The Epic Tale of Cregan

Chapter 15: Waging a War

Regan looks around and sees their bags in the corner of the room, and he notices how empty his backpack looks. It's then that he remembers how Romeow had been left behind when they fled from Balmoral. He had hoped that maybe he would have found them by now, but the fact that he hasn't is starting to make Regan even more concerned.

"Has there been no sign of Romeow...?" he asks absently as he stares at the bags.

Cree sighs and nods, running a hand through his hair to brush it out of his face. He had expected this to be one of the first things Regan would ask about in the morning. He admits, he also has his share of guilt for leaving the cat behind. In his panic to get Regan to Arkala, he brushed over the possibility of going back to the city for just a moment to look for Romeow.

"No... Still haven't seen him since Balmoral," he stops as he sees Regan turn back and look down, lightly gripping the blankets. Cree sighs again and hesitantly reaches over to rest his hand on his shoulder. "Hey, this is Romeow we're talking about. He is literally linked to your brain. He'll be able to find us no problem, I'm sure. Let's just try to not worry about it and wait for him to catch up," he says and throws on a smile.

Regan nods and takes a deep breath, putting on a smile of his own. "You're... You're right. I have faith that he will be able to look after himself. It is in his code to find me if there is ever a point we are separated and he hasn't failed me yet. He won't now," he states.

"So... Romeow aside, last night you said that Reela is currently staying with the healer who helped me, correct?" Regan asks as he sits up as well, pulling on his tunic and smoothing over the creases.

Cree nods. "Yeah. Her name's Nisha," he says.

Regan narrows his eyes at him. "Nisha, huh? Are you... 'familiar' with her?" he teases.

Cree scoffs. "Really?"

"I'm just saying, you do have a reputation," Regan jabs.

"Calm down, she's both seventeen and clearly a lesbian," Cree states and starts getting dressed.

Regan holds his hands up in surrender. "Never mind, then. But really, how did you meet her? How did you know where to find her?" he asks and starts doing the same.

Cree sighs, not really happy about the circumstances by which he knew about Nisha. But he doesn't want to keep anything from Regan. Especially not now. "When I was in debt to Sara, she ordered me to kill Nisha... But, well, I broke the deal by sparing you, but I still knew about her and that she was a healer, so when you were hurt, I went straight for where I knew she would be," he explains.

Regan looks down. "Would you have killed her if you hadn't gone back on the deal?"

Cree shrugs. "I dunno. I like to think not, but to keep Reela safe, I might have. I wasn't just going to let Sara take her."

"Why did Sara want this 'Nisha' dead?" Regan asks.

Cree looks back at him. "Something about an impasse of having dirt on her. I don't know the details, but I know that Nisha wouldn't have deserved it."

Regan tilts his head. "How do they know each other?" he asks.

"They're both agents of the Dev'al Ordon," he says and then immediately realizes he should have elaborated more. Regan gasps and gets up quickly, rushing towards the door but Cree stops him.

"You left Reela with a member of the Dev'al Ordon?" Regan questions.

Cree moves Regan away from the door. "I did. I trust Nisha. She knows who we are and where we came from, but she told me she doesn't want to hurt us. If anything, she's been nothing but helpful since we met. I mean, it's thanks to her that I can be right-handed again." He smiles and extends his new arm, instantly grabbing Regan's attention.