Songs of Reamere: A Moment's Peace (maybe I am as good as they say)

Armand shivered, depositing Wayre gently to the ice below, allowing the despondent man time to grieve his ship as he took off again. This time, he scanned the horizon far and wide, shivering in the icy wind, looking for any survivors. But none were to be found, and he hoped Desert had led them off in another direction to safety. He also fervently hoped that any that were magic-afflicted would not be severe enough to perish before they discovered help. Shivering heavily, and satisfied that he could do no more, Armand finally turned back, gliding on sodden, leaden wings to return to the old captain. Landing heavily and gracelessly, he found the man exactly as he left him, staring mournfully at the wreckage of his ship.

 

Armand took a moment, limbs trembling, before he could finally rouse himself to his feet, walking to the edge of the ice to pluck pieces of the shipwreck out of the water, hoping he had enough left in him to ignite it magically. Once he had clumsily arranged it into a vague pile, he closed his eyes, breath shuddering, and dug deep within himself for his magic. The spark was small, but with a little coaxing he was able to bring it to the surface, focusing on the wood and thinking “Dry, heat, ignite”.

 

There was a flash even he could see through his eyelids, and when he opened them a fire crackled merrily in the wood, though the still-damp pieces steamed and hissed. Armand eyed the ice underneath, but decided they wouldn't be there long enough for it to be an issue, saving his energy. Then, with a final sigh, he let himself slump to the ice below, shivering and shuddering with both cold and exhaustion.

 

He sat in silence for a few minutes, letting the heat from the fire soak into his feathers, when he heard a rough voice cracking across the fire.

 

“You saved my life, and most of my crew. Thank you”

 

Armand cracked an eye, looking at the man across the flames. Wayre looked haunted, but seemed to have composed himself, and Armand felt a warmth at his words.

 

“Anyone would have done it”, he muttered, both in embarrassment and in drowsiness, and Wayre shook his head.

 

“Maybe anyone would have done it, lad, but you DID do it. You have my gratitude.”

 

Feeling flush, Armand nodded, and when no more words seemed forthcoming he let himself slowly slip in to sleep.

 

He was woken a short while later by Wayre's hands combing through his feathers, lifting them to help them dry, and he startled backwards slightly, blinking at the man in confusion. Wayre immediately lifted his hands up, shaking his head.

 

“My apologies for being so forward lad, but I had a stryx companion long ago that would complain somethin' fierce if her feathers dried while stuck together. Figured 'twas the least I could do.”

 

“Oh, it's no problem, I was just a bit startled is all. Haven't had anyone do that since my Dam”, Armand admitted, turning his beak back to rifle through a few feathers himself. All the ones facing the fire were now dry, if a little stiff, and he groaned as he rolled over to the other side, feeling a little trepidation when some of the feathers stuck to the ice and breathing a sigh of relief when they pulled free. “It was a surprise, but a pleasant one.”

 

When he turned his head back to the captain, the man's expression was sorrowful, but before he could ask an explosion of color erupted across the sky, startling them both. Both man and stryx flinched downwards, looking up in fear, but when nothing immediate happened they both settled their racing hearts, straightening upwards.

 

Wayre's trepidation slowly turned to wonder, and eventually he exclaimed, “I think I've heard of this before, lad! Some call it the northern lights, and you can only see them if you travel so far north that the sun disappears in the winter. Men have not traveled this far in a long, long time my boy.”

 

“I wonder what causes it?” Armand mused, watching the shifting blankets of light. He almost felt like there should be sound, but the silence was magical in its own right.

 

“No one knows, really. Not enough have seen it to even study it I suppose.”

 

Armand hummed thoughtfully.

 

“Parhelion can see magic, I wonder if perhaps she'd like to see this someday.”

 

“The sun dog? She can see magic?”

 

Armand immediately blanched, realizing he had revealed something that was not his to share. Wayre caught his expression, and help his hands up.

 

“Peace, friend. After everything we've gone through together, whatever secrets are shared in our travels will stay between us.”

 

Armand exhaled roughly, shaking his head, “I should not have said it, I-”

 

“If it'll make you feel better, lad, my ship's protection crystals were gifted to me by a clan of fenghuangs.”

 

“Fenghuangs? But those don't-”

 

Wayre winked at Armand's flabbergasted expression, holding a finger to his lips. “I assure you they do, laddie. Very secretive, though, for good reason.”

 

Armand's beak hung open, staring down at the small human that had somehow met a clan of creatures that were supposedly extinct. He sat down roughly, and Wayre guffawed at him.

 

“So now I know something that could potentially hurt someone you care about, and you know something about something I care about. An eye fer an eye, though a lot less violent, hmm?”

 

Armand tilted his head down at Wayre, feeling a flush of admiration.

 

“You are very wise.”

 

“Comes with age, my boy, it'll happen to you eventually.”

 

They sat in silence for a while longer, watching the dancing lights with the slowly-dying fire crackling at their backs. Despite the tragedy that they had barely survived, stuck in an isolated place with no help coming, Armand felt himself at peace with the world, and thinking back, he wasn't sure if he would have done anything differently. Sure, someone else may have been better for the job, but he didn't think he was doing too terrible in the end. He doubted even Parhelion and Inari would have been able to defeat that serpent, they would have needed an army. But most of the men had made it to the lifeboats unharmed, and even though he had had to drag Wayre away from the helm he had even managed to save the captain. The protection spells, the very spells that had been the only thing he excelled at, had been the spells that protected the crew during the attack. That right there was something that he could take pride in.

 

As if reading his thoughts, Wayre reached out and firmly patted his wing, eyes still on the dancing skies.

 

“You did good today, lad. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, we would never have survived with you.”

 

Hoping he could inflict the words with every once of gratitude he felt, Armand simply answered, “Thank you.”