Chương 4: Music of Restford

The journey back to Restford was a breeze with Havlo by Amberlin's side. With his sense of direction, they didn't even need the compass, and in what felt like no time at all, the snowy peaks gave way to wooded hills. Havlo was handy in other ways too. He had an inventory interface that could fit a whole lot more than her pockets, which would have been handy had they run into any interesting monsters to loot.

She felt like she was getting too much of a good deal, but she figured that he just wanted an excuse to get off that mountain and rejoin society. That's why she had him shave his beard—it was all about getting a fresh start. And if he was going to be among people again, it was important to cast off the habits of a hermit and get with the latest trends. All the men in Restford were clean-shaven, so that was the way to fit in. He could always regrow his beard if he felt nostalgic.

As for the magic lessons, that was something she'd have to figure out later. Though she expected that by the time they got to Lorelark, he'd realize that she had nothing to teach him. But then he'd be in Lorelark, where in a big city like that, it wouldn't be hard for him to find a more suitable mentor. That's why she didn't feel too bad about accepting his apprenticeship, though she avoided giving him any burdens to carry.

When they got to Restford, it was evening, and Liana was in the middle of dinner with her brother Herb. When Liana saw Amberlin at the door, what followed was a lot of tears and a lot of hugs. She was invited inside and introduced the siblings to Havlo and Boots. There was plenty of stew on the stove, and the five of them shared a meal. Herb tried to tell her about the search-and-rescue efforts, but she didn't care enough to pay attention. She knew that they tried the best they could.

Instead she sat there quietly basking in the glow of their gentle faces and soaking in the melody of their kind voices. This was the music of home. In a moment of inspiration, she asked, "Do you have any instruments?" Liana and Herb didn't, but Havlo did.

"I have a flute." Her appentice pulled the instrument from his inventory. It was a beautifully crafted wooden piece and looked like it had been well cared for. Seeing it brought back memories of her own brother, Tashido, as it was the only instrument that he played, and he didn't play it well. Part of that was her fault. She kind of missed him still, and she took that feeling into her chest and let it gently stir with all her other emotions while she brought the mouth piece to her lips and blew.

This was the first real song that she'd played since coming to the world of Kalimor. There weren't any instruments in Restford, as the villagers didn't seem at all musically inclined. She'd tried to start a choir, but they'd been too embarrassed to join. She'd gotten by on humming and singing in her spare moments among the trees. It never felt quite the same, as her talent lay more in her fingers than her lips. The villagers had offered to bring her back an instrument from Lorelark, but she turned them down.

They wouldn't know what to look for—that's the lie she'd told herself. But it was because she'd blamed herself. There was a guilt and shame buried in her heart, and she let it out now into the pipe. The notes filled the cabin and the tear ducts of her audience. A burden shared was a burden lifted, and while she could never reveal the truth about herself, this was a way in which she could share some part of it. As the final note faded away, the table sat in silence.

Liana was the first to speak after wiping something from her eye.

"You never told us you were a bard."

"I'm sorry for keeping secrets," she said. Liana shook her head.

"I don't mean it like that. We're... happy for you." Herb nodded.

"We'd love to hear another one." Before she could reply, there was a knock at the cabin door. Herb went to answer it. It was all the neighbors from close by. They'd overheard her music and inquired politely about staying around to hear more. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Before she knew it, she was standing on a box in the village square, and everyone was there, down to all the little kids. Boots was curled up by her feet.

Amberlin had decided a long time ago that no one must ever know where she came from or how she got here. And when she learned of her immortality, she knew that also had to be kept under wraps. She didn't want anyone here to feel like they weren't real people. They were real, all of them, to her. She'd given a lot of thought to the life she wanted here. She didn't want to stand out. She wanted to enjoy the things that she couldn't in her old life. She also wanted the power to help the people dearest to her.

Thanks to her brother, she had all the advantages to make that happen. She wanted to go out there and fight monsters and learn cool magic. Do all the travel and have all the adventures she never had the money to do. Just so long as she didn't get caught up in complicated plots. She wanted to enjoy the everyday pleasures of life. Good food, good company, and the satisfying pop of a slime monster when you blasted it with a fireball.

Amberlin stirred up all the feelings in her heart, raised the flute to her lips, and this time gave her audience a happy tune.

Two mysterious figures stood at the site of the destroyed keystone in the Moonfoot Mountains. Their dark cloaks were closed tight and the hoods were pulled around their faces, not to conceal their identities, but because it was really cold up there. One of them turned to the other.

"It was like this when you got here?" Her companion looked back at her.

"You think I did this on my own?" The first one, a half-elf named Rava, reached down and picked up a handful of the sand that was all that remained of the keystone heart and let it sift through the fingers of her glove. Even now, the mana radiating from it was almost suffocating.

"We should have felt something," she said.

"The release of so much concentrated mana should have rended the mountain apart."

"But the mountain's still here, and the keystone is broken." The other woman was a demon by the name of Echo. With her horns hidden beneath her hood, she could pass for a human well enough.

"This is troubling," Rava said.

"Does it matter? The job's done," Echo pointed out.

"It doesn't bother you that someone else is going around breaking the keystones before we can?"

"I think we should join forces with them and get the job done faster." Rava shook her head.

"What makes you think someone with power like this would care for our help?"

"As long as the Demon Supreme is released, who cares?" Rava didn't reply. Everyone was in this for their own reasons. Demons like Echo wanted a return to the glory days of their empire and saw the resurrection of their immortal king as the only way to achieve this. As for how an immortal demon managed to find itself in need of resurrection, that was a topic best avoided if she didn't want to wake up in a pool of lava again.

She didn't think that the return of the Demon Supreme would be as good for demonkind as Echo hoped. But that wasn't Rava's problem. She had her own desire, one that only someone as powerful as the Demon Supreme could hope to fulfill.

"Any luck finding that rock troll?" she asked Echo.

"It could be anywhere by now. You understand how big these mountains are?" She shook her head.

"After we wasted so much effort dragging it all the way here too."

"Well, now that we no longer need it, I'm going to stop looking," Echo said.

"You're just going to let it run loose up here?"

"Who cares? It's the middle of nowhere."

"Rock trolls aren't native here," she pointed out.

"It could damage the local ecosystem."

"This is what I think of your ecosystem." Echo pointed to the edge of the plateau. [Lava Field] The snow melted and steamed away as the rock below it began to bubble and glow red-hot until there was molten lava streaming down the mountainside.

"You elves care so much for things that don't really matter," Echo said.

"If the troll is strong enough to rule this mountain, then it deserves to. And if it's too weak to survive, then it deserves to die." Rava bit her tongue. Telling the demon off would only risk her flying into a destructive rampage. This was the problem with aligning yourself with people trying to resurrect ancient warlords. A lot of them weren't right in the head.

"What should we tell the boss?" she said, hoping that a change of topic would calm her companion down.

"What's wrong with the truth?"

"Then we won't get credit for this." She pointed at the destroyed keystone. Echo seemed to give the idea some consideration. Status was very important to demons. And getting credit for being the first people ever to take down a keystone would make them heroes among their own fellows in the Supreme Society.

"The ruse will be up when we fail to destroy the second one," Echo said.

"Then we just have to make sure we succeed," she replied. When Echo looked unconvinced, she pushed on.

"No one could have done this by accident. Someone else is out there trying to do the same thing we are. We just have to get them to teach us their way."

"And you have some leads that will help us find them?"

"No," she admitted.

"But there are only six places left in the world where we know they must go eventually." Echo grinned.

"If they're anything like us, the next most convenient target will be the one in Ygg Latten Bay. On the way, we should stop by Lorelark. There's someone there I've been meaning to pay a visit."