Chapter 9

“Do you really delude yourselves into thinking you hide in the Great Frost because you like the climate? That you chose to live off the Black Spikes because of the fertile soil? No, everyone knows that you ran as far as you could in order to escape the rest of civilization. You and your lot traveled as far north as you could until you couldn’t run any further because everyone else wanted you dead.”

At these words, the five Agori and the Glatorian were silent. Vocta looked between the faces of Perditus, Scodonius, and Kirbraz, as waves of their repressed memories visibly flooded back — details of a Core War that had been obscured over so many millennia. A lost tribe that had been forgotten — exiled for their war-crimes.

“We live in a society that will exile on the flip of a coin,” Sahmad had sneered. “These, too, are exiles. And the realm of exiles is my domain to rule.”

“Earth tribe,” Kirbraz marveled. “The ones who started it all.”

“Manipulators and connivers,” Scodonius growled. “It might not have been war if it hadn’t been for them.”

“Yes, yes,” Defantus nodded. “All that and more. They were the ones that did that.”

Perditus whirled, dropping the bag of the Rock Agori and advanced on the Earth villagers, who shriveled in his shadow. “Why did you lie to us? You told us that you were Skrall outcasts.”

“You thought they were Skrall Agori?” Defantus asked. “The brown armor is the hallmark of the earth tribe.”

“I’m not talking to you,” Perditus growled. “Tell me, you two. Why would you lie?”

For once, Vocta was speechless. It was Kaldii who stepped forward and spoke.

“For precisely the reasons he said,” she responded. “So many years ago, after what happened with the iron tribe… If what remains could be described as a Tribe anymore. The Spherus Magna Agori were ruthless in their condemnation — they shunned the Ironfolk as plague-carriers. Now you have slavers like Sahmad and madmen like Telluris. Would we not suffer the same fate if we had been honest? Look at how you treat each other? Your villages race each other to the site of a crash to salvage materials that the other villages may have forgotten — all to advance yourselves at the other villages’ expense.

“If this is how you as a society treat each other, how much more could we expect if we had been honest? Solidarity? As if that would ever happen. In the wake of the Shattering, all the blame fell on us, and none on yourselves. Why? If anything, was it not the Great Beings who were responsible? The Element Lord of Earth may have provoked and manipulated tensions to her end, but these tensions had been there all along. Why? Because we have always put elemental affinity above unity. We have put self-preservation above duty. And in doing so, we completely ruined any chance we had of a future.

“This is why we disguised our identities to you, Perditus. Although you saved us, and although you have brought us this far with these two Agori, how could we know how you’d react once you knew our true identities?”

The Fire Glatorian stared at them wordlessly as he pondered their words. His face was expressionless and impassive, and as Vocta now met his gaze, she could gather little information even from his eyes.

Even Scodonius and Kirbraz, for their part, were uncharacteristically silent. The two Tajun Agori had been awestruck and dumbfounded by the remembrance of this forgotten tribe. For so long, Bara Magnans had come to associate the iron tribe and the earth tribe so closely that the two had simply become joined in their recollection. After so long, and with both tribes almost completely lost to time, it had been almost impossible not to. Now iron tribe Agori and warriors bore insults and blame that had once belonged to the earth tribe.

As this was happening, Defantus made no attempt to escape, instead edging over to the bag that Perditus had dropped. Better that they be back in his hands rather than smashed if any fighting broke out. The others remained oblivious to his movement.

No, the attention of the other four Agori was riveted on the looming Glatorian who had still not moved at all.

At length, Perditus spoke.

“In the early days of the Core War, I pushed for peace. So did many of my fellow soldiers,” he said. “Our offers were spurned. And in hindsight, it is not hard to recognize the role of the Element Lord of Earth and her role in the affair. The Convocation of the Elements… The Scandal of Lein’s Drift… the Assassination of Ralitus… All complicated by the intervention of your mistress and her servants.”

“There is no small amount of regret our tribe has had for its role in the war,” Vocta croaked hoarsely. “If you don’t remember, we migrated to the north of our own accord. We have lived in self-imposed exile from our ancestral city of Roxtus, because we feared what the consequences would be if we stayed.”

Again, Perditus was silent.

“They have paid their price,” came a voice from behind them.

The Glatorian turned. “What was that?”

“There is no need for revenge,” Scodonius said. “They have paid their price. They live as outcasts now. And… perhaps it may be time that we invite them back to our society.”

Perditus stared at the Tajun Agori, and even Kirbraz seemed startled at first. But then he nodded along.

“I don’t think we’re at a point where we can welcome the earth tribe,” he agreed. “But perhaps there may be a time when we can.”

“I would not have expected such words from you, Scodonius,” Perditus remarked. “Since when have you ever cared about outcasts or rejects?”

The Kaxium driver hesitated, before looking down.

“Well… I… Well, they remind me of Berix, if you need to know. And by Solis Magna, I already feel bad enough as it is about… you know, that whole thing. I don’t need this other thing on my conscience.”

“They’ve taken enough critical hits as it is,” Kirbraz murmured.

“Then… we let them go?”

“Something like that,” Scodonius nodded. “We got them as far as we said we would. Further, arguably. We’re in lands we don’t know but that they do. If we turn around now, the villages don’t have to know about this.”

Perditus looked at the Earth Agori.

“Then I suppose I agree,” he said. “We will part ways here. Who knows? Perhaps one day the tribes will find true peace once more, and we may see each other then.”

Vocta and Kaldii exchanged glances. Then Vocta grasped the hand of the Fire Glatorian.

“Thank you, warrior, for bringing us this far,” she said. “I very much hope that peace may be realized as well. And if the Skrall rise against you in full force, send word to us up north and we will descend upon the Skrall like an avalanche down the mountain. Just you watch.”

“Well,” Kaldii murmured. “As much of an avalanche as a small band of farmers can amount to.”

“Perhaps,” Perditus smiled. “Though with any luck, we won’t have to rely on that.”

“Just you watch,” Vocta repeated. “Farewell, you three.”

The Earth Agori turned and continued along the ridge, and Perditus watched them go. When they disappeared, he turned and started back down the path with the Tajun villagers. There was no sign of Defantus or his bag, but as there were no Skrall ambushes waiting for them, they wondered if perhaps he really had been serious about his conviction.

Whatever the case, they knew they would each take a very different experience from this unanticipated expedition — and not least of all a hope that one day perhaps their world could be united once more, not only in a physical sense, but also a societal one as well.