Death, Devotion, Dissonance

'Fuck… Finally…' Evin took the final step of the stair, sweat on his forehead. 'Motherfucker…'

He looked back at the kingdom looming beneath him. Still, he did not feel very patriotic. He only felt soreness and annoyance. He was walking for the past ten minutes, at first okay and but soon half-limping. Endra let go of his control over Evin's body and was tasked with keeping their spoils floating and suppressing the pain in Evin's palm. Evin was once again, thankful for his existence. 

But he felt too useless having Endra do everything for him, so he decided to stubbornly struggle the rest of the way on his own feet… though he was definitely regretting that now. He wasn't even feeling prideful he reached the top of the Cataract.

Not only him, they all probably should've felt happier, but a gloomy atmosphere persisted around the group. Evin was especially miserable, the pain in his palm getting worse and worse due to the stinging cold of the North. He could finally understand why Daishan always called westerners warmsick. 

'I prefer to be called warmsick than to live in such a cold place,' he thought, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

Atop the Cataract a hut and a yurt greeted them. Evin could see a portly-looking man sitting atop a rocking chair on the hut's porch. He had a single white-painted horn on his head, but Evin could guess it was pink underneath the paint. Ssatsko said that people who received horns from their tribes could choose its World, and most picked the World of Life. 

The man soon noticed the approaching group. He squinted his eyes for a brief moment before standing up, face full of excitement. 

The two men greeted each other and started speaking something in Northern. Ssatsko soon turned around and introduced the man.

"Parslo Tremors. My brother five years younger."

'Brother?'

"And this is Ssatsko Redheart!" Parslo laughed. "Bane of our mother and stealer of my lover! Bwahaha!"

'Redheart?'

  The man's joy was almost infectious, as even Lora smiled at her uncle's sight. 

"You never bore of that story, do you, Uncle?"

'I'm glad you're happy to see your uncle, but I'm dying here!'

"Of course not! It's a damn good story!" Parslo laughed again. "But I'll tell you about it later. Now, tell me why you've all come here, with daughter and husband. With such gloom too."

"Can't I give my favorite uncle a visit?" Lora teased.

Evin was feeling a bit annoyed at how long the conversation was going, but he felt he needed to grit through the pain because his mother was showing a rare smile. 

"No-no-no. Of course not." Parslo said. "May the skies smite me three times for daring to question my little Ivelyora." He gave Lora a hug and a kiss on the head. With the man's huge body, Lora did look like a little girl next to him. "And an apology for little Sasha," Parslo said and kissed Sasha on the head.

'It's almost looks like he's about to eat Sasha…' Evin thought despite the pain. 'Shit…'

"Who's the other boy?" Parslo asked. "Does he also need an apology?"

"He's my grandson," Ssatsko said. "Lora's firstborn."

Parslo's eyes went wide. He gazed at Evin's figure for a second, before smiling toothily.

'Get over your emotional stuff quick and fix my damn hand… I can't believe how casual you all look!'

"He does need an apology," the man said and kissed Evin on the forehead.

"What's your name, boy?"

"Evin… Eviendra."

"Eviendra… yes, I remember. A good name," Parslo whispered. "Ha-ha! A truly good surprise you've brought me. What happened to your cheek and your hand, boy? Had a little falling from the stairs? Eh?"

"I… Something like that," Evin grimaced, blood leaking through the bandage on his hand. "Uh, do you have anything to help with a pierced through hand?"

Twenty minutes later, Evin was lying on a bed inside Parslo's yurt, his wounded hand inside a pot of warm water. A few leaves were floating in the water, herbs useful for reducing pain. Lora was sitting next to him, wiping his sweat off. Parslo was sitting behind a table nearby, diligently working on a Talisman. The man was an expert calligrapher, and was creating a Talisman of Healing for Evin's hand.

Evin found it hard to think he didn't remember to buy a couple of those before leaving. He never considered healing his palm himself, since he and Endra were terrible at using the World of Life, but that didn't mean they couldn't use Talismans. 

"There," Parslo hummed, handing Evin the finished Talisman. "You won't find a better one."

Evin filled his core from the lodestones Parslo had lying around, and ripped the Talisman in two. It drained his core completely and immediately started refilling the gap on Evin's hand. Evin felt painful, seeing the meat, tissue and skin regrowing in his eyes. When the wound finally closed, Evin sighed in relief, enjoying the slight itch coming from his hand. 

The same thing happened to his cheek and hip, but it wasn't so dramatic this time since the wounds weren't serious.

"There you go," Parslo laughed next to him. "Still can't believe you patiently waited for us to enjoy our reunion, ha-ha-hah! If you stay in the North, you'd definitely become Named young."

"Named?" Evin asked, feeling sleepy.

"Men and mages who receive Horns also receive Names in the North. Your grandpa's Redheart, and I'm Tremors. Ssatsko was only Ssatsko Red when he first got his Apdenul Horn, but became Redheart when he got his Irratas horn."

"Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Evin asked. "Red for fire and heart for life."

"Ah, there's actually no correlation between a Name and a horn. Ssatsko became Red because he managed to kill five enemies all alone. One of them was even a Named man! I still remember how he emerged from that bloodbath covered in blood. Ssatsko Red… Still gives me shivers, that man…"

"Uncle…" Lora whispered. "Please."

"Sorry, sorry," Parslo sighed. "But the boy needs to learn these things eventually, you know? Blood history and all. Anyway, he later became Redheart when he seduced my fiancée and settled down," Parslo chuckled. "You look like you have questions, but Names don't always have to be associated with violence. The Name could be about anything, you just have to be worthy of it."

"Then what does Tremors mean?"

"Well. Of course, it's because whenever I walk up against the enemies, the ground shakes under my steps, creating tremors and terror among the enemies."

"It's because he was shaking so violently after his first battle, the pots were rattling next to his trembling feet. His captain heard it and thought an earthquake was happening," Lora clarified.

"Bah, baseless lies," Parslo grinned. 

Evin's attention was slipping at this point, sleep washing over his head. 

"Well, the boy should take a break now," Parslo said. "I know you're in a hurry, but take at least a couple hours' worth of sleep. You'll never know when you're going suddenly drop unconscious by overworking yourself. I'll send word to Khuutam city and ask if they could send the Godling's blessings over."

<I'll wake you up if something happens,> Endra said. <You've been awake since yesterday, so it's really no wonder if you suddenly drop on the road.>