307) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 71 — From out of the frying pan….

Someone was shaking her. Kohra opened her eyes to see Devona, silhouetted against the afternoon sky, her lips very close to Kohra's face. She could feel the warmth of her breath as Dev whispered, “Wake up, Kohra.”

She looked around at the others stretching, yawning, gazing about in wonder at the fact that they had actually fallen asleep in this smoke-filled cavern, a few hundred feet from a battlefield filled with dead bodies, burnt buildings, and a gigantic metallic spider corpse.

Even during war, you have to sleep somewhere.

She felt sore everywhere, so exhausted it was like she hadn’t slept at all, save for the jumbled memories of tormented dreams, all screams, terrified eyes, and fire.

She stared at Devona’s honey-brown eyes, remembering how they had turned black. How was it possible that this same girl, a girl she loved, could wield so much power?

Dev smiled, and looked back at the others, letting Kohra get up on her own time. But Kohra didn’t want to get up.

I wish it was last year and I was in school, or in the garden, or having a boring old night at home, eating dinner and doing chores. I wish Col and I were teasing each other. I wish I knew tomorrow would be the same as yesterday and the day before.

She raised herself onto one elbow, looking around their impromptu “campsite.”

Lenny was making snowflakes flutter down from her fingers. Reilly was curled up on Melkorn’s lap, both of them gazing at the snowflakes. Gorb and Grok were eating chunks of bread, scratching diagrams in the dirt, strategizing. Dominic, sitting off to Kohra’s left, was sharpening Melkorn's axe with a whetstone, and Devona was watching him.

Kohra sighed. Maybe I should stop thinking about the life I don’t have, and live the life right in front of me.

Lenny saw her out of the corner of her eye, formed a tiny snowball and threw it at her. She missed, hitting Dominic instead.

Simultaneously, in her mind's eye, she saw Lenny, hands outstretched, blasting a whole phalanx of guards off a cliff. 

She looked at Reilly, giggling at the snowflakes. She was such a little girl, still bouncing through life, much like a squirrel at play. But in her mind’s eye, Kohra saw fireballs exploding and people screaming.

Dominic was grinning at her, wiping snowball off his face. But in her mind’s eye, she saw arrows in people’s chests and fear in their eyes.

Grok laughed at something Gorb had said, and she looked over. But in her mind’s eye, the brilliant woman was impaled by a giant spike and Gorb was pulverizing a young soldier’s face with his war-hammer.

Melkorn looked down at Reilly in his lap with such love and tenderness. But in her mind’s eye, his face was contorted with rage as he chopped a man in half.

Everyone she looked at flashed back and forth between the “reality” of right now, and horrible snippets of memory that she couldn’t stop, couldn’t separate from the present moment. Both were true, the beautiful and the horrible, and she didn’t know how to reconcile that dissonance.

Who is to say who are the “good guys” and who is “bad”? Did those soldiers not have friends? Loved ones? Childhoods? Hopes for the future?

She closed her eyes. But the darkness behind them was worse.

* * * * *

Before long, even Kohra’s dark thoughts had faded, as Gorb served up sandwiches. “Last o’ de cheese. Ye’d best enjoy it!”

Aside from their muted talking, the cavern was as silent as a tomb, eerily grey, less light than usual filtering in from the sky above the little forest.

“Where d'ye t'ink everrryone is?” Gorb wondered aloud.

“Dead,” Lenny deadpanned.

Gorb frowned.

“Just telling it like it is.” Lenny shrugged.

“Graxia must be here somewhere,” Devona commented. “The Archer Captain got back somehow.”

“I assumed it was the sorcerer?” Kohra suggested.

Lenny nodded, pointing up. “They came in through the roof.”

“Or maybe they folded space, like I can, maybe?” Kohra hated how she always made her points like they were questions. But, she did.

Lenny shrugged. “Maybe. But that's gotta be pretty rare. I've never heard of it before. But there's lots of ways to fly.”

“Do you think she’ll be able to get her army in that way?” Devona asked between bites.

Grok shook her head. “She's going for the Inheritance.”

“What?” Kohra asked. “How do you know?”

Lenny nodded. “Makes sense. As far as she's concerned, we must be some crazy-powerful bunch. She probably thinks she's been attacked by a rival crime network, her arch-nemeses, something like that.” She smirked. “We did waste her whole army.”

“Arch-Nemeses! That sounds awesome!” Reilly exclaimed.

“Huh?” Kohra asked.

“Yes!” Dominic exclaimed. “That should be our Team Name!” Reilly laughed as Lenny and Dom both gave her a high-five.

“What about Master Blasters?” Kohra asked, still confused.

“That was you guys,” Dominic replied. “Let’s have a name for all of us.”

“Arch-Nemeses!” Reilly yelled, but everybody shushed her at once. “Oh, right. Arch-Nemeses!” she whispered.

Devona directed the conversation back to Grok. “Why do you think she's going for the Inheritance?”

Lenny answered instead. “It makes sense. If she had the power to get her whole army back here, she would have already. No, she’s panicking right now. Her valley is lost, her army is shattered, and her biggest-arms-deal-ever has just gone up in smoke.”

“Literally,” Dominic smirked.

Grok added, “Realistically, her life is probably forfeit, either from her family, or Hargrin, or enemies taking advantage of her current weakness.”

“Arch-nemeses!” Reilly and Lenny whispered in unison, giggling.

“Yes,” Grok agreed. “There are probably more than a few people out there who'd like to take down a Zhaalmohhrian Heir.”

Gorb nodded. “She must t’ink it's ‘errr last chance. An’ she's prrrobably closer dan ever, wit’ all dose explosives.”

“How do we stop her?” Reilly stated her question as though whether they were going to stop her wasn’t even up for consideration. The only worthwhile conversation was HOW to do it.

“How?” Kohra scoffed. “No way! This is crazy! We are NOT some professional hit squad!”

Dominic met her eyes. He looked…colder somehow. “I don’t want to keep having this argument, Kohra. Do you really not get it? We're in a war. Like it or not. So stop looking back. The past is gone.”

“But Dom,” she pleaded. “I hear what you're saying, but we've gotten so lucky. And…yeah, I don’t know how much more I can take. Honestly. Yesterday was...I don't even know. Did you sleep peacefully last night? Do you think you ever will again? Let's get out of here.”

Dominic put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze, then looked at the others. “You know, I agree, let’s think twice about this. Kohra has a point. What are we trying to accomplish here anyway? We've got the Sword. We threw Graxia off our tail. We're safe. Let’s run for the boats and get out of here with our lives. We won.” He looked at Melkorn, who was nodding as he spoke, and clapped him on the knee. “We won, big guy.”

Melkorn grinned. Reilly kicked at the dirt. Grok looked at the ground but said nothing. Gorb turned and starting busying himself with packing up the food. “'Tis agrrreed den.”

Lenny nodded. “Yeah, fine. I did want to get into that house, but after yesterday, I kind of lost my stomach for it.”

They started to get up. Kohra stretched, a huge wave of relief washing over her. Thank the Gods they finally listened to reason.

Devona stayed seated, gazing into the forest. She cleared her throat. “Uh, wait everyone.” She avoided Kohra’s eyes. “I'm going to try the house.”

Kohra started to object but Devona raised her voice to interrupt. “Wait! Just hear me out. I'm not asking you to come, and I'm not going to risk very much. For all we know, the house is empty. If Graxia is going for the Inheritance, and there’s nobody left in the house except maybe a few staff, then this isn’t dangerous at all. Maybe we can literally walk in the front door.”

She looked at Reilly, then Grok. “Think about it. Think about the secrets that are kept in this home, secrets that could be thousands of years old! Maybe even from the Lost Age!”

She turned to Kohra. “I want to know Old Magic, Kohra. Just like you. And after yesterday, one thing I know for sure is that Dom’s right. We’re at war. There’s no going back. There’s no nice little life in a nice little house waiting for us. I don’t think I even want that anymore.”

She looked down, as if wondering whether to say what was coming next. “And look, okay, I’ll be honest. I WANT to know more about this Inheritance. Why is it so super-important? Let’s find out whatever we can. Like, even if Graxia has a housemaid or butler or something, I’ll bet we can get them to talk to us. I want to know. I want to know why this family is so powerful. I just…I just want to know.”

Briskly, she focused on Gorb next. “Maybe this IS where the Light leads! Have you really opened your heart to that possibility? Have you prayed for guidance on this? Or are we just running to save our skins? Maybe this Inheritance IS the reason we got this far. What is more Light-worthy than uncovering the secrets of the Zhaalmohhrian criminal network?”

“And Grok, you risked your life for us to get here! You lost your home. So I’m not going to just turn around and leave. Let’s see what’s in that house!”

Kohra cursed silently. She’d lost. Again.