Orenda had never seen so many humans in one place before, and it was obvious that they had never seen someone like her- or… perhaps she was giving herself too much credit. She was walking into a group of humans with a dwarf and a halfling. She spotted the bar, and thought that this place may be very similar to the place where Ali had been forced to live all those years.

She thought that there was a joke in there somewhere. A fire elf, a dwarf, and a halfling walk into the bar, the bartender looks up and says-

“Holy shit, Rendy?”

Orenda stared at him, trying to figure out where she knew him from. He looked to be about her age, but she absolutely could not place him. She couldn’t remember a male slave that she was particularly close to at the academy, who would speak to her so informally.

He seemed hurt when he asked, “You don’t remember me?”

He put one hand on the bar and jumped over it to grab both her hands in his own.

“It’s me, John!”

“Johnny!?” Orenda exclaimed. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug, “You’re alive!”

“So are you!” He shouted and squeezed so hard he pulled her off her feet. “Oh my god, Rendy, I’ve thought so much about you over the years! I couldn’t get word out! There’s no postal service that goes from Huriyat Allinsan to anywhere else! But you’re alive, and you’re here! We’re taking back everything! We’re going to have the whole continent!”

“What… Johnny,” she rested her hands on his shoulders, “What happened to you? After you left?”

“What happened to you bein behind the bar?” Falsie asked, stripping out of his clothes and folding them neatly as if he wasn’t in a crowd of people, “Get me a drink for my bath!”

“I’m not a bartender, and I’m never saying ‘Yes sir’ again, so go fuck yourself,” Johnny giggled.

“I’ll get it!” Anilla said helpfully, and struggled her way behind the bar. She was climbing shelves when Orenda looked back to John.

“Don’t be mean to him,” She said, “Falsie’s a dear friend of mine, and a Knight of Order.”

“Sorry, you’re right, I just- I never expected to see you. And I know him, and he always fucked with me when I was a kid.”

“I did no such thing,” Falsie said, “Hey, kid, wanna see something cool?”

“No!” Johnny said, “Fool me once shame on you, fool me nine or more times and you’re an asshole. Come on, man, you know how gullible I am.”

“How do you know each other?” Orenda asked as Anilla poured them all drinks from a dark bottle.

“They run together,” Falsie said, “But if I had to guess, I would say that we faried him to freedom. We get lots of humans who are on the run. We bring um here or to the frozen north.”

“Yes,” Johnny said, “I was on your ship, with Captian Nochdifache, and the werewolf lady, and the pirate, and the old guy and his… as an adult like… is he fucking that dragon? Like that’s weird right? No one ever called him on it- ow goddamn!”

Falsie had thwacked him hard with the back of his hand from his position on the bar stool.

“Respect your elders boy,” He took his glass and began to make his way to the bathing pool, “Watch your mouth!”

“Sorry!” Johnny called after him, but Falsie merely grumbled in response.

“Rendy, what are you doing here?” Johnny led her to the bar so they could both sit down.

“We’re going into the mountains,” Anilla answered, “Orenda is looking for a staff, and I’m looking for a dragon.”

“Ok so maybe that’s actually common and I am just a judgemental asshole,” Johnny took a long drink from one of the glasses Anilla had poured. “God, Rendy, so much has happened. Where have you been all this time? Is everybody back at the library ok?”

“Oh,” Orenda stared into her glass, “You haven’t heard. No. No they aren’t… I wouldn’t classify them as… well perhaps they are. I don’t know how people feel about being dead.”

“Oh,” he said, “shit, Rendy, I… I didn’t…”

“They’re all dead, and the library burned to the ground,” Orenda explained with as little emotion as she could. “It’s all gone. You couldn’t have gotten a message to me even if you could send one out. The place you would have sent it to is gone, has been gone for some time. We were raided by those soldiers. They found Ellie’s notes on the precolonial historical period, which apparently she was not supposed to be studying, found that Charles and Susan were ‘stolen’ and… they tried to burn the library to the ground. They did burn the library to the ground. I cooked them alive.”

She said it as casually as she could, because she didn’t want to dwell on it, and she was tired of feeling bad for not feeling bad enough. They had been terrible people, and Tolith was right. Sometimes the world was better without certain people in it. The world was changing, and those who could not change with it, could not better themselves, would burn. It was more cause and effect, simple physics, than it was anything she should hate herself for.

“Holy shit,” he said.

“It’s the way of the world,” Orenda said, “But not for long. I’m going to kill the Emerald Knight, Johnny, and then Xandra won’t have her boogieman to keep us at bay. I think certain people need to learn lessons about… inherited power. I think that perhaps some people need to learn that they aren’t special because of who their mother choose to let cum inside her.”

“Wow,” he said, “You’ve… you’re different.”

“I can’t help that,” Orenda said, “I suppose I grew up when I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Wait- did you say you were going to kill the Emerald Knight?” He asked, wide-eyed.

“Yes,” Orenda said, “If he exists, I’ll kill him. That’s the thing about people who are alive, Johnny, they can be killed. If a thing moves I can stop it moving. A friend of mine once told me that everyone was flammable. I don’t know that he was right, but I drink to his spirit.”

“What friend?” Johnny asked. He seemed to be enjoying the conversation less than he thought he would.

“Ali AlHadeen,” Orenda said, “The night he asked me to burn that brand into his flesh.”

Johnny was silent for a long stretch, both of them sipping their drinks and ignoring Anilla to the point that even she felt the weight of the silence and went to join Falsie for a bath.

“There’s a lot to unpack here,” He finally said.

“Not really,” Orenda said, “We’re both alive, and both happy to be in a world that was trying so hard to kill us. No living thing wants to die, it will fight until it no longer can. That type of existence… it creates people like us, doesn’t it?”

“Rendy,” He said and laid one hand over hers on the bar, “I’m really sorry.”

“I… don’t like to dwell on the past,” Orenda told him. “I’m happy that we’re safe. How did you jump over the bar in that armor?”

“This shit is lighter than it looks,” he laughed, “I can turn cartwheels in it. Not in here, the crowd’s too thick, but it can be done.”

“What’s the plan here?” Orenda asked, “As far as military strategy goes?”

“We’re going to take the harbor tonight,” Johnny said, “And the city, establish a base here and move on until we reach the capital of the colony. We’re taking back the whole coast.”

“What’s beyond the mountains?” Orenda asked, “How did you get there?”

“Oh my god it was crazy,” Johnny picked up the bottle and poured himself another glass, “We had to hide at different places like we did at your house, different safehouses. Those soldiers were out hot and heavy looking for us. I think… the other two, my sisters, they were too little to really understand. But my parents, god, especially dad… his heart was shot, you know- not shot as in with an arrow or anything, just he stayed so tore up for so long that it… really took a toll on him. He’s in rough shape. He really didn’t want me to join the army. But- we went from safehouse to safehouse, and eventually we went in a group, past the barricades into the mountains. They can’t patrol the whole thing, Rendy, it’s too big. They can’t guard the whole border to keep us from leaving, so our guide studied where they would be and when, and she took us through. Once we got through that, we met up with our dwarven guide, and god, Rendy, it was so hot. You think it gets hot here, but there… there you can die from it. It beats down on you on the mountains, it strips your body, it burns your flesh, all you can think about is the next time you’ll be allowed to stop for water. It’s so fucking hot, but you’re… you’re a little kid, right? I was a youngun. And… I knew we were rationing, but the girls didn’t really understand and they would not shut the fuck up about it!”

Orenda squeezed his hand.

“Once we were past that border though, we didn’t really have to be afraid anymore. They weren’t going to come after us again up there, because they had as hard of a time as we did. They just couldn’t take the heat. Our dwarven guide took us to a place, I think it was a secret, I’m not sure, underground. It was so hot down there too… I thought it would be cooler underground, but it wasn’t. Caves are cool back home, back on the earth continent. The temperature drops, that’s what we were always told, and dad kept saying it, kept saying, ‘At least it’ll cool down when we get underground,’.”

“But it was so much better, in the dwarven city. There was no hiding, everyone there welcomed us! The earth elves just don’t go there anymore- apparently they did at one time, but now it’s a free place. Humans live there, full time. But it is so close, so close to the Urillian colony, and my dad was so paranoid, so terrified, so we pressed on. We walked for days through those caves, through these mine shafts that weren’t being used anymore, and eventually we came out the other side.”

“I thought it was hot underground… but it opened to a desert. There was no hope of water, no hope of shade- but we had another guide, and this one was human and… she… she didn’t have a brand. It wasn’t that she had one and burned through it like mine, to hide where it came from, it was that she just didn’t have one at all. I’d never seen anything like it. She was… she had been born and no one had ever…”

Orenda smiled.

“It was beautiful, when we got there,” Johnny said, “It’s out in the desert, and if you didn’t know what you were looking for, you’d never find it. The Urillians will never find it. There are people there who can work all kinds of magic, all the elements, all together, and there are reservoirs of water underground, and tall buildings that do anything you can imagine. There was a school- there had been people, before, who had been scholars once. There were people who had trained in all kids of trades. I joined the military, my sister, Jill, you remember her?”

Orenda nodded.

“She’s an astronomer,” he said, “Charting out the stars. It’s so clear out there, you can see into eternity.”

“It sounds beautiful,” Orenda said, wistfully.

“It is,” He agreed, “And once you taste it, you can’t go back. I’m never going back. We’re going to save everyone, eventually.”

“Yes,” Orenda agreed, “We are.”

“You said you were going to kill the Emerald Knight with an ancient artifact?” Johnny asked. “I think… if anyone can kill the Emerald Knight, it’ll be an army. I don’t think one person can take him down. You’ll need help.”

“Then I’ll find help,” Orenda said, “I have many people to find. I’m going to meet the white rabbit to see if he’ll make me a suit of his hair.”

“Rendy, you’ll love Xac!” Johnny exclaimed, “He’s the best, real good with kids. That was the first safehouse we went to, at the Burrow. He’s the one who messed up my brand. I knew why we had to do it but… god it hurt, but he was so kind to me. He taught me a few moves with his kids. He teaches all his kids how to fight. He used to be a cage fighter. And apparently he loves to knit because he and my mom talked on and on about it. He’s just a great guy. I don’t know how many people he’s saved. He gets that reputation for a reason. He’s a symbol for a reason. Why do you want a suit of his hair?”

“Because it’s made of sterilite,” Orenda explained, “Well, I mean… legends say it is. I know that makes no sense, but I’m becoming less skeptical of legends now that I’ve seen some of the things I’ve seen, djinns, werewolves, zombies and such.”

“BIlge scared the shit out of me as a kid,” Johnny said, “At first. But he’s actually really nice. He kept telling me he was a dragon, I guess trying to make me less scared. I feel bad about how I treated him, because really it’s like… an affliction. He can’t help that he’s like that.”

“He’s always been nice to me,” Orenda agreed.

“Orenda,” Gareth called, and she looked up to see him enter with Bella, “And everyone- oh look, the crowd’s looking at us, darling, you’d think they never saw a beautiful woman before- I’m leaving in two hours so nap or bathe or do whatever you like, but then meet us in the stables. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover and I’d like it to be over and done with as soon as possible.”