Chapter 21 #2
“I’ll settle for a hot bath,” Rynna muttered, her voice low as she stretched out on the ground, arms arching over her head.
Fenn’s gaze flicked toward her, his eyes hovering on the curve of her neck before quickly looking away.
“A bath?” Bran’s eyes lit up. “Now that sounds like a reward!”
Gran Hesta huffed a laugh, drawing their attention. “You’ll be happy to know my village has some of the best hot springs on the continent.” She paused, her voice growing softer. “Before all of this, my husband and I would go there every third day.”
“Hot springs?” Bran sat up straighter. “Why didn’t you mention that earlier? We should definitely go there!”
“Perhaps.” Fenn’s voice was calm, but Rynna thought she noticed something in his eyes as they met hers again across the fire.
You’re imagining things. She frowned, stretching out her roll and pulling the blanket over her head, determined to ignore the man. Just focus on the mission.
On the second day, the landscape continued to change as they moved deeper into the foothills. The air grew cooler, and the trees became more frequent, their leaves rustling in the breeze. The river remained at their side, growing wider and swifter as they climbed higher.
That night, they camped again, this time beneath a canopy of trees, the scent of pine mingling with the smoke.
“We should reach the waypoint tomorrow,” Fenn said. “I don’t expect any challengers, but the Stone Hollow-born can get overly enthusiastic about their duty safeguarding the site.”
“The Stone Hollow-born?” Elara asked.
“Yes. Stone and Ember Reach alternate guarding the waypoint every five years to ensure it's not being used by enemy forces. It’s their turn now.”
“But what if they’re the enemy or working with them?” Taren chimed in, his brow furrowed.
Smart kid, Rynna mused, leaning in, interested in Fenn’s answer.
“We hold a hostage of theirs while they guard, and they take one of ours when we guard,” Fenn explained, poking at the fire with a stick. “Usually, it’s a young member of the Warden’s family.”
“A hostage?” Bran scratched his head. “Why do we need a hostage?”
“It ensures trust between the Reaches,” Fenn replied.
“But that’s terrible. Taking a youngling away from their family?” Bran’s face twisted in frustration, his hands balling into fists at his sides. “Why can’t we just work together?”
Fenn hesitated, his mouth opening and closing before he finally scratched the back of his head, clearly at a loss for a better answer. “That’s just the way it is, I suppose.”
“It’s stupid.” Bran crossed his arms and scowled at the ground.
“You’re a good kid, aren’t you?” Gran Hesta smiled sadly to herself, turning on her side to sleep. “Who knew I’d find a good one among the Hollow-born.”
The next morning dawned cold and quiet, with the soft rustle of wind through the trees as the group broke camp. The fire had long since died, leaving behind only the faint scent of smoke wafting in the air.
With the camp packed up, Rynna found herself walking beside Fenn as the others trailed behind, jostling each other to see who would carry Gran Hesta's bag.
She glanced sideways at him, her steps in rhythm with his. “We were the only team available, weren’t we?”
Fenn looked up, his eyebrows lifted, and his hand rose almost instinctively to rake through his dark hair, which fell back loosely over his face as he collected himself. “Was it that obvious?”
“No,” Rynna said, shoving her hands into her pockets. “Just a guess.”
“Good guess.” He snorted, then paused, his eyes darting briefly around as if checking their surroundings, before leaning in slightly. “Can I ask you something?”
“Uh, sure.” She glanced sideways at him.
Fenn’s voice was low, careful. “What did you mean? Back at the tavern? About not really being eighteen? Or a trainee?”
She squeezed her eyes shut, tilting her head back. Shit. She hadn’t expected him to just come out and ask her like that. “Maybe I was just messing with you.”
“Maybe,” he said, studying her closely. “But I don’t think so. There’s too much about you that…doesn’t exactly scream young.”
“Beyond the…” She trailed off, but before she could finish, he cut her off.
“Yes.”
Rynna shoved her hands into her pockets again. “Maybe I’m just mature for my age.”
“Rynna.” His voice was firmer now, and she felt the warmth of his hand as it rested gently on the small of her back, subtly guiding her to face him.
“Level with me. It’s not just about what happened between us.
I need to know who I have in my unit, especially now, when we’re heading into something dangerous. ”
She looked at him from the corner of her eye, lips tightening in contemplation.
He’s right. She had opened the door for this question with her big mouth, and now she owed him an answer. The problem was, she had no idea how to give him one without lying or spilling everything.
“Fine,” she muttered, shifting uncomfortably.
He waited.
“Ummm…” Rynna’s mind raced, her thoughts twisting in every direction as she tried to find the right words. Her lips parted, but nothing came out immediately.
“Rynna,” he pressed, his voice more insistent now. “Your age or experience really shouldn’t be a mystery. Are you eighteen or not?”
“Not really...no, not at all,” she exhaled.
Fenn's expression darkened, his jaw tightening. “Why the games?”
“I’m not playing games,” she sighed. “It really is just…complicated.” Her eyes darted toward the ground, then back up to him, searching his face for understanding. “And I’ve already mentioned, multiple times, how your Elders assigned my age when they found me.”
How the hell am I supposed to explain this without sounding crazy? Should I just say I lied about my age? That would be easier, though it would break the fragile trust she’d built with the others if they found out.
He raised an eyebrow.
“Fine,” she grunted, then lowered her voice. “Do you believe someone can live forever?”
She might actually be insane, going with the unfiltered truth, but instinct told her this man would demand no less…and that she could trust him.
“Come on,” he snorted.
“I’m serious.”
Fenn’s brows furrowed, but his gaze sharpened, studying her with growing intensity. “Okay…explain.”
Rynna swallowed, taking a moment to gather herself.
“I came to Ember Reach playing the role of an eighteen-year-old trainee, because that was how your Elders chose to see me.” She glanced around as if the forest around them could somehow help her articulate what she barely understood herself.
“This is the life I’m living. Every day.
A Novice of Fang Unit. That’s who I am. What I am. At least to an extent.”
“And?” he asked, urging her on.
Rynna inhaled deeply, her chest tightening as the words formed. “Underneath that role, I also have the experiences of other lives...other versions of myself.” Her palm pressed against her chest, fingers curling briefly before falling away. “But it’s still the same me. Same body.”
Her gaze stayed fixed forward, the corner of her mouth quirking. “Which is not eighteen, by the way. The pervy Ember Reach elders came up with that one.”
Her gaze dropped. “Anyway.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, thumb rubbing once before releasing a tired huff.
“So you see—I’m not eighteen. I’m not really anything.
Just a jumble of lives stacked on top of each other, all blurring together in a body that never seems to age or change before I ‘die.’” She raised her fingers in air quotes.
“Then I get yanked into the next round with very little memory of what came before.”
Fenn scratched his chin. “Are you sure you're not insane?”
Rynna paused, then let out a huff of laughter, shaking her head. “Well, Fenn, I suppose I might be. But if I were insane, I probably wouldn't be the one to answer that question, now would I?”
“I suppose not.” He sighed, the corner of his mouth pulling up. “You could have just told me you lied about your age to get into the Reach. That would have been easier.”
But then he grew more serious, lifting his index finger to his temple as he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the clouded white film on the left eye peeled back like mist burned off by the sun, leaving a silver Wolf’s eye staring straight at her.
It was rumored to hold the power to see through deception, to peer into the truth of things. There was something almost magnetic about the way he studied her now, the eye gleaming in the fading light.
“I don’t know what to make of this, Rynna,” he said quietly. Both eyes, one dark, and one silver, locked onto her, examining her as if trying to strip away the layers of mystery.
She swallowed and looked away. “Me neither these days,” she admitted.
“Usually, it’s easy. I just…meld into my new life.
The memories of what came before are blurry and distant.
I carry the skills with me, but not much else.
” She paused, her gaze drifting to the horizon.
“Hell, I’d probably have ended up with Taren or even Elara if. ..” Her voice trailed off.
“If you hadn’t met me that night,” he finished for her, the tension bleeding out of him as the last word hung between them.
“Yeah,” she replied. “And now I’m having a harder and harder time reconciling the inexperienced young woman I’m supposed to be playing and the grown-ass woman I know I am.”
“It sounds crazy.”
“Yep.”
“But it’s the truth. At least as you know it,” he said, holding her gaze as they walked.
“Yes.”
“And you're loyal to Ember Reach?”
“As long as nobody starts trying to destroy the world,” she said with a wry smile, though, in truth, she was deadly serious.
Fenn let out a soft grunt, and, after a moment, a quiet acceptance seemed to settle over him. His shoulders relaxed, the tension easing from his face as he came to terms with what she'd said.
With a small nod, his eye filled once more with cloudy white. “I have more questions, but—”
Before he could finish, Rynna stumbled over a tree root, pitching forward into his arms just as a knife sliced through the space where her head had been. The blade buried itself in the ground behind her, narrowly missing Elara’s feet.
“Where’d that come from?!” the girl shouted.
Rynna barely registered her teammate’s words as her gaze locked onto Fenn’s wide eyes. His arms tightened around her for a moment, and she could feel his heart thundering beneath her hands.
The realization hit them both at the same time. They were under attack.