He was dragged sputtering into the boat by strong hands. "My things!" Kar spluttered.
"Don't worry fella, we'll try to get it fer ya," one of the men in the boat said. He was a pudgy, white-haired man with a bushy beard and wide-brimmed hat.
Kar struggled to sit up, rocking the small boat as he did. He twisted back and forth, searching frantically for the staff. His pack was still strapped across his back with the Prism safely inside.
"Your staff is to your right, Kar." Ember's calm voice directed inside his head.
He saw it floating then, some fifty spans away. Kar stabbed his finger in that direction, "I see it!"
"Calm yerself down, and stop rocking the boat! Yer gonna flip her!" the bushy-bearded man shouted.
Kar took a breath and tried to calm himself.
His back stung; he'd ended up free-falling quite a distance after he lost his grip. The focusing had worked though. His blast had bled enough speed from his fall so that a sore back was the worst of his injuries.
His rescuers rowed over to his staff and retrieved it for him. His sledge unfortunately was gone, having sunk nearly to the bottom of the reservoir according to Ember. How far did the Prism's senses extend?
"Just what in the rift were ya doing up there anyhow?" Enor—the pudgy fellow—asked Kar as they turned and headed back to the dam.
"I got lost in the Ruins and ended up in that tunnel."
"Hmn, you gots to be more careful than that. Ruins'll kill ya dead if you don't respect em, that's the truth."
"I appreciate your help." Kar said.
Enor grunted and his two boat-mates both tipped their heads.
Kar looked around the small craft, noting the fisherman's nets. The sight was nostalgic to him, soothing. Being out here on the water reminded him of being out on the lake in Riftwater before it all dried up. Kar moved to wring out his shirt but was surprised to find that his clothes and shoes from Ember's ship were already all but dry.
They reached the dam's edge and the men secured their boat and tied it off, then helped Kar clamber up a ladder. He saw now that there were well over a dozen men at work over here atop the dam, all fishermen. And not just any fishermen.
"Kar?!" A familiar voice said.
He looked over and was shocked to see Derek's father, Elric, amongst the group. Other men from Riftwater he recognized were there too. Kar stumbled, then reached up and rubbed his eyes. Was he imagining things?
The man that looked like Elric dropped the edge of his net, "Kar?" He said.
It was him, "Elric!" Kar yelled, scrambling over to embrace him.
"Wh-what are you doing here Kar?" The older man stuttered.
"It's… a long story. I got trapped underground."
Elric blinked rapidly and put a hand to his head, "Are you hurt? I didn't realize that was you earlier, but I saw you jump."
"No, no, I'm-I'm ok."
Elric's lips trembled, and he started to say or ask something else but hesitated.
Kar thought he knew what was on his mind, "Derek was ok too, last I saw him. I'm not sure how many days ago that was though. I lost track of time while I was underground."
Elric released a sigh of relief, sniffed, then wiped away the wetness from his eyes, "I'm so glad you're alright. We were so worried after you all were taken. Do you know if Isa…?"
"She's safe too, outside the Ruins. She's in the outpost there, I think they called themselves the Fierdi or something like that," some of the men grumbled at hearing the name but Kar continued, "I got lost in the ruins and was chased underground by cryst-beasts."
"I knew those Fierdi had something to do with it!" One of the other men exclaimed. Others muttered angrily in agreement.
Elric meanwhile took a step back and grabbed hold of Kar with both hands. He shook his head in amazement and seemed to notice for the first time Kar's attire and other items, "Where'd you get these clothes?"
Before Kar could answer a familiar echoing boom rang out overhead—drawing everyone's attention—and moments later Aldwin smashed down nearby.
"I sensed Focusing." He shouted, rising from a crouch.
The side of his face and neck were streaked with new burns, the skin tight and red. He staggered to a halt on seeing Kar.
"You're alive!" He yelled.
Kar laughed incredulously. "I'm alive? You're alive! And you can fly!"
Aldwin laughed, running up to embrace Kar.
"I want to know everything, how did you get away? Why are you here of all places?"
"It's a bit of a story."
Aldwin clapped him on the shoulder, "Well then, let me take you to Natalie so you only have to tell it once." he wrapped an arm tight around Kar's waist then crouched.
"Hold on!" the man warned.
Kar waved to Elric and the others then awkwardly grabbed a fistful of the back of Aldwin's shirt as they shot off into the air. In the crook of his other arm he squeezed his staff.
The sudden force of Aldwin's launch pushed back Kar's cheeks and made water leak from the corner of his eyes. They left a resounding boom in their wake that quickly faded.
A wild grin split Kar's face. The thrill he experienced while flying through the air this way surprised him. He gripped on to Aldwin even tighter, his heart thumping in his chest. He realized something else then too; being this close to Aldwin while he Focused, Kar thought he had sensed, to some degree, the moment before Aldwin had done it. Fascinating, it felt like he was becoming more attuned to that.
"We are flying." Ember's voice piped in Kar's head gleefully.
The Prism's statement was jarring to Kar, for a moment he'd forgotten all about Ember resting there in his pack. There was no way for Kar to respond however.
They flew above the ruins, quickly leaving the Rift's edge and the dam behind them. After a short trip, they slowed to a hovering stop then touched down on the pavers of a large, city square. A dusty road entered this square from the west. In the brief moments they'd just spent soaring above the city, Kar had glimpsed the familiar green of the grasslands they'd traveled through to get here to Iridess. They were close to the city's edge then. This settlement must be where the caravan had been headed before Kiya and her raiders had attacked.
Kar was happy to see Aldwin and Elric safe, to know his aunt still lived. He hoped that meant the rest of those from Riftwater had made it through the raid too. But images of Isa and Derek in chains kept flashing through his head as they set down and left him feeling troubled and guilty.
The buildings lining the square here had been repaired, and people bustled about their work; cooking and cleaning and performing a host of other tasks Kar didn't recognize. Aldwin led him past all this to the northeast corner of the square where a large, circular building squatted.
"Nat's this way," Aldwin told him, leading him up a flight of shallow steps. They passed a pair of guards at the arched doorway.
Inside was a long, grand hallway lined with columns. They turned off into a smaller chamber on the right and that's when Kar spied Nat, arguing with a tall, grey-haired man around a table of serious looking men and women.
"We know where they were taken, I don't understand why you won't send a search party!"
"I've told you, it's too close to Fierdi territory, if we send a party they'll claim we're encroaching. I will not risk sparking a conflict."
Nat slammed her hands on the table in front of her. She began to shout, but the older man had noticed Aldwin and Kar by that point. He held up a hand to forestall Nat and pointed her towards them. A moment later she spun around and cried out. She ran, and Kar met her with an embrace, happy to see her alive.
He realized then he had feared the worst ever since his capture.
"How did you escape?" She asked breathlessly.
"Luck, I guess. I got lost in the ruins and found my way to the Rift."
"What about Isa?" she asked fearfully.
"Isa's safe!" Kar assured her, "Though still a captive. The raiding party that captured us, they took us to the Fierdi outpost. Derek was with us too, I haven't seen him since they separated us, but he was ok too the last I knew."
The mood shifted. Aldwin stormed past, toward the very man Nat had just been arguing with, "I told you the Fierdi couldn't be trusted! You've let those bastards push, and push and now look!"
The man stuttered, obviously flustered.
"We're done playing by their rules, Edwar. I'm taking a team tonight, and we're getting our people back."
"Wait!" Kar yelled.
That wouldn't work.
They all stopped and turned to stare at him. He swallowed nervously, "Listen, I've been in their outpost. That place is basically a fortress."
Aldwin looked betrayed, "What are you saying, Kar? That we should just leave your sister in their hands? Leave Derek, and who know how many others?"
All Kar could picture at that moment was Destry's face, when he had threatened them in the Keep that night. The casual self-assurance and control he had exhibited. The way even Kiya had submitted to his authority.
Kar realized then he was afraid of the Governor.
"I'm not saying that," Kar answered, "what I am saying is there's another way. A better way."
Nat placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder as Kar explained his plan to the room.