Imprisoned in the Orinovan priori labs, Ainreth undergoes torturous treatments daily in an attempt to crack the code to lightweaver creation. Things seem hopeless, until unlikely allies join his side to help him.
Meanwhile back home in Lys-Akkaria...
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Mhalyn's legs ached with exhaustion, barely able to walk by the time they exited the seemingly endless forest. She was about ready to weep when the trees came apart enough to see the sunset, setting over an unfamiliar, hostile land.
And yet somehow it was less hostile than her home. No matter how much Orinovo hated them, how much the queen would no doubt revel in capturing and executing them, or even her in particular, mistakenly thinking it would hurt Daryan, it was still safer than Lys-Akkaria.
And yet she didn't feel very relieved. Whatever she felt was more complicated than that—a mix of sadness, resignation, defeat, but also acceptance and calm. She was comforted by the fact that right now, things couldn't be better, no matter how depressing that fact was. They had escaped if nothing else.
They finally stopped then, taking a moment to rest and eat, but not to sleep. They couldn't stop now. They needed to get to Petre's family's house, and only then could they allow themselves to rest.
And so a few hours later, once it was dark, they set off again. At least Petre had said their family lived relatively close to the original border.
Petre took the lead at that point, pulling out a map every so often when they reached a hill or other spot with good distance visibility.
By the time the small village Petre's Orinovan family lived in came into view in the distance, Mhalyn was so tired she could barely think, her mind muddy and unfocused.
But everything became horribly, awfully clear as she took in the sight of some of the houses. They were misshapen, broken, burnt....
Oh no.
Everyone came to a halt as they too realized what they were looking at.
"No..." Petre whispered, their voice so raw and pained. Mhalyn wanted to hug them immediately, Enlin already moving to them, but before either could reach them, Petre was running toward the houses.
Mhalyn followed, stumbling along, Enlin in the lead, calling after Petre, but Petre kept going. They only stopped once they reached the right house, leaning on the doorframe, their head hung low.
Enlin hugged them from behind, but Petre didn't hug back. They just kept looking into the damaged house.
Mhalyn at the state of the house, noting that it was in relatively good shape, but the door had been kicked in, the hinges ripped from the wood of their frame, and most of the furniture inside was in a state of disarray, tables and chairs strewn about.
And in the corner, behind the furniture, there Mhalyn saw it—bodies. She immediately looked away, her stomach twisting as her heart clenched with sorrow.
"They...they killed them," Petre said, their voice forcefully blank. Mhalyn's heart hurt for them. "Lys-Akkaria butchered innocent civilians. My...."
Enlin hugged Petre tighter, gently turning them around to cradle them in her arms. Petre hugged back, visibly trembling. Mhalyn wiped her eyes, looking at all the other houses.
