The Wilting Ballad

11

"Shit!" Berick screamed, landing awkwardly on the molding floor of an abandoned priory located in the small town of Korrvin. A few hundred miles south of the Cutthrough Forest.

He cough up bags of dust and cinders he sent dangling in the twilit air. He saw Cassav kneeling beside him, on her thigh lay Jejtsu's head, her straight long black hair in a state of perpetual mess, purple circle forming on her left closed eye, she was fast asleep, it seems.

Cassav's unblinking clear eyes that were blue as the water of Maidenpond were gazing on the edge of the fork where the grey man who had saved them was steadying himself, one hand on the handle of a chair where termites were having a grand feast, the other on his chest, feeling the beating of his heart.

Berick widen his eyes upon remembering, he pushed himself up, spinning wildly in search of Hermis and Alfaus but they were nowhere to be seen. He rushes to Iuftas, who was still not quite conscious, he begins the process of healing him to the best of his ability, though his strength doesn't reside in the art of healing.

"You're drained." At the sound of her voice, a mice doing its little deed squeaked, dashing from the pavilion to where the palisades aligned instead of another broken wooden wall that appears to be surrounding them. "Why did you help us?" Cassav asked, the man gave a weak smile. "Who are you?"

Gariel sigh, he was drained indeed, a bit more than he would have preferred, "Just an old explorer making his way North." He answered, staring at Jejtsu. "She's your kind, is she not? A Steamcaller, a Shīza, a Star."

"Why is that of your concern?" Cassav replied sternly.

"It isn't. Only..." Gariel was running through various words in his head. He knows that Shīzas, especially a Star, gets offended easily. He also knows that they have gone through tremendous trouble, barely escaping with their lives. He finds it best not to ask or say too much to a tired, beaten, mourning person. But he also has this uncontrollable desire to know answers to what he has just witness. "I've heard stories of a... mix... in legends of old. To my knowledge, there's only one alive. Never in my wildest dreams had I anticipated I'd met one on my way North."

Cassav gently rests her palm on top of Jejtsu's head, nestling her hair tenderly.

If there was a God or Goddess of grief in existence, Cassav's quiet acceptance of her brother's death while her unceasing tears trace down her face would have been the most grievous thing they have ever laid eyes upon, they would have a shout in search for love that's lost until their throats shatter to pieces, and that pieces shall create a ball of sorts to block their way of consuming air, eventually causing their death by loss of it, along with the loss of will, loss of bond.

And as their sights begin to fail them and all becomes an only faint blur, they would have recalled the last time Cassav shed tears for someone, and they would begin to question the very reason of the life that is meant to one day lose. That is how the gods of grief shall feel, should they were to see her misery.

"Easy! Stay calm!" Berick shouted as Iuftas struggles to grasp the situation they were in. The last thing he remembered being Tentoria's lurking shadow creeping in his most intimate secrets.

"What..." Iuftas saw only Berick, Cassav, a sleeping Jejtsu who looked as if she had used everything she possess and an unknown man in grey. "Where are the others?" He asked. Berick sigh, then relayed all that have happened since Tentoria's deception caught hold of him. "I see." He said, standing abruptly. "I'm fine now." He went and kneels beside Cassav, "Let me heal her." Cassav nods and rises. She walks up to Gariel, as did Berick.

"He can heal you after he's done. Please accept it." Said Cassav

"You're very kind... but I'm afraid Shīza's way of healing doesn't work on Leafsinger such as I." Gariel replied, smiling.

"I assume as much." She lowers her head as if embarrassed. "If only we have something profitable to give you. To show our gratitude. We are in your debt..." She stares at him, asking his name once more without speaking.

"Gariel Faiyshal." He introduced, straightening himself, extending his right hand.

"Cassavaniala Eonaestar. Call me Cassav." She introduces herself, shaking Gariel's hand with a smile. "And that's Iuftas Markstar and this is..."

"Berick Drownstar." He said, nodding to the other man with his arms fold in his chest. "You say you were an explorer going north?"

"I did."

"But It's just a frozen wasteland. Home to creatures of the snow, who have the cold weather as allies. No humans have lived there for over half a decade." Said Berick, toying the new hole cut below his armpit. "What do you expect to find out there?"

"An old friend."

"If your friend didn't flee like the other northerners, I'm afraid they'll get him already." Chimed in Cassav sheepishly.

Gariel's thoughts wander far north. Where the tower of Tereciouth stands, covered in ice, its way in replete with knee-deep snow that is as white as his late wife's burial dress, with creatures and demons prowling the lands where the sun never shines. And his mind wanders further to the man who manned it.

The man who has enlightened him to a world beyond the mere grasp of a working farmer. The man who he has looked up to. Then came a new thought, one he haven't consider. Is he a man? He then brushed it aside as ridiculousness at its highest. Of course, he's a man. Just because one's immortal doesn't mean he has no gender. He answered his own question. Smiling broadly.

"You could come run along with us." Said Cassav, secretly hoping for a positive response.

"Where are you going?" Gariel asked, for the sake of nicety.

Cassav looks from Gariel to Berick and to Iuftas who was on the verge of succeeding his work on Jejtsu, who remains asleep, then back to Gariel and Berick. She forced a short laugh. "I haven't the faintest idea." She replied. She turns and crouched down opposite Iuftas. Boiling a well nearby the priory, she let the steam breezes through her and cleanses Jejtsu's wound shown on the outside while the other cleanses the wounds buried deep beneath her skin. "I suppose we'll know... Xarabia chose her. And her, we shall follow."

"It may take a day or days or weeks before she wakes." Said Gariel. "This is not the best place to lay low."

"We can't go on unless we're all well. Everywhere in the world, they're hunting Shīzas. We can't carry her, we'll draw much needless attention. And if we draw needless attention..." Said Iuftas, his shaved head reflecting the half-moon that gleamed brightly.

"That's true." Said Berick, who remains where he stood.

"I suppose there are worst places than this where we could stay." Said Gariel, stretching.

"'We'?" Cassav asked.

"Yes. That is if you allow it... Who knows... perhaps she can tell us what we don't know." Gariel replied, sitting down with his back against the few planks of wood-wall that wasn't broken. But in the depths of his mind, he was thinking about how Jejtsu's words will only confirm his suspicions.

Then his thoughts traveled to his daughter, then to his grandson, whom he has sent to an equally dangerous place. A place in league with the north in terms of its treacherousness. A place for the Shan's forsaken.