Kaldalis grew concerned about the siege as it continued. Every time there was no massive threat, he worried what the system was storing up to smash them with at the end. Nothing during his time in Rundan had been fair or easy. It would be disastrous to expect this to be any different.

The second and third wave were - on the beach-side gate - only mild incremental increases. It was nothing they couldn’t handle.

Kaldalis’s fears grew.

The second wave featured just a few more Captain-level monsters for them to deal with, including a Globin Captan, which was visibly mutilated to near-death when it arrived, the pulsating red form leaking a visible stream of crimson goo from the stump where its right arm had been. Garyung dealt with it quickly so that its healing abilities couldn’t extend the battle too long.

Kaldalis waited between waves with nervous energy.

The third wave had captains of a few other sorts of Infernal Horde captains breach the surface of the water, still with similar injuries. A rotund humanoid with compound eyes, covered in an umber carapace splashed with reddish markings emerged, with much of the shell cracked and torn away, revealing soft tan flesh beneath.

Two Dryad Captains emerged as well, looking like a kelp-person as they emerged from the water, but swiftly transmuting into a form much more like animate driftwood once they were on the beach. But even if they had tried to lay still to take advantage of the camouflage of their forms, the deep gouges on their bodies leaked blue-black fluids, revealing their identities by the severity of their injuries - no doubt sustained while trying to pass by the sireneliana.

Just the same, Kaldalis had no trouble controlling them, and his allies on the beach had no trouble beating them down.

Everything was under control.

It was almost boring.

As soon as the last of the Water Elementals were run off - left for last as they were the least individually threatening - the quest ticked up to 3/3 and completed. A cheer went up and the defenders set about high-fiving and celebrating. Garyung ordered the gate re-opened so that he could survey the damage and get started on repairs. As much as Kaldalis wanted to participate in either celebrations or assessing the damage, he had something important to take care of.

He wanted to check in on the jungle-side gate to make sure Dalgaard’s leadership had held up. He wanted to swim out and check on the sireneliana. He wanted to give Heluna a big hug and tell her that he was scared he almost lost her. But these were things he could do later.

Those tasks would keep for a few hours, at least.

This next thing probably wouldn’t.

So, instead, he sat and waited for Reno to respawn.

After all of the fighting, it only took a few moments before she rebuilt herself over her corpse, the dead body decaying in fast-motion into a skeleton as her bones, flesh, and skin rebuilt themselves anew in mid-air above it.

Kaldalis remembered clearly the extraordinary discomfort that the process inflicted on him when he died. As such, he braced for her to be midway through a scream when she finished forming. Instead, though, she was mid-rant just as her vocal chords finished forming.

“-And then you have the audacity,” she snapped, “the big fucking brassies, to come over here and fucking wait? What the hell were you thinking? I really want to know!”

“All right, just so you know,” Kaldalis said quickly as soon as she stopped for breath - possibly the first time she’d needed to, since most of the rest of her rant had probably been going on since before her lungs were back. “You only became audible just now.”

“And now you’re gonna be condescending about it,” Reno continued. She stopped briefly, having to catch her breath. For a moment, it seemed the pain of her body reforming finally caught up to her, briefly outweighing her agitation.

Kaldalis gestured at her body, where she could reclaim her gear now that she was alive again. She probably didn’t want to continue this conversation in her underwear, but he thought better of pointing that out verbally.

“I’m not gonna ask you to start at the beginning,” Kaldalis said calmly as she started to navigate her inventory to get properly dressed. “Because then we’ll be here all day, and we have other shit to get done.”

“You’re such a dick,” Reno said.

“Yeah, I know,” Kaldalis replied with a nod. “But that’s not the problem. If it were just that I were a dick, you’d call me out on it and we’d have a good laugh like always.” He grimaced briefly before finally asking the question he knew had to come eventually. “What happened?”

“I could ask you the same,” Reno snapped. She stopped herself from continuing, and visibly forced herself to calm down. “Everything is fucked up on this side. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, obviously,” Kaldalis said. “I mean, I just had to let you die to save someone who wouldn’t come back. I didn’t want to do that, you know. But I had to do what was right. I could either save my best friend from being temporarily hurt, or I could save someone else from being permanently killed. I didn’t like making that call, but I would do the same thing again.”

“Certainly didn’t hurt that you’re fucking her,” Reno grumbled.

Kaldalis wanted to snap something at that, but held his tongue. Reno was just upset. It wasn’t usual for her to be this angry, but she always spoke before thinking when she was. Once she cooled off even a little, she would process that she was out of line.

As he let the silence extend between them, Reno’s scowl turned into a grimace.

“Sorry,” she said at last. “That was too far.”

“I mean, you’re not wrong,” Kaldalis said, “I have feelings for Heluna. But that doesn’t change that I wouldn’t trade another living being’s life for a thirty minute inconvenience for you. Even if it had been the Contender there, I would have made the same decision.”

“Really?” Reno said, the first hint of a smile breaking through her sour expression. “The Contender?”

“Okay, maybe not,” Kaldalis admitted. “Jeeze, imagine if getting rid of him were something that might just happen to us by chance.”

“I don’t know,” Reno said, the grimace returning. “With your luck around here? I wouldn’t rule it out.”

“Is that what this is about?” Kaldalis asked, adjusting his tone. He needed to not sound defensive, because he needed an answer, not more snark. “I really want to know. Are you pissed that I lucked my way into being hot shit around here?”

“No,” Reno lied. It was very obvious that it was a lie, because everything in her body language and tone made it crystal clear that she was lying. “I just thought it would be me, you know? I thought you were going to be my wizened mentor once I got in, guiding me to be the hero.”

“Being a hero is what you make of it,” Kaldalis said carefully. “Just do the right thing and help enough people, and it’ll all come together.”

“Easy for you to say,” Reno grumbled. “Not everyone was in the right place at the right time at every turn.”

Kaldalis sighed. They didn’t really have time to fully clear the tension. And he didn’t expect to pull that time out of thin air now.

But a couple of things had gotten straight, though. She didn’t feel entitled to his time or help. She thought his time and help were the missing ingredient in her own story.

“We’ll talk more about this later,” Kaldalis said at last. “I really want to straighten things out between us. I want to make things right with you just as much as I want to make things right with this whole world.” He gestured back at Cotanaku. “But I’m willing to bet that the meeting we were just talking about getting is going to happen in the aftermath of this whole shitstorm, and I need to be there.”

“Yeah, all right,” Reno said with a heavy sigh. Before Kaldalis could turn away, though, she caught his arm. “One thing you just said, though. I have to ask.”

“What?” Kaldalis said.

“A minute ago you said I was your best friend,” Reno said, somewhat sheepishly. “Did you really mean that? Still? After all this?”

“Of course,” Kaldalis said instantly.

He stopped, and forced himself to actually consider the question. He felt like he could count on Balrim and Myrin in a combat scenario, but he was always a third wheel with them socially. And while he had feelings for Heluna, and valued her companionship, he’d only known her for a few weeks. Sure, the relationship was built on communication and support, but their interactions and conversations were still constantly breaking new ground. They hadn’t even had their first fight. He couldn’t base his entire social support network on something so new and uncertain.

Reno, though? There was a lot of history between them. They’d been at each other’s side for years by now. Deep down in his heart, Kaldalis knew that this fight was a little blip on the radar. No different than any of the arguments they’d had when they were Dylan and Nakala.

He was absolutely certain that no matter what happened, they’d always have each other’s backs no matter what that meant.

“Of course,” Kaldalis said again. “We’re family, Reno. No matter what world we’re in, nothing changes that.”

Reno nodded, and let him go. As Kaldalis started to head back to town to catch up with Garyung, he was grateful for the conversation. Heluna had been right the whole time; they just needed to sit down and talk to each other.

This was an important first step to repairing what had been neglected.

He knew that he and Reno were going to have to finish clearing the air sooner or later. But now he knew what she wanted, and it wasn’t something stupid. She didn’t just want him to be her pocket tank again. She wanted to be a hero. That was something he understood perfectly well. And he was in a position of power and authority around here! If she wanted to be a hero, he might be able to find a way to give her the same opportunities that he’d taken. He could help her without it requiring him to set aside all his responsibilities.

But more importantly, he’d established they were still friends. Whatever came next, and whatever came after that, Kaldalis knew that things were going to be okay.

Eventually.