Deygo prodded aimlessly at the fire as he watched the two women sleeping on the floor. He sighed while he contemplated how he had arrived at this current situation.
How long ago had it all begun? It seemed like years. Well, it had been years. It had started when he’d met her, after Origin. She had been lying semi-comatose on the ground outside an obliterated building. He had been wandering listlessly about after finding his family dead and his home destroyed by the effects of Libitina. Nursing this woman back to health had given his troubled mind something other than his loss to think about.
Once her health was regained, they traveled together, searching for others who might have survived. They became… They… He hesitated in his thoughts, not wanting to face the truth of their history together. It does not matter now, he thought. It’s done and over. Now he was here to collect her, to take her back to Veymos, his current (and her former) boss.
He had begun this mission unsure of himself, doubting the reasoning and motives behind Veymos’ wishes. Veymos had sensed Deygo’s uneasiness and had sent two guards with him, to make sure the job got done. Soon after starting out on the assignment, Deygo had taken the liberty of “forcibly eliminating” this nuisance, and had expected full repercussions to hit him quickly. These had never come. In fact, he hadn’t heard a word from Veymos since he had killed the guards. This, however, did not mean that he wasn’t being watched.
Deygo had taken advantage of this reprieve of company and duty to spend time searching his mind and soul for answers to questions that had begun to plague him constantly. Why was he continuing to work for Veymos, a man he despised and blamed for her disappearance? Why did he pretend to still hate her so much? Just who was he, really – certainly not the man Veymos had made him?
After many months of wandering and thinking, he had finally come to some sort of uneasy peace. He would find her and take her back to Veymos. This he loathed to do, but he was never one to leave a job unfinished or abandon his duty, no matter what or to whom it may be. But after that, he would leave Veymos’ service and never return. He would try to redeem himself – to balance his karma, so to speak. But how would he go do it? What would it take to repay a debt as large as his?
It was at this point in his journey that he had come across these two women in the woods. At first, he took them to be idiots, or at least ignorants. After even a moment’s observation, it was obvious that they would not survive long by themselves. He did not know where they had come from, or how they had managed to escape Libitina, but it was quite clear they needed help – his help. He took their sudden appearance and lack of competence as a sign from the Goirteh1 that this was where he should begin to repay his debts. So he had gone to them. And had gotten himself promptly beaten over the head with a stick by that one – the destructive one, RK, Demon of Chaos. He sighed. Just what had he gotten himself into?
RK stirred restlessly in her sleep, then turned over and settled again. Deygo watched her and Mars a moment more then got up, stoked the fire, gathered his things, and silently left the women to their slumber.
1 On Etuua, the Goirteh can be equated with Gods. Goirteh is plural, Goireh is singular.
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