Library of Rain

Consequences

Rain felt much better when she woke up. Her hand was tightly wrapped, and the broken fingers were tied to straight branches. Her other wounds had also been treated. The only problem was Rain had no idea what had happened after she lost consciousness, and the way Ms. Wer and Mr. Ler were staring at her made her uncomfortable. What had they seen or said to each other! Not knowing was driving Rain crazy. How was she supposed to plan for things if she didn’t have all the information? Did they realize she was an ordinary girl? Had something else happened that Rain couldn’t guess?

The uncertainty was a problem, but she could deal with that later; for now, there was something Rain needed to say.

“Thank you.”

“Not at all. Though, I have to tell you that your body is still in bad shape. You should let it rest and heal for a few weeks.”

Why did he make eye contact with Ms. Wer? Was that a bad or good sign? And the way he said ‘your body’ sounded funny. Did they think she was possessing someone? 

“I understand.” Rain turned to Ms. Wer. “Do you want me to take you and the others back to Tineak?”

Ms. Wer looked into the forest for a moment before answering. 

“I want to stay here for a while. Something about the forest is calling to me.”

Rain wondered if that had something to do with Ms. Wer’s race evolving to wood elf. Maybe the change had done more than just give the woman pointy ears and brown hair. 

Or she just wanted more time to talk with Mr. Ler about whatever happened while Rain was asleep. Arg! What could have happened?

“All right, I’ll check in and see if you want to come back when I deliver supplies in a couple of days.”

Ms. Wer nodded.

As much as the uncertainty bothered Rain, she still trusted Ms. Wer. Though speaking of trust, the Tineak soldiers had found them at the brothel far too soon, and Rain had a suspicion of why.

“Then it's time for me to go.”

Without another word, Rain reformed her cloak into regular Low Ring garb and warped away to the coin she had dropped when she lured Hornet in.

The world unfolded around Rain, revealing the familiar ash-covered streets of the Low Ring. People were walking the streets with the same quiet resignation they always had, oblivious to everything that happened the night before. 

The coin, taxed beyond its ability, ate itself, carving a divot out of the street and making the ash pile it was buried in shift as an empty space was created inside it. Rain wondered if anyone would notice the growing number of craters she was making in the city.

Looking around, Rain found a better place to hide her new coin before taking a deep breath. She had one coin here, one on Estom Island, and the last had been in Mr. Tist’s coat. Rain couldn’t bind a new coin until the last one was destroyed, and Rain would need that coin if she wanted to sneak back into the Crown Ring. At least she would if she wanted to avoid getting questioned by the still-roaming soldiers and guards. So, with a long exhale and fear of what she might find gripping her stomach, Rain warped to the coin she had slipped into Mr. Tist’s coat.

Rain feared that Mr. Tist might be in a prison or dead in an alley somewhere. The reality was worse. Rain found herself standing in a comfortable room next to the peacefully sleeping figure of Mr. Tist curled up in a comfortable chair. As Rain looked around, she saw the emblem of House Tineak carved into the stone above the only door out. 

The room didn’t look like somewhere you would hold an unwilling prisoner. Instead, it looked like where you might keep an informant while you verified their information. Rain frowned as her suspicions were all but confirmed. There was a reason why Mr. Tist had disappeared so fast when the soldiers came. 

Before Rain did anything, she needed to confirm. Rain slipped her good hand into Mr. Tist’s cloak and pulled out her coin. She looked it over briefly before slipping it back into his coat’s breast pocket and slapping him awake.

“Wha? I told you I had no idea…” Mr. Tist trailed off as he saw Rain, a look of fear briefly crossing his face before a wide-open grin replaced it. “Lady Tyix! You came to rescue me!”

He was speaking far too loudly for the situation. Almost as if he wanted to be heard by his so-called captors. 

“Did you betray my plan to House Tineak?”

The look of shock and hurt on Mr. Tist’s face seemed genuine, but the darkness leaking from his lips told Rain more truth than his words.

“No, Lady Tyix, I am loyal to Mirage and the cause!”

“Good. What did you tell them?”

“I told them nothing.”

Another lie. Rain prepared to ask more questions when she heard the sounds of footsteps outside, and Tist’s smile grew. 

“I’m glad you decided to turn yourself in. I was going to be in a lot of trouble for not telling them about the mine attack and your extra escape skills. But now everything will be made right!”

Rain just nodded, then warped to the coin in Tist’s pocket. Tist jerked back as Rain was suddenly standing right in front of him. Rain ignored him, warping to the coin again and again. To Tist, she likely only blurred a little every time, but Rain could feel the coin in his pocket running out of strength.

With one final warp, the coin gave out and devoured itself and everything immediately around it, including a large chunk of Tist’s chest.

Tist screamed as the flesh over his chest was ripped off and swallowed by the greedy void that used to be Rain’s coin. 

Rain’s eyes widened at the grisly scene, blood pouring from the gaping wound and bits of the man that no one should ever see exposed to the air. She’d needed a way to kill someone so much larger than her, but this, this was worse then she expected. 

Rain was snapped out of her shock when she heard the door open behind her. Not wanting to get trapped by an antiskill barrier, Rain warped away without looking to see who had arrived.  

For the second time that day, Rain found herself standing in a Low Ring street surrounded by oblivious people. She had done it. All that was left was to get home safely.

With that thought, Rain started shaking as all the fear and helplessness of the past day crashed down on her. She fell to her butt and hugged her knees, wincing in pain as all her wounds seemed to remember that they hurt. 

Her emotions were even worse. Now that she wasn’t in immediate danger, all the things she had been holding back crashed down in a tangled mess. Rain’s shaking got worse as she desperately tried to untangle the writhing mass of feelings in her chest. 

She wished she had Snow with her right now. 

Holding herself wasn’t making the tightness or the nameless feelings go away. Rain needed to get home; Snow was there. Hugging him always made her feel better.

Steeling herself one more time, Rain bonded a new coin and started the final leg of her journey. Her fluffy friend was waiting.

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