Terin felt all the sun in him leave his body.

He stayed on the head of Arkshelled island while gazing at the troops of the fleet marching on the blackstone walls that had endured for thousands of years cleaved in two by a single slash from his sun-infused sword.

The sun was giving him strength, but using the reservoir made him drained.

He hadn’t left the scalp of the Arkshelled Island. Terin found no reason to down after what he had done. He did cleave the front wall in two, but it also meant that he cleaved the rest of the city in two as well.

Without their walls, the battlements, the Elven-kin immediately encircled the walls and secured the area while the guns and the arkshelled island had their cannons pointed above their heads.

Those who tried to resist were either captured or shot down by the professional soldiers who were eager to get this done and open the Great Gates of Brampi.

The long months on the Icean Spine and the toll that they have to pay was enough for them. The goodwill that everyone had and their patience was running out.

“Should I say good job?”

Mardon said. Terin fixed his eyes on his friend before turning it back on the seas that were leading to the Great Seas.

“Once we open those Gates we can move on from this place, and start our voyage.”

Mardon walked over, and sat beside Terin. He rolled a cigar taken from his jacket, and took a drag after lighting it up with one of the matches he had.

“To think that we would be here, far from home, and my best friend’s cleaving gates like it was nothing now. A giant made of light, and everything blinking and turning into salt. Life’s been crazy, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Terin nodded. He felt that the sun started to invigorate him.

“We used to play Holly’s River back then, uncaring, worried about how Old Tam’s going to deliver the cider back to the village. We used to worry about how the unification might reach our village, and how we didn't intend to miss the feast with Therine. Therine, she has always been the smartest of us. Must be why we keep following Sir Caldor and Lady Rosalve. I’m supposed to help you reach the eye of the world. But that ain’t easy. With all the prophecy, and foretelling that we’ve been getting. Hell, I wouldn’t even think that one day we’d be out here,” Mardon eyed the blackstone gate that even the cannons couldn’t penetrate. “And you're doing that so easily now.”

Terin lowered his head. He wondered if he had this power in the village. Would he have been able to save them? Terin shook his head, it was too late to think about what he could have done with this power during that time.

You all call me a sissy! But remember, that in your life, that the savior, the son of light, had been saved by this sissy!

Terin recalled that frail but slender back. That fearless smile as she cleverly made use of a distraction, and allowed them enough time to be saved by Caldor Ando, Lady Rosalve, and Felecia during the attack in their village.

She had dreamt of being a scholar. To bring prosperity to the village that raised her up. Therine, she was wise, and could have been here, guiding them not to be fools.

Despite all that was happening. Terin Gaspar could not allow himself to be downtrodden, to be soft when it comes to making the choices.

This life of his was barely saved by their friend. He wouldn’t have pulled Mardon out of that creek if it wasn’t for their friend.

Brave.

That's what she was.

Terin wished that he had that cleverness. That insight on what to do with the village, and how she would have changed it.

He thought about it. How she would have handled being the blinder of the light. Terin was a farmer, his hands were made for tilling, and although he had talent in fighting, he found that he had more happiness when it comes to watching things grow.

“You think I did the right thing here?”

“How would I know?” Mardon took a drag of his cigar. “I ain’t you. But if you ask me truly? What choice did we have? They weren’t going to listen to Lord Seke or Seko. They weren’t going to back down seeing this giant and them Elf-kin singing songs of destruction. It’s not whether they are right or wrong here. We can’t be patient with them because we have a time limit. Not to mention that we haven’t seen those creatures that tried to ambush us.”

After that incident where Doctor Gabrio and Lady Mana had been thrown away somewhere, the creatures of the interstice had never attacked again. Lady Rosalve had warned that they were merely watching, observing, and waiting to strike.

“That’s why I made a show of what I can do. I could feel some of them watching, eyes boring on my back. If I show them that I am weak even for a second...then they would think that I’m easy to target. Lady Rosalve, Sir Caldor, they mean well, but I think they pull me like I’m their puppet. You feel it too, right?”

“Yeah, they are either doing it on purpose or making us feel like we have no choice but to rely on ourselves when they say nothing and watch us. I don’t understand what their intention is. At least Felecia’s upfront about restoring the honor of her family.”

They were hiding skeletons in their closet. That was easy to tell about them. Despite the months that they’ve spent, Terin never really got used to their ways. She was always observing them, rarely giving a word on what he shouldn’t do.

Caldor Ando was a wary, strict man who suspected anyone. He protects them in his own way, and faced with the creatures of the interstice, he was the best person they could rely on.

Mardon held the brim of his hat, and took out a leather canteen from his belt. “Well, at least they weren’t kidding about this journey being hard for us. My best friend, sometimes turning into a damn giant made of light, that sea of corals, rotting seas, and even a living island. Still,” he fished out another cigar from his pocket. “But being able to smoke these expensive things are the best things to happen in my life.”

“Are you sure that you aren’t overdoing it?”

“Who knows what’ll happen?” Mardon took a sniff of his cigar and then lit it up with his match. “I got some chewing tobacco, but it hurts my teeth.”

“That so?” Terin breathed in the essence of the sun again. “Well, I’m breathing in the very sun itself so I don’t need that.”

“You know, for a guy that really likes tending to plants, and farming. It’s quite an odd destiny that you became one.”

“Do I look like a plant to you?”

“You don’t look green, alright. But think about it. You take in the sun, and to cool down you drink lots of water. When you don’t absorb the sun’s light, you start withering, and you return back to just being a strong man. With the sun’s light, you can do almost everything, but without it, you can’t do what you want to accomplish.”

Mardon suddenly went serious. “I’ve not been saying anything to you. Cuz I don’t trust them. But we Holly River boys need to rely on each other. We are only a few after what happened in the river, but I’m with you until the end.”

Terin regarded Mardon with awe, then laughed as if he felt pathetic hearing his friend braver than him. “Sometimes, I forget that you are the most normal out of us.”

A master fighter, two lady sorcerers who wield words of power, and a son of light. Mardon Lam had been through with them, never daring to leave his side ever since then.

“Got nothing to do in the mainland, and if the world’s coming to an end. Then might as well do it while making my dumb friend who thinks that he can move the world on his own think about it first. I ain’t much of a thinker, Terin. But I sure do know that you ain’t saving this world unless you know how to save yourself from this. I think you did right today. You made your own choice. Just like Therine did when she decided to abandon her hopes, and dreams so we could continue to be foolish. God, I love her. That’s why, you better not start moping about doing this. This is your choice, and I ain’t going to leave you alone. I ain’t blind. I ain’t deaf. I saw that this shit isn’t hard. But I have your back. Son of light or not, you’re still the stupid friend of mine that was born in Holly River.”

Terin nodded. “I ain’t going to get used to you trying to act like some wiser now.”

“Better get used to it then,” Mardon said, taking time to smoke his cigar. After he was done smoking, he led Terin back to the council where Lady Rosalve, and Caldor Ando stared at him.

He met their gaze with a firm resolve. The two didn’t look away, leaving Mardon to take a step in-between them to pacify the situation between the three.

“Now, I know that he did what he did just now. But don’t you think that it’s time to stop thinking about him like you don’t give a rat's shit about his opinion?” Mardon usually doesn’t talk, and just watches, but when he does. He doesn’t easily go silent. “Lady Rosalve, and Sir Caldor. I know that you know better, you've been fighting this damn these things, and have dedicated your lives in making sure my friend here reaches the eye of the world, but the thing is that we Holly Boys are stubborn as a rock, and we aren’t clueless as you think we are.”

Sir Caldor looked at Lady Rosalve. “We never hold him back,” Caldor said. “But we’re facing the creatures of the interstice, and they are much older than we are. They’re as long-lived as the elven kin. They’re measuring you, and you may think that you’ve done the right thing by showing that you are not weak, but it also makes them wary. We were trying to find a balance, but it seemed like you have made a choice of going through this.”

“Lady Rosalve?”

“Boys, I have only asked one thing for the two of you. Patience. But I should have known better than to expect absolute obedience. Yes, you have done well in tearing through that wall, but it also means that we have to deal with the consequences of this.”

“What do you mean?” Mardon asked. His eyes on the Lady.

Lady Frigus who was on the side of the council halls spoke. “The council had decided that if they don’t comply, then we need to split the Great Gates of Brampi in half and signal all our fleet-kin to start preparing their sails.”

“We’re already doing that, right?”

Lady Frigus nodded her head.. “With the Gates of Brampi split in two, it means that the Icean Spine will have no way of closing the gates, and since we’ve made a show of force here, then they will be fighting the Gates of Brampi fiercer than ever. If you’ve waited a day or two, we could have made a compromise, and lessen the resistance. But now to get away from the Icean Spine, we need to split that great gate in two with your power, and let the Icean Spine be molested by the monsters of the Great Seas.”

Terin’s eyes shook, but he held his eyes firmly on Lady Frigus. Lady Frigus made a sign of approval at his resolution, and continued speaking. “One way or another, we expected this to happen, but still, we would be casting a storm on this land, and leaving it to die...for the greater good.”

Terin felt his shoulders grow heavy. Mardon Lam however thumped his shoulder, taking some of that weight.

The choice has been made.

There was no taking back.