Spring 4995, 13 Buromoth

Tristen held many opinions about the members of this motley crew. But none were as contradictory as the ones he had of the Hengist representative.

On the one hand, Shon was precisely the kind of soldier Tristen preferred working with. Disciplined, loyal, professional. He was a steady rock in the storm of chaotic personalities, motivations, and behaviors that were the rest of the team. Of all of them, Tristen thought he might actually be able to confide in Shon as he might a Paladin of his own order.

On the other hand, Shon had an ultimatum, refusing some of their orders. Such was unthinkable for a follower of Saint Giorgos, who considered law and royal decrees sacrosanct. Tristen could no more refuse an order than he could kill a member of the royal family.

But even in heresy, Shon followed professional protocols. He hadn't kept it a secret from his command and followed the counter orders to keep it confidential. 

In addition, the one battle they'd experienced together had shown Tristen that Shon was a true devotee of Hengist. The Protector. The man had fought and killed without flinching. He had even stepped in to save Tristen, despite the knight's armor and healing ability. Precisely as a Paladin of Hengist would. Shon would risk his life for this team, and not only because he half hoped to lose it.

Tristen couldn't imagine a greater or more honest ally than Shon was already proving to be. If things had been different, they could've been friends. They might still be. If Tristen didn't mess things up more than he already had. 

Part of him was ashamed for insisting on bringing Shon here. Risking his mental and emotional health and causing him so much pain. And yet, the man was neck-deep in this Warlock business. He'd been here when the Firewyrm escaped and had even been the one to find her. He'd participated in the battle when the Warlocks attacked Hamerfoss, though he was only a Squire at the time. And years later, Shon had been involved in both conflicts with the Warlocks in Lenare and Swailand.

So Tristen felt justified in wanting to keep Shon close as they retraced the history of this shadowy cult.  Of course, no one else on the team knew how long or deep Shon's history with the dragon cult was, so they wouldn't understand Tristen's motivation.

Then there was the relationship Shon had with the Firewyrm... If Tristan wanted to keep Shon's ultimatum quiet, then he needed to keep the man close. Not send him on a mission with one or two of the others to meet with the trainers of both Shon and the Firewyrm. Or that's what he'd told himself. He had to admit that Shon's naturally introverted nature had done far more to keep the secret than anything Tristen did by changing the subject or sending messages ahead.

Tristen dressed just after dawn, taking only a moment to acknowledge the dark rings under his eyes in the mirror provided. The Paladin had spent the night after the team's short meeting reviewing Shon's files and history, and finishing a letter to the General of Smildna. Tristen had used his authority as a representative of the King to see it delivered to her even in the middle of the night. He'd warned her of their desire to have an unofficial gate authorized directly to the tower and of Shon's presence on their team; requesting that she keep his involvement with the incidents here confidential. 

The Mages Guild living quarters consisted of six stories, hollow in the middle with an illusion of the sky in the roof, letting the morning sun in as if they were in a tube. On each story, balconies looked over the 'courtyard' on the bottom floor, with stairs spiraling around the outside wall. Tristen exited his room to find the tower still sleeping. Mages were notorious for being night owls, late to bed, late to wake. So the only ones up were those of his team that were also early risers. Alena came out of her room just as Tristen was closing his door, and though she offered him a cordial nod, she didn't smile at him as she usually would. Would she ever forgive him?

Alena turned her back on him and moved for Shon's door, knocking gently on the wood but receiving no answer. "Shon?" she called. No response. She checked the handle, and finding it unlocked, peeked in, calling again, "Shon?" she turned a worried frown Tristen's way, "He's not here..."

Tristen furrowed his brow and joined her, then noticed the man's boots set neatly beside the door. The Paladin bent to pick up the discarded footwear just as Ryuuko flew by the edge of the balcony with a whistle. Shon ran their way after the familiar, slowing only marginally as he neared. Tristen held out the boots, opening his mouth to question the man only to have Shon grab the footwear and continue his run -quiet enough on bare feet not to wake anyone. 

 Tristen and Alena moved to the railing and watched as Shon continued to run down the stairs to the floor below, then around that balcony, and down again to the ground floor. 

"Did he run all the way to the top and back down again?" Alena asked. 

Tristen could only shake his head in wonder but said, "He runs every morning." 

Alena nodded, muttering, "Routines are comforting." 

They watched as Shon jogged to the middle of the courtyard. It was on the third floor of the tower -the bottom floor of the living quarters- but was planted like a garden, with grass, benches, and even trees. There, he slipped his boots on and started his drills just as Oswall and Ebonwing came out of their respective rooms, yawning and stretching.

Catching sight of Tristen and Alena looking down, they both did the same. Oswall huffed, "Does he ever take a day off?" 

Ebonwing sighed, "Apparently not..." then she shrugged and changed into a crow.

Before she could skip the long walk and fly down, Tristen called to her, "Druid Ebonwing!" She banked around the edge of the balcony, then landed on the railing to tilt her head at him without changing back. "Please wake up Ranito. I want to be in Smilnda within the hour." 

She cawed indignantly at Tristen, and Oswall snickered, "If you'd just walked with the rest of us, he might have gone himself." 

Ebonwing took off, swooping down to pull Oswall's hair as she flew past and up four stories to the Archmage's room. Oswall cursed, and Tristen sighed, taking a moment to try and banish the budding headache before he joined the others on their way down to the dining room. 

The room was deserted, but the enchanted plates that provided the Mages with their food were stacked neatly on a side table. Taking one each and finding a table large enough for all of them, they gave their orders to the plates. Ebonwing and Ranito appeared by the time the bland food popped into existence, and not long after, Shon joined them. 

Tristen watched as the man grabbed a plate and was glad when he came to their table rather than sitting alone in the otherwise empty room. But then he only ordered bacon and immediately started feeding it to Ryuuko without taking any for himself...

Alena cleared her throat, "Shon..." he looked up but didn't bother to arch an eyebrow at her. And Tristen saw him for the first time since their arrival. His face was a cold mask. Emotionless. Like a construct.

Tristen flinched. He really had been a fool. A cruel fool. For bringing Shon here. 

"You need to eat too," Alena told Shon, her voice soft.

Shon's answer was flat, his sword pommel a steady dark blue, "I'm fine." 

"You've hardly eaten for three days," Alena argued.

"I'm-" Shon started again, but Oswall interrupted.

"I thought Hengist didn't approve of lies."

Tristen nearly choked on his eggs. Hadn't Os been the one to tell them not to talk about it?

Shon's expression didn't change, though his sword started to swirl, growing ever so slightly lighter. He corrected, "I'm functional."

But then Ebonwing chimed in, "Functional people eat." 

Shon took one of the pieces of bacon and ate it rather than argue. Ryuuko whistled happily.

Alena poked at her food, then sighed and asked, "Do you want to talk about it?" 

Tristen glanced up, but Shon didn't. Oswall snorted, but it was Ranito who said, "My dear Alena, our icy friend here doesn't ever want to talk. Why would this be any different?"

"I just... It might help..." Alena said. 

Shon didn't respond. 

Ebonwing chimed in, "We know how-"

Shon stood and walked away. Dropping off his plate, he left the dining room.

Oswall sighed. Taking out his tobacco and pinching a wad into his lip, he said, "Well, that answers that." he stood, "Let's go. This blasted province is only half as cold as he is, and I don't want to spend any more time here than we have to."

The party found Shon waiting for them in the gate room with a sleepy-looking Mage on duty to cast the spell that would take them to Smilnda. Shon walked with them through the gate and Smilnda Mages Guild atrium without hesitation. Though when they reached the exit, Tristen held out a staying hand to the man. 

Shon stopped and watched Tristen with blank eyes. The Paladin cleared his throat, whispering, "You may wait here, Master Sergeant. I realize this is your hometown and..." But Shon walked past him and out the door. 

Cold from outside washed over them, and all but Shon shivered, pulling their cloaks closer. They let Shon lead the way to the Temple of Hengist, though once they reached it, Tristen retook point. The Paladin guards were expecting them and escorted the team to the General's office. 

It was a moderately sized utilitarian room with few personal belongings and a single window. At that window stood a woman with steel gray hair tied back in a tight bun, her white and blue uniform immaculately pressed and calloused hands clasped behind her straight back.

A Paladin who'd earned her rank in the field; she could've led anywhere. The capital, and thus command the entire province, or even petition to be General of the Army of Hengist in Deim, and therefore sit on the king's council and rule the entire organization. Instead, she'd chosen the second largest city in her home province and reportedly saw the job of leading the Temple here as a form of 'retirement.' She outstripped Tristen in rank, experience, and bearing. General Rasnah. 

The General turned her head and arched an impressive eyebrow at the party, looking over each one as they entered, resting on Shon for only a fraction longer than the others. Without a word, she gestured for the six chairs waiting before her desk and they all took their seats like children waiting to be scolded by a headmistress—all but Shon, who had saluted and stood at parade rest by the door.

She didn't comment or spare him another glance. Instead, Rasnah rounded her desk, sitting like a queen on her throne, and addressed Tristen. "I received your missive, Colonel, and the Guild is prepared to gate you directly to the tower once we are done here."

"Thank you, General." Tristen bowed on instinct from his seat, and though he would generally leave it at that, he felt the impulse to add, "My apologies for the late request..." There was something particularly imposing, almost divine, about this woman—a faithful and long-time servant of Hengist.

She nodded in acknowledgment and laced her fingers together on her desk, getting straight to the point, "You wish for your team to hear, first hand, what we learned all those years ago?"

"Yes, Sir, General Rasnah," Tristen answered respectfully.

Once again, she nodded, then began the long story. 

"Fourteen years ago, there was an attack by draken on one of our villages. They kidnapped two individuals, Sorcerers, though we didn't know their nature at the time. I sent a team, including the Master Monk, Veon-Zih, to hunt the draken. They found the guilty tribe, and Master Veon-Zih himself fought a Warlock with them. She escaped through a portal that dissolved into ash. Though we attempted to track them, we found nothing. Five years later, however, Master Veon-Zih ran into another Warlock attempting to smuggle dragon scale into the province. This Warlock was captured but was executed, magically, by the Warlocks before we could question him..." 

At this point, Ranito lifted a hand, "Executed how, General?" 

She arched an eyebrow at the Mage and he gestured to the others, clarifying, "For everyone who wasn't here at the time."

"He burst into black flame and was burned to ash in a matter of moments. I understand that the same happened to the apprentices captured in Swailand last year." Rasnah explained. 

Ranito started making notes in his book, saying, "Ah, so you know about that..."

Rasnah actually smiled, a lopsided grin with only one side of her mouth tilting up. "I have made it my business to stay abreast of the Warlocks ever since they showed up in my province back then."

She continued her story, "We attempted to track the smuggling operation but hit nothing but dead ends. A few weeks after was when we found the tower." She didn't even glance at Shon, though Tristen had to resist doing so. It was Shon who'd found the burning tower. It seemed Rasnah had taken seriously his request to keep the man's ties confidential.

"The tower was completely destroyed, as you will soon see, all but one occupant killed. Though we found ten corpses, we were only able to identify a few of them-" 

"You couldn't identify all of them?" Alena interrupted, then blushed. 

Rasnah didn't seem the least bit insulted, however, and just nodded to the Cleric, "No, Vicar. You will understand when you see the tower, but I was honestly pleased to have what we did. Those we did identify led to Swailand. I sent Master Veon-Zih as my representative in Horsa territory." The name of her god's nemesis came out as a snarl, and she paused to clear her expression before she continued. Oswall huffed.

"They ran into nothing but dead ends there as well. Each of the individuals found here had been declared dead there in years previous. The last interaction we had with Warlocks in this province happened another month later. When an army of draken and a Warlock riding a wyvern attacked Hamerfoss in an attempt to retrieve the girl, Lily."

General Rasnah finally looked at Shon. Just a quick glance and back again, before she finished, "We believe the Warlock leading the attack was the same that escaped Master Veon-Zih before, and I believe the same that escaped Swailand last year. The one Miss Lily named Shaloon."

Oswall hummed, "If so, she's quite the escape artist. That's what? Three times? Might be better just to eliminate that one right away if we see her," He shrugged and spat into his flask, "rather than letting her get away again."

"Perhaps," Rasnah answered, then turned back to Tristen, "There is only one other thing I can tell you. Miss Lily named one other possible Warlock, Archmage Morndancer. The man appeared, injured and insane, around the same time the tower was destroyed. The Temple of Saint Giorgos determined that I didn't have enough evidence to arrest him. Though he lives, he is virtually nonfunctional and stays here in the city with his family. I've kept an eye on him, but I fear you will get nothing of use from him." 

Tristen nodded. He'd read up on this man, Morndancer. But had reached the same conclusion as his predecessor. Too much of the evidence was circumstantial and depended on a traumatized teenager's testimony. In a Hengist-ruled province, where all were innocent until proven guilty, the accusations were not legally viable. Perhaps if it had been a Horsa province, but Saint Giorgos enforced the laws of the kingdom and specific land. As it was, they couldn't execute him without proof that his insanity was caused by his being a Warlock. In addition, Morndancer's insanity was non-violent, he reportedly helped care for his grandchildren but would occasionally lapse into periods of non-functionality, muttering incomprehensibly and staring into the distance. 

"Thank you, Sir Rasnah." Tristen glanced over his shoulder to the rest of his team, "Do any of you have questions?" 

Oswall had his arms crossed but raised his fingers, "I'd like the files on your investigation into the smuggling. I have a few contacts that specialize." 

Tristen half expected Sir Rasnah to scowl, but instead, she nodded, "I will have copies sent to you in Deim and request only that you report any new findings to me."

Oswall shrugged, "Fair enough. Can't give you my contacts though." 

"Understandable." Rasnah conceded. She apparently was a practical-minded one, unlike many Paladins Tristen knew. Including himself, if he was honest. He had to remind himself almost daily that Oswall's... less than legal... contacts, were of more use to him and the kingdom free than arrested for minor charges.

"Well," Ranito said, snapping his book shut, "If that's everything, then we should get to the tower. I've heard reports and seen illusory images, but this will be my first time seeing it in person."

General Rasnah stood and gestured for the door but added, "I caution you not to get your hopes up..."

"We will see. Thank you again, General." Tristen said, then led his team out of the office. 

*** 

Rasnah watched as the team filed out. All but Shon, who waited by the door to go last. Perfect. "A moment, Shon," she said, careful to use his name and not his rank. 

He showed no emotion, but his familiar whistled, cocking its head at her informality.

The Cleric woman hesitated in the doorway, turning to ask, "General?" but then looked at Shon with concern painted clear as day across her face. This one was cut of the same cloth as Rasnah's old friend Father Branston, also a Cleric of Soleil. That was good. Shon would need capable and caring allies in the adventures to come. Especially now that Veon-Zih wasn't with him.

Rasnah gave the Cleric her lopsided grin, explaining to both her and Shon, "I was just hoping for a private word concerning a personal matter. A mutual friend. Nothing to do with the Temple or this mission." 

"Oh... " the Cleric glanced at Shon again, who took a step further into the office, his back to her. "We'll wait outside, Shon..." she said. Ryuuko whistled, and the Cleric sighed but left, closing the door behind her. 

Rasnah resumed her seat, leaning back in it and trying to relax. It was admittedly difficult, even for her, with Shon so stiff and... blank. His stunning blue eyes were partly obscured by his hair and seemed unfocused. "Veon-Zih wrote to tell me he'd finally retired..." she led. 

Shon nodded mutely.

"With Master Velona..." Rasnah tried. 

Something stirred in Shon's eyes, and his sword shifted, swirling from navy blue to robin's egg, "They deserve to be happy." he mumbled. 

And you don't? Rasnah thought. Instead, she said, "They do. And I wanted to thank you for that." 

Shon arched an eyebrow. The expression made Rasnah grin. He'd picked that up from Veon-Zih, who had, in turn, picked it up from her.

"I believe you were the catalyst for this, Shon. So I thank you for it." she explained, "He may complain about your stubbornness, and I remember it well myself, but he's just as bad. He used his vows to his Monastery as an excuse to deny himself rest and happiness."

Shon furrowed his brow as if to argue, but Rasnah interrupted, "I've known him since we were both your age Shon. He found something with Master Velona and chose his vows over it and her. I have my own Oaths, so I understood that, but then he chose to continue punishing himself for years after. He refused to test up to Grandmaster, which would have allowed him to be with her again. And he could have. Long before you met him."

Rasnah shook her head and leaned forward to rest her arms on her desk, looking down pointedly at his left hand and the ring on it. "You are the one who finally convinced him to take that freeing rank. And it was your relationship with Miss Lily that inspired him to take a risk on love and life off the road. And for that, I thank you." 

Shon noticed her gaze and clenched his hand into a fist, bringing it up and staring at his knuckles. Ryuuko trilled and nuzzled his cheek, wrapping its tail around his neck. "I'm..." Shon started, then squeezed his eyes closed and dropped his fist, "I'm glad nothing can keep them apart." 

Rasnah answered in a whisper, "You know it was a political decision and not a divine one?" She'd looked into it at Veon-Zih's request, and the Temple had denied Shon's marriage request, not because Hengist demanded it, but because politics and the kingdom had. 

"Does it matter?" Shon spat, his sword shifting to a sky blue with his emotions before he took a deep breath, locking them away, and it returned to a darker shade. 

"It should." Rasnah answered, "No mission lasts forever. You can request again."

Shon looked away, towards the door, ready for the conversation to be over, "I'm used to being denied." He took another breath, though he hadn't shown a flare of emotion as before, and turned back to Rasnah to finish, "But there are benefits to being enlisted. I don't need their permission." 

Rasnah sighed but answered, "True." She wasn't about to argue with Shon about his mild hypocrisy. That he would continue to hold himself to Paladin standards for all but a few things, such as his hair, uniform, and apparently, Lily. Personally, she agreed with Veon-Zih that it would be healthier for him to let go in a few other areas as well. Move on... But now wasn't the time to bring it up.

She stood, the General once more, "Your team will want to seek out Master Veon-Zih after this. He is in Oane, Ryukyu village. You may tell Sir Tristen that I will contact him while you're at the tower. I will brief him on the mission and your command's request to keep certain... aspects... confidential."

"Sir." Shon saluted, and though Rasnah hesitated, looking him over once more, eventually, she returned it. Shon made a sharp about-face and left her office without another word. 

*** 

Alena and the others dawned their armor while the Mages set up a gate to the Warlock tower. She resisted talking to Shon as he waited by the door at parade rest. It was quite a process to cast a teleport to an unofficial location. Still, it was at least a little easier once they dug out the history of the place.

The magical portal opened onto a winter forest. Tall evergreens, their branches covered in thick snow, shaded the ground, creating a shadowy landscape more like a cave than woods. She watched as Shon followed the rest through. Once again, she waited for him as she had in the office. She hadn't wanted to leave him alone, even with the General. Maybe especially with her, considering his reaction to running into a Paladin from his past before.

She kept an eye on him and saw him freeze after turning left to follow the others. "Shon..." Alena started in a whisper, then nearly ran into Oswall, who'd also stopped.

The Rogue cursed loudly, sending birds flying from the younger trees before them and dropping snow from low branches onto the ground below. "Horsa's stone heart, it's fucking cold on this gods damned island, and they expect us to fucking hike to the tower? Where the hells is it?" 

The others glanced around. There was nothing but pines and a pile of boulders, all of which were covered in deep stubborn snow. There wasn't even an indication of which direction they should go. 

"I can fly up and see if I can find it..." Ebonwing offered.

"They should have sent us directly to it..." Ranito said.

Shon sighed and finally spoke, "They did." Ryuuko thrummed a low vibration from deep in its chest and took off from Shon's shoulder, circling the snow-covered rock. Shon followed, bending to brush it off. Alena gasped. It wasn't a pile of mountain boulders; it was a mound of melted stone.

"Cathbad's natural fury..." Ebonwing breathed, "That was a tower?" at its height, the remnants were no taller than Tristen. 

Shon nodded, and the others moved slowly to stand beside him. 

"I see now why Sir Rasnah was glad to have any bodies to identify..." Alena said, walking around the melted stone that had once been a multistory tower.

"They managed to clear an entrance to the basement level. Let's find it." Tristen said.

The team started climbing over the ruins, Oswall muttering loudly, "Snow in fucking spring! Damn frozen province..." before dissolving into grumbles. 

It was Ebonwing who found it, in the center of the pile that Alena now recognized as being a little too circular to be natural. "Here!" The Druid called, "it had a central stair like the one in Swailand..." she tilted her head down at the hole, "at least I assume it was stairs, more like a slide now..."

They clambered their way over the melted stones, and Oswall balanced by the hole, hands on hips. He examined the entrance for a moment, then reached into one of many pockets in his coat and pulled out a rope and grappling hook. He grumbled incoherently, then slammed the grapple into a crack and tested the rope before starting down. Alena followed the others' lead when it was her turn, holding the line in one hand and resting her other on the wall as she slid her feet down the spiral cleared by the previous investigation. 

Once they reached the bottom, they found a cave-like tunnel that must have once looked much like the basement of the tower in Swailand, with openings on either side for rooms off the central hall. Except this one had a single extra room just off the stairs landing. 

"Well, this, at least, was the same," Ranito said, confirming Alena's observation. "If we assume the top level was the same as the other one, then we can use the blueprint from the one in Swailand to identify abandoned Warlock towers in future."

"What happened to it?" Ebonwing asked, running her fingers along the tunnel's drooping walls, "It's like a volcano erupted in here..." 

"It was the Firewoman," Tristen answered, starting down the tunnel, "by her own admission, she lost control of her power and did this at sixteen."

Oswall choked and dropped his flask, a bit of brown spittle dribbling down his chin. He wiped his mouth and said, "And the kingdom wants us to bring her in? Against her will? How?"

"Very carefully, Staff Sergeant," Tristen answered without turning around. He gestured down the hall, "And this is exactly why we need to bring her in. She is exceedingly dangerous, even if she isn't a dragon."

"I would think, Sir Tristen," Ranito said, "that this would offer compelling evidence that she is. No normal Sorcerer could do this."

"All the more reason," Tristen said.

The others continued down the hall, but Alena hesitated as Shon turned and instead entered the room off the stairs. She followed him slowly, wanting to stay close but still keep a respectful distance. The room was only about ten feet square, and Shon walked around the perimeter in silence, his hand brushing the stone as he went. When he reached the wall opposite the door, Ryuuko whistled and crawled down Shon's arm to sniff at something.

Alena came closer to where the pseudodragon clawed at streaks of something shiny dripping down the wall. "Metal?" Alena asked, reaching up to brush her fingers across the cold steel. She followed the trail up to what might have once been an opening, small and set high in the wall, though stone had collapsed and melted beyond it. 

"Bars," Shon said, making her jump. He stared up at the once-window, "She was locked in here. For sixteen years. Her entire life." His fingers curled into a tight fist against the wall, though his voice held no more emotion now than it had that morning, "She was locked in this little room behind these bars. Poked and prodded by Warlocks who claimed to be Mages." his fist loosened, and he let the hand fall, "To a prisoner, they're the same." he turned to look down at her and Alena's breath caught at the pale blue of his eyes. Eyes that looked... not dead... but yet still lifeless. Frozen. "And the kingdom wonders why she won't agree to be held in their Guild tower." Shon finished. 

Alena swallowed. He had known her, adventured with her for a little while at least. But, "The kingdom is different. We-"

But Shon turned his back on the bars and left the room. Alena heard him begin climbing up the spiral tunnel and took a deep breath. They were different. They had to be. 

She left the room and nearly jumped out of her armor as Oswall spoke from beside the door, "Can't blame her. You know?" 

"Don't do that!" Alena snapped at the deceptively sneaky man. She clenched her fist over her heart, trying to calm it, but said, "You don't want to bring her in?" 

Oswall shrugged, pushing off the wall and going for the tunnel up as well, "I follow orders, just like you lot."

The Rogue climbed up easily, but Alena had to use the rope to pull her way back to fresh air. The three of them waited for the others without talking. Ebonwing flew up as a crow, circling the tower with Neg -who hadn't come down with them- while Ranito and Tristen huffed and puffed their way up the steep incline as Alena had. 

Once they were all present, Oswall retrieved his grapple and asked around the smoke pursed between his lips, "So where to next? Back to Deim?" 

"Almost," Tristen answered, "We have two more people to talk to, assuming we can find them." Then he looked at Shon for some reason.

Shon stared back blankly but said, "Oane." 

Oswall rolled his eyes dramatically, "Oh good, an entire province, and another frozen one, I bet..."

Shon blinked slowly, then clarified, "Ryukyu village." 

"Shon?" Alena asked. But it was Tristen who answered, 

"Grandmaster Veon-Zih, who was the one who did the fieldwork for General Rasnah, and Master Velona, who trained the Firewoman, have retired to Oane. After we speak to them, we will return to Deim and start the real work." 

Oswall stomped his way through the snow towards the gate that waited open for them, "Let's get this over with then. I vote we start the 'real work' in the south, where it's at least livable." 

*** 

They stayed in Smilnda for one night. The others went into the city to shop and explore, but Shon stayed in his room at the Mages Guild with Ryuuko, reading through Lily's letters again and trying to journal. 

He drew what was left of the tower, but the image kept being overwritten in his mind's eye with the first time he'd seen it. When it was still burning. He was glad he didn't have his journals from that time to check the accuracy of his memory... He didn't want to remember that time at all. Or any of the time before or after. 

But the memories were so vivid... The tower engulfed in fire, sending sparks and billowing black smoke into the sky; the stench of burned husks that had once been humans facedown in the mud as if they'd been trying to flee; a shadowy figure with long hair whipping around its naked form looming just beyond a dripping doorway.

He'd been so tired. Physically and magically drained after working with the Archmage Ivelm to make his sealing item. Still, he'd dropped to his knees and used what power he could to make a road of ice to the tower. Holding the doorway in place and giving the figure a place to go before the stones could crush it.

Lily... That had been the first time he'd seen her. Back before she had a name. 

She would never let the Warlocks or Mages hold her in another tower. 

"They don't care..." Shon whispered to Ryuuko, "...what it would do to her to lock her up again." He pet the little dragon's smooth scales, thinking of the scarlet scales that snaked around Lily's soft skin, "She is fire and can't be contained. If they try, she will either burn the container, or... be smothered." Ryuuko whistled and nuzzled his cheek.

Shon closed his journal and leaned his head back to stare, unseeing, at the ceiling. He was better than yesterday. Numb. Which was better than hurting, spiraling. But thinking of that time threatened to send him back down that path, so he forced himself to think of something else. But just landed on General Rasnah and Veon-Zih. 

She'd said he was a catalyst for the change his master had made toward happiness... Shon didn't believe it. Couldn't. He'd been nothing but a burden to his master... 

She'd said that Veon-Zih was stubborn, like Shon. But Shon wasn't just stubborn; he was frozen. Locked in stasis. Unable to move on from his past and a future that couldn't be.

"I need to get out of here, Ryuuko. Away from this place and back on mission..." But he was already on a mission. A mission to hunt Lily. "No." Shon told himself out loud, "Hunt the Warlocks that kept her." he had to hold to that. That's what she asked him to do. Ryuuko whistled its encouragement and wrapped its tail around his neck tightly, then sent him an image of Veon-Zih.

That made Shon sigh. Yes. They were going to see his master, and that was the best thing for him right now. He needed to talk to the man about everything.

And after that? They were finally going to get started on the real work... Working on a mission was the closest thing to movement Shon ever did. Though it was more like turning in place than actually progressing forward.

What even was forward for him now? Nothing. Emptiness. And he had plenty of that here.