He clasped my hand firmly and looked me in the eye. There was a determination in his gaze that had been missing before. Perhaps my harsh words had actually done something. The initiates weren’t the only ones who had gained some fire in their bellies.
“I’ll see you in the fray, Master Swordslinger.”
“I’m not a master.”
“You might as well be.”
Ganyir headed off down the trail with a bounce in his step.
I gave the village a final scan, locking down where the main groups of warriors were relative to each other and to the golem. Of course, they might move by the time I got down there, but this at least gave me a chance.
I headed back along the trail. Ganyir, so at home on the mountain paths, was already out of sight, but I remembered the route we’d taken to get up here. I went back down, slowing for the narrowest bends, occasionally stumbling as a rock rolled away from beneath my feet, until I emerged between the pair of rocks onto the steps to the temple.
Just above where I’d appeared, sitting on the steps with his mace beside him, was Kegohr.
“Hey, hey, hey!” he called out. “Been waiting for you. Figured you’d turn up somewhere around here.”
“I thought you were all waiting for us at the temple.”
“Got bored.” Kegohr picked up the mace and swung it around. “Too long since I had any action, you know? And I don’t have much of a head for battlefield strategy, so I couldn’t help with planning. I just want to get in there and smash some skulls.”
I smiled to see how confident he’d become. When I’d first met Kegohr at the Radiant Dragon Guild, he and Vesma had been social outcasts, scorned by many of their classmates. Kegohr had been a gentle giant, fun and friendly in a way that was surprising given his ferocious appearance. But the battle for the guild and then traveling out on our quest had changed him. There was a ferocity there, a baring of his tusks that hadn’t happened often before.
“Come on, then,” I said. “Let’s find you some action before you smash up Tahlis’ steps.”
We walked down the narrow staircase, past protruding rocks and dark crevices in the mountainside. The sun, whose heat seemed a constant presence in the valley, blazed down on us.
“It’s good to see you keen for action,” I said.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m gonna smash these cultist bastards so hard. It was a tainted guild that killed my family. I ain’t gonna let the rot of one of these cults spread. Not while I’m still standing, yeah?”
“Of course.” I stopped and looked at him. “You’re reliving those memories for the sake of my quest, aren’t you?”
“You think I don’t face those memories every day? Your quest’s giving me a chance to avenge them. That’s the best thing I could have been given. Now, let’s go crush some scum.”
As I walked, I laid one hand on the hilt of the Sundered Heart Sword and another on the Depthless Dream Trident. I wanted to check in with the other two companions I was taking into action.
“My sweet man,” Nydarth said inside my head. “I see we’re heading into battle. I look forward to seeing you thrusting and pounding with all your might.”
“Thanks, Nydarth,” I replied. “It’s always good to have your support.”
“I am with you too, mighty Swordslinger,” said Yono in her silky tone. “It will be a good chance for you to use more of your water Augmenting and so reinforce those channels within you.”
“Better to rely on fire,” Nydarth said. “Work with your strengths, not against them. Give in to the fiery heat of passion.”
“You do understand that he’s going to a battle, not a whore house, don’t you?” Yono asked.
“Sex and death are not so far apart. The blood pounds, the heart races, and we lose ourselves in them.”
“Spoken like a creature of fire. You can’t enjoy anything without chaos and destruction, can you?”
“And what would you prefer, to sit quietly and watch the clouds drift by?”
“At a time when the world allows it, yes.”
“See, sweet Ethan? This is the alternative you’re being offered—the slow slide into tedium.”
“I didn’t realize I was meant to choose between you,” I said. “I thought you were both on my side.”
“We are,” Yono said. “But I’m afraid that someone doesn’t like sharing the inside of your head.”
“I’m happy to share, as long as Ethan wants to join in,” Nydarth said. “Whether it’s in battle or in his private chambers.”
Yono didn’t respond, and I thought it was best to let the conversation die. I had other things to worry about than the dynamics between the voices in my head. They could finish their bickering another day.
By the time Kegohr and I reached the bottom of the stairs, we hadn’t seen any sign of the enemy. I was on my guard. Now that we were on open ground, we had more room to maneuver and opportunity to get around our opponents. But that also meant that they had more ways to approach us, more places to hide and positions to launch an ambush from.
Kegohr and I headed out across the packed earth of the foothills and down into the dunes of the Vigorous Zone. As we went, we saw strange beasts moving about. Snakes with salt skin that sprang from the earth then tunneled back down. Crab-like creatures that came scuttling out of their hiding places and snapped at each other with stone claws, the clack of their pincers creating a strange and rhythmless beat. Tiny foxes with huge ears that formed out of the sand ran circles around our feet, then disappeared back into the ground.
“Vigorous Zones, man,” Kegohr said with a grin. “They never get dull.”
As we got closer to the village, we made more use of the terrain to stay concealed. There were occasional rock outcrops, especially close to the mountainside, but for the most part,
