We left town that morning through the west gate. Leaving the city in a worse state than we entered. Kona had a large red graze across her back, arm and thigh. As for me, my eyes were now red.
Once she told me about the colour of my eyes, after we left the house and were cleaning blood off me at a water pump. I looked down into the water in my cupped hands and saw faintly the reflection of my face. Where my eyes were once a dark brown, they were now a dark red. From a distance or in a dark room, it might be hard to tell the difference, but Kona told me that when she first saw me, the eyes were much brighter and redder.
This must be part of the integration Wrath spoke about. Parts of my body are changing permanently to accommodate his presence. Hopefully, these changes remain subtle like the eyes. I'm not sure if I could live with a clawed hand permanently.
Who knows, maybe next the colour of my hair will change. I would hate for that to also become red. It would look dumb.
From the attack in the alleyway and the slaughter at the house, we found that some of our items were missing or damaged. So much so that we could fit everything we had into a single pack that Kona now carried. I offered to carry her axe to lighten her load, but she insisted on keeping it close, strapped to the side of her pack. Walking alongside her, not carrying anything, did make me feel a bit guilty, though.
We walked for hours heading eastward. In the far distance, slightly to the southeast, was what looked like a massive castle atop a hill. I pointed towards it.
"I wonder if that's where Nigel lives. You reckon he's there?"
"I think that is the Fenring estate. But he's either on the road or in Vilta right now, being discharged from service. He won't be back there for maybe a few weeks."
"Do you want to just hang around the ironwoods and come back here later to meet him?"
"You do know that the guards there will be on high alert for you, considering the church already had your bounty posted in the closest city."
"Yeah, guess so."
Just then, it all hit me at once. I was exhausted. Last night, I had only slept for perhaps an hour or two while I was unconscious after being shot. My head felt light as I collapsed to the ground. Kona yelled out my name and rushed over to me, placing her hand under my head.
"Sorry, I'm just really tired."
She said something, but I didn't hear it as I started to drift in and out of sleep. I remember a few moments when I woke up for only a second or two. I remember being carried in her arms. I remember her placing me down against a tree. I remember her setting logs in a pile and starting a fire. I remember her feeding me something, and I was awake enough to swallow it.
When I awoke, it was dark. I didn't know what time it was. There was no hint of the sun's light in the sky to the east or west. Only moonlight as the smouldering remains of a firepit.
There were a few trees around us, but nowhere near enough to be in the ironwoods yet. I must have been out for maybe four or five hours. I sat up, noticing that I was tucked into a sleeping bag and Kona was sitting nearby, leaning against a tree, sleeping.
I went over and gently rocked her awake. Telling her to climb into the sleeping bag. She was sleeping, with half-lidded eyes and only responded in small grunts or moans rather than words. She settled into the sleeping bags, and I crawled in next to her. Thankful they were large enough to fit two, since the other one was lost in the city. But even so, this wasn't so bad.
I lay there for an hour trying to get back to sleep. I couldn't help but think about how Kona carried me here, fed me, and put me to bed. She said several times that she wanted to save me for a change, but I don't think she realised she already has.
The next morning, we awoke after the sun had already risen. We packed up our things and continued east towards the Ironwood Forest.
Our goal was to reach the black lands to the northeast, but the only two roads that connected the north and south Viltin states were the emperor's walk and the western coastal road, where we started. Both routes were too dangerous with my newfound criminal status. We planned to enter the Ironwoods, locate the eastern coast and follow it up north until the black sea. The route would be hidden with little to no human contact.
We gave a wide berth to the castle to the south of us. No doubt this road was one seldom travelled by lone traders. Before the war, this road was more frequently used to supply timber to the rest of the states, but since ironwood is made to build ships that are harder to sink than the enemy's, little is left for everyone else. Still, that makes me wonder; if our ships are built stronger, why were we at a stalemate?
Oh well, I wasn't a soldier anymore, war was no longer a concern of mine. All I needed to do was to survive. To find somewhere I could go where I was safe. That's what mattered.
The next day, we finally made it to the edge of the Ironwood forest.
"These woods are dense, and the trees are taller than the ones up north?"
"That so? Well, once we get to a fork, we might have to go into the woods."
"Why's that?"
"These roads are more travelled. Each town in the forest has their own speciality, so traders often travel between them."
After a few hours, there was a fork in the road with a road sign listing off all the towns in each direction. Continuing straight would take us to Black Hollow, Hodsvile or Fin. Turning right would take us to Keld, Kingsport, Ironwood Fortress and Trydent Wood.
Without even considering the options, I turned right and started walking south.
"Oi, Shinya! We're meant to head north. Where are you going?"
I stopped and thought about it for a second. I had to go back home. I didn't even need to think of a reason why, I just knew I needed to. I looked over my shoulder back to Kona.
"I need to see my mother."
We travelled south for another two days. Refilling our water wherever we could. Along the roads here, traders travelled so frequently that there were camping grounds with water pumps, each within a half-day's walk of the other. We avoided sleeping near them at night to avoid unwanted interaction, and when we rarely passed by a trader and simply waved and passed by without a word.
The road started to turn, snaking west as it went around the forbidden woods. The road would continue to arch around the woods and come up again, entering the town to its southwest. We followed the arching road for a short time, but just as it was turning southward again, I went off the track and into the woods.
"We're cutting through the woods?"
"My home's not far, I know this forest well. We should be able to get there soon, and there will be nobody around."
Kona followed without protest. She had been quiet lately; maybe she was concerned for me, but our small talk while walking the past few days had lessened notably. I wonder if we're at that point where neither knows what to talk about anymore. Either way, I simply enjoyed being near her; I didn't need to be talking constantly.
As we cut through the woods, it started to get dark quickly. I recognised the trees and naturally formed paths in the forest floor in a way that would only be possible by spending years here. As night fell, a faint orange glow appeared in the distance between the trees.
As we approached, we stayed behind the treeline. Looking on. I saw the well, the back of my house, the chicken coop, storage area. Though something seemed off, the chicken coop was empty, and the crops further on looked dead. I remembered there were black mushrooms planted nearby, just behind where we were. It was dark and hard to see them, but they seemed to be doing fine; that's to be expected of mushrooms.
Looking back at the house, there was a light coming from the kitchen window. The only window is on the rear of the house. On the right side, the only window was the one next to my mother's bed, and there were two others on the front side.
I emerged from behind the tree to walk towards the house, but then, through the window, I saw a man walking around in the kitchen. He was taller than me, and he looked like the type of man I would see back at Red Beach Outpost. He wore armour and a metal helmet as well.
Who was this man? Where was my mother? Was she inside? Was she elsewhere? Why was this person here?
I moved a bit closer so I could see into the window more clearly and see the full depth of the room, including the front door. As I looked in, I saw the front door open, and another man walked in. This one was wearing the exact same clothing as Drusus was, but this person had short blond hair. Through the window, I saw that the two of them were conversing, but I couldn't hear anything.
"What do you want to do here? We can't just burst in and fight them."
Kona came up and whispered into my ear. I know that these people hadn't done anything wrong. But the thought passed through my head, what had they done to my mother?
She went to Vilta for medical treatment; most likely, these people were here to look after her and treat her. But a member of the church? Why would he be here at all?
"Kona, do you know if members of the church practice medicine and alchemy?"
"No idea."
I had to be sure. I wanted to come home, to talk with her. Introduce her to Kona. Let her know I was alive and safe and being cared for. So pretend to have something like a normal life, even just for a little bit. But what would she think of me, perhaps? As far as she knows, I had some sort of wild outburst and killed three people. Did she believe them? Did she even want to see me again? It didn't matter anymore; I just wanted to see her. If I could do that and see with my own eyes that she was alive. That would be enough.
I crawled forward and towards the rear wall of the house, being careful not to step on any twigs or broken branches. Thankfully, this time of year, the leaves on the floor weren't brittle.
I rounded the corner and walked up to the window that looked into my mother's bedroom. There was light coming from inside, but it was faint. Perhaps just a bedside candle. I craned my head up and peered through the window to look.
There she was, lying in bed, sleeping. She had a damp towel atop her forehead, next to her was a small table with glass vials filled with liquids, and a bucket on the floor. Incense burning, herbs hanging on the wall. She looks pale and sickly but well-cared-for. Though as I looked, I noticed something on her neck, faint black spots, like bruises, but they were too small and plentiful to be that. I knew that the best thing for her would be to leave her be.
I lowered my head and squatted under the window as I heard someone enter the room. I wanted to peek up to see what was being done, but knew if I did, I would most likely be spotted.
I crawled around to the front of the house and just as I was about to round the corner, I heard a faint whistle behind me. From the treeline, Kona was waving her hand, telling me to return. Of course, she didn't know what I was doing.
I crawled under the window that looked into the hallway and my old bedroom, and under the window next to the door. I placed my coin pouch by the door and returned. Rounding the corner and crawling all the way back to the treeline. I pray they understand that this money is for her.
I met back up with Kona, who asked me what I did in a frantic whisper.
"I put all my money by the door. I would have left a note saying it was for her treatment, but I didn't really plan this."
"Is she okay?"
"She's ill, I don't know if it's a new illness or the same one she had last year, but either way, she's being taken care of."
"An illness that lasts a year? Isn't something like that fatal?"
"Maybe. But I'm just glad I got to see her again. I was meant to be dead a year ago, so even a little glimpse through a window is enough."
"Even though you might never see her again? Is that really enough? I could go in, I'm not wanted."
"It's fine. I know I might not see her again, but… she looked peaceful."
Kona looked down, nodding reluctantly.
We headed back north the way we came. Of course, snatching some black mushrooms along the way.