CHAPTER 19 - The Guide
The Voice was low, rough, and unmistakable. And very real. For days, Noelis had been thinking she might never hear him again. His voice was hoarser than she remembered but it was him.
"So you weren't just in my head after all."
On the other end of the connection, there was hesitation. He hadn't wanted to speak to her and this time, he had done so in reluctance — something she sensed immediately. When he'd heard her moaning through their shared channel the last time and commanded him to "get out" of her head, he'd been furious. Jealous, even. Very few people could talk to him in such a tone. Further, he found himself jealous at the idea she was getting intimate with another man.
He had spent that night in a foul mood, taking the easy distraction of one of his lovers and then seeking another the following evening. Anything to drown the maddening pull he felt towards a woman he had never met. A voice in his mind. A stranger who might not even exist although his better instincts told him otherwise.
Ridiculous. That's what he kept telling himself. He vowed to rid himself of such stupidity so when the Voice called for him again and again, he had chosen to ignore it.
And yet, here he was.
But this time was different. He told himself this was an exception — that he sensed real urgency and desperation.
"Where are you?" he repeated, the words a low growl in her mind.
It was Noelis's turn to hesitate. She knew nothing about the man on the other side of this channel. Nothing except his voice, his temper, and that strange sense of familiarity she couldn't explain. He could be from a hostile territory. He could be hunting Tributes. If anyone found out she was missing or about the cracked Shield…
"Sorry about last time," she said quietly. "It's not what you think. I was in a situation… not entirely involuntary, but something I had little choice over."
A pause. Then a dark, amused scoff.
"A little tiff with your man?" So he had heard.
"I don't have a man." She gave a humourless laugh. "Maybe it's worse. Something a privileged nobleman like you wouldn't understand."
"What are you talking about? I told you — I'm border patrol. A servant to the King of my lands."
"Oh please. From the way you speak, you're no ordinary soldier. You can pretend all you want."
"I could say the same about you," he countered.
"I may have a hint of royal blood, but believe me, my life was far from rosy. And now… I'm just a slave to some stupid Manna that has brought me—"
She stopped. Too late. She had said it. And by the thick silence that followed, she knew he'd heard.
"You're… a Tribute?"
Her chest tightened. For a moment she considered lying. But what was the point now? You only live once, she thought bitterly. And mine might be ending soon.
She gave a small, silent acknowledgement through the channel.
On the other end, the man stiffened. He hadn't expected it — not exactly, though the previous conversations were slotting together in his mind like pieces of a puzzle. The strange timeline of her messages, the reports Inaya had brought him, the disturbance at the Shield…
It all made sense now.
"Are you near the Shield?" he asked sharply.
Noelis froze. That was not the question she expected.
"…What Shield?" she tried, weakly.
"We don't have time to play games," he snapped. "Which direction are you from it?"
His tone wasn't hostile, just urgent. Unnervingly certain. Whoever he was, he didn't sound like an enemy. And he clearly already knew a lot more than she had revealed.
She swallowed.
"I—I don't know. A guard and I are stuck somewhere part way down the mountain. We're not so close to the Shield anymore. We got separated from our companions. We've been trying to find a way down in the dark. We moved south-east… then there was a beast, several beasts… and now we're heading west. I think."
"Do you know anything about plants?" he asked suddenly.
"What?"
"Do you know what an edelweiss looks like?"
"Yes."
"Well, if you see them, stay away. Move in the opposite direction. You want to keep heading down the mountain, but avoid cedar forests. Beech forests too, unless you find golden beeches. If you come across any bright blue mushrooms, pick them. Keep them with you. Their scent repels certain mountain creatures."
Noelis blinked, overwhelmed.
"…How do you know all this? Are you from Ardenne? Are you one of the Commanders?"
"Did you hear what I said?"
"Yes. Avoid edelweiss. Avoid cedars and beeches — unless they're golden. Pick the blue mushrooms."
"Good." His voice softened, just barely. "Hang in there. I'll try to send help."
And with that, the connection silenced. Intentionally.
Noelis let out a slow breath.
"Thank you," she whispered. Whoever this Baldrick was, he spoke like a man accustomed to command. Someone who knew the mountain, knew the Shield, knew far more than she did. And she trusted him, perhaps more than she should. More than made sense.
At this point, trust wasn't a luxury; it was a necessity.
Her exhaustion finally overtook her. She drifted into sleep beneath the giant tree — cold, hungry, but for the first time in hours, not entirely hopeless.
***
When she woke, the world was beginning to lighten with dawn. Mist curled around the roots of nearby pines, softening the sharp edges of the landscape. Her muscles ached, but her mind felt clearer.
Fabien was still awake, crouched a few metres away with his dagger drawn, staring at the forest.
He turned when she shifted, and relief washed briefly across his face before he covered it with the usual stoic expression he wore when he was serious.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to sleep for so long. Do you want to rest for a while?"
"You get used to days of no sleep on the battlefield. I'll be fine," he said.
He's been on the battlefield. Noelis realised she didn't know much about Fabien's life between his time at the Academy and now. That conversation would have to wait until they were in better circumstances.
Noelis pushed herself upright. "I… think I know how to get us down."
Fabien raised an eyebrow. "How?"
Noelis paused. She didn't know how to explain any of it. The Voice. The warnings. The advice. The strange certainty now humming inside her.
So she simply gave Fabien a small, determined smile — a spark of confidence she hadn't felt for a while.
"Because," she said softly but surely, "I'm a Tribute with the gift Manna, which I've replenished. Fabien, we're going to make it."
Fabien studied her for a long moment — her breathing was steady, the tension gone from her shoulders and the faint glow returning to her eyes.
He managed to return a small smile. The boyish smile he reserved for his friends.
"All right boss," he said simply. "Lead the way."
And together, they began their slow descent from the mountain.