When selling Gavinkim on the plan, Garyung opened with the idea that Kaldalis could order her execution at his discretion. The Bhogad agreed without hesitation. Kaldalis tried not to think too hard about how far that went to convincing him.

Garyung would take some time to get her outfitted in - as she herself had described - as many ropes and chains as they could fit over her body. Kaldalis had until morning to get his team together. It was just enough time, since he had to get back to Panbu first.

He gathered his friends first - Balrim, Myrin, Reno, and Ess - since the thing he needed most was the confidence that his team would have his back if Onirioago tried to pull anything. He also needed to have enough bodies on hand to handle whatever monsters they blundered into - not to mention the Jormongumo themselves.

Courbois was on homebody duty. She would come back with them to Cotanaku, but would stay in town and keep an eye on the gate.

If Onirioago escaped, they needed to choke out her available options. Especially since she’d proven that she had confederates in town feeding her information. If she slipped their guard somehow and got away, she couldn’t be allowed to go to ground with them. As an exile in the jungle, she would be less of a threat with fewer people to manipulate.

He needed one more hand as well.

Kaldalis still didn’t believe Onirioago’s story, but he didn’t personally have information enough to determine when there was enough proof that she was lying. To that end, he also asked Martok to join them. The cartographer was on board as soon as Kaldalis explained that Onrioago claimed that there was an undiscovered monster den in striking distance of Cotanaku. He hadn’t been back in Cotanaku in nearly a week, and was happy for the excuse to fill in the blanks on his maps of the region.

Since Martok knew where the undiscovered areas were, if Onirioago took them in a direction that was already well-documented, Kaldalis could call the search off and put her back behind bars. And if she led them towards a spot Martok hadn’t mapped, he might be able to entertain the idea that they might actually solve the problem with her aid.

When the group of them returned to Cotanaku, Garyung and Gavinkim had Onirioago trussed up as tightly as was possible at this level of technology. The activity had drawn a crowd, including Sivima, who was heading back to her forge with an empty crate - though she paused long enough to give Kaldalis a friendly smile before she had to rush back to her work.

Onirioago’s torso had been wrapped in layers of thick canvas, which had been visibly sewn shut around her arms like an improvised straightjacket. Ropes bound her just beneath her hips - limiting the mobility of her legs - and just below her shoulders - limiting her arms even further. Her ankles were shackled, but the chain between them was relatively long - presumably because venturing through the jungle without the ability to run under her own power was going to enable her to make herself an obnoxious liability.

“I like the mask,” Kaldalis said. It was made of metal, with visible hammer marks from where it had been quickly pounded into shape before being strapped to the bottom half of her face. “It’s a nice touch.”

“I have some appreciation for the cinematic masterpieces of our time,” Garyung said with a smirk. “It’s absolutely the most unnecessary addition, but-”

“No, no,” Kaldalis interrupted. “I feel safer because of it.”

“Kal?”

He turned and was pleasantly surprised to find Heluna among the crowd that had gathered for the spectacle of the former expedition leader being prepared for transport. She approached him nervously, casting a glance at his friends near at hand, but he put her fears at ease by stepping up to her, drawing her into a brief hug.

“Is everything alright?” he asked her when they parted.

“I don’t know,” she said, her eyes searching his face with a worried expression. “You fuckin’ tell me.”

She gave Onirioago a meaningful glance, and Kaldalis winced.

“Have you heard about the attacks?” Kaldalis asked, lowering his voice. Given Garyung’s behavior, he assumed that they weren’t common knowledge.

“What attacks?”

“The… The thing I told you about?” he said, lowering his voice to try and limit his audience. “They’re here. Attacking people in town.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah.” He scratched the back of his head, struck again by how fucked-up the situation was. “She says she knows what we need to do to stop them. But she’s going to leverage that information into an escape attempt.”

“You’re fucking kidding,” Heluna hissed. “You’re going to let her loose?”

“I’m exaggerating and simplifying,” Kaldalis said, putting a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. “She’s going to give us exactly as much information as we need to get this done, and then we’re marching her back here to her cell.”

“When do we fuckin’ leave, then?” Heluna asked. “I can get leave from Filomena to take off for the day. Or just tell her to shove her authority up her ass and take my punishment later.”

“Are you fucking nuts?” Kaldalis blurted out. He stopped, shook his head, and continued at a more normal volume. “I appreciate the offer; you know how much your support means to me. But this is probably the most dangerous trip I’m ever going to take. It will make the day suck to do it without you on my side, but it would make the rest of my life way worse if I spend it blaming myself for something happening to you.”

Heluna pursed her lips, and he could read the warring emotions in her eyes. What he’d said was sweet, but also patronizing, and so she was trying to decide which side of it mattered more to her.

“I have just as much a fuckin’ right to worry about you,” she said at last.

“But if I die, I’ll come back,” Kaldalis said. He cupped her cheek with his hand, looking into her eyes. “You won’t lose me.”

Her eyes flicked past him to Onirioago. “I’m just… Worried.”

For a moment, he thought she was being possessive. They hadn’t really defined their relationship, or had a discussion about what they actually were to each other. It was natural for her to have concerns about him going out into the wilderness with a woman he had previously tried to seduce.

But the look in her eyes wasn’t anger or jealousy. It was concern. Heluna wasn’t worried about losing him to another woman. She was worried about him exposing himself to the trauma he’d told her about all over again.

Heluna cared about him. Truly.

Kaldalis took a moment to tell himself that he wasn’t actually falling for her.

“I have a duty,” Kaldalis said at last. “Walking away from this is going to put a lot of people through worse than what I went through. I can’t turn my back on this. But I’m stronger now. I have what I need to get through this in one piece. Trust me.”

“What are you fuckin’ talking about?” Heluna asked.

The only response that made sense was to pull her close and kiss her.

The world went away for a very long moment.

It was easy for him to forget to be self-conscious when the only thing in existence was the woman in his arms.

Her curves against him.

Her lips against his.

There was nothing else.

“Oh,” Heluna said when they finally parted. “I guess I’m helping your dumb ass after all.”

“Yeah,” Kaldalis said. “Hope that’s enough for you.”

“For now.” She grinned when she said it.

Kaldalis felt his cheeks heat up again but she backed off back into the crowd, letting him get back to business.

His anxiety spiked at the idea that he just shared a very visible and physical romantic moment with an NPC in front of all his friends. Kaldalis pushed the feeling aside. There wasn’t time to deal with it while they had to get this mission underway. Most of them seemed more involved with getting up to speed with Garyung and Gavinkim anyway. It was possible that they hadn’t even noticed.

One pair of eyes was reserved just for him, though.

Onirioago’s knowing gaze was drilling into him as he returned to the group.

She’d seen everything.

“It finally all makes sense,” she mumbled through her metal mask.

“Don’t,” Kaldalis said with a sigh. “Whatever you’re about to say, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Kaldalis, dear,” she said sweetly, “I was just going to apologize for my earlier behavior. It was entirely inappropriate.”

“The last thing in the world that I want is an apology from you.”

“I just should have known!” she continued, ignoring his objection. “Why else would you so adamantly turn down a steak dinner? Of course you had a fish platter waiting for you at home. I apologize for assuming you had taste. An unforgivable oversight on my part.”

He shook his head with a sigh. This was going to be a long trip.