Amends

Chapter 10: Rewrite

Jerome squatted next to it and ran his hand over it, as if to determine its temperature. Cold. Whatever had flattened it was gone a matter of a couple of hours ago at most. If it weren't for the harsh morning winter sun, the grass would have resumed its normal shape by the time the two Voltaris had arrived. In being brittle and fragile, the pattern left whatever was on top of it had lasted longer and thus, retained a little of the damage.

"Whatever it was, it was a reasonable size..."

"But why here?" Nakiri asked, looking around again.

"It's a dense part of the woods. I'd imagine in the summer, very little light slips through here for the trees' leaves building a thick canopy."

"It's the middle of Winter, Jerome... There's no such thing as leaves right now..." But as Nakiri chastised the older Voltaris, Jerome looked at her a certain way, and she paused to think again. "Whoever came here, knew that this would usually be a good hiding spot..." she finally said.

Jerome nodded. Then he caught Nakiri's gaze again and they both stood in realisation.

"I think the Tidesinger was here..." he finally said under his breath. "And he hasn't been gone that long, so he won't have gone that far..."

Nakiri drew herself in.

"I did not come out all this way to find the Tidesinger, Jerome. I'm here for Ingressus."

"Relax. I'll take care of him if the time comes, don't you worry about that." Jerome almost spoke with spite as he uttered the Tidesinger's name, thinking about the possibility that they could run into him.

After learning all that he had about Achillean and what he had spent ten years secretly doing – however little of that knowledge could only be inferred – he suddenly felt a tingle of hatred in his bones, tugging at the righteous part of him. Everyone knew he never carried an aggressive Song on him, and everyone knew he may look as though he could kill someone – he never raised a hand in attack; only in defence – but just thinking about the Tidesinger, thinking about the righteous gold of his markings and the swift enchantment of his staff... It made him want to back down from his morals, to ignore the good in him and make the Tidesinger pay for breaking their Master, reducing him to skin and bones and torment. He knew the other clans wanted just the same, but he wanted it most.

He would have assumed that Ingressus also would have wanted some form of revenge; but he and Nakiri had worked out his past connection to Achillean, and so it was highly unlikely that was why he was searching for him, as disappointing as it was.

Jerome would have loved to have seen Ingressus fight with the tenure that he once had as the Deathsinger. Now he knew that chance dwindled infinitely all the while he fought only for sanity.

As he glanced up from the grass, still squatting with his digits intertwined with the brittle blades, he spotted a line of dull orange, glowing from the faintest of cracks in the distance. Even in the sun splitting through the trees, he could see that it was no reflection, nor was it merely a glint of ray atop some metal. This was a synthetic glow – one that didn't emanate from the surface on which he saw it. Slowly, he lifted his fingers and pointed in the direction of his discovery.

"What do you think that is?" he asked, suspicious.

It took Nakiri a while for her eyes to adjust to the light in the distance, but as she squinted, she caught sight of what Jerome had spotted.

"I don't know..." was all she could muster in a small voice.

Even though they were out purely to search for their missing Voltaris Master, Jerome could feel himself tense at the potential that they may run into the Tidesinger before they ran into Ingressus; and given that they also knew Achillean was on the run, some abandoned shaft in the woods would be a perfect place for him to hide – especially if it wasn't known to the Nestoris of its presence. But on top of that, Jerome could feel his heartbeat quicken in preparation for the Tidesinger; but not solely because he may run into him. He was more worried that their worst fears had come to pass and upon finding the Tidesinger, they would find Ingressus, too – and it wouldn't be the preferred defeat as they would wish for.