Bloody Hollow. She was always right. Not that he’d ever admit it to her.
Clearly satisfied with the stress she put them through, Kaida levelled out.
The landscape spread before them, a symphony of blues and browns and greens tainted by the sinister crimson of the bloodlace, and the setting sun blurred in smears of reds and orange across the sky, a whole palette of colours, just for them.
“I suppose this is alright,” Kyrith said.
“Yeah? Should I tell Kaida to do a flip?”
“Not after I watched you almost break your neck,” she said.
“Yes,butI didn’t. And funny, you almost sound concerned for me.”
“Don’t go getting ideas. What would I do if you died? The bloodlace would claim us all,” she said, her eyes crinkling with a smile. She pointed to a far-off pocket in a mountainside. “Head that way.”
As they descended into the small shroud of trees, Kaida’s great claws dug into the dirt with her landing, leaving a trail of tracks behind. Vesper slid from her back and reached for Kyrith, but she ignored his help and jumped. And of course, she landed with impressive grace, Stiggy tucked under her arm. She led Vesper under a shelter of trees with foliage so thick the bloodlace couldn’t survive within it.
Kyrith strode to the cliff’s edge and plunked herself down. Her legs kicked back and forth as she captured the remaining moments of sunset. Stiggy curled up at Kyrith’s side, her tail over her eyes as she sought sleep. Vesper called Kaida back before his fatigue reached new heights, his veins and magic parched. Then he joined Kyrith where she sat.
He wasn’t sure how to handle this interaction between them. This place seemed intimate. And she had been anything but. “Do you come here often?” He tore off his mask to lay it in the grass beside him. The cold wind kissed relief into his skin.
“I do,” she said. The free swing of her legs reminded him of the kind of carefree he used to be, before the world had hurt him.
Vesper hugged his bent knee. “Is it the view?”
“If you look hard enough, you can see Tsillah.” She pointed into the distance. “There.”
He strained his eyes and sure enough, he caught sight of the island. “Is Tsillah special to you?”
“I grew up there. I miss it sometimes and when I come here, it doesn’t seem so far away.” Her voice quieted to a contemplative whisper. “But don’t tell Thorrin. It would only upset him. Rensburrow is his baby.”
“I thought you built it together.”
She shrugged. “It was his idea to bring everyone here and save them from the bloodlace. It was more of a political movement before, but now, it’s a safe haven.” A small smile tugged at herlips. “He’s always wanted to be this big hero. I think he got his wish.”
His gaze slid to her as she stared distantly into the sunset. “How did you two meet?”
She snorted. “I was a kid, barely older than nineteen when I joined the army. Thorrin was my mentor. And there was this new recruit who was a total imbecile. He was always challenging Thorrin, testing him, and getting the other recruits to join in. I set him straight.” She leaned back on her hands. “We’ve been close ever since.”
Vesper narrowed his eyes. “What did you do? Wait, don’t tell me. You tied him to a table and held a blade to their throat.”
“No. That was specially for you. But I may or may not have slipped some yellowtail into his lunch.” She covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled. “In my defense Ididwarn him. And he chose not to listen.”
“So you protected Thorrin by slipping a laxative into some poor bastard's food?” Vesper gaped at her, truly gaped, before he descended into a fit of laughter.
Kyrith’s shoulders even shook with a silent chuckle, too.
“I didn’t think—bloody Hollow.” His cough stifled the remnants of a laugh. “That was unexpected. Or maybe entirely expected. I’m not sure.”
Kyrith shot him a crooked smile. “He asked for it."
“You made someone soil themselves over something petty.” Vesper chuckled again, and laid a hand on his stomach, his ribs and abs still sore from the endless days on Kaida. “Too bad you aren’t running that army now. You could implement laxatives as a battle technique.”
She laughed again, but it was a little sad this time.
And as he caught that furrow in Kyrith’s brow that spoke of homesickness, he asked, “Do you still have family there?”
“My grandparents. I still write to them.” She picked a reed of grass and wove it with another. “My brother left, too. I’m not sure where he is now.”