A sudden realization of what he was looking at gripped Tecovis, and he watched as Djurle collapsed to the ground. His vest and riding pants were completely in tatters, his breathing ferociously haggard, and blood poured from his skin at every spot Tecovis could see.

“Djurle!? Shrike! ROX, GET OVER HERE!”

Rox had just come out from the maze and whipped around to see where Tecovis was. All the armor on his left side was crushed and dented, though he seemed unhampered by the misshapen mess of bronze. He'd ditched his helmet during the fight.

“What's going- oh Maker.”

“ROX! Djurle's hurt! We need to get him to a medic! NOW!”

“No….”

Tecovis looked down to Djurle, who was now laying on his side.

“Boulder…”

“What!?”

“Get me… to… boulder…”

“You're insane!”

Djurle's eyes looked weakly to Tecovis.

“Please… faster… please…”

Rox slid on his knees to a stop next to Djurle, his massive form making Djurle look small. At first he hesitated as he tried to find a good handhold, but he quickly made a decision and pulled him straight over his right shoulder. Tecovis winced as Djurle released a blood curdling scream from the sudden movement. A scream not unlike-

Tecovis shook his head and sharply muttered to himself, interrupting the thought before it had a chance to root.

“Don't worry Djurle, I've got you.”

Rox wiped his fingers on some exposed fabric on his thigh and whistled as loud as he could for his horse.

“Please… Boulder… please… fast… er…”

“No, we're taking you to a medic! I don't care how much you cry about it.”

“Teco did he just-”

“Yes, and he's currently in no condition to make sight seeing requests.”

“Wait for a second and think. He's a spirit of the elements, right? Maybe there's a reason he's asking for it.”

“You can't be serious Rox!”

“Look, neither of us understand what he can do, let's assume he knows something we don't.”

“Let's assume nothing and say we did, how about that? His life's on the line here!”

“I know that Teco!”

From Rox's shoulder, Djurle muttered, “Trust… Please… Boul… der…”

“You trust me right Teco?”

“I don't trust him.”

“That's not what I asked. Do you trust me?”

Tecovis looked away from Rox and gnashed his teeth. From behind him, he could hear Rox's horse approaching. Then he took a breath to collect himself and whistled for Sandalwood.

“Fine. But if he dies Rox, I'm having you flogged. I don't care that we're friends outside of this job.”

“Yes sir.”

“I'll be right behind you. Go!”

Rox's horse came to a stop before him and he loaded Djurle, tears streaming down his face, onto it before mounting up himself. The blood splatter left behind on Rox's Armor was sickening to look at, and more continued to drip off the ends of Djurle's fingertips. Rox prodded his horse to full speed down the river to the first of the boulders they'd passed earlier, as the one that used to be where he was standing had vanished without a trace.

From the tunnel, Zebulon raced to the surface, sword in hand, soot covering his bronze shield. He looked around at the destruction and carnage as he was catching his breath. 

When he spotted Tecovis, he jogged toward him. As he did, he yelled, “Where's Djurle?”

“He's hurt, Rox is taking him to… he's taking him for help.”

“Was Rox alright? That looked like a nasty hit.”

“His armor is crumpled, but it did its job. We'll both be needing new shields though. Did you get that Lumanite?”

“He's blindfolded and hogtied. I left him with Charm squad.”

“I'm never going to look at pecan trees the same way.”

Zeb stowed his sword and loosened his shield straps. “I know how you feel.”

The sound of hoofbeats in the grass caused Tecovis to turn around. He saw Sandalwood, untouched by the chaos, approaching him at a gallop.

“I'm going after Rox. I want to make sure he's not ambushed on the way back.

“Is that still a concern?”

“I don't know Zeb, that's why I'm going!”

Zeb's jaw muscles flexed and his brow furrowed. Then he wordlessly tossed his shield over to Tecovis. Tecovis caught and equipped it in place of the wooden one that the Klovenite had destroyed. Zeb went back down into the maze as Tecovis stowed his sword and mounted up to leave.

Thank you Zeb.

He pushed Sandalwood as fast as she could go down the riverside in the direction of the camps. In the distance he could see Rox's horse come to a stop next to the first boulder they'd passed. The shape of Rox and Djurle blended together at this distance, but he watched as the form of them went beside the large chunk of stone.

As he was riding closer and closer, the form touched the stone, and the stone seemed to get… smaller?

I must have hit my head pretty hard. There's no way I'm seeing that correctly.

His doubts turned to wonder and his jaw dropped as he saw the form of Djurle beginning to walk on his own two feet. He slowed Sandalwood down to a canter and continued to head his direction. He watched as Djurle walked over to Rox before his legs buckled from underneath him, causing him to stumble forward. Rox quickly moved to catch him and they both moved to the river. Rox was just helping him sit in the water of the riverbank as Tecovis arrived. 

“Did… did I just…”

“I don't believe it either Teco, and I was standing next to him when he did it.”

The stones that were missing from his skin had been completely restored, and as he was sitting in the water, Tecovis saw the blood washing away to reveal that not a single scratch remained. Djurle turned his head to face Tecovis, there were dark circles under his eyes and the non-stone parts of his face were otherwise paler than they had been.

Weakly, Djurle spoke, “This isn't the first time I've had to do this.”

Tecovis asked, “Can you… do THAT with regular dirt too?

“Not when I've got the hollows… I would have died trying over there.”

"The what?"

"It's what the workers called it when I overextended myself."

From the water, Djurle looked up to the two of them.

“Don't worry. I'll be fine by tomorrow… I wish we could have gotten that sparky *#^@ Fusil.”

Rox began to pull off his mangled armor plates.

“I do know we took down one of those poachers because of you.”

“Oh really? Which one?”

“The one who did this, he just about crushed me with a tree,” Rox tossed his left vambrace into the water next to Djurle. Djurle picked it up and inspected it.

“I'm surprised you're moving the way this looks.”

“We're built to last in the city of Thruf. Maybe some of this can be fixed. Not going to wear it any more today though.” Rox continued to peel himself free from the bronze as a breathy chuckle escaped from Djurle,who scooted deeper into the river water. Djurle then leaned back, letting the water carry away the majority of the blood, and scrubbing away what had dried with his fingers.

Rox looked at Tecovis as he was pulling off his mangled breastplate, “We'll have to report this.”

“I know. I'm not looking forward to it.”

“We'll also have to report-”

“I know.”

Rox went silent for a moment as Tecovis slowly stepped down from his horse.

“Teco…” Rox's jaw muscles tensed. “Why did Dense go when Zeb told him to stay?”

“The same reason I beat him in the proving duels. He failed to completely assess the situation because he was rushing to attack. The enemy took advantage of his ignorance and impatience.”

Tecovis looked back towards the battleground, the three new, twisted, and mangled trees in the distance, along with a number of earthy walls and smoke trails.

From the water, Djurle said something that Tecovis didn't immediately hear. Rox responded to him, and he heard Rox's armor clanking together. From the corner of his eye, Tecovis saw him putting his battered armor pieces into his horse's saddlebag, then mount up. Following this, he started heading towards the battleground.

Tecovis raised an eyebrow to him, “Where are you going?”

“You don't need me here. I’m going to make sure Slide and Pan are alright.”

“Fair enough. I'll be back that way once Djurle's ready.”

As Rox’s horse trotted away, Tecovis turned around to see Djurle, who was still in the water up to his neck, staring back at him. The dark circles under his eyes would have made the stare unnerving if Tecovis hadn't been trained to power through intimidation.

Djurle said, “Do you want to start this, or should I?.”

Tecovis jut his jaw forward as he stared back.

“Me it is then. You're clearly Tecovis Shavar. Son of Yorlan and Lynetta Shavar. You look like them, you talk like them, you certainly act like how I'd expect their son to act.”

Djurle sat up, the water dripping in between the crevices of his now clean stone skin.

“But your Father told me some things that aren't adding up with the man I see standing here.”

He stood to his feet, taking his tattered vest off and tossing it to the side. His movements were slow and deliberate, and every shakey step he took up to Tecovis was measured.

Meeting his gaze face to face, Djurle spoke with a hard edge, “So tell me, Spirit of Fire. What the #$%& happened to you?”

“I… Don't know what-”

“DON'T bull&%@# me. Every one of the people of Erith saw the same thing. They saw what you became. Where was that today? Huh!? You could have stopped Fusil, right there! Struck him out of the sky like the wretch he is!”

Tecovis's lips began to curl, and through grit teeth he said, “...Get out of my face.”

“Not until you answer my question, Spirit of Fire.”

Smoke...

“Don't call me that. I'm not him.”

“I may have pretended I didn't know around your bunkmates, but don't think for a SECOND that I believe you when you say that. I know who you are, I know what you're capable of, and I know why it all started. What I don't know is why you're halfway across the world pretending to be something you're not. How in the pit did you even end up here?"

“I don't owe you anything… Now get out… of my face… I won't ask again.”

Djurle raised his chin and carefully backed up two paces. 

“Fine. You're right. You don't. But you do owe your father an explanation.”

My father…

Coco run!

Papa…

Tecovis absently pressed his hand to his scar as he looked to his saddlebags, the mess of leather that used to be his father's waterskin hung limply from one of the pockets. He sighed.

“How is he?”

“I already told you, he's in perfect health physically.”

“And mentally?”

Djurle's tone softened, and he averted his eyes. “Grief took its toll. But he powered through it because he wanted to be strong for you, when you returned.”

He held out hope this long? Maker what have I done…

“It takes a toll on everyone... What happened to the others from Erith?”

“It's like I said at the tree, everyone who was alive before your rampage survived it.”

He looked back to Tecovis.

“They escaped to the mines when the bandits were all focused on you.”

Pain…

“I told You I'm not-”

“And I told you not to bull%^@* me.”

Tecovis snarled, then shook his head as he sighed. "Fine. You caught me. No more trying to hide it from you."

Djurle nodded and crossed his arms with a huff.

“As I was saying, they all fled into the mines once the chaos started. When the noise stopped, your father went looking for you. I came back from dealing with the famine about two days after it happened, and he enlisted me to help.”

Fear…

“...Djurle… I'm sorry I didn't recognize you.”

“Don't be. I'm sure you remember how your mother was.”

“Yeah.”

Tecovis smiled as he remembered the multiple occasions she nagged at Papa when he brought up work at the dinner table.

“I guess I shouldn't be surprised... You said Papa was in Zindro, what about the rest of them?”

“Without your father's business, they scattered for the most part. Those who didn't have families in Ikhrosh or Casperdain ended up following him. I met with a few of the ones in Casperdain before the Krundílites started to invade, don't know what happened to them when it fell. A lot of them joined the fight when it broke out, some on the front lines. I don't know who you remember or I'd go in specifics with them.”

“What has Papa done since he left Erith? The copper mine was probably the second most important thing to him.”

“Your father sold the land and invested what he could recover from Erith into research for Eminite. Since we were the ones who discovered it, they found his insight invaluable.”

Wait, what do you mean we… THE NEIGHBORS CHICKENS!

“That's where I remember that name!”

“What?”

“Sorry, one of my commanders was asking the Buruzagi to requisition some Eminite for the guardsmen, I haven't heard that name in years so I almost forgot about it.”

“Please tell me he didn't approve of it.”

“No, he said it was too costly.”

“Good. Good… speaking of Eminite, you didn't happen to grab my mineral light did you?”

“No, Pan still has it.”

“I'm going to need that back since I'm not dead.”

“I can take you back to get it, are you strong enough to ride?”

“Yeah, I can manage.”

Djurle tried to walk over to where he'd left his tattered vest, but after the third step he stumbled to his hands and knees.

“Djurle!?” Tecovis ran over to him to help, but Djurle waved him off.

“I'm alright, I'm alright. Just tired.”

“You lost a lot of blood, are you sure you're just tired?”

“No, but that's not gonna stop me from saying it. I've come back from worse.” he turned his head towards Tecovis and attempted to smile, though in his current condition Tecovis realized why he called it the hollows. Djurle's eyes were sunken, his skin looked loose on him compared to before the fight, and even taking the blood loss into consideration he looked incredibly pale.

“That's not as reassuring as you think it is.”

“Eh, it was worth a shot.”

Tecovis picked Djurle up and helped him stay steady, and together they grabbed Djurle's ruined vest before going to Sandalwood. Tecovis mounted the horse and offered his hand to Djurle. Djurle resisted Tecovis's assistance at first, but he eventually relented when he failed to get his leg over the saddle.

“Thanks,” Djurle said grudgingly, as he was getting situated.

Tecovis smiled at him in acknowledgement, and when he did Djurle seemed surprised. 

“Wow, You really are Yorlan’s son. I'd recognize that stupid grin of his anywhere.”

“Hey, my smile is not stupid!”

“I'm just giving you a hard time, don't be such a baby about it.”

“I'll make you walk.”

Sarcastically, Djurle replied “Respect your elders boy.”

Tecovis elbowed Djurle in his rocky abdomen with a *ding* causing both of them to laugh and they continued to banter on the way back up to the battlegrounds. Their mood quickly turned sour again once they arrived as Dauntless and Charm squads both were putting together a litter from the wreckage of the battlefield.

Their faces were hard, and their voices silent. Zeb was standing with Pan and Rox, his foot resting in the back of the blindfolded, gagged, and shackled Lumanite who himself was flat on the ground, golden blood dripping slowly from his injuries.

Slide was nowhere to be seen.

Tecovis caught Zeb's attention and motioned towards the captive. Zeb shook his head. Pan looked up to Tecovis with his hands on his hips, he looked worried.

Tecovis asked him, “Where's Slide?”

“He…” Pan's voice cracked. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat before speaking again, “He's over by Dionis.”

From behind him, Tecovis heard Djurle say, “Thank you for the ride. I can help watch this idiot.” and much quieter he said, “go help your man.”

Tecovis muttered back, “Don't have to tell me twice.” He looked over to Rox and said “Help him down.”

Rox walked over with a “Yes sir.”

Djurle began to protest before he was grabbed from behind and pulled off the horse like a parent would a child. Once the two were clear, he wheeled Sandalwood around and began towards the furthest rock wall from the river.

He passed by the devastation and thought to himself, this would have amazed me as a kid.

It was covered in wood chips, gravel chunks, and long strips where the grass had been completely torn away from the dirt. He was careful to navigate his horse through the field, trying to avoid the shallow trenches as well as the exposed and overgrown root systems

He made his way beyond the walls of dirt and slowly passed the final barrier. There he saw Slide sitting on his knees with his sword on the ground next to his hand. His horse stood next to him. Not six feet in front of him lay the corpses of both Dionis Mench, and his black and brown spotted horse.

It was the first time Tecovis had seen a human corpse with all of its flesh still mostly intact. He questioned to himself whether corpses looked better when you couldn't tell who they were. Shaking his head to clear it before his thoughts turned any darker, he dismounted Sandalwood.

Carefully, he stepped towards Slide. As he came to stand next to him, Slide made no movement outside of his breathing. Tecovis stood next to him for uncounted minutes. Not a single sound escaped his lips. When his feet began to ache, he sat down next to Slide, putting his back towards Dionis but keeping Slide's face in view.

From his position, he could see the two squads that weren't under his command continuing to build the litter. Though macabre in function, it looked like a snow sled from Tecovis's childhood. He continued to sit in silence as they finished it. Not a word was spoken when they tied it to one of the horses, nor did a voice utter a noise as they arrived and loaded Dionis into it. They both simply sat, unmoving.

Zeb made eye contact with Tecovis as they were leaving with the body. Tecovis looked back. They both exchanged a single nod as Zeb led the procession back to town, leaving both Tecovis and Slide in the grass. Rox and Pan would also stay behind, though they elected to stay in the shade of the rock wall.

Much time would pass before Slide finally broke the silence.

With his voice wavering, he asked, “...Is this… what we signed up for?”

Tecovis looked at the grass between his knees. With a deep breath he replied, “Yes. It is.”

Slide's head began to shake from side to side ever so slowly.

“I… I don't know if I want to do this anymore.”

“You don't have to. Nobody is going to make you stay if you think you can't.”

Slide's jaw clenched and the whites of his eyes began to turn pink. Tecovis subtly signaled to Pan to grab one of the handkerchiefs from his saddle. As Pan handed it to Slide, Tecovis continued, “That doesn't mean we're not going to be here with you. As far as I'm concerned, you're family.”

He looked up to Pan, who was still standing next to Slide.

“Family sticks together. No matter what happens.”

Tears began to stream down Slide's face. Wiping his eyes with the kerchief, he looked to Tecovis and smiled.

“Thanks Bossman.”

Tecovis nodded back to him with a half-grin of his own.

They would continue to sit for another minute before Pan started to shift around impatiently. He said, “I want to go back to the barracks to write my report, Teco.”

Texovis nodded. “Yeah, the sooner we get those written the sooner we can put today behind us.”

He looked back at Slide.

“Ready to write the hardest report of your life?”

Slide chuffed.

“Me neither. Brave squad! Mount up, we're going home.”