Altered Destiny

Ch. 14

The following day, Ingressus could barely believe what he'd said that night. He had barely spoken to anyone about his life in the mountains, had said little more than the rare sentence even to Galleous, Kittrian, or the twins. He couldn't say what had possessed him to spill so much at the campfire, to a bunch of people he barely knew.

He had almost thought it was a dream, or some half-asleep figment of his imagination brought on by his homesickness. But the softer looks the children were giving him now– pity rather than uncertainty, sadness rather than nervousness, dispelled the idea that the conversation had been produced by his mind. He had shared stories of his clan with them, had shed tears in front of them.

Ingressus wondered about that as he walked the twins home, as he carried a half-asleep Alcyone back to his parents' cave and threatened Selarin's well-being. It wasn't like the things he'd said were a secret, nor was it anything that would endanger the rest of his clan; he'd been careful of that. It simply... wasn't something he had ever shared, even to those who would've cared.

Maybe it was the firelight that had done it. They said that the glow of flames in a dark night brought out a different side of a person, a more open side than came forth in the daylight. The world shrank in around you at night, the outside world shut out by the shadows of dusk until all you were aware of was your little circle of firelight and those who shared it with you. It wasn't like the bright light of day he walked through now, that lit the earth from horizon to horizon. Night could be dangerous but it could also be sheltering, offering the comfort of a sleeping world.

Ingressus knew the tales the other clans had about his. He knew the rumors of necromancy that had sprung from the discovery of a root that could darken an Ardoni's markings. He knew they believed his clan had found a way to control someone else's Song. He knew they were afraid of what his clan would do if they ever got their hands on the Primes again– though he had to admit, that last one wasn't unprompted. The bilateral slaughter after the Voltaris had managed to kill a Champion and make off with the Supporium and Protisium Primes was well-documented on both sides. Revenge– and the fear of revenge– were powerful forces, ones that had ruled his species for centuries.

Sukey had said it would end. What's more, the Felina had seemed to genuinely believe his own words. Ingressus wasn't sure he had that much faith in the goodness of the universe. And yet, in the following days, he couldn't help but notice a change. Madaris and his friend spotted him sparring against a practice dummy, and applauded rather than shuffling nervously away when he noticed them. Alcyone gave him a hidden wave in the marketplace when his parents' backs were turned. Even Terik willingly spoke to him, though he still looked nervous when Ingressus met his gaze.

"My sister says your clan might not be so bad," Saylor told him when Ingressus dropped off a delivery of kitchenware from Galleous. "Buuuut my parents told her not to fall for it, so I don't know what she thinks now."

"Did they tell you the same?"

"I neglected to mention the mineshaft adventure to them."

"Saylor, who is it?" a voice called from inside the cave

"It's Galleous!" Saylor called back, tossing Ingressus some coins and gesturing at him to leave.

Ingressus continued his rounds, dropping off the day's deliveries. A set of fishhooks for Remus, a shovel for Kalais, a stack of buckets for Delark, horseshoes for Everin's stables on the mainland, then back to Gateway Island with a few shovels for Lenneus.

The Mendoris snatched the shovels from Ingressus's hand when he arrived. "You've got some nerve, Voltaris."

Ingressus nodded to the shovels, annoyed but not surprised. "That's twenty irons."