Chapter 296: What Came Home

Keep had been home since the middle of the round. When Ren reached the cove, its cradle sat on the flat stone above the waterline, with one side lower than the other.

Orun and Sethe had kept the approach clear for the returning squad. Ren passed them and crouched beside the stone, setting his folded papers well away from the water.

He had watched the strike on the viewing surface: the cradle knocked against rock, the attacker lifting an arm again, and the extraction light closing before the second blow landed. An attendant had confirmed that Keep had reached recovery and been sent home. Until now, Ren hadn’t been able to examine it himself.

He loosened the straps and lifted the displaced padding.

Where Keep rested in the fitted support, an attachment had torn along one side. The tissue beneath it was dark with bruising, and a bent fastener had pushed through the padding close to the wound.

Ren held the metal clear while he worked the remaining strap loose, then eased Keep onto the undamaged padding beside the frame.

Behind him, the gate brightened over the water.

Tarin came through with Riptide close behind, followed by Pell’s Lawfire and Snap. Bolt swam into the sheltered shallows while Vesper and Eira reached the shingle, Mistwhisker at Vesper’s ankles. Ren counted all seven before turning back to Keep.

"How bad?" Vesper asked.

"Torn underneath. The padding slipped, and this was pressing into it." He showed her the fastener. "I need the craftsperson from the landing."

"I’ll fetch it," Tarin said.

Eira knelt on the other side of the stone, keeping her sleeve clear as Ren lifted the edge of the torn attachment for her to see.

— • —

The Glassfire arrived carrying its tools, with Tarin beside it. Pale stone dust remained in the grooves of one handle from its work on the northern landing.

Ren had begun treating Keep while they waited. Balm lay against the damaged tissue, and Ren kept a small Life working flowing beneath it as he turned the empty frame toward the craftsperson.

"It hit the rock here." He traced the scraped edge with his free hand. "Riptide was carrying it before we had to set it down. The straps run across these points."

The craftsperson checked the frame, then worked the bent fastener free. It laid the metal against the stone beside its tools and pressed along the support where the blow had landed.

"This part held." It indicated the frame. "The fastening needs replacing."

Ren steadied the cradle while it worked. The new fastener came from a small pouch among its tools; it tried the fit, adjusted it and secured the padding around the seat. When one edge bunched, it loosened the fastening again and drew the fold out before tightening it.

Vesper watched from beside the stone, her bound arm resting against her side.

"Will that stop it happening again?" she asked.

"It will keep this edge covered." The craftsperson pressed a thumb firmly into the padding above the metal. "Another strike could bend another part."

It checked the straps next, pulling each through its fastening and examining the worn places.

"Same carrier next time?"

"I haven’t seen the next ground yet," Ren said.

"Bring the carrier when you know. I’ll check it fitted."

"I will."

Ren returned his attention to Keep while the craftsperson finished. Beneath Balm, the torn edges were drawing together. He followed the attachment with his Life working, treating the bruised tissue as well as the open wound, and eased the flow as the damage repaired.

When Balm lifted enough for him to examine it, the tear had closed. Ren checked underneath before moving Keep, then lowered it carefully into the repaired seat.

The craftsperson held the frame while he ran his fingers around the padding. Nothing had folded beneath the attachment, and the new fastener stayed covered when he tightened the straps.

He lifted one side a little, testing the angle that had exposed the metal before. Keep remained supported along the whole seat.

The Glassfire watched him lower it, then gathered its tools.

"Before the next round," it reminded him.

Ren nodded. "With the carrier."

— • —

He left the cradle on the stone for the reporting test.

Tarin stood at the near end of the shingle, Snap waited on a flat rock farther along, and Pell stayed in the water beyond them. Each carried one of Keep’s spores. From beside the cradle, Ren could see all three positions without moving.

The first reports placed them correctly.

"Tarin. Over by Snap."

Tarin moved along the water’s edge and stopped beside the rock. Ren marked the time on his slate while Keep’s last report still placed it at the shingle.

Then the update arrived: Tarin beside Snap, Pell still out on the water.

Ren recorded the delay alongside the positions. It was within what they had measured during practice at the cove; the report had reached him after the movement, as expected.

He checked the repaired seat once more before calling them back. The straps hadn’t shifted, and the attachment lay clear of the fastener.

"The reports are coming through," he told Eira. "Put the repair on the form too. That support took a direct hit."

She brought the papers over from where he had left them. Ren wrote down the injury, his treatment and the cradle repair, then passed the sheet to her for the examination record. A working network was one part of the clearance; the event still needed to know why Keep had been extracted.

Riptide waited beside the stone while Eira wrote, its body moving slowly in the sheltered water. Ren left Keep where it could rest without being carried again.

— • —

Vesper sat on the flat rock and offered Eira her arm.

The binding came away cleanly. The cut along her forearm had already begun closing under the field treatment, though the skin pulled when Eira turned her wrist toward the light.

Ren worked Life along the remaining damage. Vesper watched his hand until he withdrew it, then began to close her fingers.

"Slowly," Eira said.

Vesper closed her hand and opened it again.

"Now turn your wrist. Arm out."

Eira watched the repaired line through each movement, then had her repeat them against light resistance.

"It doesn’t pull anymore," Vesper said.

Eira checked once more before winding a fresh, light wrap over the cut.

"If it hurts again, or your grip weakens, tell me when it happens."

"I will."

She flexed her hand while Eira added the examination to the sheet. Ren folded the completed forms into his jacket. He would submit them for clearance, but the semifinal declaration would wait until he knew the terrain and rules.

Vesper stood, adjusting the edge of the wrap with her good hand. Mistwhisker followed her down from the rock, and Eira went to wash her hands at the water’s edge.

Ren looked toward the flower field. He could finally go up.

— • —

He followed the path to the Worldroot, leaving the sounds of the cove behind him. Kaia spoke as he approached the roots.

"She’s been awake longer this time, Ren."

The warm pocket lay sheltered among the roots, with Loom keeping the water moving gently through it. Wick waited on the bank, its light falling across the surface.

The little Pyreborn sat within that light. Her pale-gold outline was still unfinished, with the small Heartflame visible whenever her chest turned toward him. Red and blue moved beneath the gold as she lifted a partly formed hand toward Wick.

Ren knelt beside the pocket and dipped the back of his hand into the water. It was warm beneath the surface too. Loom’s current passed his wrist and continued between the roots without disturbing her place.

He had last seen her asleep here, her body softened back into a small, steady flame. Now her head turned when Wick shifted along the bank, and the raised hand followed the light until it moved beyond her reach.

Ren lowered a finger near her open hand.

She turned toward the movement and caught it. Her fingers were warm against his skin, barely enough pressure to hold him, but they stayed formed around his while she looked at his hand.

He kept it still.

Wick moved a little closer along the bank. She turned back toward the light, loosened her grip and lifted her hand to it again.

Ren rested his freed hand on the stone beside the water. She followed Wick with her head, reaching whenever the light came near, and he stayed beside the pocket until she lowered her arm. His hand remained where she had left it.

Loom’s current moved gently past the roots. Wick settled near the edge again, close enough to light the gold along her unfinished fingers.

— • —

The slate sounded against Ren’s ribs while he was still sitting there.

He drew it from his jacket, careful of the folded examination forms. Halvern’s name headed the message.

Lin Yueying has arrived with Azure credentials and asked to meet you at the hall.

Ren looked toward the path back to the shore, then down at the message again. The semifinal notice had yet to arrive, and he still had the treatment records to submit.

He opened the reply beneath Halvern’s message.

Tell her I’m coming.