The Endless Solvent

They moved to leave Alkkes at the break of dawn. Ral wanted to stay to at least try to help those in need but Rask refused.

“If the Bringers know you’re still here, they will try to open a Gate again,” Rask said. “It will cause more problems. We must leave.”

“How do these Bringers even know how to do that?” Ral asked. “Not that I know much about runes but isn’t it taboo knowledge?”

“Most people don’t care how taboo an enchantment is if it serves a purpose,” the freerunner shrugged. “They use a live sacrifice, do you think they care about morality?”

They traveled unseen to the fringes of outer Alkkes, the dwindling settlements of the city state that spilled northwards into desert tundra. There were houses and stalls here still but scattered and shambling, as if their proximity to Alkkes was the only thing that made them ‘houses.’ People were starting to come out as the sun arose, a few of them picking at the mess left behind from the previous day. It seemed most of the damage was done within Alkkes itself - so far out of the city, there were structures that looked damaged but barely any signs of bloodshed. It occurred to Ral that perhaps there wasn’t anything worth looting or fighting over out here.

Rask picked a house mostly hidden from view. There was a small family there living in what was basically a hut; they stared at them cautiously as they approached. The father - a short and skinny man with short, dirty hair and even dirtier hands - was curt and dismissive, but Rask offered money for some simple provisions and the family readily helped.

They refilled his water skin at a nearby well and gave a full one for Ral. A leather satchel full of dried meat and fruit was divided up between the two of them. They even managed to find a change of clothes for Ral who was covered in filth and blood from the day before. They also gave him a better cloth belt.

Ral changed quickly inside the family’s hut and when he returned to Rask the freerunner was busy depositing all the money into the father’s hands.

“We were never here,” Rask said, smiling dryly. Ral glanced at the amount of coins - it was easily three times the amount one would pay for what they got.

“Aye, sir, we saw nothing,” the father said.

“If you ever need something delivered, find me the next time I cross Alkkes,” Rask continued. He unclasped the collapsed staff from his belt, showing the wide-eyed man the metal cylinder. The runed staff was common for freerunners, although Ral had the impression most people have forgotten about it these days. Luckily the father seemed to understand.

“Thank you kindly, although I ain’t got any business for a freerunner,” he snorted. “Besides, we’ll be lucky if you even have an Alkkes to return to after what happened yesterday.”

“You never know,” Rask said with a small smile. Instead of returning the metal cylinder to his belt, he handed it to Ral. “Here, take this one. It’s yours.”

Ral took it from him and stared at the heavy metal cylinder in his hand. When he was a child, he would constantly pester Rask for a turn on training with the staff - back then he would always say that a sword was more fitting for a nobleman. Even when Caelis fell and they traveled almost as nomads, Rask refused to give him a staff and insisted that he learned using ‘real’ weapons. But now he’s giving him one. Ral remembers clearly the freerunner had two back in the fight against the Unseeing.

Ral was about to ask why, but Rask gave him a clap on the shoulder and headed out after saying his farewells to family.

“Never seen one in my life,” the father muttered as Ral walked by. “Then seeing two Parts-damned freerunners in a morning! I could still be dreaming…”

Ral started, but then shook his head and followed Rask. It didn’t matter what that man thought.

They took to the road again. Ral felt a rush of nostalgia stepping in turn next to the freerunner. They had traveled hundreds of thousands of paces like this before he stayed with the Somas. Seeing the expanse of the desert, feeling the assertive steps, knowing that Rask knew where to go and what to do filled Ral with a kind of warmth he didn’t think he would feel again. It made him feel ashamed of his life choices, humiliated as to why he left Rask in the first place.

She never resented where life took her, Ralos. And I don’t either.

Ral swallowed as he heard the words again. Perhaps he shouldn’t resent where life takes him either.

The day went by incredibly fast. Although Ral had a few aches and pains from the scuffles of the day before and from barely sleeping on a dirt floor, he felt surprisingly renewed. It was a sharp contrast from crossing the desert with Kentor - back then they had been struggling to survive on barely any water. Survival had been his only thought. Now he was reasonably dressed, fed and watered, it was only natural he started to ruminate.

“When would we return to Alkkes?” he suddenly said to Rask. “I still feel like we should do something for them.”

“I wrote the Head Minister a letter,” Rask said. “Told the family who helped us to send it anonymously.”

“A letter,” Ral said flatly. “Is that going to fix anything?”

“Maybe. It depends if the Minister believes me.”

“What did you write in it?”

“The truth, or the truth as far as I know it,” Rask said. “About Bringers opening the Gates, about the Gate turning people into Unseeing. I told him a live sacrifice and blood was required to open the Gate. Hopefully he takes precautions knowing that.”

“They’re not going to believe you,” Ral said. “People think monsters come through the Gate.”

“Many people don’t believe things until they see it with their own eyes,” Rask said. “I can’t change that.”

“And you know where the Unseeing comes from?” Ral asked. “Back when we traveled together you never mentioned it. How is it that nobody knows this?”

“I didn’t know back then. It’s easy to miss: when a Gate opens people either turn into Unseeing, get killed or fall into shock,” Rask reasoned. He gave a huff as he took a big step over a rock on the haphazard trail they were walking on. He unclipped his staff, unclasped the two metal bits and the wood materialized between the caps, then he set one end on the floor as a walking stick. “Those far enough away to avoid those fates don’t really see anything. Perhaps they start running and get far enough away. Then there are people unwilling to admit the monsters are their own kind.”

“You think some live in denial?” Ral imitated the freerunner, materializing his own walking stick beside him.

“I know they do. What do you think I’ve been doing all these years, Ralos?” Rask asked, shaking his head. “Many people still think the problem will just go away on their own. Others think joining the chantry or buying whatever Kuvan or Sekrelli has to offer is going to fix everything. Lots of them are past denial.”

“Then what in sun’s name are we going to do?” Ral muttered.

“I saw you close a Gate with my own eyes, son,”Rask said, half grinning at him. “That is going to be extremely useful. Beyond that, though, I have no clue.”

“Then where are we going?”

“Away from Alkkes,” Rask said, taking another big step over a rock. “Most importantly. But also back to Sansre - the towns and villages around have had Gates open left and right. I promised the people there I would return to help.”

“If Gates are common there, wouldn’t it mean the Bringers are there too?” Ral asked.

“Yes, probably,” Rask replied. “But you’ll find the situation out there much different. There are signs that Gates are opening on their own out east. Ralos, the situation around our home gets worse by the day.”