Chapter 19: Images
The return trip the next morning was mostly a silent one. Dee, Turborg, and Clarkus had all heard Torx’s screams from beyond the camp and shuddered when they suddenly ended. Their suspicions of what happened were confirmed when Nienna returned with Torx’s blood dripping from the dual blades of her axe and splattered across her attire. The color had drained from her face, and her eyes focused on nothing on particular. She was a horror to behold, but the others left her alone and spoke nothing of it. When they all departed the camp, Nienna chose to travel behind the group in self isolation.
Before the group left, they decided to take the dolyak with them. He wouldn’t have fared well out there on his own unshielded from predators. He happily plodded along, enticed by treats of grass and berries they found along the way. Tuborg walked at his side, holding onto his harness to guide him. Clarkus walked along on the other side, muttering sharply to himself under his breath. Every once in a while, the charr would growl, startling the beast of burden, and Tuborg would have to calm him.
As soon as they reached the Priory Headquarters in Lornar’s Pass, Nienna went straight to her room without speaking to anyone and shut the door behind her. She immediately threw off any article of clothing with Torx’s blood on it and sat down on the cot, exhausted in every way possible. She rested her head in her hands and closed her eyes, but images of Torx’s severed head flashed behind her lids. The force of her strike had caused his head to roll away from the rest of his body, and when it did stop, his large, lifeless eyes stared at her accusingly. She squeezed her eyes closed and dug her fingers into her scalp. She would have reached into her own brain and dug out those images if she could.
“He deserved it,” she said out loud to herself. “He killed your friends. He would have helped kill thousands more.”
The tips of her fingers turned so cold they started to ache, and feeling a sudden rush of frozen wind, Nienna opened her eyes to see what it was. The stone walls and floor of her room had melted away. She now found herself sitting on a rock surrounded by a copse of dead trees under a hazy green sky. She remembered this place from the strange encounter she had before in the hallway: she was in the Underworld once more. Nienna looked around in case she caught sight of the woman she had met before, but everything vanished with her next blink and she was thrust back into her room in the bowls of the Priory’s Headquarters. She furrowed her brow while she sat and contemplated what she saw. Had she merely imagined it? Was she starting to lose it? Maybe she needed more sleep.
A knock came at her door. Rubbing her eyes, Nienna let out a heavy sigh. She looked around her again, but she was still back in her room. Her vision of the Underworld was gone. “Who is it?”
The door opened and Alena’s petite head peeked inside. “It’s Alena and Dee. May we come in?”
“Sure.” Nienna replied.
As the two entered, they both stopped and glanced down at the bloodied clothing strewn about on the floor. She watched the silent interaction between the two of them as she scooted back on her cot until her back was against the wall. What did they think of her now? She didn’t quite know what to think of herself. She had never executed someone unable to defend themselves before—but she had to do it. Shivering, she pulled the blanket on the cot up to cover her semi-clothed body, making sure to cover her arms as well.
“I know what I did,” Nienna finally said, preemptively, letting the words tumble from her lips. “I promised myself I would. He killed Sir Fendall and there’s no doubt in my mind he was involved with Rhys’ death too. He didn’t pull the trigger on Liliana, but he was there. He’s helping the Byrnes get what they want, and he would have been responsible for more deaths if I hadn’t.”
Dee nodded. “Look, we get it,” she replied, crossing the room. Because of her tall stature, it only took a few strides for the norn woman to do so. She sat down on the floor next to Nienna’s cot and leaned back against the wall. “If you ask me, the little rat deserved it. But you did it without us. You took off without an explanation. You can’t just do what you want without considering us. We’re a group now. We have to start acting like it.”
Nienna acquiesced with a silent nod. “I know.”
“We’re sorry about Seren,” Alena offered as she tip-toed toward Nienna’s bed. She placed her small hand on the edge of the cot.
Nienna clenched her jaw. “I didn’t find her body anywhere in the wreckage. She could still be alive.”
“We’ll find her,” Dee assured her friend. “Salara woke up a few moments ago and said something about a portal. So, if Seren got away, the girl will find a way back to us.” She frowned and shifted uncomfortably where she sat. “But—if the Byrnes still have her—I think it’s safe to assume they’ll use her as a bargaining chip for the other pieces.”
Nienna frowned. She did not like the idea of her sister—or any of her people—being used to bargain for the weapon she herself was meant to guard. “I should have never had us bring the pieces,” she admitted. “I might as well just have handed the Byrnes’ the weapon myself.”
“Don’t beat yourself up about it. There’s already enough of that going around. Poor Clarkus is beside himself for losing the piece he was guarding. He destroyed two tables and a book shelf in a rage and angered a scholar in the process. I had to find his favorite sock to settle him down,” Alena said. “They only have one piece. The two are safely stored together under Clarkus’ watch. He won’t let anyone who’s not us near them—and I mean, anyone. We still have time to stop these crazy people, don’t we? I mean, what could they possibly accomplish with just one piece?”
“Enough apparently,” Nienna replied. “At least that’s what Torx said. Whatever the Byrnes are planning, it sounds like they’re going ahead with it. I don’t think we have a lot of time.”
“What do we do?” Alena asked.
They both looked at Nienna, expecting an answer. The pressure to give the right one weighed heavily on her, but they were looking to her for leadership in this moment. She needed to give it. “We have no choice but to go after them. They cannot have even a single piece of the blade, and we need all three pieces in order to destroy it. We’re close to Hoelbrak. We’ll go there first, resupply, and ask if anyone has seen anything suspicious.”
“No.” Dee crossed her arms over her chest.
Alena raised her eyebrows, choosing to remain silent and listen instead of inquiring.
Nienna sighed heavily, knowing where her friend’s resistance came from. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t like going that far north, and if there was any other way, I would turn us there, but the Byrnes’ airship was on a northeast trajectory before it crashed. Hoelbrak is close. The Byrnes or any survivors will likely pass through there on their way to wherever they’re going. It’s our best option to catch up to them or find Seren.”
Dee uttered what sounded like a throaty growl. “It’s settled then, I guess,” she said, frowning. The norn got to her feet and started for the door.
“Look, Dee,” Nienna began.
“It’s fine. If that’s where they’re going, it’s not like we have much of a choice, right?” She turned and gestured toward Alena. “Don’t you need to do your thing?”
After watching Dee leave, Nienna then looked over at Alena. “Your thing?”
“Ah, yes.” The asura reached inside her coat and pulled out a metal box from its inside pocket. She opened it and produced a small syringe.
“After I settled Clarkus down, I did a little exploring around what I assumed to be the Priory’s lab, and I discovered they have what looks like a cellular imaging system. With your permission, I would like to draw some of your blood to do an evaluation of the blade’s effects on your body so we can better determine why it is reacting the way it is.”
Nienna cringed at the thought of being poked and prodded like a specimen. She looked down underneath the blanket at her arms. The dark veins had progressed past her elbow, and now she was coughing up ichor. If examining her blood gave them insight as to what was happening to her body, then maybe they could find a solution or at least buy her more time. Reluctantly, Nienna pulled an arm out from under the blanket and looked away as Alena drew her sample.
