Vol. IV Chapter VIII: Ashes Over Refalesh

The wind blew cool, carrying dust and tumbleweeds across the wide plain.

Lucius sat apart from the village, his back pressed against a jagged boulder while staring into the fading light of the setting sun, which spilled red-orange across the horizon.

Footsteps crunched through the dry grass.

Liviana sat down beside him, eyes on the horizon, and for a while, neither spoke, only the whisper of the wind through the sparse bushes filled the silence.

Then she began to talk.

From the moment of their capture back in Sahzarun, the chaos and shouting after Lucius’ desperate escape to the long night that followed.

She told him how Tagunel, bleeding and broken after holding the enemy at bay to buy him time, hadn’t survived until dawn.

Lucius’ shoulders sank as if the words themselves weighed him down.

“…So… he didn’t make it…”

Liviana continued, describing the days of imprisonment in the shadowed halls of Shazar-Zul, and the night they broke free.

How Melissa had transformed, cutting down the guards as if they were nothing more than leaves in the wind.

A short, incredulous laugh escaped Lucius.

“…that’s her, alright. Stronger than anyone ever gave her credit for…”

The smile died almost instantly.

“I just wish I’d been there to see it.”

She spoke of the road to Vinfalas, the city in the trees, and finally the climb toward the mountain pass with Findergwyn, a road Melissa had never finished.

Lucius pressed his palms together, gaze dropping.

“All this time we were walking so close to each other… and never even knew.”

“Fate can be cruel sometimes,” Liviana replied softly.

He let his hands fall, eyes drifting back toward the village, where Tairaku, Meiruna, and Glizzy moved among the domed huts.

They were still tending to the damage he had caused.

He turned away.

I betrayed them. Again.

“I know what it’s like to lose someone, Lucius,” Liviana said at last.

“It blinds you… makes you do things you’ll regret. But she wouldn’t have wanted you to lose yourself like this.”

Lucius’ fingers dug into his trousers, but he stayed silent.

“Regret alone brings no one back,” she went on, her voice firmer now.

“But if you still want to do something for her… then keep going. And this time, don’t walk paths we can’t follow.”

Her hand came to rest on his shoulder.

“You still have friends who care about you, you know?”

She gave him a small smile, glancing back toward the others.

Lucius forced himself to return it.

After a while, the rest of his old party came into view, Tairaku, Meiruna, and Glizzy.

Lucius lowered his gaze.

"Listen, guys... I..."

Tairaku raised a hand.

“No need to say anything, Lucius.”

Lucius shook his head.

“Yes, I do. I owe you this.”

He drew in a deep breath.

“I’m sorry… for what I said. You’ve never been a waste of my time. I’ve enjoyed every moment with you , in Valdrath, on the road… everywhere. I just didn’t want to drag you into my misery as well.”

The wind was the only answer at first.

Then Tairaku, Meiruna, and Glizzy smiled, almost at the same time.

“…We already knew that,” Glizzy said, and leapt into his arms.

Lucius caught her. 

Despite everything, her hug felt like a small piece of home, a reminder that he wasn’t as alone as he had thought.

Meiruna stood beside them, arms crossed.

“We can decide for ourselves what misery we want to be dragged into, or not! So don’t take it for granted that we do this...”

She turned away with a huff, but the fleeting glance she shot him, quick, almost shy, held more warmth than her words ever would.

Finally, Findergwyn appeared from between the huts, brushing dust from his cloak and letting out a long breath.

“Well… there’s news you might want to hear.”

He stopped a few paces away, hands resting on his hips as his gaze shifted to Lucius.

“I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. Findergwyn Tenebriskael’as. Pleasure to meet you. Call me Fin.”

Lucius gave him a short nod.

“Lucius.”

Fin arched a brow. 

“A man of few words, I see…” 

He let the remark hang before continuing.

“Since the Mo’or used to trade with us along the Vinfalas border, I know enough of their language to get by. Managed to speak with their leader.”

He took in the group’s expectant faces before going on, his tone flattening.

“Obviously, you’re not welcome here, Lucius. They see you as an enemy… a scourge. Misunderstanding or not, you killed many of them, and they won’t forget it.”

Lucius’ gaze dropped to the dirt between his boots.

“But,” Fin added, and his voice shifted just slightly, “it seems they weren’t entirely innocent when it comes to Melissa.”

Lucius’ head came up sharply.

“What?”

“They found her at the foot of the mountain. Kept her with them for a time, most likely planning to sell her to the Yashari. That’s how they do business.”

Lucius took a half-step forward, tension coiling in his frame, but Fin lifted a palm.

“Hold on. She’s not with them anymore. During a raid by the shamanistic Kirraka, enemies of the Mo’or, she was taken. It seems the Kirraka brought her to their own village.”

Lucius’ voice was tight.

“And that is…?”

“Refalesh.”

The name hit him like a hammer blow.

Meiruna frowned. 

“Refalesh…? Didn’t that goddess say that’s where Melissa...”

“…died,” Lucius finished for her.

He fixed Fin with a sharp look.

“And they claim she was alive then?”

Fin gave a single, steady nod.

Lucius’ fists clenched, but before he could speak, Liviana’s hand came down on his shoulder.

“I know what you’re thinking. Don’t make the same mistake twice.”

The fight in his posture ebbed, if only slightly, and he gave her a slow nod.

“It’s getting dark,” Tairaku said at last, breaking the moment. 

“We shouldn’t stay here. These… Mo’or?”

Fin confirmed with a nod.

“They want you gone before nightfall.”

“Then let’s find somewhere outside the village,” Tairaku said.

“And tomorrow, we head for Refalesh.”

No one argued.

They left the domed huts behind, feeling the Mo’or’s wary stares on their backs until the shadows of the village vanished behind stone and scrub.

Their camp lay tucked beneath a low hill, the fire kept small and hidden from distant eyes.

The flames crackled softly, sending thin threads of smoke into the cool night while somewhere far off, a long, mournful howl rose and faded into silence.

Lucius stared into the fire, the broken horn turning slowly between his fingers, tracing the rough edge with his thumb.

He thought of the fury that had taken hold of him in the village, and of Liviana’s words.

And finally, he caught himself on a thought he didn’t dare speak aloud.

Maybe… there’s still hope, maybe she is still...

One by one, the others lay down, their quiet breathing merging with the night.

Only Lucius stayed awake long after, until the embers had nearly gone cold.

Dawn came quietly.

A pale band of light crept across the horizon, dew glistened on the brittle grass, and Fin pulled his cloak tighter.

"It shouldn’t be far, but we should move before the sun’s too high”, he said.

Lucius remained silent, yet with each step toward Refalesh, his restlessness grew. 

The wind was dry and dusty, and few words passed between them, each was lost in their own thoughts.

Only Glizzy chattered endlessly about whatever popped into her head, prompting the occasional loud groan from Meiruna.

Then, by mid-afternoon, something appeared on the horizon.

“Look, there!” 

Fin halted and pointed into the distance, where on the horizon, dark smoke bled into the sky.

Their pace quickened, turning into a run, and even before they reached the place, the stench of smoke and burned fur clung thick in the air.

From afar, they could feel the heat radiating from the smoldering ruins.

Refalesh was gone.

Hide tents sagged into heaps of smoldering ash and the ground was littered with the bodies of Kirraka, limbs twisted where they had fallen, the dirt around them scorched black.

Fin’s eyes narrowed as he pointed to a banner driven into the chest of a fallen warrior, a curved sword wrapped by a serpent.

“Yashar,” he said, voice like stone.

Lucius stood in the middle of the wreckage, breath quick and uneven, scanning every shadow, every twisted shape on the ground.

No sign of Melissa.

Only the smoke and ashes curling into the sky.

And the cold certainty that they were already too late.