Thirstfall - Memory of a Returnee

I wake to too much light coming through the window.

For a few seconds I stay still, still caught in the feeling of that battlefield. Smoke, broken structures, machines I’d never seen, and Duvilin thrown against metal before he could loose the arrow. The image loses force as the room reasserts itself, but it leaves an uncomfortable unease behind my eyes.

I turn to the clock.

08:00.

"Shit."

I slept more than I meant to.

I sit on the bed and run my hands over my face, trying to decide whether the dream deserves more attention or whether it’s just one more thing to add to the growing pile of problems I still can’t explain.

It could have been a vision of the future.

The possibility doesn’t last long.

I lived another ten years in Thirstfall. I never came across those machines, never knew the creatures bound to metal structures, and never saw a city like that one. If it belonged to the future, it was beyond any period I’d known.

The past makes more sense.

Especially after what Duvilin just remembered about a civilization that existed on this same world before anyone called it Thirstfall.

When I manage to bring him back, I’ll ask.

He’ll probably close his eyes, try to remember for a few minutes, and end up saying the memory disappeared again. Even so, it’s worth trying.

For now, I have a dungeon to enter.

I touch the communicator behind my ear and open the channel to Rhayne.

She answers a moment later.

"Good morning."

Her voice comes through already awake.

"Good morning."

"Have you eaten?"

There’s a small pause.

"Yeah..."

"And how are you feeling?"

"Good. Zhang Xi finished examining me yesterday. I slept well and woke up with no pain beyond the training."

The answer reassures me more than I expected.

"Great. Eat a little more if you ate too light. Meet me in the main courtyard and bring Zhang Xi with you."

"Got it. We’ll be there soon."

I’m almost hanging up when she asks, suddenly.

"Dryden... are you okay?"

"Yes. Why?"

"You just sound so... never mind."

"If anything comes up, I’ll be around. Call me."

I close the channel.

Veric comes to mind right after.

I still need to call him. We have a deal, and I don’t intend to enter the dungeon without keeping my part.

I just don’t need to warn the prince early enough for him to turn a simple outing into a state operation.

I’ll call when we’re close to leaving.

I open the HUD.

[OXI: 3,101 / 5,000]

Overmemory charged a lot for last night’s experiment.

I get up and go to the OXI machine in the dormitory corridor. I rest my hand on the reading surface and let the system calculate the difference.

[Required OXI: 1,899]

[Payment: 76 Scales]

My current balance appears just below.

[Scales: 1,653]

I confirm.

The machine’s light runs across my wrist as the OXI returns to my channels.

[Scales: 1,653 → 1,577]

[OXI: 3,101 → 5,000 / 5,000]

I take my hand away.

Seventy-six Scales for a night playing with a new skill isn’t exactly cheap, but at least now I know Overmemory can turn my savings into supernatural perception with impressive efficiency.

I stop by the dining hall before heading to the courtyard.

I eat without rushing, more out of obligation than hunger. The dungeon probably won’t be short, and going into an expedition fueled only by OXI Candies seems like a great way to discover a new way to feel sick.

A few tables over, two cadets are discussing changes to the training.

"I heard containment’s going to become mandatory."

"Not just containment. Field work too."

I keep eating.

Kaelen really doesn’t waste time.

Less than a day after finding out the sky would come down in two years, he’s already reworking the Academy’s structure.

I finish, leave the tray, and head to the main courtyard.

Rhayne and Zhang Xi are already waiting.

Rhayne sees me first and raises a hand. She looks rested, gear strapped correctly to her body and no visible mark from yesterday’s training. Zhang Xi stands beside her in her usual gray tunic, the hood resting against her back.

I go straight to the two of them.

"Good morning."

Rhayne answers with a smile.

Zhang Xi tilts her head slightly.

"Good morning, Dryden."

I look at her.

"Verdict?"

"Rhayne is healthy. There’s normal muscle fatigue and small strains from the training, but no damage that would make me recommend additional rest."

Rhayne opens her hands at me, pleased.

"See?"

I ignore the taunt and keep looking at Zhang Xi.

"And you?"

She seems surprised.

"Me?"

"You’re going into a dungeon too. I want to know if you’re all right and if you still want to do this."

Zhang Xi takes a moment to answer.

"I’m healthy. And I want to go."

Simple. It’s all I need.

"Then let’s go."

We start crossing the courtyard toward the main exit.

I’m already looking for Veric’s contact on the communicator when a voice comes from behind me.

"Dryden."

I stop.

’I know that voice.’

I turn.

Freya is coming toward us.

She isn’t carrying a bag, doesn’t look about to flee anywhere, and doesn’t have the tension that followed every one of her movements the day before. She’s in ordinary field gear, Veilfang fastened to her body and her pale hair arranged in a simple way.

She stops near us.

"Where are you going?"

"A dungeon."

I look at Rhayne and Zhang Xi.

"The three of us."

Rhayne immediately breaks into a smile and waves a hand at Freya.

"Hi."

Freya takes a small moment to realize the gesture is meant for her. Then she lifts her own hand and answers with a short wave, almost shy.

Zhang Xi only tilts her head in greeting.

Freya stays there.

She doesn’t say anything else.

I wait a few seconds, but she seems stuck between wanting to speak and not yet knowing exactly how.

"All right... see you later."

I turn again.

A hand closes on my arm.

I stop.

I look at Freya’s fingers gripping my sleeve.

When I lift my eyes, I notice something else in the same motion.

Rhayne isn’t smiling anymore.

The change is small. She’s still standing in the same place, but her eyes dropped for an instant to Freya’s hand on my arm before returning to her face.

I decide that my wish to survive the dungeon includes saying nothing about it.

I bring my attention back to Freya.

She looks uncomfortable.

For a moment I think it still has to do with Dean. Maybe she’s unsure about what comes next, not knowing how to act now that the debt has disappeared and no one is telling her where she should be.

"Freya, enjoy this."

She frowns.

"Enjoy what?"

"Your freedom."

I say it without trying to turn it into a speech.

"You spent too long thinking about what Dean wanted, what your debt allowed, and what would happen if you chose wrong. That’s over. Go do something because you want to. You don’t have to worry about me or ask anyone for permission."

Freya keeps looking at me.

Then she lets go of my arm.

I think the conversation is over.

She runs her eyes quickly over Rhayne and Zhang Xi, takes a deep breath, and comes back to me.

"So..."

The word comes out lower than usual for her.

Freya Gunnulf has faced monsters, instructors, students, and people much stronger than her without showing half that discomfort. Asking for something simple seems to take far more effort.

"As a free girl... I’d like to go with you."

I keep looking at her.

Yesterday, Freya believed she had to leave the Academy to make a choice of her own. Now she’s standing here, with no Dean behind her, no contract demanding anything, and no obligation at all to stay near me.

She just wants to go.

The smile appears in my face before even I decide what to answer.