Relics
"And only one came back. One."
The spice ship blurred in his tactual sense.
He knew why, he knew what it was and he didn't stop it. It wasn't some Nexus fluke of Rhy'Din itself toying with him like a cat to a mouse and it wasn't some fearful mage wanting to be rid of him.
Renne didn't move but to drop a small, hastily scrawled note upon the deck in hopes it should be found. And he hoped none would be angry with him for an oath made years before he knew pirating existed. The blur did not stop; it took him within and without, beyond the reach of the ship or even the Eastern Docks.
He went West, far to the West.
Beyond Hollenstadt. Past the borders of Umbra Victus, over the abandoned lands of Eldyn.
He went West via the blurred displacement; his body encased in a cocoon of sheer material like that of a gel that hadn't time to set.
When he came to his destination far to the West, he shed the cocoon and did not speak for several minutes.
He listened to the babbling rush of a waterfall and felt the wind in his hair.
Briefly, he thought of Archie.
And 'Nathan. And Audra. And The Inne.
He thought of them all until his mind turned, taking his thoughts to people of the past that never did come back. They didn't come back and he wondered how any idiot-fool in Rhy'Din could think anyone always did, always could come back.
Renne knew why he rejoiced so much when someone did come back.
Not everyone comes back.
The realisation drove his eyes to green.
And he wept.
------------------
The tears and the minutes passed him by.
When he entered a little cavern almost behind the babbling waterfall, Renne noticed as he always did, the silence.
Here, no birds sang. No animals scurried about. No insects buzzed or bumbled and no fantastical tiny-types flittered in the air with pranks waiting to be played.
It was alive with green things, flowering things.
It was dead with silence.
He didn't need to see the stone relic that stood in its cavern. He knew it was there, checked it tactually and almost smiled. It was, as always, unharmed.
Without a scratch, nick or deterioration the Relic stood almost as proudly as a living man might dare. Renne sat in front of the thing and took out from his pocket a years-old, carefully preserved note.
Renne had the words memorised.
He just held it and sat in the quiet, hidden place. He wept as he always did here, prayed to the Relic, to the hero that it depicted.
Prayed to a hero that didn't come back.
...I am ill, very ill.
Renne tucked the paper into his pocket and tried in the secrecy of this place, to stand up and walk like he was once able to. Once upon a time, he stood proud, straight and tall.
Once upon a time, he felt strong and secure.
His legs shook violently.
...shall be dead inside a month. If you find Reanne...
His trembling legs held him up for twenty eight seconds. The right foot inched forward as his back arched under the unaccustomed change of weight held upon himself.
...don't tell him until after....
Renne's legs buckled from under him. He went down noting only the burning sensation from both hips to both feet.
He didn't get up again.
"And only one came back. One."
The spice ship blurred in his tactual sense.
He knew why, he knew what it was and he didn't stop it. It wasn't some Nexus fluke of Rhy'Din itself toying with him like a cat to a mouse and it wasn't some fearful mage wanting to be rid of him.
Renne didn't move but to drop a small, hastily scrawled note upon the deck in hopes it should be found. And he hoped none would be angry with him for an oath made years before he knew pirating existed. The blur did not stop; it took him within and without, beyond the reach of the ship or even the Eastern Docks.
He went West, far to the West.
Beyond Hollenstadt. Past the borders of Umbra Victus, over the abandoned lands of Eldyn.
He went West via the blurred displacement; his body encased in a cocoon of sheer material like that of a gel that hadn't time to set.
When he came to his destination far to the West, he shed the cocoon and did not speak for several minutes.
He listened to the babbling rush of a waterfall and felt the wind in his hair.
Briefly, he thought of Archie.
And 'Nathan. And Audra. And The Inne.
He thought of them all until his mind turned, taking his thoughts to people of the past that never did come back. They didn't come back and he wondered how any idiot-fool in Rhy'Din could think anyone always did, always could come back.
Renne knew why he rejoiced so much when someone did come back.
Not everyone comes back.
The realisation drove his eyes to green.
And he wept.
------------------
The tears and the minutes passed him by.
When he entered a little cavern almost behind the babbling waterfall, Renne noticed as he always did, the silence.
Here, no birds sang. No animals scurried about. No insects buzzed or bumbled and no fantastical tiny-types flittered in the air with pranks waiting to be played.
It was alive with green things, flowering things.
It was dead with silence.
He didn't need to see the stone relic that stood in its cavern. He knew it was there, checked it tactually and almost smiled. It was, as always, unharmed.
Without a scratch, nick or deterioration the Relic stood almost as proudly as a living man might dare. Renne sat in front of the thing and took out from his pocket a years-old, carefully preserved note.
Renne had the words memorised.
He just held it and sat in the quiet, hidden place. He wept as he always did here, prayed to the Relic, to the hero that it depicted.
Prayed to a hero that didn't come back.
...I am ill, very ill.
Renne tucked the paper into his pocket and tried in the secrecy of this place, to stand up and walk like he was once able to. Once upon a time, he stood proud, straight and tall.
Once upon a time, he felt strong and secure.
His legs shook violently.
...shall be dead inside a month. If you find Reanne...
His trembling legs held him up for twenty eight seconds. The right foot inched forward as his back arched under the unaccustomed change of weight held upon himself.
...don't tell him until after....
Renne's legs buckled from under him. He went down noting only the burning sensation from both hips to both feet.
He didn't get up again.