The Truth about Heroes: Complete Trilogy (Heroes Trilogy)

by Krista Gossett

  When they woke beneath Yggdrassl, Kalhmera was long gone, no doubt to explore her new all-powerful potential (and they hoped, not abuse it too greatly), they had feasted on the Mother’s still-rejuvenating fruit and decided to head west for the Walk of Respite. It felt strange to them that the sense of doom was allowed to pass, but they couldn’t quite bring themselves to drop their guards either; regardless of whether the threat had passed, getting sloppy and dying now would be an incredibly stupid way to die. It was hard to die a warrior’s death, with a lot of stupid dangers hidden in strange places.

  It felt strange to them as they left Uzhuak with no real aim in mind. Dinsch and Krose shared a mutual moment of shame and mixed emotions as they passed the place they had met Kahtya and it felt odd to find the eerie stillness of Mythec, completely unpopulated. They did not continue on right away once they had reached Mythec but stopped to build a memorial for all of the soldiers they had led to their slaughter. They had decided to stay there that night and they had all seemed to wander off in their own thoughts. Krose and Dinsch seemed to enjoy throwing pebbles off of the walls and talking about returning to the Bryfolk Hole (maybe settling close to Merschenez to build a restaurant after all), Pierait and Lyria retreated somewhere to be alone, Finn and Verity following suit and Rienna was left feeling truly alone.

  She visited the rooms that Ashe and Melchior had once stayed in. In Ashe’s old room, she sat on the musty bed and stroked the blankets fondly and by the time she reached Melchior’s old room, she lay there and started to sob. She might have fallen asleep there as exhausted as she was but every time she started to doze off, she could swear she smelled his scent for a moment and it woke her instantly and she would angrily punch at the pillows in frustration. She ended up wandering to a tower room and collapsing onto the bed.

  She felt like a bit of a voyeur but once she had settled in, she could barely hear the sounds of Finn and Verity finally making love (and who could blame them?). It made her heart ache but she was happy for them. It was impossible for her to think of Belias since his cruel Shade’s face stole into her good memories, but she thought of Ashe’s smiling face, their amazing intimacy and wished she could share the new peace with him. It would not surprise her if Pierait and Lyria were doing the same. Really, it wouldn’t even surprise her if Dinsch and Krose followed suit. It was a wonderful feeling, knowing the world wasn’t going to end. Her problem was that she was missing the ones she most wanted to share it with. She looked down from her room in the high tower, a passing thought of jumping freezing her in place, but when she saw Melchior disappearing over the edge of Elcarim flashing through her thoughts, she collapsed into a fetal position and held her knees and sobbed.

  All that was left was for her to make up her mind. She cleared away the despair and tried to focus on what was next. She knew she did not really want to wander just yet, although if Dinsch and Krose stuck around long enough, maybe they would talk her into it. She knew she wanted to return to Ersenais. She really hoped the Princess (now the Queen) and Seije were still okay. Melchior had once said that Ersenais was set to march (with some of the northern cities) on Xanias where Myceum troops had been trying to set up a base. Were they wiped out by Viper’s mechanized terrors or were they an easily manageable group of men? Rienna realized that thinking about seeing more of the world she helped to save might be the thing she needed after all. Still, she needed to return to Ersenais first. She had never seen Krose and his brother together before and that was an encouraging thought for her too. She wanted to really look at them, see what marked them as brothers. Replace the unhappy memory of the brothers she had loved and lost.

  Rienna’s last thought before finding the peace she needed to fall asleep was that she really wanted them all to discuss what lay ahead.

  When they all woke the next day, Rienna had already been too excited to sleep in and was up cooking breakfast in the main hall when the first of them straggled in. Krose was the first of the early birds and he stretched, yawned and looked happier than she had ever seen him in a good long while and it warmed her heart immensely. He came over and kissed her forehead then frowned at her kitchen mess.

  “What is all this? Did you get any sleep?” Krose asked her now, concern etched on his brow.

  “Not a lot but I feel okay. We’re not in any great hurry anymore, are we?” Rienna reminded him. She went back to her work and started to panic. “Oh, damn it, I’m going to burn everything!”

  Krose laughed and grabbed a spatula.

  “Extra pair of hands, coming right up!” he chimed in laughing and helping. He did more than just help, he took over and Rienna realized his cooking skills were no joke; he was really a whiz in the kitchen. Even when she stopped to watch, he effortlessly moved about. She watched him empty bacon grease from the pan and it made her feel sick all of a sudden and she grabbed the nearest pot and threw up in it.

  She shook her head in apology to Krose and went to the farthest sink to wash it out.

  “Sorry; something about meat just makes me queasy sometimes,” Rienna apologized, and Krose smirked and went back to cooking once he was sure she was okay. There was something really calming about watching him cook; something about it really drove home that they were free to really start building their lives. Her curiosity got the better of her.

  “Krose…” she started. He raised his eyebrows to urge her on and licked a bit of grease from his thumb. “What are you planning on doing? You know… now that things ought to be okay…”

  It still seemed too early to confirm that things would stay that way. Krose smiled and it reminded her of why she had always trusted him. It was a warm unpretentious smile, a little mischievous, but totally reassuring.

  “I did think about that last night. Dinsch told me a while back that I ought to stop wandering, settle down and start a kind of restaurant/inn. I was thinking I might start one in Ersenais, you know, where the Favored Mare was- “

  “In the Middle District,” they finished together and smiled at that. Rienna looked at her feet now, thinking of something else.

  “I hope Seije made out okay,” Rienna added softly.

  “Ah, he’s tougher than he looks. A bit whiny but he’s cautious enough. You’re not planning on going back?” Krose added.

  Rienna nodded.

  “I am. Melchior…” her voice cracked on his name, but she rushed on to avoid Krose’s pity. “He told me that the Queen wanted to see me when I returned. I… don’t know if I’ll be sticking around but I’d at least like to visit. See your awkward little family reunion, at least.”

  Krose stuck out his tongue at her and threw a towel over his shoulder. She stuck out her tongue to reciprocate. It was very unlike her, but maybe it was time to redefine herself again. Not what she had to be for the world anymore, but just for herself.

  “Grab a few of those plates,” Krose asked and Rienna did so without question.

  Krose gathered up a lot of food on one plate and only put eggs on Rienna’s. Before she could say anything, he answered her question.

  “Don’t want to go too heavy on food with a queasy stomach,” Krose said with a wink. Rienna smiled, nodded and stabbed at a fluffy bunch of eggs. Her eyes widened once she began to chew.

  “I might come to your restaurant just for these eggs,” Rienna admitted, entirely serious.

  “And I’d never charge a friend either,” Krose assured her.

  “You have to make money somehow…” Rienna shot back, enjoying their friendly banter.

  “I assure you, I don’t have enough friends to break the bank feeding them,” Krose laughed.

  The next to come in that morning was Dinsch and his nose was twitching in an endearingly rabbit-like way. He bounded over when he saw the feast, Krose already fixing his friend a plate.

  “What about you, Dinsch? Where are you headed after this?” Rienna asked, returning to the topic they had strayed from.

  Dinsch smiled, happy to be included in their obviously cheerful conversatio
n.

  “I was hoping to stop by Nemiah before leaving Stoneweld… say goodbye to Seles, maybe. Not looking forward to crossing back to Vieres. If you don’t mind making a side trip, I hope you’d both come along. I want to head back to Ersenais, make sure Krose doesn’t get cold feet about starting a restaurant.”

  Krose winced but Rienna laughed as he threw the towel over his shoulder across Dinsch’s face.

  “I don’t mind going, even if he doesn’t,” Rienna admitted.

  They ate and bantered a while longer before Lyria and Pierait came in, looking both adorably and annoyingly love-struck. Krose went about fixing them plates. Dinsch seemed to be openly enjoying their shy affection.

  “Did you make plans on where you’re going?” Dinsch added and Pierait nodded, that smile Rienna couldn’t quite get used to lighting up his face.

  “We want to return to Abundance, the old city of Sorrow, maybe stay there. It’s… a long way from Vieres, but we really liked it there. They were brand-new when we left and we want to help that valley grow,” Pierait seemed apologetic.

  “So I guess we part ways once we get to the Walk,” Rienna said, a little sad, but happy for them all the same. “Promise you’ll write?”

  Pierait smiled and nodded and Lyria smiled shyly too. She didn’t know Lyria much at all, but she had to have been something to get through to Pierait.

  Finn and Verity had tried to be less obvious about their wonderful night but that made it all the funnier for Rienna who knew better.

  “Did you two ever decide where to go from here?” Krose asked, handing them full plates too. Rienna could tell Krose really enjoyed everyone’s first reactions to this morning’s breakfast.

  “We thought we’d head north, maybe as far as the peaks where I grew up. Ones considerably less creepy than the ones we went to last time,” Finn said, humorously apologetic. Verity laughed and slapped him playfully.

  “I haven’t been off of Stoneweld, of course, so I wanted to see where most of you came from,” Verity added. She was trying too hard to appear unaffected that it almost seemed overly polite.

  “I’m surprised you two got around to any talking,” Rienna added, not quite meaning to let that slip out.

  The others looked at Finn and Verity blushing and they broke out in an embarrassing cacophony of teasing and congratulating while Rienna had the good graces to mouth an apology.

  The journey to the Walk was much less solemn than the one they had taken from Uzhuak and they spent a lot of time asking Pierait and Lyria about their meeting and subsequent adventures, knowing they would be the first ones to separate. They hadn’t realized so keenly how narrowly Pierait had walked the line of life and death and knew without a doubt that he would have been the only one in the world that could have beaten those odds. Even other Soulless had failed. Whether his Purpose had spared him or not, none could be sure but it was clear that he was unique among all of them.

  To the south, they marveled at the new deep chasm cutting down Myceum’s eastern borders. It hadn’t quite reached the walk, nor did it cut as far down as to the ocean so it was just a deep ragged hole in the ground. The locals would eventually call it Earth’s Navel.

  By the time they had reached the Walk, Rienna felt better about leaving the two of them to their future. She tried not to be sad; people leaving her just wasn’t something she was able to take easily. Having lost so many certainly made it more difficult. Still, they waved their goodbyes and continued north while Pierait and Lyria headed west. Krose and Dinsch both held Rienna’s hands as they continued on. Probably to mock Finn and Verity always doing so but it was all in fun. Verity and Finn hadn’t even caught the mockery towards their doting new love. You didn’t save the world with people and not develop a strange sense of humor and tolerance.

  Chapter 7: Return to Port

  Dinsch was more nervous the farther north they traveled; not only because he was anxious about whether Seles was still okay, but because he was not really thrilled about having to get on a ship again. Rienna had promised they would try to find one of the fast smooth mechanical ones. However, she wasn’t entirely sure there were any ships to be had since they had learned on the Walk that while they were on Elcarim, the seas had swallowed the ships. Rienna tried her best not to think about Elcarim, that hateful place where she lost two men she cared for deeply, but it was hard. Ashe had not simply died; he had been torn to shreds in front of her, after all. Melchior had a smile on his face that she would never forget when he had decided to jump from the edge of the world. Now, she just hoped she could get back to Vieres and as far from those memories as possible.

  Dinsch was downright somber as they neared Nemiah. It was obvious that he was afraid she would have been one of the ones to have died in what the travelers they had run into referred to as the Waking. As tempted as they were to tell those people about the fate of the old gods, they just pretended to be thankful that the old gods must have had their dream after all. In a sense, it was true, only if the Dream was intended to be a massacre of the beings that held the world together. The goddess was the one to awaken into powers, but they kept her secret. It felt strange to them that they would be the false heroes they had scorned, that stories written about them would tell of how they fought beside the old gods to kill the old tyrant of Myceum and subdue the elementals. Even their own children would never know the truth. It made them wonder what pacts or vanities had made the old stories ring false, whether in favor or against the ones tangled in them.

  Along the way, they had been surprised by how many people had known who they were and what they did; they didn’t wear their armor anymore and they had been so preoccupied with urgency and danger that it came as a shock when people seemed to know them now. True, there would have been people who saw their deeds in some of those places, but there were also the woeful places where none had survived as well. They certainly hadn’t gone around announcing themselves, but their armor had made them stand out to most places they had been. Somehow, their names had been known though, even in their armor’s absence. So much for thinking they were being inconspicuous.

  Amidst all the grateful people, it was even stranger to learn exactly what some of the repercussions had been; Windbreak’s demise, giant fingers of rock jutting high as mountains from the ocean and just how different the formerly Soulless were. Pierait hadn’t known, but they had been free from their Purposes but many had chosen to continue with them anyway—better the devil they knew than the devil they didn’t. Some had gone haywire, like a starving man at a banquet or a reckless teenager, unsure of how to handle the freedom. Most notably, they adopted more natural hair and eye colors; a thing they didn’t have in common with Pierait at all, but it could be assumed that Pierait had been different anyway, as the Wellbourne. Pierait had maintained his coloring, but his eyes had gone from swirling empty marbles to expressive and human.

  Rienna grew anxious and quiet with her own ineptitude towards helping Dinsch. She found it odd that Krose did not even bother to try; he seemed preoccupied but he wasn’t visibly distressed like Rienna and he almost seemed to be intentionally avoiding anything. A time or two when they camped, she had awoken in the night to find him writing in a leather-bound book and asked him where he got it. An enigmatic smile and an unenlightening answer followed and she did not ask again. She wondered if they were withdrawing from her and it bothered her. Although Krose seemed to snap out of his revelries just enough to make sure she was eating and she took it as a good sign; maybe he was just coming to grips with the aftermath in a much less turbulent way than she was.

  Rienna began to think that her turmoil was not knowing whether Dinsch would cross with them at all. If he found Seles, he may choose to stay to be near her. She hoped that he would not (for nothing more than a selfish purpose on her part); it would sadden her but she would have no choice but to let him go without objection if he chose to. She certainly couldn’t overpower him. She wondered now if these slow-motion goodbyes were really such a
good idea or if she was just prolonging the inevitable after all.

  Despite the city seeming no less lively than when they had first visited, Rienna was feeling like her stomach was lined with lead just knowing Dinsch would want to go off on his own. Finn and Verity, ever more the happy couple by the day had decided to fly ahead to Nemiah some hours back, agreeing to meet up with the rest of them at the same plaza as before at merchant’s dusk, a term that meant a couple hours before sunset when the sky started to ease from yellow to orange. When Dinsch stopped in front of her, her heart slammed against her ribcage. When he turned, a sweet small smile twitched at his lips and he met Rienna’s eyes and touched her cheek.

  “Don’t look so sad, Rienna. Not now. No matter what happens, I’m going to meet you at the plaza too. No looking at me like this is goodbye!” Dinsch scolded her softly.

  Rienna pouted childishly. “You better,” was all Rienna could manage and trapped his hand against her cheek with her own for a long, desperate moment before resolving to let go.

  Her eyes opened wide with shock as Dinsch’s mouth captured hers gently in a kiss that was chaste until he parted his lips at the last moment to taste her bottom lip with the tip of his tongue. His eyes looked drowsy and drunk when he pulled away and Rienna was stunned. It wasn’t their first kiss certainly, but for some odd reason, she felt she was finally seeing a man rather than the rabbit-boy. He winked and fled before she could say anything and she blushed when she caught Krose grinning at her and shaking her head.

  “Sometimes, it’s easy to mistake you for a maiden when you blush like that,” Krose teased as they walked along the main street.

  Rienna shot him a withering look, but it fell away as she looked at her dear friend. “The last time I let a man touch me feels like another life, so it’s not so far from the truth… and as I recall, you know better than anyone how unmaidenly I can be.”