Aged wood took the corner of Quin’s view. A face up close, took the rest. Dimly lit, Quin saw long hair draped over her dark skin. Semi-conscious, he could only picture one person.

  “Rarily?!” he called as he popped up from a rest bench.

  She flinched back in surprise; her white and green cap nearly jumped off her head. As she adjusted it, Quin noticed the jet black hair on the lady before he realized his error.

  “No, you’re not...” He wiped his eyes and his view cleared up.

  The green hem along her white robe helped him piece it together. She was a Shanli mender and unfortunately not his sister.

  “Where am I?” he asked. “What’s...”

  He saw a wrap around his left arm. It felt weak and sensitive, he had to exert more energy to bend it.

  Memories of the pain were still fresh in his head, but now it felt like he lay too long on his limb.

  “Oh, I’m not really aware much of this situation.” The mender spoke with anxiety and confusion beside her. “A lot of us just got here. We were told to be here this morning. It looks like some nasty stuff happened here recently.”

  Quin sat up on the bench. The room they occupied was long, narrow, and mostly empty.

  Aside from the bench, only two chairs took up the space. One of them seated the mender. The other seated a mask.

  “I’m still new, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” said the mender. “What are you guys about to do?”

  At first, Quin wasn’t sure what the mender asked about in particular but once he saw his attire as well as the black cloak along the backrest, his memories quickly caught up to recent events.

  He jumped out from his seat and picked up his cloak. He needed to know where his team was, if the chroniclers made it back and unfortunately, find out the extent of his boss’ anger.

  “Sorry, I have to go,” Quin stated as he made his way to the room’s exit. “Please excuse me.”

  “Sir, wait. Your mask.” She scooped it up from the chair before she tossed it to its owner.

  The Tyroviv grasped it between his hands and arranged it on his face as he opened the door.

  Sunlight rushed its way through every opening including Quin’s eye holes as he barged into the afternoon. Right away, fear barged into his heart.

  The solid ground that he thought stood beneath his feet actually rested dozens of feet below. The worst of unpleasant surprises came again, he found himself along Comi’s colony of towers.

  With no place to look but down, Quin had a commanding view of the port and its busy piers.

  He saw more Shanli menders as they exited from multiple ships as well as the substantial activity that filled the harbor. Porters, transporters, ship hands. It looked as if the closures never happened.

  Quin couldn’t see much else, he had to turn his face away. Just as he steeled himself for the trip down, his eyes caught another large gathering.

  Outside the city and close to the shore, a collection of people in black and blue assembled. At the center stood the one figure in red.

  Quin saw other Tyrovivs rush out of the colony to add to the growing congregation then realized he had to join along.

  He briskly made it to one of the slopes down and with great balance and prayer, he steadily slid his way to the solid security of dirt.

  Past the series of jutted structures and away from the commotions of city life, the Cosondera formed up in a semi-circle before the bald and bearded red cloaked Deraviv, Axerick.

  Tyrovivs made up the bulk of the group with a few Neravivs peppered in.

  Others (like Quin) filed in from the city as the rest stood silently in anticipation of the Deraviv’s address.

  A few paces behind him appeared a large red canvas. It fluttered slightly as a camp was quickly being built.

  When an adequate amount arrived before the red cloak, he waved his hand down before the crowd. They received the message and crouched down to obstruct as little vision in the back as possible.

  A tense silence took over the scene, just the seagulls out in the distance could be heard.

  Before Axerick spoke, he dropped his stony expression. His squinted eyes opened up and they traveled to meet the eyes of his colleagues, many of those eyes were on young faces.

  They all stared back half-resolved and half-concerned. Just their chests made movement as they expanded and contracted like clockwork.

  “First off, I want you all to take a moment to appreciate your luck for being here today!” his voice boomed over the scene.

  “Such luck couldn’t be shared among all of us, so let’s take a moment to send our best regards to the most unfortunate!

  “The poor lot who never had the chance to avenge the damage wrought on this poor town!”

  Many tucked their heads down in mourning, Quin did the same. He thought back to Yach, the wagon driving Yerp who accompanied his team.

  A man seemingly unafraid of anything, his actions and attitude showed Quin that no two Yerps were alike especially in their dealings with the Sentar’i.

  Quin spent all his Yerp life in fear of the powerful. Yach spent his with such fears eschewed, and the conversations between them felt more real and authentic.

  As Quin brought his head up, he hoped all conversations between a Sentar’i and Yerp followed the ones between himself and the fallen driver.

  “Back in the war,” Axerick started. “Back in the war, moments like this occurred regularly. Every day felt like the last.

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  “Regardless of your strength and prowess, if anything doomed your fate, it would be your luck. The wrong place, the wrong time, the wrong folks. Certainty was in short supply.

  “That’s why when it was all over, we banded together to say never again and it’s why the Cosondera was formed.

  “When different groups, different sects, different families come to disagreements, it’s our job to sort them out and prevent the carnage that took over our world.

  “Now for some of you, maybe that’s not why you joined the Cosondera. For some of you, maybe you never really wanted to join the Cosondera or never even cared about the world outside your own. That is information only you would know.

  “What I know is that most of you have never seen the horrors of war. The depths of destruction. The collapse of civilizations. As a poor soul to have seen such things, I can tell you, you don’t want to.

  “So no matter your disposition or inclination with the ‘cloaks’, our jobs first, second, and always, is to ensure peace. To make sure none of those things are seen again.

  “Coson – the household, the estate, the domain. Dere – the fighter, the guarantor, the protector. That is who we are.”

  Axerick held his tongue for few seconds to let his words sink in to his Cosondera brethren.

  For his part, Quin ruminated on Axerick’s speech up to that point. He thought about his experiences with the Cosondera before and after he stood out.

  Among the Sentar’i, he could easily see the relevance of Axerick’s words.

  As a Yerp however, he never had that impression of them. He wondered how much the Yerps as a whole factored into their big picture goals.

  “Today, the world is much safer.” the Deraviv declared. “It’s only that way because we’ve all banded together to maintain and support peace. But that doesn’t mean dangerous elements no longer exist.

  “Today, we face an element that seems all but bent on putting an end to such peace and bring the world back to those times of turmoil. Those times of uncertainty with bad luck, bad breaks, and bad days.

  “The city that stands behind you, Whether you were there during the havoc or arrived later to see the wreckage, that’s the worst of turmoil.

  “All caused by opponents of the peace. As someone who’s seen the worst of such times before, to see it now is simply un-ac-ceptable.”

  “And that brings us to the here and now. Maybe some of you have vengeance on the mind. Maybe some of you are just itching for a fight. Regardless, this will be no simple brawl.

  “Our opponents have one thing in mind, the total and complete destruction of peace. They showed it last night when they slew our companions.

  “Such disregard for the peace only shows that they are beyond the usual measures. So a different measure will be used.

  “As most of you know, Deravivs can make the final judgment on a person’s fate. Decisions of life or death fall in their hands.

  “As the Deraviv in charge of prosecuting these disruptors, there’s only one response in mind regarding judgment!

  “Thus when it comes to these people with black painted nails I, Deraviv Axerick, with the authority vested into my cloak, shall grant every member here before my eyes, exemption.

  “Exemption to the following until conditions are applied...”

  He rubbed his thumb across his neck; the Cosondere crowd understood it precisely. A mild clamor ensued as it sunk into them. Axerick allowed it as his eyes dashed back and forth.

  A part of Quin’s brain wanted to deliberately misunderstand. It worked for a split second before reality and anxiety set in.

  Maybe he’s ruined a life as Orpes would attest, but to put one to an end was unlike anything he’d ever done before.

  He never had a reason nor a desire to, now he was granted a go-ahead. It hung over his head until Axerick seized everyone’s attention again.

  “Now everyone! I want you all to close your eyes,” he instructed. “Everyone! Put your sights away.”

  The red cloak walked into the crowd. He took care to adjust himself to fit through any gap as he looked over his cloaked colleagues.

  “I want you all to picture a loved one, a special person. Someone who brought you up. Someone who helped mold you into who you are today. Wherever they are at this point in time, right here, they’re right beside you.

  “Imagine the shattered look on their faces when it dawns that they’ll never see you again. Imagine their hopelessness when they realize you’re gone forever.

  “Or maybe even worse, you’re gone forever, and they’ll never know. Always waiting for the day they’ll see you again when that day will never come.

  “Your opponents today have already shown how willing they are to make that all true. But in the end, your hesitation, your unwillingness could play the bigger role.

  “Think long and hard about those special people. Give them another day to see you. Keep the hope strong that you’ll reunite.”

  Axerick regained his stony face. He walked back to the front with less care about where people stood.

  “Open your eyes everyone! Take a look around you!” he ordered with teeth bared out. “This is peace, and it can stay that way forever! But people like the Black Nails, they want to take it away!

  “We won’t let them! The lives we live! The people we share it with! The things we cherish! The people we long for! They want to take it all away! We! Won’t! Let them!

  “Now all of you! All of you have been given a huge opportunity! Today we have a chance to add some glory to our names! To show our place in history! To show what happens when peace is disrupted!

  “Some of our colleagues are already at it dozens of miles ahead with those very disruptors held up in the caves! They need relief! They need us now! To ensure they see their loved ones! To ensure we all see our loved ones!

  “We are the Cosondera! The result of victory and peace! Onwards! To victory and peace!”

  A boisterous cheer followed Axerick as he and a sea of cloaks bolted to the heights up in the horizon.

  Quin stuck around, he still wanted to find his team. He had a better view of the vicinity with the crowd cleared out, preparations at the campsite nearby were completed.

  Once there, Quin saw a flurry of activity as Tyrovivs moved, stored, and opened bunches of boxes just to repeat the procedure with the contents within.

  Along with the Cosondera were several ladies in green and white robes. It gave the situation more gravity with so many of the Shanli menders present.

  Neravivs were present as well, though by far the fewest in the camp.

  Quin finally found a familiar head of curly hair when he spotted Ythan between two menders. He approached the blue cloak and dropped to a knee.

  “Sir!” he uttered through his mask.

  Ythan never turned around.

  “I was at the gathering just now. It gave me plenty of determination for the task given to us. I know I haven’t shown you my best performance, but I plan to give this everything I have.”

  “You won’t have any performance,” his captain replied. “You’re not going.”

  In both heart and blood, Quin felt a rude shock. “Wh...what?”

  Ythan faced his subordinate with beady eyes and indignation.

  “Do you really think you’re going to be out there? All you’ve ever done was get yourself in a mend bay. You’re too vulnerable, you’re done.”

  “D-done? What do you mean-”

  “Done as in done, Tyroviv. The Black Nails have held themselves up at our destination. The mission’s been annulled. Therefore, I have no need for you. When we return to Sirqu, you’ll be officially off my team. If we’re back to square one, then there’s no reason to keep you around.”

  “But...but sir...please give me another chance. It hasn’t been as smooth as it could be, and I’m not going to make any excuses but if you give me just one more chance, I’ll do everything to make this right.”

  “One more chance? One more chance? You’ve been given nothing but chances this whole time! The Pit, my father, this team, you’ve been granted more leniency than any Cosondere I’ve ever met! One more chance?

  “This whole time, you’ve been dead weight. All you’ve done is get yourself beaten unconscious then force us to stop and save your ass.

  “If there was anything special about you that made you worth the trouble, I’d understand my father’s thinking. But whatever it was he saw in you, I’ve seen enough.

  “The mission’s annulled. You can go back home for all I care. I’m done having you on my team, I’m done having to take care of you, and I’m done having to put up with you! Go back home! Go back to the Pit! Go back wherever and be useless to your-fucking-self!”

  People stopped their activities; they brought their attention on the blue cloak. An awkward silence overtook the camp.

  Quin had no words, an assortment of feelings meshed in his heart. Blank stares of both Shanli and Cosondere were too much to bear.

  Quin turned in the direction of daylight and briskly walked out of the camp.

  Minutes ago, he was at the height of his resolve. Now, he didn’t know where he was.

  He listlessly roamed through the afternoon light, his focus became elusive and hard to find. With each step he took, it sunk in deeper and deeper. His captain just kicked him out of the squad.

  Axerick spoke about the misfortune that came with turmoil. As he wandered about, a devastated Quin was left to his own personal turmoil. The times were never so uncertain.