Hair as black as the night. Liron ran his hand through it. He couldn't say whether he had missed it.
He had missed his old face, though. As there was no need for hiding anymore, Angin had turned both of them back to their normal appearance. Two Ravenspawns, spitting in Harras' face. Their existence an insult to all of pure heart.
Liron had missed it somewhat. Not the hair itself but seeing this part of himself. For better or for worse, it had accompanied him for all his life. With so many aspects of himself being gone and replaced, he wanted to hold on to what he was born with.
Angin had given him a mirror so he could prepare himself. "No one should look bad on the day they might die," he had joked.
What Liron saw was far from perfect. He was still the same shovel boy shunned by his village. But his eyes were different. Harder. Colder. Liron shook his hair with his hands, playing around with strands. Angin had explained that their hair color was nothing but what he called a mutation. A rare condition some folk were born with. No divine warning. No wicked origin.
And that had determined his life. Who was to blame? His parents for not getting rid of him when he was little? His village for believing in such fairy tales? The Empire for keeping them uneducated? His hair for looking the way it did? Him for being born?
He could shave it off. He could ask Angin to change it into a shining white. All flaws beset upon him, remedied. But he didn't want that. He didn't want his hair gone or his face perfect. Why? He couldn't tell. Perhaps he feared losing more of himself than he already had. Perhaps he thought himself nothing but the sum of his parts. Twist too much, and the old Liron was gone. But perhaps he should go. Perhaps Ekon didn't need Liron Sturm but something better. Someone who would be accepted. Or, perhaps it needed Ravenson. Perhaps it did need a fire cleansing the Empire. An inferno that would drown the skies in smoke and ember.
When Liron looked in the mirror, he didn't know what to make of what he saw. He recalled all the times Emma had built him up, telling him of the worth he had. His head trusted her words, but his heart didn't. No matter how often she had said it or how convinced she had sounded. It marked her words as naive wishes. A desperate escape from the truth, as she couldn't face it. Perhaps his heart was right, or perhaps his heart was wrong.
But perhaps it didn't change shit to think about it.
Liron kept his hair. He didn't know why. What he knew, though, was that Emma liked it. And perhaps, she alone was enough.
Liron should have felt more nervous for the coming battle. The Silverlight flooded his room, morning having come. He hadn't slept much, but he didn't feel too tired. A tension had found a home in Liron's body. It desired for nothing but the fight to start.
After having ditched his poor, tortured clothes, Liron put on a guard's uniform. They had armor lying around, but Ragner had advised him against it. "What's the point?" he had asked. "We're fightin' shite that can plow through steel. Armor only slows ye down. Stay light, laddie. Ye will need it."
His wit would be his only armor then. This, and his Magic as far as Angin had said. "You will grow more resilient," he had said. "As the connection between your Conduit and Gate grows, your Magic will seep into your body. Doesn't make you stronger, but you can take hits that would kill other people. How much depends on your Conduit and spells. I don't think you will ever become as sturdy as Jean, for example."
The Uniform didn't look too bad, in Liron's estimation. Strict, but it demanded respect. He liked the blue coat. It fit him. He allowed himself a smile. But as soon as it touched his lips, guilt followed.
Liron wondered, as so often, whether he was a mistake or not. His parents had met their end thanks to raising him. All the people who had died because of him would think of him as such. The vision and its consequences alone had cost thousands their lives. And now the city of Kupferrang and all the horrors he had witnessed were his burden to carry.
Liron didn't know. A part of himself didn't want him to be a mistake. It rebelled against the notion, pointing to how none of the suffering was his doing. And even if the blame is cast upon him, he still could do good. He could create a future that would justify his existence. One in which people would be happy that he was born.
But as these thoughts followed him, so did the answer. Emma would be sad if he died. And that was reason enough to live and fight. He ought to tell her that.
…
"There he is," Angin said, greeting Liron. "You… look good. Appropriate for the attack… I guess."
When it came to appearance, Angin forgot all tact. The Alchemist had changed back his hair and face, too. He seemed light as a feather, smiling as if the sun had kissed him herself. He had suffered in these last days, enduring the death of his beauty. But now he had embraced it once again. He looked like the day they had met. Liron wondered still how his master wore his black hair with such confidence. He feared asking him. The Alchemist's past was partly engulfed with something sad. Something that made his master tense up.
"Oh, really?" Liron asked, looking down at him, sounding sad. "And I tried to look like shit. Did I fail?"
"You did, but don't worry, my boy. Once this is over, you will have your wish granted."
Liron chuckled. The exchange felt good. Cool water on a hot day, but it didn't last long. Liron sombered. "I'm ready," he said.
Angin clapped him on the shoulder. "That you are. Come, let's go to the others."
Liron and Angin were the last to arrive. Their allies had gathered around the maps. Like Liron, they wore the guards uniforms. They nodded at them, and Angin took the spot in front of the table, addressing all.
"So, it's time. The last days have been rather shit, and I think we have the worst ahead of us. We do not have much, but it has to suffice."
Liron grimaced. Angin had his moments of wisdom. This wasn't one of them.
The others shared the sentiment, exchanging glances.
"What? I will not lie to you," Angin said. "Well… let's go over the plan again."
Angin pointed at the map, encircling the marketplace in front of the bureau. They had little figures to symbolize themselves and Adenius and his troops. "Emma will be executed here. Adenius wants to burn her alive. The place is already filled up with Hunters, but they are already weakened. They don't pose much of a threat anymore except in their numbers. We have to expect Adenius intends to use them as a shield. We will have to consider the possibility that we will need to kill some of them to…"
"Nay," Ragner said, shaking his head. "These folk are innocent. I won't spill their blood."
Zonis agreed.
"Ragner, please," Angin said. "I know it's wrong, but we don't have…"
"Brother, I respect ye, and I will follow ye, but dinna ask me to kill 'em. Never. Ye know the answer. I will nae blame ye if ye do it, but I won't."
Angin sighed. "Fine. We will not try to kill them, of course. But you will at least fight them off."
"Naturally. Should they come too close, I will loosen up a tooth or two."
"Good. Where were we? Ah, yes. Adenius will use them as a shield against us. Thanks to Emma, we know Adenius can't say what we will do exactly. We could guess so already, but her confirmation helps. So, the fucker doesn't know that his wall of Hunters won't do shit."
Angin's finger moved to a house a few neighborhoods away from the market. "We will place the Machina here. This point is high enough that we should have a free aim at the execution."
The Machina was an adjusted version of Angin's bike. They had equipped it with a ram on its head and enough space for four people to sit in. Most Nanium went into constructing the engine. Similar to Ragner's bike, it possessed a machination that breathed fire. It would shoot it forward, faster than any arrow. Any obstacle in its way, house or wall, it would burst through. While Liron was recovering, Zonis and Gabriella had collected all the gold they could find, sneaking through Kupferrang to fuel the Machina.
"This dumb fuck won't be expecting that," Angin said, grinning. "As said before, only the most sturdy should go into the Machina, as they will be in the midst of the battle. We will take them off guard, but we can't expect much more than freeing Emma. This means Jean, Ragner, and I will use the Machina."
Ragner took the space of two seats. They had to configure the Machina to fit the Kin in.
"We can take a beating better than anyone else. The problem here is we can't say what Adenius will have waiting for us. The guards shouldn't be much of a problem, but they were the least of our issues."
After Ragner's arrival, dozens of guards had abandoned their post, fleeing out of the city. And after Liron had allied themselves with the wolves, they rode them along the wall, showing the fools that had stayed that their chances of survival had shrunk yet again. That had driven out more than before. Adenius had only shreds of his troops left.
"We have to expect that Kasper and Anna will be there as well as the assassin. We haven't seen her since her failed attempt on Liron, and I don't like that. Whoever will await us there, we will have to fight. Once we have freed Emma, our goal is to simply hold the position, fighting back our enemies. The goal is not to kill anyone. Should the opportunity present itself, fuck yeah, but otherwise we will only defend ourselves and stall for time.
"This is where you come into play," Angin said, looking at Liron, Gabriella, and Zonis. He moved their figures. "You three will have to create an opening for us to escape. Thanks to our new furry friends, this has gotten way easier. You will wait until we are at the execution, and then you rush towards the marketplace. You can't get too close beforehand, or you will be noticed.
"Hit them from the side as hard as possible. I think you can guess it already, but you will need to kill Hunters. I hope that because of the initial strike, the masses might focus on us or move around, but… it's inevitable. I'm sorry… let… let the wolves do it. Let them loose."
A moment of silence. No one, not even Jean, was fond of the idea, but neither had a better plan. Since last night, Liron had known this would come. The screams of the Hunters. Their fever would cease once the beasts' fangs ripped their bodies apart. No righteous wrath would numb their pain. They would suffer.
Liron ground his teeth, nodding. For Emma, he would do it. Love was a frightening thing. The death of the innocent meant nothing to him. He would kill them with his own hands to get to her. The damned could claim him as a brother so long as Emma was free. Morals, any higher ideals he upheld. All abandoned in a heartbeat. Lines he never thought to cross. Love made him forget them. In the end, he held them only because it was convenient. That he realized at this moment.
A frightening thing, indeed.
Angin eyed him. Zonis cast his head downwards. Gabriella sneered but remained silent. "Once…," Angin continued. "Once there is an opening, we will flee towards the bureau. There should be no opposition inside there at this point in time. The goal is to reach the top of it.
"We will climb onto the roof. Getting there will require a miracle, but the worst thing is we will need to hold this position. I don't want to imagine what chaos will be gnawing on our heels at this point. But it's the only way to get out of here."
Angin pulled a figure showing an island and put it on the bureau on the map. "The Janloo Company will fly over it. They are entitled to pick up all they want. The Resistance has made a deal with them. Janloo can't wait for us, and they can't favor any side. The Empire allows them only so much. It needs to look like they were no part of this. The Empire will know, of course, but without proof they can't do shit.
"Well, this makes things more difficult for us. We have a very slim time frame. Once they reach the bureau, we might have a minute at best. All we have to do is stand on the roof, waving at them. We need to signal we need their help. Only then can they pick us up."
"Even if we're attacked?" Liron asked. "I mean, you said there will be hell on the roof by this point. What if we're still fightin'? Will they just swoop us up while we're still battlin' Adenius? They will have no excuse there. They should see that we are hunted by 'em."
"Good question, Liron. Very good. The Empire will try to fry their asses, but Janloo is filled with the best diplomats Ekon has to offer. The deal between them states that Janloo can pick up all they want. Often, they save people in need. Once they have decided to intervene, the Empire has no right to refute that. In most cases, at least. Their deal has its limits. Should they try to transport Elisabeth Ashburn or Wran, the Empire won't accept that."
"Yeah, you mentioned that before."
"Exactly. You, Liron, are an absolute edge case. You are important enough that the Empire would be able to force Janloo to not take you with them. But they will cloud themselves in ignorance. They will say something about only seeing people in need and deciding to help. People of Janloo hate conflict and killing. Something like this has happened a few times already. It was never as intense as our case, but Janloo should be able to prevent the Empire from attacking us further. As long as we are aboard, of course. The Janloo Company is too important for them, and they have no other option than to take this defeat."
"But… that's still a huge thing, right?"
"Yes," Jean said, a cold stare digging into Liron. "Elisabeth herself had to convince the Grand Janloo Company to help us. She had negotiated with them for hours. Only thanks to her are they helping us. All for you, Liron. For you and your sister."
No accusation. A simple statement of fact.
Angin cleared his throat, scratching his neck. "Yeah… must have been intense. Don't think we will be greeted with friendly faces up there. But we'll deal with that later. More importantly, we have no real idea when they will arrive. Janloo and its flying islands travel with the Silver Moon. It's always around noon when they arrive somewhere. This doesn't give us much, though.
"It could be we only have minutes once we strike the execution before they appear on the horizon, or we will have to hold the bureau for an hour. Because of the Raven Hunt, we couldn't communicate further with the Resistance and thus Janloo."
The Alchemist's gaze lingered on the maps. He was lost in his thoughts. He blinked, returning from his mind. "Well, besides that, we're not totally fucked. When we have Emma secured and you have created the opening, we can make further use of our new Machina. We need to give her a proper name.
"It's still my bike, so we can turn her back into one. Equipped with the enhanced engine, we could drive up the bureau's walls. We won't all fit in there, so the wounded should take a seat in there. Beyond that, I can still use all the Nanium for combat should we not be able to drive it further. So, we do have some things on our side."
The Machina driving up the bureau was a ludicrous thought, but so was the entirety of their plan.
"Yeah, that's it," Angin said, massaging his forehead. "That's the adjusted plan. It's… shit. Absolute shit. There are too many flaws to count them all. The end alone is… suicidal. It relies on us fending off whatever forces are left on Adenius' side long enough for any Janloon to grab us. And as long as they have not gotten to us, we are still considered fair game for the Empire.
"But it's the best we can muster. We have no real resources, and we have no idea what our enemy is planning or what he has in store for us. I've been in tricky situations, but never something like that. These are unprecedented times, though."
Silence. A heavy one that dragged them all down. Ragner nudged Angin in the side. "Brother," he whispered.
Angin sighed. "I'm sorry. As you have guessed, I'm not good at this. I… I will not give you a grand speech. You know the odds even without me stating them. But… I still think we have a shot. The Liron from the vision has shown that the Emperor is still a man after all. And that he can die like one. And our Liron has shown me that you can survive a surprising amount of things if you stick together.
"Our plan is shit. It's nothing but a basic set of steps and nothing more. Anything stricter and more concrete would be a disadvantage against a man like Adenius. Today we will have to improvise. We will have to think on our feet. Only then can we make it through today."
Angin looked at each of them. On Liron, his eyes rested longer than on the other. "Our goal is simple. Free Emma and escape with our lives. Nothing beyond that. If the opportunity opens itself to you, you should kill Adenius. But his death isn't our priority. I don't want any of you to play the hero. All of you will be needed in the future.
"Kupferrang is a simple stepping stone in the fight against the Empire. The Resistance will rely on you in this war. But I'm certain, once we are in Sannara, once this has become a faint memory, this will be the beginning of the end. We will witness the end of the Empire, the Qyoral, and this damned war. We have seen it already, and I'm thrilled to put it into practice. Fuck it, perhaps we will even see the sun rise. Perhaps we will be the ones to free it. Whatever might happen, things will come to an end. For a better future. And I want to see this new dawn with all of you. So, remember. No heroes."
"No heroes," they all repeated.
A strange phrase. One you wouldn't tell a soldier before battle. Yet it put Liron's worries to rest. For all but a moment, he could smile.