-"I'm just passing by."-I answered with a flat tone.-"I intended to simply ride through these lands, but other circumstances forced me to act. Is that answer satisfying?"
Patriot looked at me, his aura ever-present but never fully pressing on me. With my Empathy I could feel that he harbored no enmity, but also seemed to fear me somewhat, most likely somewhat knowing who I was. The fact that he still kept it to himself meant there was still a chance for our cooperation to proceed normally.
-"Father, is he your acquaintance?"-FrostNova asked, trying to prevent the rising of the tensions.
-"No."-Patriot answered without much pause.-"But I feel danger from him. Don't underestimate that Sankta."
Patriot's words made everyone from Reunion look at me with much more serious eyes, showing the respect they have for him. As the silence continued, Shining one again stepped in to ease the situation.
-"May we return to the main purpose of our meeting?"
-"Please."-Talulah agreed directly.-"You want us to help you with supplies for refuges until you can leave Ursus, right?"
-"Yes. We should be able to manage after leaving Ursus' influence, but to prevent any accidents, we can't easily acquire enough food here."
-"What do you plan to do with the refugees?"
-"I plan to form a monastery at the Laterano's border."-I took over to explain.-"They will be able to live freely there, and at most will be required to pay tax and take part in some religious rituals."
-"Will Laterano allow them to settle?"-Talulah asked, knowing how isolated that country was.
-"They will. I have enough standing to make it happen. I think Patriot can confirm it."
-"He can do this much without trouble."-He nodded.
-"Then I believe we can cooperate."
-"Wait."-FrostNova interrupted her.-"What about payment?"
-"No matter what, we have to help the infected survive."
-"You..."-FrostNova looked angry at Talulah.-"We also lack food, not to mention things like medicine! Use your head to think, sometimes you dragon!"
-"This..."
-"We will provide remuneration. While we can't offer much on the spot, I believe that opening a way to trade with Laterano is worthwhile investment. In addition, we will provide healing services for all those in need during our journey. If you need them, you can send your people to us, and we will patch them up."
-"The issue is the suppressants."-FrostNova pushed for more profit.-"Without them, many will die to Oripathy."
-"I do not possess them on hand."-I shook my head.-"Laterano also has no native production of them."
My answer silenced them.
-"But..."-I continued.-"We can make them."
-"What?"
-"As I said, I plan to open a monastery. In Laterano, most monasteries produce some goods, such as ceremonial vine or robes, so opening one to produce Oripathy Inhibitors is not out of question. If Laterano possessed them, missionary work would be much easier. Desperate people turn to anything that can bring them hope, and faith has a lot of hope in it."
-"Is it a good idea to talk about open conspiracies with us like that?"-Talulah was troubled by my directness.-"None of us is believer and few have a good opinion of Laterano's Church."
-"I just state what profit I can get from this. It's better than having some hidden agenda, after all, there is nothing more expensive than free."
-"What will be their status in Laterano?"-Patriot asked the next question.
-"Citizenship is impossible, at most they will be treated as other Liberi living there, but that will take time. I can guarantee their rights, not much more at first."
-"It's still good compared to other countries. We agree, but I wish to place one person to travel with you."
-"May I know why?"
-"To ensure your words are true and to negotiate with Laterano if needed."
-"I don't mind. Who will that be?"
-"FrostNova."-Patriot made the decision.
-"Why Father?"
-"Your Oripathy flared up again not long ago. You need to rest and recuperate.
-"I'll also stay."-Alina, who was silent for all this time raised her hand.-"I can't help you much in our camp, but here I can at least do something."
-"This... Be careful. Sir Eno, I entrust safety of my companions to you."-Talulah agreed but remained worried for her friends.
-"I will. I hope we can remain in contact through the letters as before, but to let me be able to locate you, I hope you can take this and keep it with you."-I gave Talulah a simple necklace, a shard of my Originium Glintstone imbued inside an iron shell to hide it.
I prepared such amulets after knowing that some people would be able to understand the nature of my crystals if they saw them. Its purpose was, as I stated, to help me find the person wearing it, but I also enchanted it with a spell that would detect hostility targeted at me, making me able to prevent betrayal in case something like that was to happen. In Terra, trust was the rarest and most expensive.
-"Good, I'll keep it on me."-Talulah accepted it, somewhat interested in how it works, but assuming it was some knight of Art, she didn't ask anything.-"Then we will take our leave to prepare everything. FrostNova will stay with you for now, and Alina will join you with the group, bringing the supplies."
-"We will stay here for two more days to rest."-I agreed with her idea, but gave a deadline.
-"We will be on time."
My first meeting with Reunion ended like that. They were quite interesting bunch. Talulah was the heart and core of the group. A dangerous combination of an idealist with power and charisma. But she was also impulsive, so Patriot's stability and FrostNova's partialism balance her well. As for Alina, she showed not enough for me to get a grasp on her role or character.
They were worth interacting with, but during our talks, my Empathy would pick up strange emotions from time to time, making me feel weird. I never met a situation like that, so I didn't know what to do, that's why I decided to be more careful and gave Talulah neckless with the hidden spell.
-"I will set my tent on the edge of camp."-FrostNova spoke up after a while.
-"Good, if you need anything, just speak up."
-"I'll be all right."
The rest of the day continued like any other, if you ignore a white rabbit staring at my every action. FrostNova kept her distance, most likely due to side effect of her Art; almost all survivors left her alone, only Margaret tried to approach her a few times. At first, FrostNova was somewhat resistant to interacting with any of us, but she opened slightly after watching us for a whole day.
Since then, we started to be on first name basis, Yelena finally dropping her code name, but there was still an obvious rift between us. I believe that it will get better with time as long as everything goes according the the plan, but obviously something had to happen.
When the time of our appointment to receive supplies arrived, there was no sign of Reunion. We waited for a few more hours, but there was still nothing. At this point, even FrostNova got worried, so I sent my Spectral Hawks to search the surroundings. Minutes later, I was able to find the camp that belonged to Reunion, but be amount of traces of fighting, I know that something must have happened.
I informed others of this, and we decided that I would take Shining and Yelena with me to assist Reunion while Margaret and Liz would remain in the camp to prevent any accidents. Arion rushed forward with three of us on his back. Due to the height, Shining sat behind me while Yelena was in front of me. I must say that having a chilly white rabbit in your embrace is a interesting experience.
We arrived at Reunion camp in two minutes flat, FrostNova instantly jumping down to act, but we were already little late. Around us were a few bodies of Reunion members, but what worried me was that there were too few of them. As we continued searching, we walked into Talulah, who also brought people after noticing that something had gone wrong.
-"Talulah! What happened?"
-"I'm not sure. Have you seen Alina?"
-"No, is she missing?"
-"She was in the camp."
-"Damn!"
With my birds in the air, I confirmed that there was only one trail leading from the village, so Talulah sent part of her people there, while we remained here, searching for Alina and any other survivors. Tent after tent, we searched everything, but found nothing but bodies from time to time. Then, as I was checking another place, a pillar of flame suddenly erupted nearby.
I rushed there, and as I approached, a deluge of anger and hate hit me. In the center of the fire sat Talulah, holding what appeared to be Alina's body. Ignoring the scorching heat, I flew to her side, quickly checking Alina's state. Surprisingly, she still had a faint breath of life left.
-"Calm down!"-I shut her mouth with my hand, roughly holding her face to make her look at me.-"She is alive. Don't make it worse."
My words returned light to Talulah's eyes; she quickly pleaded with them to save her.
Shining arrived at this point and knelt next to us, observing Alina. But she shook her head a moment later.
-"I can't do anything. At most, give you a few more moments to bid goodbye."
Her words almost caused Talulah to erupt one more, but I spoke before she could do so.
-"I can save her. Shining stabilizes her, and you... Just don't get in the way."
With my order everyone moved, knowing that each second mattered. Shining quickly used her Art to prevent further loss of life, but it was indeed nothing but a stop gap solution. Talulah stood on the side, greatsword in hand, looking like she would kill all who tried to approach.
Meanwhile, I knelt near lying Alina, my hands grasping the bound, broken standard. Under my armor, the lines of moonlight appeared again as my wings fully unfolded, enveloping the almost dead Elafia woman and me. The ground beneath me changed from the permafrost into a verdant green grass, a foreign ethereal plants here and there. The enormous energy of life emerged from below, flowing into Alina, slowly healing her.
This was a miracle I learned in my dream, in full force, capable of reviving the dead, but due to differences in Words, it was weakened considerably. To achieve this effect, I needed to invoke my Noble Phantasm, the Azure Dream, forcing it to appear around me. I also noticed that during casting miracles, the golden light would no longer appear around me; instead, the moonlight would be present.
I monitored Alina's state, ending my casting only after her state was good enough for conventional healing to suffice. When the moonlight receded, the ground under us also returned to its previous permafrost state. I looked at Shining so that she would do the rest of the healing, only to find her, Talulah, and even Yelena, who arrived here at some point, looking at me with shock.
-"Shining?"-I woke her from her stupor.
-"Sorry, I'll take care of the rest."-She quickly gathered herself.
I stood up and walked to the side, Talulah quickly approaching me.
-"How is she?"
-"She will live. I believe there won't be any lasting damage, but I can't be sure about her mental state. I think both of us can understand what happened here after looking around for so long."
My words caused Yelena's eyes to blaze with anger, lowering the temperature by a few degrees. Talulah, on the other hand, lowered her head, anger still present, fire all around proved that, but she was much more in pain. I could feel that she blamed herself for this happening, for almost losing her dearest friend.
-"Don't fall into a depression, now. We still have a thing to do, don't we?"
-"I will kill those traitors myself!"-Yelena understood my meaning instantly.
-"Let's go, they couldn't have run far."
I let two of them ride Arion; meanwhile, I flew above them, looking for our targets. Finding them wasn't hard, as the group previously sent by Talulah had already found and started fighting with them. Arion quickly rushed into the fight, allowing Yelena and Talulah to make quick work of the traitors. I remained in the air, dealing with those who tried to run.
Only when all were incapacitated or dead did I descend to the ground, landing and folding my wings. I approached the two women who were now interrogating those still alive. Stopping on the side, I decided not to meddle, simply watching the situation play out.
-"Why?! Why would you betray Reunion?"
-"Why would we not? Do you think we want to live in the cold and wet caves, hiding like rats from Ursus' military?!"-One of the traitors answered Talulah.-"No one wants to live like that!"
-"Heh, so you stole food, and what next? No country around this ide of would would even accept you, let alone give you a better place to live."-Yelena sneered.
-"We know that! But so what! Doing nothing but spouting empty promises and hoping for the future is not something that can last!"
-"No need to talk with them more, just kill them."-Yelena looked at Talulah.
-"Who did you contact?"-Talulah asked this suddenly.
-"What?"
-"Who promised you something if you did that? If you wanted to leave, you always could do it, even stealing things wouldn't be that hard, but you also massacred everyone. Who made you do this?"-She analyzed the crux of the case.
The traitors didn't answer, but the fear in their eyes was obvious.
-"Speak, or I'll make you."
-"It was a noble! He promised us a place to live after we helped him!"-Someone broke quickly, faced with Talulah's aura.
-"Noble? What profit would they make by doing so?"
-"That would make you into an enemy."-I decided to speak up.-"If Alina were to die, you would search for everyone responsible, and anything in your way would be burned down to the ground. If such a fate was to befell on few villages, you and Reunion would be branded as terrorists, making it easy to make you villains in the eyes of others, as well as a convenient scapegoat."
-"Bastards!"-Yelena could help but curse.
With cause and effect established, they didn't waste time and quickly dealt with everyone, leaving the ground flowing red with blood. I watched this all from the side, looking at Talulah deep in thought. While what I said was true, I felt that there was one more reason, Talulah herself.
Since seeing Alina hurt, her emotions were really unstable, and even that weird feeling started to appear more often, making me think that there was some greater conspiracy here. I decided to remain vigilant, waiting for everything to play out as acting now would put me at too great disadvantage against whoever is hidden in the darkness.