied her stomach was. Not that he remembered her doing so before…although now he thought about it, hadn't there been an incident with Reed's box? He shook it off for the time being and tried getting some rest, although doing so was difficult as the events of the day kept running through his head on repeat.
The day had started normally enough. He'd pranked his mother, gotten on with his morning chores, and had a combat training session with Corbin after breakfast. After his pre-lunch time chores had been complete, he'd had a picnic with Kalyn in their usual spot atop the valley where Aurora was located. After that, everything had gone downhill.
Now he was on a journey to find his mother and put an end to the slaughter of those he called friends and neighbours…a job he'd left unfinished fifteen years ago…before he'd even been born…
Needless to say, it took a long time for Dust to finally drift off to sleep, and even then his dreams were plagued with visions that felt so familiar and yet so foreign, some as clear as spring water and others as cloudy as ice.
Dust awoke to the sound of birdsong and a wayward rabbit jumping onto his head. Grumbling to himself, he began to sit up only to feel a weight on his chest. Lifting his head up as much as he could, he pulled a face when he saw Fidget snoring on his chest.
"Geroff, Fidget…" he grumbled sleepily, heaving himself into a sitting position. The movement sent Fidget tumbling into his lap with a startled shriek.
"Hey!" she squeaked. "What gives?"
"I've already had a rabbit use my head as a perch," Dust muttered, sleep still keeping his eyes from opening fully. "I don't fancy being used as a mattress as well."
"But it's comfy…" Fidget moaned before Dust pulled his blanket upwards and sent her tumbling off his lap. "HEY!"
"Morning, Dust!" Ash called cheerily from the fire, which was still burning (thank Elysium) and now had a pot boiling over it. "Sleep well?"
"Not really…" Dust replied with a yawn and a stretch to emphasise his point. "You?"
"As well as I could considering the circumstances," Ash replied, pouring a mug of something before offering it to Dust. "Tea?" Dust accepted it and began to drink — the night had been cold, despite the campfire, and the tea was more than welcome. It tasted bitter, and Dust quickly recognised it as a herbal tea that counteracted fatigue. Ginger had given it to him on occasion when he'd been feeling too weary to get on with his day (no sickness, just a case of having stayed up too late practising his combat techniques).
"Where's Kim?" Fidget asked once she'd righted herself and began stretching her wings.
"Scouting the area up ahead," Ash answered. "We want the clearest path to New Zeplich possible." Dust could accept that. The last thing any of them wanted was to run into the Royal Army.
"Do you need help packing up the camp?" Dust offered. Ash made to protest against it but Dust insisted — this was his quest, after all, and although he was the youngest of the group (Ash being two years older than him), Overseers be damned if he wasn't going to pull his weight around here, and that didn't count carrying the Blade of Ahrah around everywhere (the thing was nearly the same size as Dust! Cut him a break).
Kim returned just as the two teens (and Fidget, she was doing her best) had gotten the camp packed up.
"Nice timing," he commented. "Looks like the path to the mountains is clear — we shouldn't run into any soldiers."
"Phew…" Dust heaved a sigh of relief. "There aren't any places with Moonblood villagers around we should warn about the Royal Guard?" he added, his brow knitting together in concern.
"Luckily, Denham and Aurora are the only villages south of the mountains," Kim replied. "New Zeplich is the only new settlement to have been built since the original campaigns ended." Dust let out a small sigh of relief. With any luck, the Moonbloods in this area of Falana would have all found a place to hide by now.
"You know, that's something I've never quite understood," Fidget said. "I've been following the Blade of Ahrah around Falana for a decade and a half and this country's huge. But I've only seen maybe three or four villages around not including the capital city. Which, might I add, is the only city in this entire kingdom!"
"You can blame the war for that," Kim said bitterly. Dust glanced at Ash, almost half expecting her to make a comment but she remained silent. It seemed that this time she was in agreement with her friend.
"Falana used to be a far more prosperous place than the kingdom we know today," Ahrah spoke as it hovered by Dust's side. "It is a small land, compared to other kingdoms across the seas, but there used to be far more settlements than there are now. If I recall correctly, there used to be a village to the west of the Glade, although it appears it and the paths leading there were destroyed by the time you first awoke, Dust."
"How do you know all this, Ahrah?" Dust asked.
"I have existed for a long time, Dust," Ahrah replied. "Fidget's clan guarded me and kept me hidden from mortal eyes for two centuries, but before then I was wielded by Elder Grey-Eyes when he was an Elysian Warrior himself."
"Elder Grey…!" Dust spluttered. "Holy cow! Exactly how old is he?!"
"Wouldn't we all like to know?" Fidget remarked dryly.
"Moonbloods live for a long time," Ash shrugged. Fidget muttered that she'd gathered that. "But even I'll admit that Elder Grey-Eyes has still lived a lot longer than most." She held her magic tome in her hands and flipped a few of the pages. Finding one she seemed satisfied with, she gathered the camping equipment into a glowing orb of light which proceeded to shrink in size before vanishing entirely, the equipment with it. Dust and Fidget's jaws fell to the floor.
"Did you just…?!" Dust gaped.
"Did you just put all of our stuff in a pocket dimension?" Fidget squeaked. Ash seemed so nonchalant about the whole thing.
"We won't be weighed down this way," she shrugged. Dust took that as an acceptable answer, although Fidget had to wonder if Dust had once had a similar spell on his inventory — there was no way he was able to carry that much food, items and blueprints around with him…not to mention six sheep at one point…without being severely weighed down.
"Let's get moving," Kim instructed. "I want to get at least half way up these mountains before lunch."
"Wow!" Ash grinned as the group fought their way past what Dust swore was the tenth wolf pack that morning alone. Ash was proving more than capable of handling her own with her electrical magic attacks, Kim was as good a shot as he'd been made out to be, and Dust and Fidget were getting the hang of things now that they'd been fighting as a team for about a day now. Dust was still knackered and the cold wasn't helping. "We make a good team!"
"S-s-s-s-sure…" Dust shivered, pulling his cloak tighter around him. How were the Moonbloods coping when they were reptiles? Cold-blooded? Weren't they supposed to prefer warmer temperatures?
"Try not to turn into an popsicle, Kid," Kim huffed as he double checked his ammo stores. "We've got a way to go yet."
"How are you two not frozen?!" Dust squeaked, his voice cracking again. Ash winced and opened up her book again.
"Oh! Sorry, Dust!" she grimaced. She whispered a few words of an incantation and Dust shuddered as a warm wave passed through him. His shivering stopped.
"Magic, huh?" he noted dryly. She couldn't have done that earlier? Ash looked incredibly apologetic when he voiced this out loud.
"I just thought Warmbloods could stand colder temperatures better than we could…" she mumbled regretfully. "Sorry…"
"C'mon, Dust," Fidget sniffed. "It's not all that bad!"
"How your wings haven't frozen stiff, I don't understand," Dust grumbled.
"Please!" Fidget laughed. She sounded delirious. "We nimbats fly higher than the tallest mountains! We soar above the fluffiest clouds…!" Dust remembered the nimbat once saying that she was actually afraid of heights. How that even worked when she flew everywhere he still didn't understand.
"Dust, I highly suggest we get moving and try to reach New Zeplich before Fidget goes completely mad," Ahrah sighed. Dust agreed — he was starting to get vague recollections of Fidget going slightly mad from cold and altitude sickness before so he was keen to get to New Zeplich as quick as possible. In the meantime, he offered the nimbat a spot under his vest and cloak — if anything, she served as a nice hot-water bottle for his back.
As they trekked further through the mountains, Dust took a moment to turn back towards the forests of home. He could see the small settlement at the bottom of the valley that was Aurora. He could see the wood that was the Glade. He could see Abadis Forest and the famed statues of Archers' Pass, which he'd never seen before now. This was the world he'd once saved…
"It's seems so much bigger than I remember…" he murmured to himself. Ash and Kim caught onto the fact that the young boy had come to a halt and headed back to stand by him.
"Well, you're smaller," Fidget muttered, poking her head up through the back of Dust's vest. He retaliated by ruffling her head, to which she made a small squeak of protest.
"But it is beautiful," Ash smiled. "Right?" Dust nodded, not saying much in response. "You okay?"
"It's just…" Dust paused for a moment, struggling to voice how he felt. "I'm remembering bits and pieces, and so much has just been coming into my head over the last twenty-four hours." It was a guess. They'd barely stopped for lunch half an hour ago. "None of it should make sense…none of it should even be possible…but it is."
"Life of a hero's not all it's cut out to be, huh, Kid?" Kim noted. Dust shrank a little.
"Until yesterday I idolised Sen-Mithrarin," he said quietly. "Knowing that I am him…that this world is the one I have to save…somehow…" He couldn't get his words out and tensed, his fist clenching around the hilt of Ahrah. "I guess I can see why Mom never told me." Fidget nestled her head in the crook of his neck in comfort, while Ash and Kim took immediate note of the young boy's stress. Ash took Dust's hand and gently squeezed it, while Kim placed an almost parental hand on his shoulder.
"You're not doing this alone," Ash comforted. "We're going to fix this together."
"You guys didn't even have to get yourselves involved in this…" Dust muttered.
"Well, as far as Sanjin's concerned we're safer around you than at home," Kim shrugged. "Besides, we're Moonbloods. As far as the king of this country's concerned, we've been involved for a while."
"I don't even know if it's safe to be around me at all!" Dust protested. "The Royal Army's hunting me down because of…what happened…"
"So? They're hunting Moonbloods as well," Kim pointed out.
"But even when I'm around not everyone gets saved!" Dust protested. A hand shot to his forehead and he crumpled to his knees — Fidget wriggled out of his vest and quickly scrambled onto his lap so that she had a visual of his face. The poor boy looked pained.
"Dust…not this again…" she whispered, her own eyes starting to well up.
"So many times…" Dust almost sobbed as Ash knelt down beside him. "I couldn't…I wasn't…"
"What do you remember?" Kim said bluntly, correctly guessing what was going on.
"All of them…" Dust replied quietly. "Denham Village…the Mudpot villager…the Moonblood scout…"
"Dust, we have been through this," Ahrah spoke patiently. "You cannot dwell on what has passed."
"But what if I'm not fast enough to help Mom?" Dust snapped. "I was a grownup back then and I still couldn't save everyone… I'm thirteen now!"
"And that's supposed to make a difference, how?" Ash said calmly. "You've got far more help now than you did back then, Dust."
"What? I wasn't help enough?" Fidget asked sarcastically. The tone broke the smallest of smiles on Dust's face.
"You know I couldn't have done any of it without you, Fidget," he pointed out softly. The remark made Fidget's eyes shine with pride.
"Ash is right, Kid," Kim agreed, patting the boy gently on the back. Seeing the boy so wracked with a guilt for events that happened to him in a past life…it was making Kim realise that he'd been wrong to treat him in such a way. As far as he was concerned, this was a new Dust — a new Sen-Mithrarin — merely with the memories of the one before. "Life's given you another chance here," he pointed out. "Maybe with the same burden but this time you're not going to shoulder it alone." Ash smiled proudly at Kim and Dust looked at them both with a thankful smile crossing his face.
"We're going to save Ginger," Fidget promised. "And we're going to save this country in the process. Just see if we don't."
Dust hugged Fidget close and felt a weight lift off his chest as he felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders and a hand pat his back. They were right. They were all right. He wasn't on his own in this. He had help. This was a new life for Sen-Mithrarin, and a new journey. A journey that he was making with more than a Nimbat Guardian and a talking sword. He was making this with friends…companions.
The mantle of a hero was, after all, too much for a thirteen-year-old boy to carry alone.