>>6116957Martik nods. The pair of you frog-crawl back the way you came, moving one at a time. Better take it slow or some sentry might spot you.
This place is all rugged cliffs and windtossed rock. There's crevices a plenty. You think you saw one, some ways back, out of the way and up a little climb. You wouldn't think much of it if you passed by. It won't be too comfortable. But it seemed safe, remote and if you squirrel in, spread your packs out and get in close, you can just about fit two people comfortable. Scarlett spends some time making it all safer. Maybe bringing all that gearwrigting along wasn't such a waste of time after all, for all that it was heavy to carry?
Martik prepares a meal. You're both bone tired. Fatigued beyond measure. Jittery from adrenaline, long hauls, fights, horror. The stars above are crisp, clear and tinged with a gentle flicker of rainbow. Atmospheric wrackwind. Aurora Aikaini. You get that sometimes. It's meant to be a sign of luck. Things changing for the better.
You watch the flickering ghostlights in the high skies for a while. You don't need campfire out here. The temperature cools yet never gets too cold. The wind avoids your little dip in the rock. Martik find a good natured, shy smile and reveals to Scarletts utter incredolence that for the last hundred kilometers of long march he's been holding on to a single wrapped bar of chocolate and licking a bit of the melted sugary stuff whenever he wants to celebrate something. He offers a somewhat smeared piece. Got it all off a trader at the Needle.
Yeah, where the Commander got those maps and we bought the mules, right?
Right.
Man, you think the mule is okay?
They're stubborn beasts.
Right.
Zivka's got it. She's got a good hand with animals. If anyone can bring it back, it's her.
Yeah. Yeaaah. Yeaaaah.
Hey.
Mhm?
Shooting star.
Oh, that means luck. Well, unless you're Reikan, then I think it's a bad sign. We should ask Stalwart.
You think they made it out?
I hope so
Edward, Zivka, that government courier? They'll be okay. The Windsworn were retreating.
What was that all about? The food? The water? That black bread?
Scarlett doesn't know. So much happened. Some invitation. A ritual, of hospitality and generousity. Gifts given freely to those who wish to partake. Sometimes Iconography is like that, all rituals and acts and small parts of some larger play. There's a trick to it. Maybe Phridon could explain it all better. The needles aren't even neccessary, are they? It's a metaphor given form. You want to knit the world like its meant to be. Maybe the Feast is like that? They got the villagers to make bread and set the table, so they lure someone in. Offer it.
Yeah, they got someone - us
Right. Maybe that's the trick of it. They wanted us to come in. Out of everyone in all the Wastes, we got to that village. And that Operative
The whip thin frightening one?
Yeah. She said something. Something about the Company, the Commander, the Client.
