Alana continues to berate her older brother for a good hour, accompanied by a few more kicks to his stomach. She also has Bell heal him before beating him again. It’s not enough to break the stalwart scout. Despite the numerous insults she hurls at him, despite her threats, Khan refuses to talk. He may be the odd bird in the flock with his aversion to violence but he is still a northerner and a James. He has an iron will.

And perhaps his seer was not entirely off the mark because Alana doesn’t take it any further than a few bruises. She could easily break his fingers and snap his legs. Scoop out his eyes or pull out his tongue. Skin him alive or feed him his own organs. With two healers with little or very corrupted morals on hand, there are a lot of options to break a man. Not to mention the far more direct route of having Bell pull it out of his head. I even offered. But for reasons I completely understand, she refuses.

Instead, she chooses to let her father handle his obstinate son. Another thing Khan didn’t expect. He faced the threat of death with no problem but one mention of his sister tattling on him made the bronze-skinned man visibly pale. He spent the minutes it took Bell to find some rope and tie him up trying to convince Alana that abandoning him to the mercy of the duke would be a terrible idea.

That evolves into mild begging when she doesn’t flinch. It ends with Alana gagging him and handing him off to Geneva who is happy to drag him around as she patrols the camp. Alana doesn’t trust that slamming a stake to the ground and tying him to it is enough to keep him contained.

“So, what are we going to do about this?” I ask once we’re tucked into our pleasantly cramped bedroll, Alana squished between Kierra and me.

“It’s a mess, isn’t it?” she sighs. The angry demon that mercilessly stomped on her older brother is gone. Even the grim commander of our army is missing. A tired young woman has taken their place. She looks like thinking about the consequences of Khan is the last thing she wants to do but she also looks like she’s thinking about it anyway. I know from experience that trying to coddle her is the wrong move and is likely to get me punched. Better to get right to the problem.

She splays her hand over my chest. “We’ve got several problems. The biggest is this supposed world-ending threat. I chewed out Khan earlier but that is scary. So scary we can’t leave it alone.”

“Even if investigating it will start a war?” I ask.

Kierra is the one to answer, starting with a derisive scoff. “Better to war with the enemy you know than the one you do not. You do not leave a threat to fester, dedia, little star. You do not trust the goodwill of strangers. It is possible that these guardians are exactly as they have presented themselves to the soft shadow. It is also possible they are up to a nefarious purpose and are using your brother, and Lou’s ancestor, to hold off the human armies.”

“What could they be doing that takes four centuries?” Alana asks with obvious disbelief.

“That is only an unbelievable span of time to one who thinks a century of life is long. We are also speaking of a possible world-ending threat. The world is a very large place. I would be very disappointed if something that could threaten the whole of it did not take at least a few centuries to harness.”

Alana hesitates at her words. “…you’re not wrong and I can’t say I haven’t thought the same. We have to know what they are protecting. But if we investigate, we start a war. Worse, we could risk having them unleash the threat to spite us. Or we do nothing and risk them wielding said threat. Which, great, no rampant destruction, but Victory and Harvest are undoubtedly screwed. Especially because there’s nowhere left to run.”

She covers her face with both hands. “All of which are far too big for me to be making the decision. Saints, I’m getting a stomachache just thinking about it.”

“Which is why you want to throw Khan to your father.”

“Is that so bad?” she borderline whines. “All I wanted from this campaign was to slay a few monsters, outdo my brother, avoid my sister, and introduce you to my mother. I did not sign on for saving the world.”

“Thought you’d be jumping at the chance.”

She whines harder, kicking my shin. I pull her hands from her face, revealing a scowl. “Hey. It’ll be fine. We’ll figure it out together, no matter what this big secret is.”

“You do not have to figure it out alone,” Kierra adds. “A seer has revealed a world-ending threat. From Lou’s reaction, I take it this is a fantastical event for humanity but my people have dealt with those who delve into the future. We have established protocols for it.”

I perk up. “Are you saying—"

“I will have to write to the queen once we return. We have learned from history. If there is another global threat brewing, the provinces will want to be involved. Also, these titans are more than enough to entice elven warriors.” She grins viciously. “For the next campaign, you could have an army of my people marching for you, though you may not be in charge. That is something you would have to duel my mother for and I would spare you that.”

Wow. Suddenly, the idea of a war with the north is not so daunting.

Alana also doesn’t look so dour with the offer of elven aid to take the pressure off her shoulders. “Are you sure? Is our word enough to march an army?”

Kierra chuckles. “I think you do not understand my position. Not unexpected as I am nothing more than an oddity in your kingdom.”

“Don’t say that,” I grumble, despite agreeing with her. She does not have a title that reflects her ability, ancestry, or experience. When people think of her, they think “that strange elf” or “ the green woman”. The more informed recognize her by her pure affinity but not her power, though that may change after the incident with the hunters. She deserves better.

The elf flashes me a smile that says my thoughts are plastered on my face again. “My mother commands Dusk’s army. My aunt is the queen. I was a commander with a strong reputation, though I imagine it has waned. My father has a grander reputation. My siblings are well-known too. The Atainna are royalty. Have been for longer than your kingdom has existed. My word, and by extension my family’s, can move the provinces.”

“Well, I’m reassured.” Hah! Alana thinks she’s relieved throwing the problem to her father. That cannot compare to how I feel knowing I can throw it to Morgene Atainna, the woman who managed to trap Kierra for twenty years using a fraction of her power. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, sweetie.”

“What if the seer knows what we’re planning and accelerates whatever plan they have? Can we afford to wait? Like you said, this could all be a ploy to buy time.”

“Could be,” I agree. “Could also be that you worrying is what they want because they don’t have a plan. Could be that us marching an elven army is exactly what they want because they need a thousand long ears to activate this world-ending threat. It could be anything. That’s the problem of dealing with seers. That’s why you don’t deal with them and why you should have let me throw your brother out before he opened his mouth.”

She sighs. “…you might be right but it’s too late for that now.”

“Which leaves us our backup plan. Don’t think about it. We can’t do anything about the seer. Can’t outthink them, can’t out anticipate them. It’ll just make us crazy and paranoid. So, ignore it. The seer doesn’t exist. Approach this problem as if there isn’t an entity peering into your future and hope we’re strong enough to deal with any obstacles that get in the way.”

“That’s…decent advice.”

“You don’t have to sound so surprised.”

“Mm. Thanks.” Alana lets out a deep sigh. “You’re right. Worrying about what a seer can and can’t see doesn’t help. It’s just like a fight. Doesn’t matter if your opponent can see your swing if they’re too slow to dodge. We give Khan to my father, march on Quest for the guilds’ resources, write the elven monarchs for reinforcements, and wage a proper war next winter. To save the world. Can’t believe I’m saying that.”

My elf chuckles while throwing an arm over both of us. “When I first met Lou, I knew such a strange creature would have an interesting fate. You wasted no time in proving me right, my love.”

Something tells me things are only going to get more interesting from here.