{-Rennyn-}

  “The four of us completed some commissions around the city today. It wasn’t a lot, but it’s enough for a little bit. They… tried to ask the same kinds of questions you had, once. But they don’t realize that knowing isn’t going to lead to anything good. I don’t want them to have to learn like you did, but… I don’t know what else to tell them.”

  ~~~

  She grabbed his hand before he was able to enter. “You need to listen to me. What you’re about to do is make a mistake that you won’t be able to reverse.”

  “That’s not as good of a reason as you think it is, when you don’t explain why,” he pointed out. “I can’t keep doing this. I need to know why it’s us, what we’re supposed to be achieving here. Because at this point, I feel like the only thing we’re doing is running in circles, and it’s never going to end. It has to end.”

  “Someday, it will. But you’re not going to know when or how by forcing information like this.”

  “You know, don’t you? Why don’t you tell me anything? What is it thaht you’re afraid that I’ll know?”

  “I can’t tell you.”

  “Then can you really blame me for wanting to find out on my own? If you don’t explain anything to me, then I’m just going to assume that you’re overexaggerating. This is something I need to know. And, if it lets us get ahead of him, if not just for a little while, then that’ll be all the better.”

  “I’m not just saying this arbitrarily. I have my reasons.”

  He stayed silent, giving her more than enough time to answer if she wanted to. But she didn’t. She didn’t even look at him, or mumble another excuse.

  “If there’s no way to stop you,” she finally decided quietly, “then I’ll come with you. Maybe I’ll be able to help you find what you need before you’ve lingered long enough for there to be consequences.”

  ~~~

  “You hear me, don’t you? The innkeeper’s son said you woke up long enough to manage to eat something. Honestly, I don’t know if you’ll understand how grateful I was… I didn’t want to have to do any of this without you. Maybe this is some kind of joke—a reminder from the goddess of all the times that I had left you.”

  ~~~

  Before he was a grand hero, before he was someone who had the weight on his shoulders… he was just a kid. A kid who was, perhaps, a bit far too ambitious for his own good, but a kid nonetheless, and one that ultimately jumped at the opportunity to have someone to protect—someone who’s life rested in his hands. Stupid, wasn’t it? Later on, he would’ve done anything to make it so that only one person would suffer if he messed up. Not like it really made it any better.

  Especially not when that person was her.

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  “You must care a lot about this girl,” his companion, an older man he would later realize was this life’s version of Dhymos, remarked. “This isn’t the kind of journey just anyone would be able to do. Especially not someone your age, even if you do have the blood of an adventurer in you…”

  Songbird may have been worried, but that didn’t mean he also wasn’t eager for the adventure—that he wasn’t overconfident. “We’ve practically grown up together. I’ll do anything I can to protect her. And this is the perfect opportunity to prove that I’m capable of carrying Dad’s legacy, too! I was only able to know where to start because of him, after all.”

  His companion chuckled. “You already seem to have grown so much, Songbird. I wonder what you’ll be like at the end of this, when you’re finally all grown…”

  There was more than one threat involved there; one that he hadn’t realized until nearly the end of that life, and another that he wasn’t too sure of even in the present. It made everything quite clear, though, that Dhymos was already aware of everything—perhaps even how this was all going to play out. But he had to be defeated. Losing was not an option, no matter if there was only one or countless lives at risk.

  And yet Songbird still failed so much.

  ~~~

  “Did… did you ever do this to me? I can’t remember. But you probably did. I’m sorry I left you so often. That couldn’t have been easy for you. I wish I could say I couldn’t have changed it, but… I could’ve, some of those times. There were other things I had to do, though. You don’t just protect me, Songbird. I try to protect you, too.”

  ~~~

  There were a couple of things he waited for every time he found himself thrusted into a new life, hardly aware of what he’d been doing before and the memory of the last still clear in his mind. The first was always wondering when Dhymos would appear, and doing whatever he could to prepare for that moment before it happened. The second was if Kaylin would be with him.

  The third was how long she would stay.

  Sometimes, he never saw her. Others, it was only for a moment, and she either disappeared into a crowd or became one of the members of the dead. Occasionally, she was nothing more than a whisper, a vague feeling that she might’ve been somewhere or someone who’s mission never crossed paths with his. And every now and then, they were companions—friends. True friends. Companions even across lives…

  He kept thinking of that, when the two of them were on the pack of the caravan belonging to the allies they’d made along the way. The end felt so close—not just of this life, but of all of it. Dhymos was getting too strong for this to last any longer. If Songbird didn’t end it here and now… Dhymos would.

  But, despite being alone, they didn’t mention it. She was leaning on his shoulder, watching the sunset with him as they made their way closer and closer to the hopefully final struggle.

  “You’ve got something on your mind,” she said in a near-whisper. “If you’re going to be fighting him soon, you need to have a clear head. I want to help you where I can.”

  He was quiet, for a little while. “This has to be the end. We—I—can’t keep doing this.”

  “But you have us with you. Together, we’ll get through this. We’re nearly done here.”

  “And then what?”

  “I don’t know. Whatever it is, though, I know we’ll be able to do together. You aren’t alone, Songbird. You never have been and you never will, even if you feel like you are. We are always here for you—with you. And together, we’ll be able to face whatever happens.”

  He thought it wasn’t a promise; it couldn’t have been, because they both knew better than to try to promise something like that. But… maybe it was. Maybe that was her way of reassuring him, even if she knew that it likely wouldn’t work. Maybe she was right.

  Maybe this wasn’t supposed to be a burden for him to bear alone.

  ~~

  “We decided to go out again today. The doctor will actually be the one to keep an eye on you. Could you talk to him, if you’re awake for it?” There was the sound of the door creaking open. “I’ll see you later, Rennyn. I love you.”