---

"This is Shadeclaw," the old warrior said. His voice had not entirely lost its tremor, but it held. "We hear. We will match your move. On my count. Three. Two. One. Go."

Two shapes detached from each front.

From the Scarlet side, a pair of heavily scarred veterans stepped into the circle, moving slowly and deliberately, spears slung on their backs, hands held open where everyone could see them.

From the mountain, Silvershadow and Yavri moved, weapons sheathed, palms bare.

They crossed the sand like men walking over the back of a sleeping beast.

Silvershadow reached Kai first.

Up close, Kai looked even worse than he had from the ramp.

His armor was cracked in three places. Blood had soaked the left side of his harness and dried in a dark smear across his jaw. His white hair was matted with dust and sweat. His right arm lay flung out, fingers slightly curled, claws still stained with Vorak’s blood.

Silvershadow went to one knee beside him and pressed two fingers to his throat.

He found a pulse.

Weak, irregular. But there.

"Lord," he whispered, knowing Kai could not hear him. "You had better not make me learn how to be Incharge in your place. I am terrible at paperwork." (a panic joke from him.)

He slid his arm under Kai’s shoulders and lifted carefully, trying not to jostle the ruined ribs. Kai’s head lolled against his collar.

On the other side of the circle, Vorak’s veterans did the same, working with the old clerk.

Vorak’s eyes opened for a second as they moved him. He saw nothing but sky.

"That hurt," he rasped, and then his eyes rolled back.

They carried him out.

Silvershadow met the eyes of the scarred veteran as they passed each other on the edge of the circle.

For a moment, two soldiers who had not traded names weighed each other.

They both inclined their heads.

Then they turned away, each retreating to their own lines with their broken burdens.

Once Kai was safely back under the shadow of the ramp, drones closed in, forming a tight shell around him. They bore him up the slope on a makeshift stretcher of overlapping shields and spears, moving slowly and carefully. Every drone they passed touched the edge of a shield or brushed fingers against the stone, as if helping in small ways.

Vorak disappeared into a wedge of scarlet armor, swallowed by his own guard.

No one attacked.

The parley line held.

Time passed.

The sun climbed.

Inside the mountain, Kai drifted.

He did not dream.

Or if he did, the dreams were mostly pain measured out in neat clicks, like a system list he could not fully see.

At some point he felt hands move over him, rough but careful, cutting armor away from wounds, binding ribs, checking limbs. Someone prodded at his side and then stopped abruptly when his aura twitched in reflex.

"Do not poke there again," a familiar voice muttered near his ear. "There is not enough of him left to argue with the general anatomy chart."

"Is he going to live," another voice asked.

"If he is not planning to, he did not ask me first," Luna said, sharp. "Keep the bandages tight. If you walk into them, I will punch you."

Her words blurred back into darkness.

Hours later, light crept in again.

It came in as warmth on his face and the faint grit of dust on his tongue. Something under him was vibrating very slightly, the way stone did when a hundred people moved quietly nearby.

He opened his eyes.

The ceiling above him was the familiar gray of the upper central hall, not the egg chamber. The air smelled of blood, sweat, poultices, and that particular mountain scent of dust and hot stone that never quite left.

His ribs hurt.

His jaw hurt.

His everything... hurts.

He tried to move and discovered his torso had been wrapped like an overprotected package. White bandages crisscrossed his chest and side, stained dingy pink in places.

The system flickered up as soon as he formed a thought.

[Ding! System notification-

Status: conscious.

HP: 430 / 7000.

Aura: 2100 / 7000.

Conditions: fractured ribs (x3), muscle tears (multiple), superficial lacerations, general bruising.

Restrictions: Apex Plus locked for 72:00:00. Core recovery prioritized.

Advisory: do not attempt strenuous combat or heavy lifting. Suggested activities: breathing. Light glaring. Occasional talking.]

"Occasional talking," he muttered. "Generous."

"Good," Luna said from somewhere near his left shoulder. "You can waste your breath on self talk. That means you are not so clever or dead." She looked very angry and panicked.

He turned his head slightly.

Luna sat on an upturned crate beside his pallet, arms folded, eyes red around the edges. Someone had washed most of the blood off her hands, but fresh smears stained her cuffs. Her coat was wrong, one sleeve half inside out.

"You look terrible," Kai said.

She sniffed.

"You look worse," she said. "You are also not allowed to move. If you try to sit up, I will knock you out again and claim it was a necessary medical intervention."

"You are not a healer," he reminded her.

"Desperate times," she said. "Our drone medics are busy sewing other idiots back together. Shadeclaw has four cracked plates and is still shouting at people. I needed something to yell at too, so I chose you."

"How long," he asked.

"Since you scared us all into thinking we would have to get used to a different voice in the mountain," she said. "About three hours. Maybe four. Time blurred. The sun is past its middle. Afternoon now."

"Vorak," Kai said.

"Alive," Luna said. "We think. His army formed a ring around him like a brood around a queen. No one has tried to advance again. No one has left. They have not taken a step over the line. We set up a watch. Yavri’s girls are watching. Akayoroi is with them. Miryam wanted to go eat their general and banners; I made her sit on her hands."

He exhaled carefully.

"Good," he said. "The parley holds."