Grand Saint Alloy

Eve maintained her steady stride, remembering her father's lessons about not showing weakness to an enemy. It was that lesson that had killed him, but he had died a hero’s death against a giant bone sloth. People laughed behind her back at that. Sloths were slow, sloths were timid. Those people had never met a mythical beast before. Now that Eve had, she understood his lessons better, even the weakest monsters could topple civilizations.

The worst part was, she had just left the most dangerous one she had ever seen. Luke’s brutal personality explained many of Tristan’s quirks, however, he was not held back by even the facade of morals. The man was like a wolf, either you were part of his pack or the fuel for its growth. He was not a dumb brute, Eve could tell he would not let his feelings stop him if she stepped too far onto the wrong side of his cost/benefit assessment of her. As it was she was straddling that line and she had been for a long time.

She stomped up the stairs keeping her breathing steady and stride even. Eve did not want to give Luke any inkling of the fear and horror gripping her. As soon as she exited the echoing stare well and shut the surface door behind herself, her expression broke. Still, she let no sound out, she could hear Conni, Siren, and Henry in the other room discussing something. They had all been kind to her, and she did not want to burden them with her problems. Especially Henry, he did not know who she was.

So she crept out the back door. Conni’s home was not large, but it was also meant for a family of six, making it bigger than many. The lack of children wrecking the place allowed him to keep everything in good repair. Eve escaped out the back into the lightly falling snow. Her water kern did not stop the cold weather from chilling her, but it did prevent the snow from melting and soaking her clothing.

The training field was off to her left and slightly beyond that were the milk barns. To her right was the mine entrance, though she could not see it due to the angle and large garden that Grace kept. It was all so much less than she was used to, while also being so much more. Here, her grandfather was not looking over her shoulder like a guard dog. People had no idea who she was, meaning they were both honest and sometimes offensive. Both were novel.

Eve leaned back against the wall and slid to the ground. Sitting in the shallow snow, she finally let herself break down. How had everything gone so wrong? She had lost her father, her sister, and soon her grandfather. She had finally made two real friends only to have one lead a war against her family and the other supply that war.

Eve did not doubt that Elder Forest would win. The forces required to crush this mine were ludicrous, there was a civil protector here and two more tier fours that eclipsed him. Regis could do enough damage to the mine to stop the supply of metal, but that exact thing was all that was holding those three in place. Once the mine shut down, the two strongest tier fours would be released on the plains, followed by twelve of the strongest tier threes she had ever seen. The only bright side was that she would never have to see Kerri again.

She placed her head in her hands crying at her impotence. Sometimes a good cry was all she needed to clear her head, today that did not seem to be the case. The snot freezing to her face did bring her out of the emotions, but the clarity did not help. She was about to fall back into her despair when the door beside her opened.

Eve panicked, trying to clean herself up before her hosts saw the sorry state she was in. Puffy red eyes and frozen tear tracks were difficult to hide. The mad scramble to her feet ended when she realized it was not Conni or Grace who stepped outside, it was Siren. Eve was not sure if that was better or worse.

Siren simply stared at her for a moment one eyebrow raised. For a moment Eve thought he was going to mock her. Instead, he leaned over and grabbed two rods out of the barrel on the left corner of the back porch. They were for that tunnel combat exercise he had created. Her confusion only rose when he handed her one and walked toward the training field with the other.

Not sure what he wanted Eve followed. Siren at least deserved her trust. She did not know him well, but from the stories told, he was either a great liar or more righteous than the Temple guiders. The fact that he had the raw power to ignore everybody’s opinions led her to believe the latter, why go through the extra effort if you weren’t genuinely that person?

Siren paused in the middle of the field and simply raised his stick in one hand. Did he want to spar? Why, it had no benefit to him? He was at a high enough skill level coupled with a higher tier, that the only one who would gain anything would be her. Taking a deep breath, she stood across from Siren.

“What are you doing,” Eve asked. She had suspicions but wanted to make sure before attempting to hit the man with a stick.

Siren shrugged, “Exercise always helped me.”

Eve took another deep breath and decided to go for it. She had some pent-up feelings to get out. Over the last month, she had rapidly grown into tier three with all the artifacts Tristan had stolen and now would be the first time she would actually be using the new tier. The last time she had fought was when she had attacked a small crab. It was that event more than any other, that proved she was not made for war.

Multiple creatures had died at her hand, most of them exactly like that ghost crab. However, she had not been able to protect her friends. It was not an issue of power, it was an issue of conviction. After all, as a tier one, Tristan had almost carried their team through the infested fields. He knew what he was risking. Eve had only just now found out, and how little she could do about it.

Right now, there was nothing she could do. Maybe Siren was right and exercise was all she needed. Eve complied, swinging at the large man with all her strength. Of course, he parried it, bouncing her weapon harmlessly away, but he did not strike back. She swung again and again, not moving him an inch.

It didn’t take long for her to see two figures in his place. The first was her grandfather who wanted to chain her to Kerri, ‘for the good of the Caldera.’ Kerri was not what was good for the River Caldera, all he had going for him was the number four. He had a high-tier kern and a low-tier attitude. She would have put up with it too, if the man had not put on a mask before her grandfather. The Elder chose to believe the words of a stranger over his own descendant.

While she would have loved to beat Kerri down, Siren proved to be an impenetrable target. Slowly she was able to release that hurt, even if it was only temporarily. Her mind shifted to Luke. His icy eyes, she did not know how many people he had killed, but it was probably a lot. He was not born to his position but had taken it through the law of the jungle. Everything was justified in the name of survival.

Eve did not hate him, he was little more than a mythical beast in human skin. She did fear him. Eve wanted to run, but she didn’t. This was Siren, not Luke, so she let her emotions run wild. She hammered on Siren, while he simply swatted away her attempts with simple flicks of his wrist.

While she was tier three, her stamina could not last forever. Water kerns had some effect on stamina, however, it was more of a mental effect that helped with maintaining steady progress. More useful when crafting for long hours, than while swinging a stick. Still, she kept swinging away at her problems until she exhausted herself.

Sweaty, Eve finally dropped to the trampled snow. There was a ring of hundreds of overlapping footprints around Siren, but even those signs of her effort would soon be covered over by the falling snow. She leaned back against one of the wooden free-standing walls that Siren had made. Her thoughts turned to a direction they perhaps, should have previously.

“Why did you stop and help me?” Eve said.

Siren shrugged, “I wanted to.”

“There is nothing you want from me and my family?” Eve said. She did not know why she was frustrated by his answer. People always wanted something from her, even if it was simply to leave.

“Your family has nothing I could not get for myself,” Siren chuckled.

Eve glared at him. Siren knew who she was. There was quite a bit Elder River could do for him. At least that was what she initially thought. With a moment of consideration, she realized it was simply not true. A tier four would never struggle for money, struggle to find a quality spouse, Siren had no problem inspiring his followers, and he had the respect or fear of everyone around him. Oddly, this mine offered better opportunities for Siren than the rest of the Caldera put together. It offered progression, if her grandfather could give that, then his civil protector would not have died to Hadrid so quickly.

“Why are you…” Eve searched for the right word. Powerful was too one-dimensional and not something she cared to ever be. There was something she wanted to know more, “Why are you so sure of yourself?”

She needed to know what to do because at the moment she felt lost. Luke, Kerri, Tristan, Grace, and even Lesly were all sure what they were doing was the right thing. Some were selfish, some petty, and Grace could even be called kind, however, they were all sure their way was the correct one. The thing that set Siren apart was the tide he created, convincing everyone that his way was right.

“I’m not,” Siren said simply, “I know what is right and what is wrong, and I will never compromise on that. However, that does not mean I am sure of myself.”

Eve glared at him. Siren sighed, “Tristan recently asked a different question, but it has the same answer. Character, nothing more. It means doing what is right, not what feels right.”

“How do you know what is right?” Eve grumbled. She wanted a five-step process to getting your way, not a philosophical statement of a warrior's worldview.

“Simple, does any action you take benefit more people than just yourself,” Siren thought for a moment, “That makes it sound like I run around giving things to the poor. I am a warrior, and I made a vow when I started on the ramparts my strength is the Caldera’s strength. I keep that oath not because I believe the people I made it to have any honor, but because the moment I break it everyone who relies on my power will question my word, which could kill a lot of people. However, because I value my word so highly, so do others. If I say push for another hour to a warrior I am training, he pushes for another hour. He might not know why, but saying it is important is enough.” Siren clenched his fist, “People fear you for your strength, they love you for your integrity. I can’t say I know what you are going through or how you’re feeling, though I have a decent idea of it. There is a reason why my warriors and I are staying at the mine, the best of two evils is simply the coward's way out.”

Eve was not sure how to take that. Siren had just called her grandfather evil, though she was not sure if the lesser or greater evil was more accurate. The core of Siren’s little speech was clear. There was always another way, she just had to find it.