Eight Intertwined

98 - Shatter

The walk back to Quarrycrest was a somber affair, and nobody dared to say a word the entire journey into the city. Tressa was holding Ali up, and he leaned against her clumsily. H'aanit and Cyrus had done all they could to heal both him and Alfyn, but it was clear that they were both still a bit out of it after all the physical punishment they had taken. Alfyn still struggled to look straight ahead as he leaned into H'aanit's side, and Ali stumbled over his feet every few steps. Nobody was perfectly put together after the fight, but Alfyn and Ali were clearly the greatest victims. 

Ophilia had been silent ever since the battle ended, her eyes still puffy and red from tears as she stared down at the ground ahead. She didn't seem to be aware of her actions in the slightest, instead simply pushing forward on autopilot. Primrose was guiding her onward carefully, eyes shaded and unreadable. The blood in Ophilia's gloves was starting to stain, though the travelers weren't going to be able to wash them out until after they had settled down in the inn again. 

Tressa wound up leading Ali away from the rest of the group to his inn room, and he practically collapsed against the bed once the door was closed behind them. Tressa was worried about the rest of the group, but she knew that Primrose would be the best fit to look after Ophilia at the moment. Revenge was the last thing that Ophilia had wanted, and yet, she had been pushed to carry it out regardless. Of course it still hung heavily over her head. How could it not bother her? 

It would be a while before any of them were back on their feet, and Tressa couldn't help wondering just how easily everything had fallen apart. It felt as if they had been fine that morning, all their ducks in a row and their plan perfectly recorded in their own minds. They should have been able to take care of all this without any problems, but instead, there they were, struggling and stumbling with no idea of what they were meant to be doing next. 

Ali wound up drifting off for a short while once he was on his bed, and Tressa winced as she looked down at his injuries. She pulled up a chair beside him before letting healing magic wash over them both. Tressa still wasn't the best at it, and she certainly wasn't anywhere near talented enough to begin preparing for Aelfric's gift of the second chance, but it was still enough to start mending Ali's injuries. That was all she could really ask for as long as he was this hurt. 

It would take a while for the majority of the injuries to heal. Magic could help to close injuries and repair broken bones, but the body still needed to recover. Bruises remained even after casting magic, and the blood that was lost in the skirmish would need to be replaced. Ali hadn't lost much blood thankfully, but his body was too exhausted for the magic to be able to help him completely. That was another thing about healing magic; it couldn't replace lost energy either. What Ali needed most then was rest. Omar hadn't given him even a moment to breathe. 

Omar... Tressa hadn't expected to find that Morlock had a bodyguard that morning, but she should have expected that someone as rich as Morlock would know better than to wander around alone, especially after he had already tried his luck with the church and failed miserably. Omar had been yet another casualty of all this, and no matter how many times Tressa tried to tell herself that this was how it had to end, she still felt sick to her stomach thinking about it. The only other people that the group had been forced to kill before now had been Rufus, Gideon, and Helgenish, and those three had undeniably been monsters. Tressa knew the same to be true about Morlock and Omar deep down, but her stomach still churned at the idea of all that had happened. 

She knew this was an inevitability. Morlock wasn't going to give up as long as he was convinced that he had power, and Omar was going to stand by him no matter what. Regardless of how the fight ended or how much the travelers tried to spare them, it wouldn't have ended with the two alive. They had already made their choices and visited their atrocities upon the world, and they would have to live with that forever.