Chapter 307: You’ve Changed, No…

“You there, come forward. Who are you?” Gale snapped with the voice of a commander.

Plum nodded hesitantly and stepped out from behind the guard’s shadow. Plum gasped softly. She had heard the title, she had suspected, and yet she was still surprised to see a short young man with striking lilac eyes standing next to the graceful vampiress.

“What’s your name, girl?” Gale demanded.

“Her name is Plumela,” Stryg said calmly.

“You know this drow?” Gale asked, a hint of surprise in her voice.

“I do,” Stryg nodded.

“Actually, I know both of you,” Plum spoke up. “You’re Gale VIII, the current heir of the Great House of Gale. We’ve never met, but you’re pretty famous, even this far West.”

“Is that right? And how do you know Stryg?” Gale asked with a watchful eye.

“That’s…” Plum bit her lip.

“We’re old classmates,” Stryg said. “She was a 3rd-year student when I first started at the academy. She helped me a lot back then.”

“Ah, so you’re old friends,” Gale surmised.

“Something like that,” Stryg said quietly. “She isn’t a threat if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“We’ll give you two some space then,” Gale said. She pointed at the five heavily armored orcs standing in the corridor and motioned them to move down the hall.

The orcs followed without a fuss.

Stryg cleared his throat and spoke to Plum, though he couldn’t bring himself to look directly at her, “...I haven’t seen you since Shadow Lake… Are you doing well?”

“I’m fine,” she chuckled with a wince. “I should be the one asking you that. The last time I saw you, you could hardly breathe. You almost died… I should have never brought you along… I’m sorry.”

Stryg looked at her face and was surprised to see the pain hiding behind her round-rimmed glasses. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Plum cleared her throat, “Um, what exactly happened to you that night? Who was that woman cloaked in white?”

“...I really don’t know,” Stryg admitted. “I’m still trying to piece the whole thing together.”

“I see…”

Plum looked away and glanced at Gale and the orcs standing at the end of the hall. The orcs stood vigilant, looking around for any potential threats that might walk by. Gale, on the other hand, leaned against the wall and stared out the window, or so Plum thought. On closer inspection, Plum was startled to realize that Gale was staring at them through the reflection in the window. The vampiress’ eyes shifted at the very slightest movement from Stryg and Plum, and she kept her hand close to her sword’s pommel.

“...Are they all your bodyguards or something?” Plum swallowed.

Stryg shook his head, “Gale is the heir to her House, she is no one’s bodyguard, except maybe the Veres’. She is only here as a favor to my sword mentor. Something about looking after me during the tourney.”

“You have a sword mentor? Who’s that?” Plum asked.

“Gian Gale.”

Plum’s jaw hung slack in shock, “The Gian Gale!?”

“You know him?”

Plum laughed incredulously, “Do I know of the greatest swordsman in the entire Ebon Realm? No, I’ve never heard of the Realm’s Sword Paragon. I just live under a rock all the time!”

“What? You’re living under a rock?” Stryg frowned.

“I was being sarcastic.”

“Oh… right. I knew that.”

Plum smiled wryly, “It looks like some things about you are still the same.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s nothing,” she shrugged. “What about the orcs? Are they here as a favor to Lord Gian Gale as well?”

“No. They’re actually my bodyguards. They’re the elite warriors of House Katag. Lady Evelyn insisted they be with me in case of an attack. I would rather not have a bunch of orcs follow me around, but Ismene insisted too. So, here I am.”

“So the rumor of your engagement to a daughter of House Katag is true then?”

“Yeah,” Stryg said thoughtfully. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

“Because you’re an Ebon Aspirant, right? It’s fitting I suppose. An Ebon Lord’s spouse should be highborn.”

“So people keep telling me,” he sighed.

“You act like it’s a burden.” Plum swooned from side to side, “How terrible it must be to marry a beautiful woman with great standing, wealth, and magical power.”

“You’re being sarcastic again, aren’t you?”

“What gave it away?”

Stryg smiled softly, “...I missed this, as odd as that may sound. Just us… being us, I guess.”

Plum couldn’t help but smirk, “Yeah, you always acted calm until something random happened and then you’d snap and go all ‘wild’ on them.”

“Someone had to keep you from dying.”

“~My hero~,” Plum batted her eyelashes. But her smile abruptly died as the painful memories of the past slowly crept into her thoughts. “Was any of it real? …We’re we ever really friends?”

Stryg frowned, “What? Why would you ask me that? Of course, we were. I’m still your friend.”

“You’re a prime mage. That doesn’t just happen… You’ve always been a prime mage, but you never told me.”

“I didn’t know until the end of my 1st year.”

Plum raised her eyebrow, “How did you not know your own chromatic colors–?” Her voice caught in her throat and grey skin paled with dread, “My mom?”

Stryg nodded reluctantly, “Your mother stopped my test early. She didn’t really like the fact that a goblin had succeeded in testing for one magic, let alone the possibility of more. Afterwards, I tried to tell you about my chromatic colors, but you left…”

“Of course, you did,” Plum laughed at herself quietly.

“Are you being sarcastic?”

“No…”

“Oh…”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“During your last match, the one against Beatrix dai-Morrigan. You could have killed her– she definitely tried to kill you– but you didn’t. Why?”

Stryg shrugged uncomfortably, “...I’m not sure. When I looked at her… I saw myself. A failure of my tribe. Someone who gave it their all to prove that they belonged… and failed anyway. I guess I wanted Beatrix to know that she wasn’t a failure, at least not to me.”

Plum looked at Stryg, really looked at him. The blue goblin stood eye-to-eye with her. His ashen silver hair had grown long and hung loosely over his shoulders. His round child-like cheeks had grown thin and his jaw had become more defined. But it was his lilac eyes that caught her attention; gone was the glint of uncertainty, replaced with a solemn chill that gave pause to whoever stared into them.

“You’ve changed, no,” she whispered, “You’re still changing, aren’t you?”

Stryg looked at the palm of his hand and clenched his fingers tight. “...Maybe I am,” he whispered.

“Do you plan on sparing your next opponent too? Kalliste Lilith?”

“She hurt Callum.”

“So you’ll kill her?”

“Maybe.”

Plum sighed, “...Stryg, I don’t want to say anything, but I feel like I have to say something, because if I don’t, no one around you will.”

“Like what?”

“Someday you may find yourself as an Ebon Lord. You’ll have real power, not just magical power, but political power, not to mention financial and martial power too. With just a word you could order the deaths of hundreds.”

“Really?” Stryg asked with a trace of hopefulness.

Plum groaned quietly, “My point is, with that kind of power you wouldn’t need to kill your opponents in order to defeat them.”

Stryg narrowed his eyes, “Plum, an enemy left alive will always be a threat, even if it’s just a small threat.”

She shook her head, “If you're powerful enough you can handle a small threat.”

Stryg looked at her carefully, “...If this is about your mother, I really am sor–”

“It’s not about her!” Plum pulled back and took a shaky deep breath, “My mother made a mistake, and because of the way Hollow Shade is ruled… the way the Ebon Realm is ruled, she died. Even if you hadn’t said anything, she probably wouldn’t have made it out alive. There was nothing I could do to stop it. I’ve… I’ve made my peace with that… But this realm doesn’t have to be ruled like that. You could change that. You could make it so that no one else has to die like my mother did.”

“I don’t understand,” he furrowed his brow.

“I really don’t want to talk about this, not after everything that’s happened between us, but if I don’t do it, then who will?” Plum muttered. “An Ebon Lord has the potential to change everything. In the future, you could help a lot of people. You could–”

“Why?” he snapped.

“Huh?” she blinked.

“Why should I care about helping a realm that never gave a damn about me? I care for my friends and my tribe, and I protect them, because they would do the same for me. I only need them.”

“Stryg, I understand. I understand if you resent the ones who hurt you… if you resent me. I know we’re not on good terms, but this really isn’t about us or the people who have hurt you, this is about everyone else. If you become an Ebon Lord your actions could impact the lives of tens of thousands. You could help so many people, don’t you see that?”

“And why would I do that? Last I recalled, most of the realm hated hybrids like me.”

She threw her hands up and laughed ludicrously, “Because there is more to life than the people in front of you? There are hybrids out there just like you, suffering. Look, I’m not trying to convince you to change your dreams. I’m just asking you not to forget the ones you might stomp on if you’re not careful.”

“You talk about dreams and forgetting? Have you forgotten my dream?” Stryg clenched his eyes tight, “My dream was to make my tribe the greatest in the land, to stop anyone from hurting us ever again… But you rejected that, you rejected us… I would have done anything for you, my best friend, my first friend. You’ve always asked me to understand your perspective, but you never tried to understand mine.”

Plum frowned, it felt as if a needle had been stabbed into her heart. “Stryg, I…”

He opened his eyes, they were glistening with tears, “After you left I met someone who understood me, who saw my perspective. He stood by my side without judgment, without hesitation… and I lost him… I lost my best friend.”

“Stryg, I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

He stared into her eyes, his own lilac eyes alight with anger, “Your words can’t change what happened, but I can. One day, I will destroy the Cairn Tribe down to its very last soul, that is my dream.”

“Have you really thought that through?” Plum shook her head, “What of the Cairn’s children? What of the innocents who end up in the middle of your bloody warpath? Have you thought of them? Have you thought how killing those innocents might affect you? You should. Because one day your every action might impact the lives of thousands.”

Stryg turned away, “My dreams are clear and I’m not about to stop trying to achieve them. Not even for you.”

Plum reached out and gently touched his shoulder, “Look, I’m sorry. I’m sorry the world hurt you so badly that all you have left is your anger. I know what that’s like. But I’m here trying to look past my own pain and if you just did the same for one moment you’d see–”

Stryg spun around and grabbed her shoulders, “I’ve always tried to understand your perspective, Plum! I wish that for once you might try and see things through my perspective.”

Plum thought of the people Stryg had killed with his own hands, the blood dripping from his claws. She swallowed hard, “I don’t know if I can…”

“Are we friends?”

“What?”

“Are you my friend? Because I still consider you mine. But if you can’t even see me as your friend, then I don’t know what we’re doing here. So I’ll ask you again; are we friends?”

Plum sighed heavily and grabbed his arms, “...Despite all the fucked up shit that’s happened between us…?” She bit her lip, “When I saw you lying unconscious on the canoe that night in Shadow Lake, I… Yeah, I guess I am.”

“Then try, please.”

Stryg stepped away and walked over to Gale.

Plum watched him leave as a cold feeling sunk into the pit of her stomach. “Your perspective, huh…” she mumbled.

~~~

Nalla sat on the stone rim of a fountain at the center of one of Undergrowth’s marketplaces. Hundreds of people passed her by, but none recognized the young drow wrapped in her dark grey cloak.

A young woman, dressed in a flamboyant yellow costume, danced across the cobblestone street to the sound of a couple of minstrels playing nearby. Visitors from all over the realm cheered and clapped at her performance until there was an entire crowd around her.

Nalla listened to the happy little tune and watched the dancer with a mix of impatience and reluctant respect at her craft. After what felt like a mere idyllic moment, but was in actuality over five minutes, the song reached its end and the actress finished her dance. The crowds hollered with praise and threw coins at the troupe’s feet.

As the minstrels picked up the coins and thanked their street patrons, the flamboyant dancer sat down on the fountain’s stone rim for a brief respite.

Nalla glanced at the beautiful dancer sitting next to her and tossed her a coin, “That was an impressive performance.”

The dancer snatched the coin from the air and winked, “You should have seen me when I played Gale I in The Unfaltering Shield.”

“The Singing Willow Troupe delivers the best ballads in the realm, or so I hear.”

“You’d be right, but I don’t think you came here to discuss the performances of my troupe, Miss Unalla,” the dancer whispered.

“I wish to speak with your captain in regards to my new orders, if possible.”

“Unfortunately, our captain is no longer in the city.”

“Where is she?” Nalla asked anxiously.

“The Captain is safe, do not worry. Trust me, she can handle herself. But I honestly don’t know where she is. All I know is that the Captain will call on us when she is ready. As for your new orders, they still stand.”

“But I was told to enter the tournament. Why has the captain changed her mind? Why am I supposed to resign now?” Nalla frowned.

The dancer looked up at the sky thoughtfully, “We believed that the Monster in the Dark might appear at Undergrowth. You were supposed to enter the tournament in order to draw out the Monster into a trap set by the Captain, but something’s changed. I don’t know what, but it was something so big that the Captain left Undergrowth without her troupe.”

“She went alone?” Nalla whispered.

“Mm,” the dancer nodded reluctantly. “Your original orders have been rescinded. It’s time you resign and leave the tournament.”

“...What if I don’t want to?”

“You like putting yourself at risk? You do realize Votum is a beacon to the Monster? Every time you hold Votum it calls out to its twin, Honorem; the closer they are to each other the greater the call becomes and the easier it will be for the Monster to find you. Not to mention the Monster has servants lurking throughout the Great Cities, especially now when Undergrowth’s gates are open to visitors from all over the realm. You aren’t safe here.”

“...I know, but still,” Nalla clenched her fists, “I can’t leave, not yet. I want to see what he’s capable of… see if he’s worthy of our cause.”

“Who? Gilgard Morrigan?”

“No,” Nalla said coldly. “My adopted cousin, the Ebon Aspirant.”