🌾 Rite of Grace

Rohzenn felt a bit sick lately. Maybe it was the change of weather, with the cold bite of Winter able to carve up her bones. Or maybe it was yesterday’s meal — which surprised her, as even though the vegetables did not look good, they still smelled and tasted just fine. 

Whatever it was, it made her slower than usual and her stomach struggled. That was a problem. She didn’t have many coins left and couldn’t really afford a day off, but her next move in Faline would have to wait another time. Piss off. Hitting rock bottom this low was becoming a habit she definitely had to get rid of.

With a sour mood and empty stomach, Rohzenn decided to take some rest. She was on the road between Sommerang and Faline, up North. Half an hour from here, tens of fields covered in ice patches ran over the land, with Sommerang being only a small, ugly bump through the horizon. A few birds still braved the winter, but they were almost inaudible. Rohzenn hated the season : too close to her birthday, and its rash cold made it too hard to survive without a coin and with only nature at your side because in winter, nature went dormant and you could as well eat dirt. 

Yet, Rohzenn couldn’t get enough of its silence and peacefulness. It was both quiet and pretty, two qualities that rarely cohabited together these days, especially amongst people. The light turned into a delicate shade of blue, a softness she savored when she felt raw and her mood was grey. She breathed in and out, observed the small puff of smoke that blew out of her nose. The only real downside to this fresh air was that it always made her scars stir and hurt enough she noticed it.

She sighed as she took in the view, then went for the forest behind her. Forests were better at providing cover, and they felt safer too. It was rather easy to find a small cave nestled in between giant mossy rocks, offering a nice shelter from the weather and wind. No bear or any weird animal hid inside, so Rohzenn claimed it to install her rudimentary camp : a weak fire, her thick cover and some tools to sharpen her daggers. An almost edible apple sat at the bottom of her bag, so Rohzenn convinced herself it was the most glorious, juiciest apple ever and that was that. She wrapped herself up in her cover and stared outside. Frozen pine trees reached for the sky, beautiful elders embellished in ice. The sky itself was barely visible but she could grasp a star or two. 

Rohzenn was lonely. She chewed on it, as time seemed to stop in this ethereal, frozen forest, as only an owl broke the silence outside. The last time Cyrai had found her had been one or two years ago already. Nothing since. She missed her. She missed anything anyway — a brother who abandons you and a sister who disregards you as a kid will probably do that to you. Still, she could count on Cyrai when she needed. She had been the one to take a lost teen under her wing, to teach Rohzenn the rogue way and how nice having a decent older sister might have been. Two years without any human contact was so fucking long. And no, the thieves and whores did not count. It was so meaningless. Rohzenn’s entire life was probably meaningless. She doze off without meaning to, heart lost and mood icy blue. The starvation and flu got the better of her and she let go for a dreamless, deep sleep. 

She woke up in a haze to the smell of acrid smoke and cackling crows. Her stomach growled in protest. It definitely complained of yet another food poisoning. That was why she’d felt so weak ; maybe she should start taking care of appearances when it did came to eating. Still sleepy, she stood up to extinguish the fire camp — before realizing it already was. It took a few seconds of wonder, until the crackle of wood and fire finally registered and jolted Rohzenn awake. Outside the cave, the forest wasn’t blue anymore : it turned a fierce crimson red. 

Rohzenn’s burning scars stirred painfully — muscle memory. Without thinking twice, she grabbed her bag in a rush and went out. Gigantic flames licked the trees and covered the sky, reducing to ashes everything in its path. And it spread fast. So fucking fast, damn it why Rohzenn did not hear it earlier ? She raced as fast as she could, moving around bushes and avoiding falling branches, ignoring the stink of rotten eggs that filled her lungs, her golden eyes crying at the smoke and that crushing, unbearable heat. As her heartbeat panicked, she sped up her pace, but the smoke made it hard to see and the inferno was surrounding her, where the fuck was she supposed to flee ? Terrified and throat tight, she jumped when she heard her name :

«Rohzenn ! Follow me, this way !» 

Cyrai appeared a few meters away on her right, a wet cloth above her nose and mouth, waving at her. She’d aged, her hair now displayed several patches of silver among black. Her skin had kept its soft pink hue, and her concerned eyes where still a striking blue. She’d always wondered if Cyrai was a thief, a spy or a traitor for how short and scarce her appearances at her side were. But she had always been present when needed and just in time. Rohzenn did not hesitate and spurted forward. Scared, scarred and heavy breathing, she followed her mentor with incredible precision dodging wood, tricky pits and disgusting puddles of ichor. She moved forward with intense relief and an almost blinding trust for the woman that had guided and saved her so many times for most of her life, so grateful for having yet again her only ally at her side. She’d missed her so much.

They do not notice the trunk devoured by fire that is about to cross their path. It crashes down in a loud thud — on Cyrai’s frame. Rohzenn freezes. Time stops. She cannot lose her mentor. She does not see the path to freedom in front of her, only that giant tree and the flames raging twenty meters away on their right. 

 «Rohzenn ?»

It brings her back in a jolt. Rohzenn chokes on a sob, relieved, and rushes ahead to help. They don’t have much time but she will do everything she can to get Cyrai out. She lets herself slide along the small pit to grab her mentor below the trunk - except she isn’t here. Rohzenn looks around in a hast in case her body rolled over somewhere. Nothing. She whistles Cyrai’s codename as she searches around in a hurry. The fire is getting closer.

 «Rohzenn ?»

She urges towards her name, whistles back, I hear you, it means.  

«Rohzenn here !»

She whistles, sharp rushed sounds like a tiny bird warning for immediate danger. Hold on. I got you, hold on.

 «Rohzenn, this way !» Cyrai echoes further into the woods.

Where the fuck are you ?

 «Rohzenn PLEASE, hurry !»

Rohzenn runs faster than ever for her life. Maybe she rolled down and broke her ankle, maybe she’s stuck under a tree or in one of those sickening pools of black ichor. For the first time in their shared life, Cyrai needs her help and she needs it now. Rohzenn cannot let her down, not after everything her mentor has done for her.

Rohzenn trips, stumbles yet barely avoids to fall down. It takes her a moment to realize she’s out of the woods, the fire not far behind but enough that the heat doesn’t bite her skin anymore. Her eyes dart around her on frozen fields, but no sign of Cyrai anywhere. Fuck did she miss her on the way out ? She whistles, no answer. Against her deepest survival instincts, ones ingrained into her core, she dives back into the forest and its inferno.

 «Rohzenn no !» A scream from the fields, but as ire fuels Rohzenn’s blood and she’s about to bite back with loss and impatience, Cyrai’s voice, softer this time, whispers in her ear. « Get out. Run, now. » And small fireflies light up before her to show her the way.

Rohzenn hyperventilates and her head feels dizzy. She does not understand. But the fire crackling dangerously behind kicks something in her - fear, survival - and she jumps and bolts forward, towards the frozen fields. She whistles, a desperate call for her mentor, as Cyrai whispers to keep going.

She doesn’t even look back to watch the Pyre of the North behind. She misses the pink and black dragon crossing the sky from ally to ally and tens of mages doing their best to slow down the monster on the ground. She misses the opportunity to ask for help with her wounds, and maybe a way to find allies. The truth creeps her way into her core, tightening her throat like a vile, vicious viper. Her vision blurs and she cannot help but cry as she flees the scene.

She has always been alone.

Rohzenn hates winter — its silence is deafening under the crush of her broken heart.