“We could’ve reasoned with her, Pekka!” Fia said. “In time we could’ve convinced her to be reasonable. It was Raija!”

“I know who she was, Fia,” he said, without any emotion. His eyes glinted the tears that never fell. 

Fia went quiet and looked at Dara. “It had to be done,” he said without meeting her eyes. 

“What are we going to do now?” she asked. 

“We’re going to try to strike a peace treaty,” he said, lifting Raija’s body up in his arms. “Is there another way out, where we don’t walk directly into Hamza and the others?”

Fia looked at Noah. “We can try finding the way out from the other entrance, but that would require one of us to take the pill again,” he said.

“We will need to take the pill either way,” Fia said. “We can’t walk through the wall otherwise.” 

After some deliberation, it was agreed that Akira would take the pill. They were able to find the other exit and there was nobody on the other side of the water veil that hid it. They waited for Akira’s symptoms to pass before going out, although Fia felt Dara suggested it more for Pekka than her. 

Fia stared into the pitch black darkness of the cave, sitting next to Dara. Only the occasional sound of Akira’s woeful cries gave her a sense of reality. The clashing of the swords and cries of fighting had stopped. There was peace outside, most likely temporary. 

“Do you see anything?” she asked. 

“Barely, it’s too dark even for me,” he said. 

A few minutes later, Akira felt more calm and they could move out. Fia nudged Dara, knowing well he would be able to tell if Pekka was ready too. 

“Let’s wait another half an hour,” he said. Nobody asked again until Dara told them to start moving. Night had fallen outside the cave, but a few lamps were lit near the mouth of the cave. They heard their voices before they saw their faces. They were all Raija’s people. They all turned around pulling swords as they heard the footsteps. As Pekka’s face came into focus, their swords slumped and they relaxed. It took a moment for them to register the body in Dara’s arms behind him. 

“Go get Jasmine,” Pekka said. 

“Is she alive?” one of the men asked. 

Dara shook his head. 

“I am going to make those freaks pay!” he said, pulling his sword out. 

“It wasn’t them,” Pekka said. “Go get Jasmine, now.”

Fia sat with Andrik, Akira and Noah on the side of the cave, hoping the two men they had placed their faith in knew what they were doing. Dara had placed Raija down in the centre of the cave, her arms by her side and draped her with his robe. 

Jasmine was the woman with the broad sword. Fia would later learn that she was one of Raija’s most trusted advisors and her second in command in many ways. She walked in a few minutes later as the others cleared the cave on Pekka’s request. Fia found it strange the level of trust he enjoyed and some of Raija’s words rang through her mind. They trusted him, because she had trusted him.

“What … What’s the meaning of this?!” Jasmine said, rushing to Raija and checking her pulse. She looked at Pekka who was sitting next to Raija’s body and then at Dara who stood next to him, her face hardening at the latter. Fia could see that she had already decided which one of them put the knife through her heart. Dara didn’t correct her. 

“Pekka, how could you let this happen?” Jasmine said. 

“She was working with the underground traders,” Pekka said.

“You know she wouldn’t!” she said.

“You know it’s true,” Pekka said. 

“I swear on my life, I will make you pay for this!” she cried at Dara.

“No, you wouldn’t,” Dara said. “Raija was loved. She was an inspiration. You will not tarnish her reputation by letting this one act define her legacy.”

“Shut the fuck up, Dara! This is all your fault! We came here because Abraha was after you!” Jasmine said. 

“Abraha was after me because Raija had me followed after having met with underground traders.  Explain to me Jasmine why she had to tail a man who was her friend. A man who happens to be gifted and not under Carnation’s protection.”

“Are you going to justify yourself with such flimsy arguments?”

“No faction is allowed to deal with them, why didn’t you stop her?! And why did you have me followed?”

Jasmine went quiet. It was quite obvious, while she knew that all this had happened, she did not know why. 

Dara sighed. “What were you guys thinking? It doesn’t matter that I’m not currently under Carnation’s protection. Legitimising the underground traders is a threat to everything that Abraha stands for. You will start a war. If this doesn’t die down, Abraha will hunt down every one of you and then some.” 

“He’s going to lose, Dara! There’s very few of you lot.” 

“And even fewer who care about such things. Not everyone fighting you out there is gifted. He commands the richest and only fort city in the plains. Not the people in Skadi, nor the Pillars will draw sword for you. Dragon’s breath will only see a business opportunity. Put a stop to this, and let her remain in death as she was in life.” 

“And do what? Surrender? What will I tell her people out there?”

“Surrender to Abraha, call a truce. Tell him you recognized Raija’s fault and it would not happen again.”

“How can you ask me to do that?”
“How can you consider this senseless bloodshed? This is not who she was. I don’t care what motivated her but this was not her and you know it.”

“You knew it wasn’t her, and yet you killed her!”

“He didn’t kill her,” Pekka said. “I did.”

Jasmine stared at him in disbelief. “Don’t try to take the fall for him,” she said. 

“She was not listening to reason, don’t tell me you didn’t try?” Pekka said. “She had far too much power to be so reckless and not pay the price. I had to.”

Jasmine stared at Raija’s lifeless body. 

“Let her go peacefully,” Pekka said. 

“Pekka…” she said. 

“Please. You know we wouldn’t be here if I saw any other way.”

“How will you say she died?” 

“Abraha needs to know she was killed to be able to trust you. For the rest she died in an accident and you two agreed to call a truce to mourn her. Dara will convince Abraha to agree.” 

Jasmine nodded. 

Fia held her breath as she watched Dara fly to Abraha in the light of the two moons. Hamza had joined back by then and stood with Zarrar. Carnation’s army  occupied the north end of the highlands and Raija’s people occupied the south. Some lamps were lit here and there. There was an eerie feeling in the area as blood covered people stood with their weapons hanging, hushed whispers and curious stares fell on Dara, Abraha and Jasmine. Pekka stood quietly by the mouth of the cave, alone. Raija’s body was still inside. 

As the sun rose in the horizon, Abraha and Jasmine finally walked out of the cave and shook hands. Abraha extended his condolences to her people. The weapons were all sheathed. The faint light showed the streaks of tears on several blood and mud covered faces. Breakfast was offered by the Carnation army to everyone in memory of a woman that Abraha called, “one with profound character and the voice of an angel, who will be dearly missed”.

Two days of mourning were jointly announced by him and Jasmine before all the people were to set back to Skadi. The funeral was to be held near the Capital, where Raija had originally arrived.  

Later that night Fia went to Pekka. He had been drinking but it didn’t make him chatty like it usually did. 

“I’m sorry for lashing out at you,” she said. 

“It’s okay,” he said. 

“I may not understand everything still but I know you had good reason.”

He looked at her. “You should know the reason. So you do what you need to do when the time comes. We are not Abraha or Raija. We don’t have the luxury of time, of coming back with more fire power or hoping that our reasoning would eventually work. The only advantage we’ve ever had is obscurity. The moment we lose that, we are nothing but easy pickings. Don’t ever forget that.” 

She didn’t argue with him further. The image of the purple finger marks on Dara’s neck were still fresh in her mind. Deep down she knew what Raija meant when she asked him if he would do it for anyone. She felt he wouldn’t and he didn’t do it for her either. He did it for Dara. It wouldn’t be until much later when she would realise he did it for Raija too. 

Over the next two nights, Fia snuck into the caves with Noah, Akira and Andrik. They all took the toxin several times. The tables and chairs made out of cyan rock turned into tables and chairs made out of ice that faintly glowed when touched but didn’t do anything else. They searched high and low, carved here and there with their swords, but it was nothing but ice that eventually filled again when they poured the cool water from the veils on it. Fia didn’t hear any voice in her head, and she didn’t have any visions on the first night. On the second night, she heard Mikael’s voice say “you should go to the Pillars,” as she was fumbling with the different control tables. The landslide season was coming, the Rumbling Gate would be closed by the time they would reach the Pillars. She waited for more but neither saw nor heard anything again. She even jumped down into the ditch a few times and then stayed there in the dark until she slept at least for some time. But there was nothing. 

News of her marriage with Dara became common knowledge by the time they started moving towards Skadi. Dara had to work overtime with his distraction skills when Abraha came to congratulate them and eventually had to signal Akira and Noah to take Fia away to keep her from giving Abraha murderous looks. 

“There is one thing that’s been bothering me,” Abraha said to Dara later. He was standing with him and Hamza. “When you left Giza that day, I was convinced you flew into Skadi. I thought I had lost you, but then as I was returning, I received a letter in the Capital that told me to return to Giza. And so I did. In Giza, I got another similar letter, telling me to come to this place in Trench Forests. But I never found out who sent the letters. Any idea who it could’ve been?”

Dara shook his head thoughtfully. “No. I can look into it if you want.”

“We did look into it. There was only one clue. The envelope had red dust inside.”

“Red dust?”

“Yes, it’s found in Dragon’s breath, inside the volcano itself. Pretty useless stuff really, except if you want to show off that you’ve been inside. People sometimes get it as a souvenir.”

“Ah yes, that red dust.”

“You would know, of course, Hamza tells me you’ve flown in. Or did you just make that up to impress Shanaya.”

Dara chuckled. “If I had, I wouldn’t be collecting red dust at least.”

“Hmmm, quite true. There is one more thing. When we reached Trench Forests, we had no idea where to look. But then as I was flying over some highlands, I saw a large arrow pointing towards a range. Someone had gone through the effort of breaking branches on the tops of trees to create it. Don’t you find that intriguing?”

“I do.”

“Do you have any idea who could’ve done it?”

“None whatsoever. It’s quite the mystery.”

Abraha gave out a short, dry laugh. “Very well, Dara. Let me not keep you any longer from your new wife. Don’t forget you owe us a reception.”

“How can I?” 

Abraha patted his cheek. “Keep her happy,” he said. Dara nodded. 

Some days later, Giza was overrun by nearly two hundred people. Abraha took a carriage back, ahead of the others. Dara and Fia saw Pekka off, who preferred to travel alone the rest of the way. Dara seemed worried for him but when Fia asked about it, he just smiled. “He’ll be okay, he’s tough.” 

Andrik also decided he would go back to his girlfriend because he missed her. 

“So you really have a girlfriend,” Akira said to Andrik. 

“Of course,” Andrik said, falling into a chair next to her. 

“Nice.”

“She is.” 

Akira traced his eyes to Fia talking to Dara and a whole bunch of gifted people in the distance. They seemed to be having a good time. 

“Did you ever tell her?”

He frowned at Akira before turning his head back. “Fucking weirdos. To think they were at each other’s throats a few days ago,” he said. “I don’t know what she sees in him.”

“I thought you didn’t dislike him anymore.”

“She likes him so much, how could I say anything else?”

Akira only smiled. Noah grabbed the chair from behind her and she threw her head back to look at him. 

“Pekka’s gone, Andrik leaving. Fia and Dara will ditch us very soon. What’s your plan?” he asked. 

“My plan is to go with you to the Capital. I read in the news today that it will bloom this spring,” Akira said. 

“Fine,” he said. “I want to visit the library there too.”

“And fill your head with animal sexuality and secret lives of scholars.”

Noah chuckled. “Ah that sounds so sad… Fine. No books.” 

Akira gave him a delighted smile. He kept his word when they reached the Capital for four full days. After that she couldn’t stop him from going to the library even if she clung on to his leg to stop him. She knew because she tried. 

In the yard of the Inn they once danced together and then fought each other in, a bunch of people with strange eyeballs, claws, spikes, and all kinds of weird knick knacks welcomed Fia to the rather dysfunctional family. 

“How the hell did you convince her to marry you?” a woman said to Dara. 

“Swirling fire in the heavens,” Hamza said looking at Shanaya and they all shamelessly broke into bouts of laughter. 

Shanaya shook her head and punched Hamza in the arm. 

“I’m so sorry, Shanaya,” said Dara, and he meant it. 

“Don’t be,” said Shanaya. “Important lesson learnt.” 

He chuckled. Fia smiled watching all of them. They were like siblings. They found love even in the hate. Zarrar didn’t join the group but Dara caught up with him on his own after a while. Fia later saw them both and Hamza hanging out together. 

“All good?” she asked Dara when he came to bed that night. 

“As much as it can be,” he said. “Zarrar is complicated. It’s like being friends with a porcupine. Sometimes he stings on purpose but half the time he just stings because he can’t help it. He knows it too, so he’s quick to forgive.” He sighed and smiled at her. “Did you already say your goodbyes?”. She nodded. 

They left Giza the second day after they arrived. The funeral was five weeks later so they had enough time to catch up with the rest. The next two weeks, the two of them spent in the soul caves, trying everything and anything she may have missed earlier but all she hit was a not quite proverbial ice wall. In the end, Dara cheekily convinced her that Mikael was telling her she needed to go on a honeymoon. They left Trench Forests the next morning.

An excerpt from Alpha’s diary found in Skadi by Fia at the site of the third artefact

I see her when I go there. She’s there and she knows things I don’t know. She also doesn’t know some things that I think she should. I thought it was a dream at first. But I’m sure it’s not now. I am convinced I can make it happen. I can bring her back. We were attempting the impossible before that’s why we never succeeded. The link is one way. It was always meant to bring us here. For what purpose is still not clear to me. She understands it better than I do, I know that for sure. But it’s difficult to get her to explain everything. She comes and goes and she answers what she likes. It was exactly this reason why I always felt she was a dream. But she’s not, I just have to find the right question to ask, and then I can get her to answer. She is not a dream. 

I know now that this place is not serving the purpose it was meant for. I think something went wrong. It was rushed and it went wrong. There is so much more to learn. I am sure once I revive her, she would know a lot of the answers that we struggled with. I don’t even want to go back anymore. I just want her back. I miss her so much.