Tecovis stood on the porch and waved as the luminite twins left the property, freshly filled coin purses subtly jingling in their satchel as they cheerfully shouted their goodbyes. There may not have been much in the camps to trade, but he was sure they'd find a use for it. After all, they always came back for more work.

As they walked away an image of his father came to mind, walking down the mountain towards the mines he'd hoped to one day inherit. His brown hair salted with gray and combed in a formal part, wearing padded pants stained so black no amount of washing could clean them and a sleeveless shirt so full of patches and holes it practically looked like someone eaten a tailor shop and vomited it's stock all over him.

He remembered all of his father's work clothes were like that. Anything that got too worn out to be formal lost it's sleeves and joined the collection. Tecovis always tried to do the same with his shirts, however the modified clothes always vanished come laundry day only to reappear as fire starters during the winter. It wasn't always exclusively his clothes they use, so it didn't bother him now as much as it used to.

That didn't mean it didn't bother him, it seemed wasteful. He hated watching his stuff burn away.

Burn away…

Burn...

Burning…

Screaming…

Pain…

Rage…

“Teco?”

Tecovis snapped up from the banister straight out of his trance, his the pendant of his Momma's necklace smacking his sternum underneath his shirt. A whistle came from Slide who was standing in the main door. Rox towered next to him, a concerned frown on his face.

“Over here. You good?”

“Yeah Slide, I'm fine. Just..." he pulled his hand away from the years old scar under his shirt, "...sore."

Slide shrugged and walked past him towards the bonfire, still chipper from his rengûk victory. 

Rox however leaned against the wall near Tecovis. 

"What?" Tecovis asked.

"You've been zoning out like that a lot recently. More than usual. And you've got that same look you had when we first met."

"I'm fine Rox, don't worry about me."

Rox raised an eyebrow and looked at Tecovis, his massive arms crossed. "You sure about that Teco?"

Tecovis sighed. 

"No."

He chewed on his cheek as he avoided Rox's gaze. Rox was right. Since he'd met Djurle he'd been reminded of his father at almost every hour of the day, or his mother, or his friends from Erith. When he slept he felt flames licking at his skin instead of blankets, when he drank he heard the hiss of water instantly boiling away, when he ate he tasted ash in foods that weren't even cooked. 

Nothing compared to the guilt. Now that he knew his father was alive, he didn't know which was worse. The guilt that made him run, or the guilt of not staying. He could have been with his father. Grieved with him. Grown with him. But childish perception drove him away. He should have looked harder. He should have gone to the mines. He should have....

His hand went to the necklace around his neck. He pulled the pendant out from under his shirt and looked at it, the distant bonfire made it sparkle.

"Rox... what do you do when you build yourself on a lie?"

"Asking me like I know."

"C'mon man."

"What am I supposed to say Teco? I don't know what it's like to lose everything only to be told you actually didn't. How can I?"

Zeb stepped outside while Rox spoke, wiping his hands on a dinner rag. He pocketed the rag when he saw both the men and stood next to one of the posts.

Rox continued, "I mean I've been wrong before but that is... that is wild. A whole town's worth of people turning out alive after all this time."

Zebulon interjected, "You were a fourteen year old child under extreme duress and separated from his family during a major crisis, your reaction was perfectly understandable for someone that age. Over the years, I've seen plenty of young men and women come to similar conclusions very quickly after being isolated and I imagine you will too. Especially if you take up a similar line of work in Zindro.

"Or if I come back to work here after seeing my father."

"I highly doubt you'll do that. Yes, you've built a surrogate life here, but you belong with your family just as I belong to mine. I would like to meet him one day though, so do try to convince him to visit us if nothing else."

"Oh, he would have loved you, I think."

"Djurle seems to agree."

"You talked with him about my father?"

"I'm inquisitive by trade and you've been avoiding the subject for as long as I've known you, did you really think I wouldn't try to find out why?"

"What did he tell you?"

"He praised him mostly, or told stories of their time working together. Made him out to be a good man, if a little lax."

"He was. He always made time for me and mama. Did he tell you anything about what he's been doing since I left?"

"He did, but I think it would be better if you heard those stories from him directly."

Rox asked, "Was it your father who taught you how to play the zither?"

"No... No, that was Mama. Papa always said she would have ascended to The Maker's Orchestra if he hadn't kept her grounded. I was always sent to bed early those nights.

Zebulon and Rox both laughed and they talked more about other things related to his family. It felt good talking about them again. Easier.

When the time for Djurle to perform came around, Aunt Abby gathered everyone out of the house and brought them into the yard. The logs had been rearranged so that the people's left sides would be towards the bonfire. Extra torches were placed around the well kept wooden platform where Djurle had been told to stand, though with the harvest moon nearly full over their heads they were almost unnecessary. Most of the party guests were sitting on the logs, with some, such as Rox, electing to stand with the employees near the back, while Tecovis sat as far to the right as he could near the front.

Zeb introduced Djurle to the group with his perspective of how they'd met, and shared with the uninformed how he'd been assisting with the missing persons cases among the ukitu. When introductions were out of the way, Djurle took to the stage, his boots thumping against it as he stepped.

"Good evening everyone! Like Zebulon said, my name is Djurle. And as he said, I am a Spirit of the Elements. What does that mean exactly?"

Tecovis watched as some of the rocks from the piles near the stage began to circle behind Djurle, and he heard audible gasps from all five squads who'd not met him before today.

"To put it simply, I'm different to most."

Djurle would tell his story, moving the rocks into mock images of whatever subject he was talking about. He told of how he discovered his abilities, and gave examples of the skills he'd learned during his life. 

"This one is my favorite! I need a volunteer to wrap my eyes, any takers?"

One of Able squad, a dark skinned man with a thick jaw and short hair raised his hand. 

"You, what's your name?"

"They call me Slick."

"Huh, how'd you earn that nickname?"

Slide shouted from next to Tecovis, "Long story!"

"Too long to tell while he's blindfolding me?"

Ezkutu said smiling from three rows behind, "let's just say we lost six barrels of oil to those two."

Slide retorted, "Five and a half!"

Everyone began laughing as they remembered watching Slick and Slide cleaning up the merchant's wagon.

Djurle's eyebrows raised and a broad smile also filled his face. "Well, let's just hope they were small."

One of the others said, "They weren't!"

There was more chuckling as Slide covered his reddening face and Slick stepped up to the wooden platform. Djurle sat down on the edge of it and began to take off his boots. As soon as he put his first bare foot on the ground, his smile dropped and he went still.

"Lieutenant, could you come here for a moment?"

Confused, Zeb stood up and walked over to Djurle. Djurle said something to him that Tecovis couldn't hear, and Zeb looked at the crowd then whispered back. The crowd of guests murmured among themselves a bit before Djurle's eyes went wide.

Zeb snapped to the crowd.

"TO ARMS!"

Djurle twisted towards the half harvested field of crops as it came alive under the pale moonlight, and the ground shook violently when he launched himself towards it.

Not again! Why here!? Why NOW!?

Everyone made a mad dash to the door of Zeb's home to retrieve what minimal weapons they brought.

On instinct, all of the squad leaders hollered orders to their men.

Sword. Sword. Knife. Sword. Handaxe. Sword. Handaxe. Knife. Ezkutu and the others who'd who'd arrived first handed out weapons as fast as they could grab them.

Tecovis ran inside towards his room to find his.

He couldn't tell if the thuds he was hearing were Zebulon running past his room, or his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

Blade in hand he ran back out the door.

"Here!"

Zeb forced a shield into Tecovis's hand. He strapped it onto his arm tight as he ran into the field, following the destruction that was Djurle's attempt to chase down the poachers.

"How many Zeb!?"

"Djurle said five, they took the twins!"

"Brave squad, on me!"

Rox, Slide, and Pan all came alongside and the five of them began to strategies as they followed the path.

Their plans turned to dust when they arrived on the scene however, as a whipcrack sounded, followed by someone's screaming body flying through the air in their direction. Rox moved to intercept. The body impacted Rox's sturdy form sending both to the ground.

Winded, Rox asked, "You good?"

The man, now identified as Slick, grunted in pain as he sat up. He pulled his hand away from his own chest and examined it, and sighed with relief when he saw no blood.

"I'm about to have a potato shaped bruise, but I'm fine."

Pan bounced in place, "Good catch, now let's go!"

Slide and Tecovis helped the two to their feet and chased after Pan.

In the pale moonlight, they could see glimpses of monsterously sized stalks and vines whipping through the air to catch a chunk of earth that arced through the sky.

Another object was flung from the vines towards Tecovis, and he instinctively raised his shield as a tomato the size of a pumpkin splattered against it.

"What in-"

His words were cut off as the sound of an avalanche came towards the group. Djurle slid to a stop in front of them, still wearing one boot.

"They're heading to the river!"

Pan shouted, "Can you make us a path!?"

Without answering, the crops parted as the ground beneath them flowed like water leaving a clear run as flashes of reflected of distant swords. The earth roared as Djurle sped through the field, ripping the crops out of the ground in front of him.

Slick shouted, "How do we fight these-these things!?"

"Just like the ropes Slick, watch your feet!" Pan yelled back over his shoulder, slashing through  wriggling roots.

"Ropes don't hit back!"

The others followed close behind.

As they got close to the sounds of the battle, the ground convulsed as an earth chunk was deflected, landing in front of them. The crops surrounding them began writhing like a bucket of worms. Without hesitation, they split into groups, Rox and Slide boosted Tecovis over the chunk while Pan was boosted by Zeb and Slick.

The field ahead of them was torn to pieces and the squads were all spread out dealing with crop-masses.

"Do you see them bossman!?"

"It's too dark, I can barely-" an ever so faint golden glimmer caught his eye, "wait, I see the twins! This waaaaaaAAAAGH!"

Tecovis was grabbed by the foot and yanked sideways into the field.

"TECO!"

"BOSSMAN!"

He twisted his shield under him as he was being dragged away, but before he could slash at the plant the ground disappeared from beneath him. It took all his willpower not to swear as he went to the sky, but he couldn't stop himself from screaming when it let him go.

Just as suddenly as he had been thrown, he was caught by the rough-cut Djurle Iranu.

"No dying!" He yelled, "Not until you've seen your old man again!"

Tecovis looked to no avail as he tried to find the glow of the twins again, the field squirming like maggots on a rotting corpse.

Moonlight flashed as a collection of swords converged on a point halfway between them and the river.

"There!"

"I feel 'em, hang on!"

Like a diving falcon, Djurle plowed through the field. 

"Now would be a great time for you to torch them Coco!"

"I'm not about to risk destroying the crops or hurting the twins!"

"The crops are ACTIVELY KILLING YOUR FRIENDS!"

"SHUT UP AND GET ME CLOSE!"

He came to a sudden stop and gripped Tecovis by the collar, the glimmer of the moon in his eyes warped by the scowl he wore.

"Are you not listening!? They need BOTH OF US if they're gonna make it!"

"Then stop stalling AND TAKE US TO THE FIGHT!"

"&@^* it Coco, I meant-"

Tecovis ripped Djurle's hands off of him and jabbed his sword in the ground.

"I know what you meant, but I can't!"

"The pit, you can't! I've got at least two hundred witnesses that-"

Tecovis felt his knuckles tear as he smashed his fist into Djurle's face.

"NO!!!"

Djurle fell back to the ground, stunned.

"I CAN'T BE THAT AGAIN!!!"

He rubbed his jaw and glared at Tecovis. 

"I... I won't. Now take us. To. The fight."

Without taking his eyes off of him, Djurle spat into the dirt and picked himself up.

"Coco. If you don't get over yourself right now, people are going to die, people you can save."

"The last time I 'saved' someone with fire, my home turned to ash! I would sooner join it than-"

"Coco-"

"Don't call me that! You may have worked for him, but you are not my father! You don't have the right."

Djurle grit his teeth. He looked like he was about to say something else when he spun towards the battle. With an angry sigh, he yanked Tecovis, who barely had time to grab his sword, across the battlefield with him.

They arrived to see a monstrous mass of crops had formed themselves into a mighty beast, it's tendrils whipping wildly as Zeb and Charm squad coordinated an assault on the behemoth.

One crop Djurle didn't see wrapped itself around his neck, stopping him in his tracks. Tecovis tumbled to a stop, dazed.

"Teco, move-move-MOVE!"

Zeb's voice snapped him from his stupor.

He rolled as a plant-monster fist slammed the ground next to him.

A hand grabbed his shirt and pulled him to his feet. 

With no time to think he braced himself as another impact against his shield flung both him and Pan a a dozen feet away.

Pan gasped, "Huuuuooi miss the proving duels."

A winded Tecovis silently agreed as he watched the plant-beast catch and crush a pair of earth spikes from behind. More chunks of earth were swatted aside nearly crushing the guardsmen that were closest to the beast.

Tecovis saw something in the beast, out of reach of the guards weapons.

Something humanoid.

A Klovenite.

Pan apparently saw it too as he ran straight towards the beast, using the rubble from Djurle's attacks as stepping stones, gracefully bouncing from one to the next.

Four guardsmen went careening through the air when the beast twisted in place, and Djurle rushed to save them, their weapons flying randomly across the battlefield. The Klovenite attempted to interfere with Djurle as Pan leapt off of the closest chunk behind the beast and slashed at their leg.

"AAAGH! HUMAN FILTH!!!"

Her leg fell to the ground. Part of the beast fell with it, exposing the now injured woman.

Before she could retaliate Tecovis made a break for one of the lost weapons, his comrade's hamdaxe, and threw it with all of his might. The axe embedded itself in her shoulder.

The beast collapsed.

All was silent.

The dust slowly settled.

After all of the guardsmen took a minute's breath, one of the Dauntless squad members shouted, "Someone make sure she's dead!"

"Nobody could have survived that," one of the others shouted back.

Djurle returned with all four of the guardsmen.

Zeb asked, "Where are the twins?"

"The group split, I don't know which has th-"

Spears of crops launched themselves out from the klovenite, ramming themselves through the surrounding graduates. Tecovis braced himself as one slammed into his shield. 

Before a second set could be launched, the earth folded itself like a closing book. When the Klovenite caught the slabs, more folded from the other two sides, and a chunk came from above to slam on top. A mess of roots and stems blocked it's descent. More protruded from gaps between the slabs, angrily lashing out at anything they could reach.

Djurle screamed at the Klovenite, "You already lost! SURRENDER!"

"You'll join us eventually, ancestor! These disgusting creatures are beneath you and-"

Crunch!

A cloud of what Tecovis hoped was dust sprayed from the cracks as all the slabs collided.

"Yeah, yeah... I've heard it all before..." Djurle wordlessly accelerated towards the river, leaving the guardsmen to deal with the aftermath.

Tecovis threw his shield to the side and ran towards one of his fallen comrades, a member of Eager squad named Acaba. The Klovenite's attack had clipped his side, and blood was gushing from the wound. It reminded him of his own scar.

"Sound off, who can walk!"

"I'm here Zeb!"

A number of others sounded off. Tecovis's heart broke when he realized how many didn't. 

Zeb organized the men and guided them back to the area where the bonfire was. Of the 31 lowguards, nine were dead before they could treat them, and another seven were injured beyond recovery.

Nobody came out unscathed.

He was right...