Emery

The travel on our way back to the Peaks was longer than Avuri or I had planned for. After our hurried escape from Resin, and once we put some distance between us and the city, we were able to at least settle for a break. Thankfully, Briar wasn't too badly hurt. The injury on her head was small, on top of Avuri's quick healing, so while it bled enough to cause worry, the only real concern would be that it was a head wound.

She wasn't out for very long once we stopped running, which we all took as a good sign. None of us were doctors, but Avuri and I both knew that sleeping after a head injury was not a great idea. The initial hit had knocked her unconscious though, which was followed by the physical drain from Avuri's healing which kept her under. I didn't think that would be a huge problem on its own, but we made sure to keep an extra close eye on her.

Altogether, the group seemed to be in poor shape. Risha and Fal had taken some nasty hits themselves. Risha carried some bruises, and I was sure that there were more under the sack she still wore for clothing. More concerning was that she clearly exhibited signs of a concussion, whether from being hit in the head or being thrown to the ground. Fal, on the other hand, looked roughed up badly. He was bleeding in a few places, had a swollen eye, and had taken some kind of hit to his mouth that left his speech somewhat muffled.

The kids looked better, but far from alright. Briar, outside of the head wound, looked cleaner than the others, with only a couple bruises and some small cuts on her knees and legs. Kord looked by far the worst off, and I was sure it was from trying to defend the others. His arms and legs were covered in bruises and cuts, he had a black eye, and was actively holding his left side, which had a huge bruise.

Karn and Enrik looked bad as well, their arms and legs showing a myriad of cuts and bruises just like Kord's. Karn was having trouble walking, and likely had either a sprained or broken ankle. Enrik looked like he had managed to avoid any true injuries, but his arms and legs were the worst off of everyone's.

We spent that first break mostly in silence, outside of Avuri's instructions as she checked everyone over for any truly dangerous injuries. Fal was missing a few teeth, and had bit his tongue pretty badly, but was otherwise alright. Risha's concussion was concerning, and we made sure to keep her company to keep her awake.

Kord had been the primary concern. The way he held his side had made us suspicious that someone had broken one of his ribs by kicking him, but he seemed lucky on that front. Or at least relatively lucky, because Avuri suspected it was a bruised bone. She didn't think it was broken or even fractured, but it would still be very painful for a while.

Karn's ankle was also only sprained, which we were equipped to handle with a wrapping and a few pieces of Qi-metal for stabilization. One of us would need to carry him for most of the trip, but I had a feeling we would be doing a lot of that for everyone, anyway.

Enrik's arms and legs were in rough shape cosmetically speaking, but none of his injuries were anything lasting. One cut was particularly deep and needed more serious dressing, but with Avuri around the chance of infection was very low.

Once we had addressed all the major injuries and gotten everyone into their new clothing, we were off again. The general care we needed to take as we moved after that slowed us down considerably. Avuri and I took turns rotating the kids around between carrying and walking, while Risha and Fal mostly hobbled around beside us, occasionally taking rides on our backs to gain a little distance.

In the end, we made little noticeable progress into the Blooming Wilds. Unfortunately, the Dragon Peaks were located pretty deep into the Wilds, which meant we would be traveling for a while, and would need to probably camp in the wild two or three times before we reached Flowing Dragon City, unless we rushed.

When we did finally settle for the first night, Avuri and I were prepared to stay up and guard everyone else. The two of us barely required any sleep unless we stayed awake for several days so it wasn't even a concern for us, especially when we needed to keep an eye on Risha and Briar.

The quiet of the night was worse than I had been prepared for. Avuri and I had started the night on opposite ends of our makeshift camp, watching for any wildlife that might get close. We kept our Domains extended to hopefully ward off any predators with a spiritual sense, and being able to keep our concentration on that helped somewhat.

But my mind had more than enough time to wander, regularly getting stuck on our failures in the last two days. They just kept swirling about in my head, and I could feel the heavy weight of regret pulsing from Avuri through our bond, too, every bit as thick and suffocating as my own.

Some 'saviors' we had turned out to be. First, we hesitated too much on moving against the demons that turned out to be far weaker than we had ever imagined. Even if I was too used to demons being a genuine threat, I should have known better than to immediately assume that they were simply beyond us. The fact of the matter was that we were in the Sky Realm now, which was stronger than a lot of people.

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Obviously, that didn't mean everyone, and we still needed to be mindful of that. But we needed to keep in mind that it was just as likely now that we could take on demons without all the creeping around. If we had tried to assassinate the two leaders of the demons first, rather than causing so much chaos, we might have even been able to save the other child.

And that fifth child.

Avuri or I could have saved him. That was the thought that haunted me the most. Yes, hindsight may be perfect, and knowing now that the demons there were no real threat was information I didn't have at the time, but that hardly mattered. I was too concerned with everything else going on around us at the time that I didn't think to simply reach out with my Domain immediately and blunt the demon's claws. Or covered the poor boy in metallic armor. Or just rush forward and kill the damn demon immediately.

The scenarios ran ruthlessly through my mind, so many ways I could've saved that child taunting me. I was scared. Worried. Passive. Whatever else. What I hadn't done in the moment was act, and that would haunt me for the rest of my life. I was in a position now where I had the power I had been training for my entire life to hunt down demons like that, and I had stood by - just meters away - as one ripped out a child's throat.

It didn't stop there, though. Of course it didn't. After making bad decisions in the enemy camp, we brought everyone somewhere that we assumed would be safe, and then left them alone. There was literally no reason why we needed to go shopping together. None. Being distracted by the guilt and wanting a little bit of comfort with my wife was no excuse. We had acted dumb and several others had paid the price for it.

Occasionally through the night, my eyes wandered over our small party. Even in the relative dark, I could see well enough to see the color differences between skin and bruises wherever arms and legs stuck out from under blankets. I knew I would spend who knows how much time making amends for all that damage, but that hardly mattered when it could have been entirely prevented in the first place if I had been even a little bit careful.

That night dragged on like few others ever had. I was drowning in negativity that I couldn't escape, and while it wasn't the first time Avuri and I had emotionally fed off one another, it was the first time it had ever gotten that bad.

Avuri was clearly just as damaged as I was. The negativity of her own doubts, fears, and regrets formed a mire around her that I couldn't escape. My own negative emotions fed off hers like fire and fuel, getting worse as the night went on. And I had no doubt that mine were doing the same to her, although I had no way to stop it.

Mid-way through the night, we had both been so deep in our own regrets that I was certain that even if a dangerous predator beyond us had stumbled upon our unleashed Domain, they would turn and leave from all the negativity in the air circulating through our power.

That thought had been an oddly bright moment, causing me to chuckle however briefly amid the anguish. It had been a silly, intrusive thought, but it may have been what saved us both that night.

It was just enough to pull me out of the well of despair I had been in all night for a few moments, which I used to stand up and stumble over to drop on the ground next to Avuri. I leaned against her, praying that, despite the way our emotions were feeding off one another, being with one another would continue to be a strength.

It took little time before our negative emotions pulled me back down, but I vehemently scooted closer to Avuri, hoping that we could weather through together. Avuri had received the message, as she similarly leaned against me as well.

It was still some time after that before I finally broke. It was still a few hours before sunrise, and I knew that we'd have at least until then before everyone else woke up after the injuries they endured.

All the regret and self-hate that I had been steeped in all night finally spilled over, and once that first tear fell, I couldn't fight it. I kept as quiet as I could, but I cried into Avuri's shoulder, struggling to fight against all the negativity that we had cultivated over the dark hours of the night.

It was just moments before Avuri started too. I could feel her tears on my head and cheeks, as she cried into my messy, dirty hair. I couldn't be bothered to care, as our eventual outpouring of emotion also caused our internal regrets to bounce around more clearly between us. I could hear all of Avuri's self doubt and regret as clearly as if she was narrating her every thought. Many of them were the same or mirrored versions of my own thoughts all night.

They were familiar, and yet hearing them in my head in her voice brought some comfort, as I'm equally sure the crying did.

We went on like until sunrise. There were occasional gaps in the crying that would last a short time before one of us would start again unbidden, which caused the other to cry too. By the time a little bit of color tinged the sky, we were both wrung dry and actively holding on tightly to one another.

The sun drove a little bit of the negativity away, at least enough so that we could function for the upcoming day of travel. I was sure that we both looked terrible. Some of my hair was matted in places from the wet tears, and I had no doubt my face was a mess and my eyes would be puffy.

It did give me a little chuckle when I felt my eyes and cheeks grow unnaturally cold, no doubt courtesy of Avuri trying to reduce the swelling from all the crying. I leaned into her, hard, and squeezed her so tightly that I even used some of my Sky Realm strength, which was rarely ever done when touching someone else.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I don't know," I muttered, once again burying my face into Avuri's shoulder and neck, "I'm just sorry."

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