Proximity

On the training grounds, the soldiers stationed in Valeria stood in formation, with Warui, Chena, and River together near the front. Mercer faced them. “I spoke with Commander Dirk and the interim officials. They’ve decided to treat deployment to Callineth as deployment within Tiria, so I’ll be leading the operation.

“Considering what those people already fled from, we'll approach Callineth intending to talk.”

Warui's eyes dropped, then he slowly nodded.

“Understood?!”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

“Dismissed!”

The formation broke apart, and voices quickly returned to the training grounds. River walked beside Warui and Chena toward the exit. “Hopefully I get to come along when we negotiate. I think I’d like to see the people there."

Warui side-eyed him.

“I liked it... as much as it hurt.” Neither Warui nor River interrupted her. “Maybe you could meet Micah.”

"I want to. It sounded like he made the mission really fun. Maybe he’d remind me a lot of us too."

Warui answered after a beat, more out of obligation than anything else. “Yeah.”

Khyrie, Kiel, Sarah, and Nash passed them on the way toward the barracks. Kiel pointed ahead. “Dining hall later.”

“We’ll be there,” River said.

“Yuri! Join us for dinner!”

“Sarah, I’m not fifteen!”

Nash sighed. “She has squad leader stuff to do.”

Sarah continued away with Khyrie, Kiel, and Nash. “Why does she have to be such a geezer?”

Chena let the others go, then stayed with River and Warui as the quiet settled over Warui again. She kept her voice gentle. “The operation is going our way so far. That’s something.”

“Mhm.” Warui barely voiced it.

Dinner grew noisy fast in the dining hall. Warui was seated among River, Chena, Khyrie, Kiel, Sarah, and Nash.

River stirred the stew in his bowl, nudging aside scraps of salted meat. “At least Commander Mercer plans to negotiate with the people living in Callineth. They found somewhere they could call home. I—I don’t want to take that from them by force.”

“That’s too heavy for dinner," Nash said.

“Oh. Uh… I didn’t mean to.”

“You’re fine.” Sarah angled toward Nash. “He just doesn’t like vulnerability.”

“I can be vulnerable. It's just… now’s not the time.”

Khyrie smiled. “It’s time you told Sarah the truth.”

Sarah slowly raised an eyebrow.

“There is no truth to tell. And I haven’t even known you for a week. What the hell are you talking about?”

Sarah looked at Khyrie. “Yeah, what are you talking about?”

Khyrie clasped her hands together and swayed lightly in her seat. “Nash missed you so, so, so much during our mission because his most recent memory of you is attached to cleaning bathrooms.”

Kiel nodded. “It’s true.”

“That is not true at all!”

“My sister did order you to clean the bathrooms at our base here in Valeria.”

Nash threw up his hands. “Sarah, I’m not denying that.”

“So you didn’t miss me?”

Chena covered her mouth, while River and Warui both bit the insides of their cheeks to keep from laughing.

“The point is that Khyrie and Kiel are lying.”

“No, it’s—” Khyrie stopped with a hand pressed to the center of her chest.

Sarah caught it. “Something happen?”

“Mmm.” Khyrie swallowed and took a breath. “I swallowed too fast.”

Nash nodded smugly. “That’s what liars get.”

Kiel coughed, then cleared his throat.

"Nash made a lot of comments about Chena."

Nash tipped his head back. “Ohhh, of course Warui says that.”

Sarah’s attention immediately shifted. “What comments?”

“One was about my hair.”

“Chena!”

Khyrie and Kiel laughed while leaning back in their chairs.

“But he did talk about you a lot," Chena said.

"Talking about how good Sarah is at shooting isn’t a lot. Let’s not exaggerate, guys."

“What did you say about my shooting?”

“You know what I think.”

“Nuh-uh. I want to hear it right here, right now.”

Kiel’s laughter cut off when he wiped beneath his nose and found blood on his finger. Khyrie went quiet as well, drawing in a slow breath.

Warui noticed. “You two alright?”

Khyrie’s body jerked. “GHK.” She folded forward as a violent cough tore through her, one hand clutching the left side of her chest.

Kiel inhaled sharply.

“Hk—”

His next breath barely came.

“Hah—”

Blood poured from his nose.

River and Chena stood immediately. They caught Khyrie by the shoulders.

“Was there something in the food?” River asked.

“Khyrie.” Chena held her upright.

Sarah pressed a handkerchief beneath Kiel’s nose, panic sharpening her voice. “Try taking slow breaths.”

Nash looked around the room. “Who made this food?!”

“Someone get medical attention!” Warui yelled.

What’s happening to them?

Soldiers began rushing out the doors as a boy entered against the flow. Coarse silver hair framed his face, and military trousers disappeared into the tops of his boots. Around his left shoulder, an armband bore five upright, sword-shaped pillars beneath an arch.

The boy approached. “Rel—” A cough cut him off, forcing him to brace against the table behind Khyrie and Kiel. “Relax. I’m not acclimated either.”

Both of them turned toward him through their own coughing.

Sarah looked between them. “Does he know you guys?”

The armband caught River’s eye, stirring a memory of Khyrie and Kiel’s symbol on their uniforms.

“Central hasn’t heard anything useful from you two in weeks.” The boy crossed his arms. “We got word Fort Avelorn and Tiria were cleared. Did you find it?”

Three medical examiners rushed in and closed around Khyrie and Kiel, forcing Chena, River, and Sarah to give them room.

“Check the girl’s heartbeat,” one examiner said.

“Find what?”

The boy coughed into his hand, then waved Warui off. “This isn’t your conversation.” Then he turned back to Khyrie and Kiel. “My heart wants to jump out of my throat too—”

“How do you know them?” Warui cut in, his voice sharpening. “Why do you have the same insignia?”

Nash touched Warui’s shoulder. "Calm down. You sound way too mad."

The boy pushed away from the table as Kiel raised an arm between them. “Lea—”

A medical examiner grabbed him. “Don’t speak.”

“Leave him out of this.”

“You’re protecting him?”

“He—” A cough splattered blood from Khyrie's mouth. “isn’t involved.”

“Look at yourselves!” Warui stepped forward, his voice rising. “This involves me! It involves all of us!”

“Warui.” River’s voice barely reached him.

Chena stepped in front of Warui and slipped an arm around his waist, gently holding him back. “They already have medical attention. There’s nothing we can do.”

“J—” Khyrie coughed again. “Let’s talk somewhere else.”

“You’re talking right now!” Warui’s patience thinned. “Somebody explain!”

J stepped toward Warui, Chena, River, and Nash, and Kiel’s eyes widened at the sight. “J!”

“Don’t.” Khyrie tried to stand, but her legs gave out beneath her and she collapsed to the floor.

J's voice remained calm. “We can talk somewhere else, but these people heard too much.”

A line opened across his wrist.

Blood surfaced.

Something dark blue emerged with it.

The material extended.

A hilt first.

Then a blade.

Vascular structures moved through it.

Alive.

J swung.

Warui opened his hand, and dark red flooded his palm in an instant. The blade formed just as the attack met him. Dark blue struck against it, and Warui held.

J’s eyebrows shot up. “He has Fulcrist?! Did you two know?!”

Chena pulled away with River and Nash, all three hurrying to Sarah’s side of the room. River backed into the wall, his breathing turning sharp. “He—he’s like Warui.”

The medical examiners fled. Chena seized a chair and hurled it through the window. Glass burst outward, and she was through the opening a second later.

“Armory,” Sarah called as she went after Chena. River and Nash followed.

J pushed harder, and the added pressure sent a tremor through Warui’s arms. J drove through the bind, sending Warui backward.

Warui’s back slammed into the wall. “GUH!” He hit the floor hard but forced himself back up.

J was already waiting. Warui closed the distance with his blade raised, and J brought his own up to meet him.

They moved at once.

“Stop!”

A gust tore through Warui’s hair.

His eyes widened.

White.

Everything became white.

Then sky.

Someone else’s eyes.

Looking upward.

The gaze drifted down.

A grassy field.

Warui knew this.

Before he could understand why—

Callineth.

A violent gust slammed into the town.

Roofs tore free.

Debris filled the air.

Then came the cuts.

Sharp.

Precise.

Wind carved through buildings.

Walls split.

The town nearly flattened beneath it.

The roar swallowed everything.

Warui was back.

Another force passed between him and J a fraction of a second after the gust. It struck the wall of the dining hall, carving a clean line straight through it.

KSSSHT!

Warui and J stopped. Warui slowly turned his head to see Kiel on his knees, blood still running from his nose as each breath came broken and shallow.

In his hands—

Dark green.

Another blade.

Vascular structures ran through it.

Living.

Warui took it in.

The wind.

Callineth.

Kiel.

His mouth opened. “Do that again.”

Kiel looked toward him. “Warui—”

“No.” Warui barely sounded like himself. “Do it again.”

GKI: Generally Known Information

Cuisine of Tiria

Wheat is the principal grain cultivated throughout much of Tiria.

Bread accompanies most meals, although its quality varies considerably. Coarser loaves are common among soldiers and laborers, while finely sifted flour is associated with wealthier households, Valeria City, and the capital.

Army personnel stationed at permanent bases receive hot meals prepared in communal dining halls. During deployment, these are replaced by nutrition bread and other foods chosen primarily for their ability to survive several days of travel.

A typical Tirian meal consists of bread alongside vegetables, beans, cheese, or meat prepared in stews, roasts, and simple pies. Fresh meat is less common in poorer districts of Seria, where a warm meal containing both meat and fresh bread may be considered particularly good fare.

Valeria City offers greater access to butchered meat, baked goods, preserved fruits, and refined flour.

The capital possesses the widest selection, including expensive spices, sweets, imported foods, and elaborate dishes served among wealthy households.

Despite these differences, one food appears at almost every Tirian table.

Bread.