"Please, do me the honor of trying them on. I-I know that you might not need the armor, Kalia, but I would hate to see you all leave here without that," he said, shaking his head briefly to refute the tears. Each of us did as he requested, and like the first set of armor he'd given me, it fit perfectly. Like before, every piece of the armor could be put on or taken off without assistance, making the entire process quick and painless.
The armor was very reminiscent of the one he'd made me before, though instead of being completely black, the dark shade of green seemed to indicate that Kalia was much more deliberate in her kataki infusion than the first time she'd done it.
It made me smile.
As we all lined up for inspection, I was reminded of my time in Codrean, where these sorts of things happened regularly. "I've made adjustments according to the young man's descriptions of your fighting styles. The armor seems to fit well enough, though I'm sorry about your attitude, Siraye. No amount of my smithing will fix that," he said, wrapping his knuckles on her breastplate with a grin. "And no amount of my berating will ever get you to treat me normally, but still, thank you, Maikell," she retorted kindly, causing him to snort and move on to Kalia, who was last to get into her armor.
"Is it comfortable, at least?" he asked, making sure she had adjusted the straps correctly. "Surprisingly so, though this is my first time wearing armor that I didn't produce myself," she added, causing his eyes to widen again. "You mean that tough exterior is something you produce all the time?" he asked. "Did you think only my face was what you might consider normal?" she returned his question with her own, surprising everyone.
"N-No, but… Bah, never mind," he said, redirecting his focus to the straps along her body. "Not bad for a first timer, though I would recommend keeping your waist strap a little tighter," he said, tugging on it and securing it into another notch for a closer fitting. It caused her to lurch forward momentarily, but she caught herself before accidentally bashing his face with her armor.
"Apologies," he said bashfully, but she did her best to present a warm smile to him, while the rest of us looked on with raised eyebrows. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Athar whispered, but I had to quickly shut his mouth before he said anything that might get him killed, already finding it challenging to keep my own thoughts in check.
"Oh, one last thing, Thoma. This is for you, since I know you'll need one," he said, handing me a pendant similar to my brother's. "Well, go on then. Try it on," he said with an encouraging gesture. As soon as the chain settled around my neck, I could feel a subtle shift of mana surrounding my body. Glancing in the mirror he provided, it took me a moment to get used to the same brown hair I'd had for most of my life.
"Gods above, I almost don't even recognize you like that," Ysevel said jokingly. "She's right. Is that what you used to look like?" Kalia asked, inspecting my hair closely. "Yes. Yes, it was," I sighed as the two of them poked and prodded me. "Thank you, Maikell. You've done incredible work, yet again," I said, but all I got was a grunt in response.
After we left his workshop, Kalia noted that she wanted to see if it fit on Devyr before our journey the following day. We agreed, leaving Irun and Athar to their own devices, while Ysevel and I followed my mother to greet the rest of her team, to deliver the gifts Erumon had left behind, and to explain their purpose.
"Never thought I'd see you back in your original form," Vyra noted, tugging at a strand of my hair. "Well, I'm leaving tomorrow, but I can't walk around people who knew me like this with steel colored hair, can I?" I asked loosely, gently swatting her hand away. "No, I suppose you can't, but I'd still love to run an experiment on you and these strange pearls," Derion snickered.
"Absolutely not," my mother and I said in unison, getting a chuckle from Eirenne, Haldir, and Vyra as a result. They were grateful for the gifts, and as each one consumed their pearls, I was glad to see none of them had any adverse reaction to them. Derion was first, being no stranger to consuming unlikely things, while Haldir and Vyra took theirs after him.
"What the hell was in those?" Eirenne asked, looking down at her core's diminishing glow, having taken hers last. "It's called Authority, and it was a gift from Erumon," I said, giving them a brief explanation of what that meant. They struggled to understand the concept, but took it in stride, or at least that's what it seemed like.
"Well, if it means I can finally catch up to you, maybe it's not all bad," Eirenne said, giving my mother a wry smile. "I know I promised I'd help you reach the fifth stage, but as you know…" Mom trailed off. "The mission takes priority, as you've said more times than I'd care to count," Eirenne sighed with a wave of her hand.
"Speaking of which, we didn't find anything on our mission, but I suppose that might have been for the better, since we have to figure out whatever this Authority is," Haldir noted. "In that case, I suggest you train with the others, since they've also received this gift," Mom said, clasping his forearm tightly. "I'm looking forward to it. Good luck on your mission, Commander," he said with a warm smile, getting a nod from the others as well. We wished them the best of luck and returned to the palace to prepare for our journey.
The following morning, we were all dressed in our new sets of armor, though I wasn't entirely surprised to see Devyr's armor fit just as well as the rest of ours. The others, to include the group Bernar and Leona had arrived with, came out to see us off. Taegin and Ardrin had already left earlier that morning without much ceremony, though we all knew that their mission was also heavily time-dependent.
"Hey shitbird, don't go getting yourself trapped in another realm again, okay?" Bernar said, clapping me on the shoulder and giving me a shake. "Oh, come on! Like you wouldn't have fun chasing me down," I grinned, giving him a firm pat on the back. "I would, but Leona would kill me if I did," he said hushedly, jutting his thumb over his shoulder. "Just take care of yourself and mom while you're gone, alright? I hope you're ready for a little trip down memory lane," he said with earnest caution.
"Don't worry. We'll be alright," I said cheerfully. "Ysevel, you take care of him, too, okay?" he called out to her. "Why wouldn't I? I've only been doing that for a decade, after all," she quipped, causing him to chuckle. "It seems you're in good hands, then," Leona stepped forward, giving me a hug.
"As are you," I winked, bringing out that stunning smile of hers. "Indeed, I am. Be careful out there, and tell us all about it when you're back," she said with an almost motherly tone as I gave her a nod of understanding.
Ysevel and I knew Aurae would be keeping an eye on us through the Wraith realm, so there was no need for words to be exchanged between us, only a simple nod of acknowledgement.
As we left Caegwen, Mom and Kalia rode at the front, Ysevel and I just behind them, while Athar and Devyr rode side by side with Irun to their right. We left Myrdin's limits, holding idle conversation along the way, which mostly consisted of filling the gaps in Devyr's knowledge of what happened.
However, even through the intermittent idle conversation, I noticed that my mother and Kalia glanced back at me a few times, as if concerned about something.
Mom, what's wrong? I asked, unable to ignore the feeling any longer. We'll come to you. This is something we must discuss as a group, she replied in a tone that let me know she was serious. They slowed their horses down enough to allow the rest of us to catch up to them, and while the others had confused looks on their faces, I could already tell what she was about to say.
"Everyone, I have a bit of a favor to ask," she began solemnly as they shifted their attention to her. "Our path to the Gramm Isles will lead us right next to my old home in Coltend. After the meeting with Erumon, there's something I need to see for myself there, but it's a place with a lot of memories, and I don't want to make that decision on my own," she continued, glancing anxiously at the others.
"What kind of memories, Commander?" Devyr asked, still using her formal title. "Painful ones, but not just for me, for Thoma as well," she admitted. "He's told us about most of what happened there already, and I can't wait to see the look on that fat fucker's face when The Order of Nightfall's Blade shows up together," Athar said, allowing his alternate's voice through freely, easing my mother's tension a little.
"It's true, we know almost as much as he was able to remember, but just know that we're with you," Irun said with a firm nod, which she returned in kind. "We'll be alright, Siraye, and we'll be there to catch either of you if you fall," Ysevel said supportively, giving me a warm smile. "And I will crush him into zuresh if he tries to lay a finger on you," Kalia chimed in, causing me to chuckle at her use of a term that could only be translated to the shit beneath my heel.
Thankfully, Mom didn't understand the term, but from her intonation, I think she might have, because she gave me a strange look as if to confirm what she'd heard. I could only give her a nod of reassurance to let her know it would be okay. "Thank you. All of you," she said with a humble bow.
We continued on our journey for the better part of two weeks, descending from the Rhydian Mountains through the pass and skirting west around Coltend before heading due north toward our old home.
Apparently, Kinth was a short distance away from a handful of farms that lay between it and Codrean. During our trip, my mother noted that it wasn't known for much other than being considered an excellent place for nobles who wanted to get away from Coltend to retire.
My father was the son of one such noble, and while it had been a long time since I'd last been there, I could still remember the sight of the nearby forest, the sounds of the songbirds, and the hill behind our house that marked the edge of his land.
As the path curved around a dense treeline, I saw the corner of our old house peeking out from around it. The two-story building was much larger than I remembered, with two peaks on the roof, a chimney poking out of the far end, and multiple windows along the front of it. The porch, however, was exactly as I remembered it, with the well-worn rocking chair gently moving with the breeze.
But as soon as we dismounted, it nearly made me puke to be back.
"Thoma? Are you alright?" Ysevel asked, noticing the shift in my complexion as the memories came rushing back. Not all of them were bad, she knew that, of course, but the ones I remembered the best were. "Yeah, I'm okay," I struggled to say as I argued with the boulder in my stomach. "Hey, I'm right here, okay?" she said, giving the others a nod of confirmation that I was, in fact, not alright.
"Son, you don't have to do this. I can go in alone," my mother said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It's fine. I'm fine. Let's just get this over with," I said, shaking my head rapidly to clear it. I noticed she gave Ysevel a concerned look, but as I started moving toward the door, I heard the bolt unlatch before I could even reach to knock.