Ranvir stopped on the platform, sweeping his senses over the area. He was alone. Closing his eyes, he let himself fall back on the stone. Loce swarmed to him, landing on his thigh, but otherwise stayed silent. Latresekt was clearly still riled up from the fight, pacing tether-space like a caged beast.

Ranvir tried to pick up a loose stone, but his hands shook too much to grasp it properly. Exhaustion and pain infected his every limb. His hands still felt rough and gritty, though he was no longer channeling Sandstorm Rage. His hip had dulled to a low throb, rising whenever he put weight on the leg. He’d jumped in the water after escaping the fight and gotten the acid off, but it still burned. His ribs were the least affected, though even they ached.

He licked dry lips and used both hands to pick up the stone. They shook like an elderly’s at the end of a long workday. Almost felt like the stone was smoother than his own fingers, as he turned it in his hand. Blood, dried and dark, had crawled into the crevices in his fingers. Ranvir’d left a trail of monsters following him, as he’d initially left the fight. They tracked the gore to him until he’d finally cleaned up enough to no longer be worth hunting.

His pants had grown stiff and uncomfortable after drying, the gore-soaked material sticking to his skin.

“Now is not the time,” Ranvir said, a quiet warning to himself. “Can’t do it now.”

He looked down at his fingers again. He knew where the roughness came from, why he was feeling it. It was a film left behind from the entrails. He could feel it in his beard and on his neck as well.

With a groan and a spike of nauseous red and white twinge in his hip, Ranvir got to his feet. “Bury it. Now is not the time. Now is the time of strength,” he threw the stone as hard as he could, watching it sail over the water, landing in the near-distance with a plop. Then he climbed down from the platform and into the water, careful to splash as little as possible.

Soon, he emerged into their little dark and damp cave. He knew Amalia had been looking for another suitable hideout, but hadn’t found one she would commit to yet. This small cavern was cold and terminally wet, and their constant presence had done nothing to assuage this issue. The stone and water simply leeched all the heat right out of the air.

“Ranvir?” Alexis asked, his voice still sounding oddly pitched in the dark.

“Yes,” he replied, pushing out of the water with a groan. The salt had reignited all his wounds, even the mostly restored burn on his forearm.

“Are you okay?”

Ranvir grunted.

“What is that smell?” Alexis’ voice conveyed all the disgust the dark didn’t allow him to express on his face.

Ranvir sighed heavily, dripping onto the stone as he sat opposite him. “Intestinal fluid.”

“Did…” Alexis cleared his throat and spoke with a little more strength. “Did the fight go well?”

Did it? Ranvir thought, rubbing his hands together. They still felt rough. “It is over.”

“Yeah, okay…” Alexis was quiet for a while, which suited Ranvir nicely. He’d almost fallen asleep when the kid spoke up again. Either the cavern was playing tricks with the boy’s voice, the change from boy-to-man was especially rough on throat, or he was getting sick. “I’m going to ask something stupid.”

Wish you wouldn’t, Ranvir thought, but said nothing.

“Why am I alive? I mean, why didn’t you kill me?”

Ranvir straightened slowly, letting out a long breath as his hip twitched in small bursts with the position change. “I didn’t kill you, because I didn’t need to kill you. I didn’t want to.”

“That’s it?” Alexis’ disbelief was hard to hide. “I’m alive because of your whim? You didn’t want to kill me?”

“He’s boiling it down,” Amalia said, having emerged silently from the seawater. She didn’t even leave droplets stepping out. “But that is a fair description.”

“Please, do tell me why he’s decided to let me live then,” Alexis sounded… Ranvir paused to parse his emotions, but found he had neither the energy nor the willingness to do so. “Tell me why I’m still alive.”

“You’re a seventeen-year-old who’s in over their head,” Amalia said. “Not unlike Ranvir himself once was. While you started on the wrong side, Sabas made sure we didn’t think you were part of Mercy’s Redoubt. Likely, he suspected you might give away their goals. But that also means you haven’t actually tried to kill us, including when we’ve left you alone.”

Alexis didn’t reply, so Ranvir tried to tune out their conversation. Perception decided that was going to be nearly impossible, since he had no visual information to process at all.

“Most importantly,” Amalia continued. “I’ve vouched for you. He trusts me and he knows my word is good. Now, why don’t you prove your usefulness for us and prepare some of these,” the scout dropped a bundle of something tied together on the ground.

“What is it?” Alexis asked, leaning forward and grabbing the bundle.

“Thólos mushrooms. They’re an alchemical ingredient, one of a few that’s often used in basic restorative potions.”

Ranvir perked up. “Potions?”

“Not the restorative part, unfortunately,” Amalia quickly clarified. “Thólos is often used in those kinds of potions as it pulls double duty. It can bind whatever restorative element you add into the water, while also being a natural anesthetic.”

“So they’re fancy painkillers?” Alexis asked.

“They’re fancy painkillers.”

“Can you get more than this?” Alexis asked. “If we can get enough into the hulking loaf over there, it might be halfway bearable to be in the space as him.”

Ranvir didn’t reply to the insult, instead turning on his good side, which just so happened to be away from the others.

“What do you mean?” Amalia asked. Apparently, she wasn’t just going to let the insult go. Ranvir almost turned around to tell her not to bother. It wasn’t worth the trouble.

“I don’t know how much you know about sensitives and how it manifests,” Alexis explained. “I’ve got a knack for detecting the emotional state of those around me. No offense, Ranvir, but you feel like guillotine on a fraying string. You never know when it’s going to swing.”

Ranvir tried not to react, but he couldn’t fully stop the convulsion in his stomach.

“Is that true, Ranvir?”

“I’m fine.”

“He’s lying.”

“She’s just sensing Latresekt,” that reply caused the spirit of war to snort a laugh.

“How would she detect me? Through all the layers of anima that make up your tether-space, I’m basically invisible.”

Amalia put a hand on his shoulder, “Get some rest, we’ll talk about it later.”

Grunting again, Ranvir wasn’t sure how else to react.

Amalia got Alexis started on the thólos mushroom tea. Though the binding agent would not be immediately useful, finding an anesthetic in the fold was very useful. At least they didn’t have to worry about running out then. Eventually, Ranvir would have to get up and treat the new wounds he’d gotten, but for now, he could lie down and get a bit of rest.

Though his mind wouldn’t let sleep, he found it soothing to listen as Amalia and Alexis talked while boiling the mushrooms. How they shared small inconsequential stories from their daily lives. They were the kind of stories Ranvir always had a hard time sharing, the kind that didn’t seem to stick in his mind.

“At this point, me being sensitive was already confirmed. Even my empathic inclination was already within the local merchant guild journals. But somehow, this guy just hadn’t done his research. I sensed the greed rolling off him in bloated yellow waves.”

“So you knew he was trying to take advantage of you?” Amalia asked.

“Obviously,” Alexis replied. “Anyway, I told my dad I had to use the restroom. Instead, I went to find mom and explain the situation to her. Once I’d returned, she came rushing in, complaining loudly about some imaginary tramp. She hauled dad out of the room by his ear. Of course, it was just an excuse to explain the situation to him.”

“Something in the way you said that last bit makes me think there was a secondary benefit,” Amalia said knowingly.

“With my skills, you get used to ‘over-hearing’ emotions.”

“So you’re saying your dad—“

“I’m not saying anything,” Alexis cut her off. “And you better not be inferring anything about my parents’ relationship. Even if you are, you did not hear it from me.”

Amalia chuckled. “I get it. Young people can be quite sensitive about that kind of stuff.”

“’Sensitive’ very funny.”

“From my perspective, I’d much rather my parents got along a little too well.”

“They didn’t get along?”

“Like oil and fire.”

“Sounds… volatile.”

“Check the thólos. You should be able to poke right through them.”