Enmity of Atlas

Trenton had heard of this procedure before, but had never actually seen it done. Walibeld was gracious enough not to cut off his arms and legs when they trained, mostly because Mave alone wouldn’t have been able to reattach his limbs. Still holding Millie, Trenton moved around to the other side of the bed, where he could see them work on the arm a little bit easier. They were making incisions into the flesh on the end of the nub with a scalp, slowly peeling back the charred flesh to reveal the wound. It started bleeding anew, their incisions reopening the blood vessels as well as the muscle and skin. When they had splayed the muscle open enough, one of the druids held Leo’s hand in place, pressing it against the nub in the proper orientation while the other druids used their magic to reconnect the tissue, all except Peya. Peya was still holding the scalp, leering over Leo’s body to see into the wound properly. Every now and then, Peya would mutter to herself, quickly inserting the scalp into the wound, cutting bits that weren’t healing quite right. It was a long and arduous process, lasting easily an hour or longer. Trenton wasn’t really keeping track of the time, but he did put Millie down at some point in the middle of all that. When they were finished, the druids backed away, now inspecting their handiwork from afar

“Looks good. We’ll have to wait and see if it actually works, though,” Peya said, squinting her eyes at the hand.

“When will Leo be up?” Trenton asked, looking at Peya.

“We should be able to get him fully healed by tomorrow morning or so. You’re lucky we have such talented staff here. If you’d arrived any later and he would’ve died mid operation without question. The fact that he even made it as far as he did, losing as much blood as he did, is already astonishing enough,” Peya responded.

The other druids congratulated each other, quickly cleaning and bandaging Leo, before temporarily exiting the room to take a break. They all looked exhausted, presumably having been working on Leo since they arrived sometime last night. They had learned the break, and Leo was definitely in good enough condition that leaving him for some time would be alright. He’d still need tending to later, but he’d live. After a moment of silence, Peya also left the room, disappearing somewhere else in the grand household with a curt nod of her head.

“Is Olin here?” Trenton asked Walibeld.

“Yes. I believe he said he’d be in his office,” Trenton moved to the door, Walibeld calling out after him, “Just a second, Trenton,” Trenton stopped, turning around to face Walibeld. “I’m going to be heading out shortly for a few days or so. I’ll be on the other end of the city visiting a wizard by the name of Polias. As such, I won’t be able to intervene if anything happens. You should be fine wandering around the city, it’s well guarded, but try not to stay out too long. I can’t ensure there are no enemies lurking around right now. In any case, I’ll be off now. Watch after yourself,” Walibeld finished, quickly stepping out of the room. Trenton looked down at Millie, who was sitting on a small chair to his side and fidgeting with her hands.

“Millie, I’m going to be going out into the town tomorrow, but I’ll need you to stay here. If we have another fight like that, I don’t want you to be involved at all,” Trenton said softly.

“But-” Millie started, but Trenton cut her off.

“We won’t be here very long, but I don’t want to risk anything. Come on, let’s go talk to Olin. He’s the reason that I came here in the first place,” Trenton said, taking Millie’s hand and leading her through the manor towards Olin’s office. They had to stop a servant to ask directions a couple times, but eventually they made their way outside his working quarters. Trenton lightly rapped on the door.

“Come in,” a man's voice said. Trenton entered the room, taking in both the environment and the man before him. At the far end was an older looking man sitting in a large mahogany desk, his work clearly interrupted by Ternton’s intrusion. When he saw Trenton, his eyes lit up, his lips twisting up into a big smile. “Ah, Trenton! You’re awake! My how you gave us a fright last night. I wasn’t near the door, so I didn’t see you personally, but I heard Peya screaming all the way from the foyer. When I got there…” he sighed, taking off his spectacles and rubbing his eyes, “I had thought you two already dead. But, never you mind that. I’m just glad that everyone is alive and well…mostly. The whole city has been lit ablaze with what’s happened in Aria as well as the journey you’ve undertaken to get here. I can only imagine how hard it has been on you two boys. Come, sit down. Make yourself comfortable,” They did so, moving over to a gaggle of chairs sitting around a blazing brick fireplace. Olin looked down at Millie, his eyebrows shooting up in shock, “I say, a water spirit! To see you so far from home, and now of all times. What is your name?”

“My name's Millie. I’m traveling with Trenton,” Millie said, clearly still coming down from last night's emotions.

“Might I ask what it is you’re doing here in Verulik?” Olin asked, eyeing her with interest. Olin was an old family friend of the Boulreguards who would visit Aria every now and then. What he actually did was beyond Trenton, but he was fabulously rich. In response to Olin’s scrutinous gaze, Millie squirmed closer to Trenton, burying her face in his shirt.

“Of course, of course. I don’t mean to pry. Now, I won’t ask about what happened to you last night, or why you were covered in so much blood, I trust you did only what was necessary, but why did you come to speak to me? I can’t imagine you’re simply here to catch up,” Olin said, leaning back in his chair.

“No, I didn’t,” Trenton hesitated, wondering how to ask his next question tactfully. “The day Aria was destroyed, my father pulled me aside to tell me something. It seemed…unusual, not quite like him. But, he pushed it off to the next day. I never learned what it was about. Do you have any idea what he might’ve wanted to tell me? I don’t know anyone else who was close enough to my father to know. Well, besides Walibeld, of course. But, he’s always got something else going on.”

“I…might,” Olin fidgeted nervously, avoiding Trenton’s gaze. “You see…erm…you aren't necessarily…you were adopted, Trenton. Theadore and Evia weren’t your biological parents,” he spat out, finally getting over his stammer.

“What?” Trenton said, completely taken aback by the man’s words.

“When you were just a baby, maybe no older than a couple days, Theadore found you on the streets in the slums. This was long before he found his fortune of course, so it was difficult to raise you, Delis, and Yissle, but they managed. Why they waited so long to tell you is beyond me.”

“I…huh,” Trenton sat there dumbfounded. He’d never even considered he could be adopted. He and Delis both looked a lot alike, and they were both geomancers.

“That you and Delis were so similar was just some freak coincidence so far as I’m aware. It’s not like you grow into looking similar and having the same magic type…I don’t think, anyway.”

Trenton sat there for a minute, mulling over this new information. He wasn’t expecting it, but he hardly believed Olin to be some sort of schemer. Did Delis know about this? Maybe, but it wasn’t like Trenton could ask him anymore. It didn’t matter, in any case. If he’d been raised practically from birth by the Boulreguards, then by all accounts he was one, even if that name didn’t mean much anymore.

“Was there anything else?” Olin asked.

“No, that’s all I needed to ask. We can catch up some other time when I have less going on. I want to stay focused on what’s in front of me right now.”

“Of course, well, while I still have you, then, I’d actually like to ask one small favor. I’m an associate of Era’s, you see. I work under Rema to locate the vaults. I’ve been chasing a lead here, but little has come of it so far. If you find anything, which is unlikely, but just in case, could you report it to me? If you’re going to be traveling all around, then your eyes will be valuable in our hunt. I know you have a lot going on, but just keep an eye out, yeah? I know Walibeld would be grateful at the very least,” Olin said, standing from his chair.

“Right, sure. I can do that,” Trenton said, not really taking in the request.

He grabbed Millie and stood, leaving without another word. He spent the rest of the day either wandering around the house, or reading one of the two books he now had. Millie hung around with him the whole day, taking comfort in his stalwart presence. When it came to night, a servant entered his room with two plates of food. He and Millie ate, relishing in the luxurious food for only a moment, before readying themselves for bed. It was a simple day, something that Trenton was used to by now. Millie, still shaken from the day prior, wanted to sleep with Trenton, which he allowed without much argument. The poor girl was shaken and scared, and if she needed some comfort to ward away night terrors, then so be it.

That night, as he slept, Trenton dreamt of the man he killed, the way his body broke underneath him, the feeling of murder, the blood and the gore. It was a horrific sight, one he was now reliving in his own mind. He could feel every moment of it, the pain, the anger, the desperation, everything. It was too much. It was far too much. Trenton woke up in a cold sweat, Millie still slumbering peacefully next to him. He took a moment, slowing down his rapid breathing while looking out the window at the moon. It was a lovely night, only a couple hours after sunset. A walk would help clear his mind. He was sure of it. Taking care not to wake Millie, Trenton slipped out of the bed, slipping out the door and into the rest of the mansion.

While wandering through the hallways, Trenton stopped when he saw a familiar painting. It was an extremely famous piece depicting Gasal fighting against the 5 tyrant kings of old, a section that he’d just gotten to in the book. Trenton stared at it for a little while, thinking about the great hero of old. Was this what it meant to be a hero? Slaughtering others the moment they crossed you? It felt so…wrong, but no one had even once said anything against him for the man he killed. The only thing he’d gotten as far as moral guidance were the mortified stares of the druids healing Leo, not exactly helpful. He looked at Gasal fighting, his blade hoisted high, his entire body covered in blood. He was fighting…but what was he fighting for?

Trenton continued on, finally stumbling his way out the front door for some fresh air. The air outside was cool against his sweaty skin, a pleasant breeze calming his racing mind. There were soldiers mulling about, but as he sat down on the front steps to the property, they didn’t seem to mind. At the very least, they didn’t seem intent to bother him about it. So long as he wasn’t wandering the city streets, there was no issue. He sat there for a while, wondering what exactly he should do, what he should feel, and, now, what his next steps were. But nothing came to him. Eventually, Millie came out onto the porch, sitting quietly next to Trenton. She must have woken shortly after Trenton had left and gone to find him. For a little while, Trenton looked at her, slowly coming to remember the feeling he had when he and Leo first talked about the destruction of Aria. He was fighting for them. That’s what he was fighting for. He was fighting to keep himself, and more importantly, his companions alive.

Trenton smiled, pleased with the thought. It was simple, but it worked. And, right now, that’s all he needed. He stood, turning to go back to bed, but just as he did, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Walking boldly across the street without a care in the world was a large white skinned, fire haired humanoid with orange tattoos, flickering motes of orange, gentle and passive, hovering in the air as it walked by. For whatever reason, as the guards turned to look upon the massive spirit, their eyes glazed over, and they collapsed in a heap of metal. Was it the sleep spell again? No, it couldn’t be. That spell had left everyone still standing. This was the influence of another variety altogether. And, as Trenton looked upon it, he noticed that he felt no such inclination to drop. He felt perfectly normal.

Next to him, Millie piped up, whispering intently, “A greater spirit? But what’s it doing here?” She looked up at Trenton, her eyes full of wonder, a coy grin appearing on her face, “You’re still conscious? Weird. Let’s go follow it.”