Dual Wielding

Kei tried to ignore the bodies as she sifted through the wreckage of one of the carts. All in all, the outcome was better than they could’ve hoped for. Of the seventy-some merchants in the caravan, around thirty had received injuries ranging from mild to severe—including a man who would never walk again. Only five had died, along with six of the hunters. Only eleven dead.

Kei wanted to vomit.

Miraculously, Trell, the captain of the caravan, had seemingly survived the brutalizing Din Kai had given him. He was unconscious, but stable enough that a doctor traveling with them said he would probably live. With all that in mind, the mood was expectedly somber. It seemed many of the members of the train had gotten close over the last few weeks, and now friends and even families had been torn apart by the slaughter. Frankly, the only thing holding the caravan together was how quickly the taller boy, Wyn, had taken control of the situation in Trell’s absence. He immediately organized people into groups and assigned tasks.

Kei wasn’t sure what to make of the two boys she’d come across. On the one hand, they’d saved both her life, they were helping repair the carts, and had even offered their protection across the grass sea, an invaluable offer now that Cidus…

On the other hand, they were to be Spirit Knights. Sure, they weren’t yet, but if they were cut from the same cloth, they would no doubt share the same stains.

Kei shook the thoughts from her head, she would do what she must to appease those two, but for now she had a more important task. Her carriage was one of the ones that had been destroyed in the conflict. And with it, most of her belongings. There was one she couldn’t part with though, the only silver lining in the whole damned trip. Amongst the rest of the magic stones she’d bought on this journey, she’d found a true gem in western Falmouth, the kind of magic stone noble families would kill for. Through a miracle of luck, timing, and a loophole in Falmouth’s embargo, she’d managed to buy the stone for a pittance of its real worth.

Still, even such a miracle wouldn’t fix her problems, and it wasn’t enough to pay the debt her family owed. But if she couldn’t bring something back to justify the trip, she wasn’t sure how she’d be able to face her brother.

She swore silently as a mangled piece of metal poked at her leg through her skirt pants, cursing the garments. Still, the gemstone was too valuable to let anyone else discover it first, so she was sifting through the wreckage herself, getting covered in soot and grime as she worked.

What would father think? Kei paused for a moment, shocked that the thought had even entered her mind. That bastard could go to hell, she shouldn’t care what he thought one way or another. So long as she and her brother could weather the coming storm, it didn’t matter what happened to him.

She glanced over towards where the taller boy, Wyn, was working. His tunic sleeves were rolled up as he helped lift one of the carts so a wheel could be replaced. He was certainly a harder worker than most of the nobles she’d met, and he was worth at least three normal men when it came to any physical labor. He had a large, tan frame, much like a farmer, but his arms were toned. She guessed it was the product of training with the sword. He caught her looking and flashed a smile. She politely smiled back, even as her stomach turned, before continuing to search.

***

After another half hour of searching, Kei felt ready to scream. She almost kicked the rubble out of frustration but managed to hold herself back. The only halfway-decent thing to come out of this damn trip was buried here, and she couldn’t find it. Her brother would never blame her, he’d say that it wasn’t the point of the trip anyways, that they would figure something else out. Still, she needed to have done something, anything to say that she actually helped him. The stone might not be able to pay off their debts, but at the very least it could buy them some more time.

“Hey, what are you looking for?” A curious voice asked from behind her. She jumped, and turned to see the white-haired boy, Corrin leaning over her shoulder.

When he'd first shown up, she'd been struck by his presence, like just by existing he was somehow more important. Now though, he was hardly indistinguishable from a random boy her age, other than his oddly colored hair. Still, she reminded herself of how he'd been before, she couldn't let herself get too comfortable around him.

“N—nothing really, just something belonging to my family.” She tried to brush the boy off with a quick lie.

“Huh, well we should be ready to go soon, and honestly, I’d rather not do all the hard labor the others are doing. Do you need help finding it?”

“Oh no, I could never ask that of you.”

“It’s no problem.” He smiled. “I’ll search too, what does it look like?”

Kei considered her options. She could lie and tell him to look for something else, but if he found the stone first, he’d easily claim it for himself. If she told him the truth, he may still do so upon realizing its value, but then he’d at least have to admit to himself he was stealing it. From their reputation, she was sure some Spirit Knights at least pretended to be honorable. She considered asking him to leave, but if he took offence…

In the end, she told him about the box. She’d do everything she could to make sure he didn’t take it, which in this case, meant praying to the spirits. In case the box—carved from wood—had been destroyed, she also mentioned the gemstone within. He perked up at the mention of that.

“Ooh! I wonder if it’s bigger than the Leviathan core! Let’s find it!” He started searching with her, and they dug through the wreckage mostly in silence until she heard him exclaim: “Aha!”

Kei’s head whipped around as she looked and saw the sparkling blue gem in his hand, it was an uncut magic stone slightly larger than her two fists put together, perfect for channeling spells through it. For a mage it would be an almost invaluable find, even a knight could find great use from one such as this inlaid into a piece of armor, or shield. Her fists clenched as she watched him look over the stone, his eyes gleaming.

“Wow, look at this thing,” he said. “It’s about the same size, but this isn’t a core, is it?”

“No, my Lord. It’s a naturally occurring stone.”

“Like a lightstone yeah? It’s way heavier though, that’s cool. How much is it worth?”

“It’s hard to say my lord, at minimum I’d say twenty royal platinum, but it could go for higher at auction.” She was underselling a little, but outright lying to him was something she wouldn’t risk.

“Twenty royal platinum…” He mumbled to himself, counting on his fingers. “How much is that worth in silver?”

“Well, my lord—”

“Corrin is fine.”

“Of course, my—Corrin. I apologize, the currency in the capital is not the same as out here. Though, if I had to try and convert it, it would likely be several thousand.”

Corrin whistled appreciatively, “That is a ton of money…Damn, well good for you.”

And then he tossed the stone to her.

Kei’s heart clenched as she barely caught it out of the air, preventing it from hitting the rocky ground. It wouldn’t break the gemstone, but it could chip it or scratch it, greatly diminishing the value. She breathed a sigh of relief before anger bubbled to the surface. “How could you just throw something like that! Are you stupid or some—” her hands clasped her mouth shut, but the damage was done. He’d disarmed her for a moment with his relaxed attitude, and she’d let her stress boil over. Her heart hammered as she brought her gaze up to meet his, mentally preparing herself for his retribution.

“I am so sorry!” His hands were held out and his face was pale. “I wasn’t thinking, thank the spirits you caught it!”

“It’s—it’s okay. Just don’t do it again please.” Kei’s voice was higher pitched than she meant for it to be. She felt as though she’d lost a couple years off her life, but the boy’s earnest-seeming apology had calmed her down a little.

“Sorry again…” His face had gone from pale to red as he awkwardly turned and left. He walked over to the other one, Wyn, who promptly smacked him on the head and seemingly berated him.

So, he must be his superior, Kei thought, somewhat amused at the sight. She tucked the stone into her pocket and walked over towards the rest. Even if Corrin had enough honor not to steal it, she wasn’t sure about Wyn. Also, though the merchants had been pleasant, she didn’t trust them in the face of such a sum.

She stopped; Corrin had the honor to not steal it? She couldn’t think like that. They would be traveling together at least over The Grass Sea. He may not have taken it yet, but he had plenty of time left. It was possible he was just biding his time for now until she guided them across. She couldn’t afford to grow complacent, not until she’d made it back to Taravast.

Unbelievably, they were able to continue their travels that same day, much faster than should’ve been possible thanks to the two boys—mostly Wyn. Not only that, but the merchants had also taken to them right away. The traders who were in good enough spirits—those who had avoided the fighting or hadn’t lost friends in the attack—were awed in the presence of two prospective knights. But the sense of wonder died quickly as the boys seamlessly fit right in, joking around and singing songs with them as they walked.

The traders were a shockingly resilient bunch, though it probably helped that they could relax now that they weren’t being hunted anymore.

Kei didn’t want to admit how much that stung her. She’d been traveling with this group for weeks now, and those two had integrated more in a night than she had in all that time.

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully, and they made camp for the night just off the road. Kei changed into a nightgown and lay on her bedroll. As she’d demanded the first night, they’d set her private tent up a little way away from the main camp. Why had she asked for that? She couldn’t remember.

Kei rolled over, replaying the day’s events in her head.

It could’ve been worse.

Cidus was dead. They hadn’t been particularly close, but she’d known him almost her whole life.

It could be worse.

She had to lead two monsters across the continent, stuck with them for months. She’d be in their power, unable to stop them from doing whatever they wanted.

It could be worse.

She hugged herself tightly, repeating the mantra in her head as the strength drained from her body. All at once, the day’s events, the stress she’d been shoving down, hit her all at once, and she broke down, soaking her pillow with stinging tears. She’d be alright in the morning, and she’d make it through this journey. But for now, she let everything come spilling out, and she cried herself to sleep.

***

Wyn and Corrin had opted to continue sleeping outside, despite the merchants offering to let them sleep in one of the carts, something was just different about sleeping under the stars, it made it feel like a real quest. The weather was nice enough that it didn’t matter anyways. Wyn looked up towards the night sky, its endless stars stretched out as far as the eye could see. It was hard to believe that thousands of miles away in the capital, they were viewing the same sky, something about the sheer enormity of that made the journey seem smaller, in comparison.

Wyn had been hesitant to stop burning spirit fire, for fear that he would collapse as soon as he did. And as expected, once the flame died, bone-deep exhaustion filled his body, his legs especially ached from the long run. Still, sleep seemed to elude him.

His mind replayed the events from earlier over and over. Driving the arrow into the man’s stomach. Watching as Corrin ran his sword through Din Kai’s back. Even if Corrin held the blade, Wyn was just as responsible.

I killed today.

For all the time spent learning the sword, the endless training, and killing of monsters. It was his first time having taken a human life. He wasn’t quite sad, or even upset with what he’d done. Din Kai and the bandits were hardly more than monsters from the dungeon, and Wyn had protected himself, Corrin, and the traders with his actions. But that didn’t mean he liked it.

“Corrin,” Wyn spoke quietly. “Do you feel bad about what we did?”

“Not particularly. We saved people, right? Do you feel bad about it?”

“I’m not sure. But I can’t help but feel we could’ve done better. Even just leaving earlier… how different would it have been?”

They fell silent for a while. No one there would blame him. Could he have found another solution? Maybe, if he’d thought about it. That made it wrong right? He hadn’t been thinking about it in the moment, but he could’ve done something else. The thought hurt. Maybe a real Spirit Knight would’ve acted differently.

“Hey Wyn?”

“Yeah?”

“That was our first real fight.”

Well, that wasn’t quite true, but Wyn thought he understood what Corrin meant. “Yeah… I guess it was.”

“I think it’s all right if we mess up a couple times, yeah? We just have to keep going anyways.”

Wyn turned to look at Corrin, whose eyes were glued to the sky. That didn’t seem right, just accepting a mistake so easily. “Maybe… But if that was a mistake, let’s not make it again, yeah?”

“Deal. And Wyn?”

“What is it?”

“I’m glad we won. Thanks for bailing my ass out.” Corrin wordlessly held out his fist towards Wyn.

“Me too Corrin. And anytime.” Wyn returned the gesture. He didn’t feel entirely better, but he smiled faintly as he turned to the other side and closed his eyes.

Soon, sleep overtook them both.