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Going into her pack, he quickly complied. After about three minutes, the first trees on the land in years started to sprout and grow. The warm fragrance of fresh foliage filled the area, bring giant smiles to all of the Highlanders’ faces.

Skye left the majority of the area grassland, so the Highlanders could use it as a grazing area for cattle or horses. Since the outpost was near the edge of the mountain’s plateau, it would be the ideal place to have horses waiting. Especially if the Highlanders wanted to do exploratory expeditions.

The trees were there for two reasons. One, to give them convenient lumber for when they wanted to reestablish the outpost. The second reason was to act as a windbreaker for the potential site.

Being at such a high elevation meant dealing with some harsh wind exposure, so Skye made the trees grow as close together as possible without crowding. The tree seeds that she had picked were Birch and Pine, which would make sturdy buildings for them.. Except for one.

“Oy love! Go into that spare pocket and toss me the seed in it please?!” Skye bellowed to her husband.

Tidas smiled and complied; chucking her the overgrown seed that she had gotten from the one that they had decorated for Yuletide. Looking past the main building, Skye threw the seed over to where the graves were..

The ground beneath the soldiers’ feet shook as Skye super-sped up the tree’s life cycle. It was only about half the size of the one outside of the bunkers’ main entrance, but had thousands of years to grow.

Feeling satisfied with her job well done, Skye walked over to her husband and said; “Please, fer the love of the gods, PLEASE tell me that ye still got some jerky left?”

.....

Tidas beamed at her; “Of course I do. You know, you shouldn’t be doing this yet. What if Richard showed up right now?”

Skye flashed him an exasperated expression; “I’ll be fine. Ima not usin’ as much magic as it looks. I still got quite a bit in me, Ima just actually hungry on top of it. Are we gonna be here fer a minute? Zazzy needs ta go hunt fer herself real quick.”

Tidas sighed, feeling like his words were falling on death ears. Skye’s magic capacity had been growing a lot over the past few months, and Tidas was honestly a little worried..

Mages had to eat to replace the energy that they used to wield magic. But Skye was now passed the point of balanced output. He couldn’t comprehend how she didn’t need to be constantly eating like a pregnant woman to maintain it..

As his wife amazed him once again, Tidas kissed the side of her head. When he went to lean away, she grabbed him by his armor, and whispered to him to the point of barely being audible to him; “I found somethin’...Come wit me.”

Tidas quirked an eyebrow at Skye, then followed after her. Zazzy was off to the side, getting ready to hunt when her parents climbed her her back. She trilled curiously, then listened to her mother’s words telepathically.

‘Don’t worry, me sweet scaly bairn. Yer Da and me are just along for the ride so we can have a wee chat in private, ye ken?’

Zazzy nodded her head, then checked to make sure that her takeoff area was clear. Right as she went to flap her wings, Ralph came running up to them with irritation all over his face. Scream-asking where they were going.

“We’re checking around the area to make sure Richard isn’t going to ambush us like last time! And Zazzy needs to hunt! Or would you rather she start snackin’ on the soldiers?!” Tidas yelled at him as Zazzy backed up to get more room for takeoff.

Ralph sighed in exasperation before yelling back; “Just don’t be gone too long! Them Reinbolt laddies keep tryin’ to sneak off to scout ahead! Murdoc says this area’s unstable ta begin with! So Zazzy and General Moonstone need ta be the ones to scout!”

“Aye! We’ll be back in about twenty-five! We saw a few moose a wee bit back, and I think she wants ta try one!” Skye called back as Zazzy started to flap her wings.

Ralph ran back a bit so as not to be blown away at liftoff. Zazzy required a lot of power to take off vertically, and the wind that she created could knock down a barn at it’s peak. Skye and Tidas had taught her to always make sure she was clear before flying off, so she didn’t hurt anyone.

The only exception to their rule was during combat situations. It was the only time she was allowed to put her well-being above possibly hurting innocent people. Since she was the only known living dragon, Zazzy had a responsibility to keep herself alive.

************

Once they knew that they were out of hearing range from the Tank mages at the camp, Zazzy dropped her parents off so she could go find the group of moose she’d seen earlier. She had heard through her father to be extra careful because moose kill more humans and Fae than bears did. Zazzy’s eyes had lit up at the idea of a challenge, and she took off as fast as she could once they were on the ground..

Zazzy had dropped them by a tiny stream a few miles away from their camp. The was was icy, but clean and refreshing as they washed off their hands, then used them to scoop up some of the water. The rocks from the mountain was acting like a natural filter of sorts. Skye barely had to do anything to it to get it perfectly drinkable.

“Alright Skye: why did you bring me out here? What did you find in the village that you didn’t want the others to see?”

Skye pulled the letter out and handed it to Tidas, who in turn; gave Skye a full packet of elk jerky. She smiled, took the pouch, then dug in with gusto while Tidas looked over what she had found. When he read the name on the outside, he’d instantly known who had wrote it..

“I recognize the handwriting. It’s definitely my uncle,” Tidas stated.

Skye grinned; “How could you know his handwriting? I thought he disappeared right after he tried ta kill Magnus?”

Tidas scoffed; “It’s not like every scrap of paper he ever sighed was destroyed. He was one of my father’s advisors, so his signature is still on random documents here and there.”

As Tidas went to unfold the letter to read it, Skye quickly swallowed the bite in her mouth, and asked; “Are ye sure we should? Tis probably private in nature..”

Tidas thought about it a moment, then realized something important; “Where and how did you find this?”

Skye shoved all of the jerky within her mouth to the side, blocked his view with her hand, and said; “Creepy but helpful, disembodied voice guided me to it.”

Tidas inhaled a sharp breath. Every time he popped up, it always had something to do with the Catalyst Legend. Since the Spear was involved, it made sense, but.. ‘Why guide her to the letter and not the Spear itself? Something’s off here..’

Unfolding the letter, Tidas read it out loud; “My dearest Marie. Even if I had another full lifetime, I could never apologize enough to you for the pain I have caused. Even now, these words will most likely never reach you, but I felt compelled to try before the darkness within consumes me.”

“Please tell my nephew not to blame himself for sending me after the Spear. I don’t think he knew what it was capable of, at least I hope. I don’t remember much from when I fled the palace, but I think I hurt him. He tried to take it from me, and that’s the last thing I remember.”

“Please, gods: let Marco be well.”

“I don’t know why I attacked my brother. Gods, please forgive me..”

“I’m so very sorry, Maria. Please forgive me, and raise our child on the memories of the old me, not the damned version that gave up such a wonderful wife like you.”

“Even when my soul is lost to the Darkness, I will love you to my last breath. Goodbye, my love. May we find each other again amongst the stars.”

“Yours Forever and Always: Richard.”

Skye and Tidas sat in silence for several moments before Skye said; “So Marco was the one who sent him after the Spear in the first place? How old was he? Like eight?! Ten?!”

“He had to be for the timelines to match up.. But why? Why did he want the Spear that young? That was shortly after he’d gotten his own magic.. Do you think that has something to do with it?” Tidas asked as a million thoughts ran through his mind.

Skye shrugged; “I don’t know.. The Spear controls the darker magics, right? So maybe tis not the Ether, but the Darkness that influenced him.. Maybe the Ether mages are connected to the Spear, and that’s why all the history books describe them as unstable? I don’t know..”

Tidas smiled softly at his wife; “Thanks, Skye. For trying to make me feel better. But I know what kind of monster my brother is.. He’s not like my uncle: Marco does twisted shit on his own.. Even if the Spear influences him, Marco enjoys who and how he is.”

Skye wanted to continue discussing the issue, but something that sounded like an explosion drew away their attention. When they realized that it had come from the direction of their camp, Skye and Tidas started to call out for Zazzy.

It only took about two minutes for her to appear above them since she had heard the explosion, too. Skye and Tidas tapped into their Tank traits, and jumped up onto Zazzy instead of letting her completely land. As they took off into the Skye’s stomach flip flopped as they gained altitude..

************

They weren’t even near the camp, but Skye could tell from the distance what had happened. A ridge that she had been worried about had collapsed, and caused a mudslide. As the swooped in closer, the two saw several Highlanders and Southerners working together to dig people out.

After they jumped from Zazzy and landed, Ralph came running up to them with a situation report; “I knew it! I Knew something stupid like this would happen!”

“Calm down and tell us what happened, Ralph,” Tidas replied.

Ralph took a few deep breaths, then spoke in a slightly calmer voice; “Those bawbag Reinbolt men snuck off while I went for a piss! They got up to the ridge over there, then came down with it. They’ve been buried for around six minutes now.. I told the fools not to go..”

Skye placed her hand on Ralph’s shoulder; “Aye, ye did, so their idiocy isna yer burden, understand? Now help me clear away the men, and I’ll have them out and gettin’ chewed out in a jiff..”