Chapter 22:
Dealing with the aftermath
"You have a concussion." Isendra said.
Her voice sounded like a mix of annoyance and concern as she continue to hold a small flame near his face. She kept a hand between his eyes as she moved said flame to either side of his face, probably to identify how is eyes dilated.
"But I drank a potion." Izuku said.
"Potions cannot heal every injury. They are excellent for repairing damage to the skin, muscles and even tendons, but the mind and spirit require time and care." Isendra explained. "Just as healing potions aren't a cure all for poisons and maladies of the mind."
He supposed that made sense, but he wasn't in the mood to be thinking about things.
All he wanted to do was sleep, or maybe die. He, along with the rest of the "heavy hitters" were sitting around a campsite just within view of the city they had burned down. The foot soldiers and mercenaries were now cleaning up after them, marching into the smoldering ruins with sword, bow and spear to double check that everything was, in fact, dead. They were then supposed to go in with mauls and the like to return the place to the desert sands.
The small camp of warriors was quiet now, save for the hum of Isendra icing the back of his head with a weak, but precise, cold spell. The slow way to heal wasn't all that slow when magic was involved.
Everyone else was visibly drained, dirtied and bloodied. Each was slumped in on themselves, or in Cassia's case, slumped against Strom. He made no objection to the public show of intimacy.
Isendra finished her work on his skull and laid down beside him with her eyes closed. He noted her deliberate breathing and supposed he ought to be practicing such meditation techniques himself, but couldn't find it in him.
Geglash's sacrifice was just too fresh in his mind. It wasn't even the gruesomeness of it that got to him, or even that he had been the one to end him. It was how peaceful, content and resigned he was in dying, even in such an undignified way. Somehow, in accepting it, he made it dignified and died on his own terms. Izuku felt like he should be proud in playing a part in making that dignity possible, and while he didn't feel such pride, he also didn't feel shame or culpability. This was all so very confusing.
"Hey kid." A gruff voice approached from behind.
Greiz, returning from his command of his men, sat next to him with a sigh. Izuku noted Isendra opened a single eye to watch their interaction.
"I usually don't recruit those as young as you to work for me, except in a support capacity. Is this your first time dealing with an event like this?" The mercenary leader asked.
Izuku nodded solemnly.
Greiz hummed, and didn't seem to have anything else to offer. He looked about the camp at the other faces to see how everybody else was coping, and then nodded respectfully at Izuku. It appeared he was coping no better or worse than everyone else.
"Wait, is that what I think it is?" Greiz asked.
He indicated the worn wine skin Izuku had laying beside him.
"Geglesh threw it to me before he died." Izuku told him.
Every head in the camp turned to him.
"He is dead? I had been hoping he was merely missing and has yet to show up." Said the scarred man.
"Yes. I was the one to deliver him that mercy." Izuku confessed. "He was already going, and he told me without words to end it. So I did."
He choked up a bit at the end there and the faces around him either hardened or softened in empathy and understanding at his words. Strom nodded at him. Isendra sat up straight next to him.
"He threw this at me before he was caught as if it was the greatest treasure in the world." Izuku added.
"To him, it was." Said Griez. "I can tell you that from my years of knowing and occasionally working with the man. May I?"
He indicated that he wanted to take the wine skin and Izuku motioned for him to do so.
Greiz took the wine skin, unstopped it, and raised it to his mouth. The moan he made was not one of pleasure.
"By all that is holy! That tastes like somebody left curdled milk inside of a moldy burial urn, remains and all, in the sun for a month and then poured beer into it!" Greiz exclaimed about the taste. "Aden you have to try this!"
He passed the wineskin to the scarred man, Aden, Izuku now knew. He too took a swig.
"Oh geez! That tastes like puss from a frog demon, slathered it on some moldy bread, and soaked it in ale." Said Aden. "Quetz, you have to try this!"
He passed it to the feral looking woman and she didn't even hesitate. She still made the face, that same face as Greiz and Aden, and added her own description.
"Oh damn! That tastes like… I got nothing. Here, Cassia, you have a go at it." Quetz said.
She passed it to the light-haired woman who, for the first time since Izuku had met her, was smiling in mirth. She drank of it.
"Oh! By Philios' seed! That tastes… exactly like what I expected a kiss from Geglash would taste like." Cassia said.
"You seem to have put much thought into the prospect of kissing Geglash." Strom said in mock jealousy. "Were he alive, I would fear for whatever it is we are sharing. Pass it here."
Everybody laughed at Cassia's expense, including Cassia, as she handed her man the drink.
And so went their ritual. Each person took a drink of the unholy concoction that the drunkard had resorted to in order to continue his malediction. Something so strong as to kill a normal man, but to get a man with Galgesh's impressive liver to survive. Each description was more absurd than the last, and somehow equally appropriate.
Izuku understood it as a means of farewell to the man. The description wasn't of the drink, but as a substitute of a speech in remembrance of the man it represented. It was by far the strangest means of remembrance and mourning Izuku had ever seen, and yet, in the small time he had known the man, he felt it was appropriate.
It finally came back around to Isendra and Izuku.
She drank it first.
"Hm." She said, smacking her lips. "Perhaps it's easier to go down at the bottom, but I think you all exaggerate."
She took another drink of it and smacked her lips in appreciation.
"Yes. You are all just weak. Izuku, what do you make of this?" She said, offering him the wineskin.
At long last, he drank of it, and felt every but of his esophagus, lungs and nose burn as if he had inhaled lit aflame. He choked and coughed it up. This was nothing like the mead that the wonderful ladies of the sightless eye had plied him with months back. He hated this new drink, but did his best to come up with a description.
"In the name of all the gods, this tastes like sour kraut sieved through a dirty sock worn by its owner for a month straight then tried to ferment it with vinegar. What IS this?!" He declared.
There was a smidgen of confusion, and a shocked expression from one of the random mercenaries under Greiz at the first part of his declaration, but by the end of his declaration he had a good crowd of laughing heroes. From Isendra, who had looked concerned at the start of his declaration only to fall in with the cheers and jeers at the end to Cassia, who had done the same.
Greiz and Aden reached out to pat him on the back and shoulder while others, especially and most importantly to Izuku, Strom, winked or nodded at him in approval. Sometime during all of this each person had retrieved their belongings and articles of food or drink and were holding them out in their hands, as if in anticipation.
Greiz, noticing Izuku's ignorance as to what came next, took charge, took charge and raised a bottle of mead to the sky.
"To Geglash! The least of us, and the most of us!" He declared.
They all cheered, Izuku loudest of all, and then they drank and ate whatever they had. Izuku gagged on the hero of the day's drink as he did so but he did his best to hide it. The drink was even worse on the second tasting than the first.
He choked and coughed up what little he dared swallow in favor of spitting back onto the ground, and Isendra snatched it away from him. When she then drank from it and didn't make the same face of disgust as every other person in the camp but, instead, one of appreciation, he realized she hadn't been bluffing. She actually seemed to enjoy the drink.
What a monster his mistress was!
It didn't take much of that to make her as sleepy as he was from even less of the stuff. He hoped whatever recipe produced such a concoction would never be rediscovered.
A few minutes later the high cheer and good mood as a cover for mourning began to fade, and so did their energy.
Izuku and Isendra were some of the first to lay down in preparation for bed, but others followed soon after. Many of them actually collapsed and fell asleep before them, but Izuku wasn't treating it as a competition. It was more like a gauge as to if his reaction and feelings to the previous hours of his life were normal. But all throughout the night they had proven to be so, and they continued as such as they fell into blissful sleep.
This made him feel better than any hand holding, hugging or comforting words ever could. And when he fell asleep he suffered no nightmares, but instead silent, empty sleep. In which he embraced darkness.
The next morning had them all preparing to leave, but there was still work to be done.
The city they had reduced to ash was still visible to any passersby, and the risk of discovery or, worse, any missed corrupted was too great. As such, those with great magical power were sent forth. That meant Isendra, Izuku, Drognan and Strom.
Izuku watched and followed the example of those older and wiser than him, which was everybody; by a seemingly insurmountable margin. Isendra and Drognan made space for Strom to walk forth at the now illuminated city ruins.
The wild man stepped forth, surveyed the now burned and half buried walls, foundations and other ruine structures, and got to work. He rubbed his hands together then raised his hands over himself, and as they rose the earth shook.
An earthquake overtook the land, and what little remained of the city came tumbling down along with the stone cliffs which enclosed them like a turtle shell. The earthquake shattered those cliffs and opened great fissures within the remains of the city. Those fissures then swallowed up what little remained.
Izuku recognized the sinkholes as the great baths beneath the city and their foundation shattering to create pockets of air in need of filling by sand and stone and ash. They filled quickly, thirsty for the last remains of this tragedy and they left in their wake large, empty sinkholes of sand and rock that were easily spotty even from afar.
When his work was done, Strom backed away and stumbled, only for Cassia to catch him with a tenderness would never have thought possible for her. She carried him away, with his mountainous frame pressed against her smaller, but leaner and similarly strong, body. Both nodded to Izuku as they passed until the midday light.
"Shovels!" Greiz's voice called out over the harsh wind and rustling sand.
His men, a hundred or more in total, rushed forth with shovels in hand. Faster than any tractor operator, they filled the new sinkholes with sand from the surrounding dunes. They utilized said shovels, along with burlap sacks, which they used to transport sand. By the end of the hour they looked out upon a flat wasteland of dirt and loose stones.
"And now, to glass it." Greiz said, motioning to the trio or sorcerers left waiting.
Izuku, Isendra and Drognan stepped forth. Together, they raised a firestorm upon the inconspicuous plot of sand and rock. Each focused individually on raising the heat and containing it to melt the sand in as uniform of a manner as possible. They maintained their concentration for what felt like an eternity, and when they all finally let loose – Izuku waited for signs from his elders to do so – it was to reveal a nice, flat slab of molten glass.
They stood there in appreciation of the crimson plane they had created, and they waited for it to cool down into a wavy, blueish dance floor of hard silicone.
"Is our work here done?" Cassia asked the question on all of their minds.
"For most of us." Said Greiz. "I will leave men behind, swift ones, to watch. Ones who are capable of either eliminating the unlikely survivor or else fleeing to us with news of such in an emergency. The rest of us may return to Lut Golein."
The collective sigh which escaped their collective lips could have caused a sandstorm. And so, they set off.
They had already packed up before the sun rose fully, and so the only preparation they had was to put one foot in front of the other and begin their journey, or else saddle up.
Izuku was exhausted from the exertion of glassing the city's remains, but not so exhausted as to sleep peacefully through the trip back. Not because he didn't want to, but because he was relegated to his camel for said trip.
In place of sleeping he amused himself by watching the interactions of his colleagues. From his own mistress drooling into her horse's mane as she slept through the day's trip to Cassia leading the camel which carried Strom's unconscious body, and her strangely affectionate expression as she did so. He even made himself busy casting weak versions of the ice armor spell on all of the aforementioned so as to distract himself from the smell of his stead.
Camels stink. They stink a lot.
The rest of their trip, aside from being uncomfortable for Izuku in particular, was uneventful and short on conversation.
They did not encounter a single undead, corrupted, giant insect or cat person during their travels. Save for the harsh sun and winds, including a light sandstorm halfway through their trip, all was peaceful. After a week and change of this Lut Gholein and the sea beyond came into view.
He felt all of the tiredness of the nearly three week campaign wash over him as they approached the city gates that late evening.
Khaleen and his city guard were standing there waiting for them all.
"You are to report directly to the palace." Khaleen told them. "Lord Jeryhn will debrief you before giving you leave."
Izuku's exhaustion doubled with the man's order but he didn't complain, nor did anybody else. And so they marched through the gates. They drew quite a crowd of onlookers and among them was the easily spotted Myr, who was still cleaner than when he had first met her.
She took one look at the state of him and his mistress and blanched, but meandered through the crowd to talk to them all the same.
"I will have work for you tonight. I have to go meet with lord Jeryhn first." He told her.
She nodded and scampered off in the direction of Elzix' inn.
Izuku and his company rode the remainder of the way to the palace where they dismounted and handed the horses and camels back to the stablemen. Then it was a short walk inside to the gardens where they had all enjoyed a breakfast feast what felt like a lifetime ago. There, Jerhyn stood in front of his throne waiting patiently.
"Greiz. You may report your mission to cleanse Dev'hamam when ready." Jerhyn ordered.
"Yes sire." Greiz said with a bow. "We led a successful assault and left no known survivors. There was not a single wall or foundation stone left standing. We burned it all down, buried it and scorched the earth into glass. We would have gone so far as to salt it as well, save for the scarcity of the stuff."
Somebody tried to chuckle at the bit of humor at the end, but it sounded hollow.
"I see. And how was this achieved?" Jerhyn asked.
"Dev'hamam was first enclosed by ice walls, compliments of the sorceress Isendra. Then it was bombarded with fireballs from her apprentice, Izuku, and our own mage Lord Drognan. Isendra added a flourish of her own with a meteor spell. We then stormed the city on foot and eliminated what remained, and there was much remaining in the great baths beneath. We then retreated and sent others in to double check that all were dead. We then rested for the evening as Dev'hamam burned overnight and, in the morning, got to work with pickaxe, hammer and shovel to bury what remained. This was aided by the mighty Strom who, by the use of his fissure spell, shattered any and all underground passageways burying them in further sand. Isendra, mage Lord Drognan and Izuku finished the work by scorching the earth into glass." Greiz explained fully.
Jerhyn nodded solemnly throughout the explanation and, once it was finished, sat on his ill-used throne. He leaned back and placed his hands before him in deep thought.
"Would you recommend anybody for distinction in their work?" Jerhyn asked.
"Yes, sire." Said Greiz. "Geglash died in the act of saving the life of young Izuku, who then repaid by delivering him a swift death in favor of letting him suffer an undignified one. I would recommend both for any honors you can provide. But there were none among us who acted dishonorably, failed in their duties nor shirked them."
Lord Jerhyn appraised Izuku at Greiz's recommendation. Under normal circumstances he would have wilted underneath the gaze of somebody so high-born and powerful, but he just didn't care anymore.
"That was all much for one so young to suffer through, and to do so in such an honorable fashion is worthy of honoring. However, the events which transpired these last few weeks must remain secret at all cost, and I will be swearing you all to it. We will be going so far as to erase all mentions of the city of Dev'hamam from records and texts. It never existed." Jerhyn declared. "This means we cannot posthumously honor Geglesh for his sacrifice as it was, so we shall instead honor him for a fictitious one. Likewise I cannot honor the young man, save for the niceties I have the power to provide. Izuku Midoriya? You need not want for food nor drink nor work while you remain within my walls. Come to me for any of them, and you shall have all your stomach, mouth and back can handle."
Izuku bowed his head in gratitude, but he couldn't make his face show it.
"I would offer you all proper payment for the job well done, but as I said before, secrecy is paramount. As such I will instead be offering extra payment for all future work any of you perform for my city. Well above the going rates. I would also offer you a proper dinner tonight, but by the look of you none of you are well-rested nor cleaned up enough to enjoy such a dinner. As such, I shall dismiss you all with orders to relax and exemption from all duties for at least a week, should you choose to take advantage of such." Jerhyn finished.
They all bowed that time and filed out of the gardens and palace doors beyond.
The sun had nearly completely set during their debrief, and they trudged back to Elzix's inn with little light save for the last streaks of red on the highest of clouds.
When they entered Elzix leapt up at the sight of them and handed them towels.
"Here are the keys to your rooms. You can pay me in the morning." The man said. "Go. Enjoy your baths. You three may use my private washroom. It is smaller, but cleaner."
"Three?" Isendra asked.
Myr, who had walked up to them during all of this, stood straighter at his mistress' question. Isendra looked at the street rat suspiciously.
"Izuku, who is this young boy?" She asked.
He snorted Myr's expense that time, especially with the face she made at being mistaken for a boy that time.
"This is a thief I rescued from a merchant's axe a couple days before we left on our mission." Izuku told her. "Also mistaking her for a boy, I hired her to do our laundry and shopping, paying her in gold, food and baths."
Isendra nodded.
"Would you be so kind as to wash our things tonight after washing my apprentice?" She asked Myr.
Myr bowed and followed them to the private wash room. There they all disrobed and Izuku saw the full proof that Myr was, in fact, a girl.
The young girl stoked the fires beneath the bath as Izuku and Isendra got in. They were so drained that the mere act of washing themselves was sluggish work, so he couldn't even object when Myr joined them in the water and began scrubbing him. Isendra enjoyed extra service herself.
When they were all properly cleaned Izuku and Isendra changed into their bed things, which were the cleanest clothes they had left, and allowed Myr to drag away their packs of remaining clothes. She joined them on the walk upstairs where Izuku and Isendra parted into their separate rooms.
Izuku decided to halt in the doorway and address Myr.
"Tell Elzix I'll be paying for an extra room for you to sleep in this evening. And you will have a bonus in the morning, when we will need you to wash our bed things as well." He said tiredly. "Actually..."
He reached into his coin purse and counted the coins to hand to Myr. Her shocked expression at what must have been the most amount of money she'd ever seen in her life then bloomed into a smile. A smile of broken and missing teeth, but a smile all the same.
"Thank you Sir. Good night." Myr said before bowing and retreating down the stairs.
Izuku finally entered his room and crawled into bed, where he fell instantly to sleep. It was the best sleep he'd had in some time, as the sheets felt like heaven as they did not smell of musty animals nor bump around like one.