Chapter Twenty-four

 

Stern was glad to see a group of others waiting in the temple. The body was obviously a dwarven male as it glowed with golden light. The sisters of the temple all moved to the altar with their heads bowed. Kneeling at the altar in unison, a single note rose in perfect harmony from the six women.

 

The golden form lifted into the air and came to a stop, floating behind the slowly spinning heart. A deep, peaceful feeling permeated the room, and all eyes went to the altar. The once-fractured heart was now solid, its revolutions slowing. When it stopped spinning, the heart and body merged into each other.

 

An overwhelming presence filled the room, and everyone held their breath for that moment, unable to do anything. The golden light vanished, leaving Louis Adecer reborn. The presence vanished as Louis opened his brown eyes. The sisters rose to their feet, helping guide Louis from the air above the altar down to stand beside them.

 

“Welcome back,” the acolytes greeted the reborn man with wide smiles.

 

“Louis!” a woman cried out and rushed to hug him.

 

A few feet behind her, a young boy watched with wide eyes. “Poppa?”

 

Louis blinked as he squeezed the woman back fiercely, tears spilling from his eyes. When the child spoke, his eyes widened and he stared at him. “Have I... been gone so long?” The question was choked out.

 

The woman sobbed, but let him go, kneeling and waving the child forward. “Samuel, this is your poppa.”

 

The young boy went to his mother slowly, looking at the well-armored dwarf with wide eyes. “Hello, Poppa.”

 

Louis fell to his knees, his arms out as he continued to cry. “Hello, my boy,” he said as he hugged his son gently.

 

“I named him like we talked about... after your father,” the woman sniffled.

 

Cyra sniffled, too, wiping at her face. Trish was choked up, but managed to keep her emotions in check. The surprise was Cammie and Vulk, both of whom had to clear their throats and look away.

 

The majority of the priestesses went back to tending the wounded, but one of them stayed beside the family, surreptitiously wiping her own tears away.

 

Stern felt the sadness and joy, and latched onto the joy, as it was what he wanted to feel above everything else. He knew this scene wasn’t unheard of, and it was the very thing he wanted to see: a family being reunited.

 

It took a few minutes, but in time, the sister introduced the group to Louis and his family.

 

“We can never thank you enough,” Louis’ wife told them. “I’ve been waiting so long.”

 

“Thank you,” Samuel said, staring at them.

 

“Did you bring all of me out?” Louis asked after thanking them.

 

“Just the last shard,” Stern said. “The others were picked up before we got to the city.” He paused, then added, “It’s been a year since you’ve been waiting on the last shard.”

 

Louis’ wife, Stephanie, gasped. “A year for the last shard?”

 

“Yeah. Other shards have more money being offered for them. We took the two longest that we could pull out.”

 

“Two?” Louis asked, trying to focus on anything that wasn’t as bleak.

 

“We pulled out the last shard for Amelia Haman, too.”

 

“Mel? She died, too?” Louis asked.

 

“We’re going to start her rebirth shortly,” the priestess said.

 

“She was part of your crew?” Trish asked.

 

“Yes, she was our trap finder. If I died and she died, did anyone make it out?” Louis asked.

 

“Roberto and Dwayne,” Stephanie told him. “They told me about it and also said they’d increase the payout for your shards.” Her face set, eyes narrowing. “Which they obviously didn’t do.”

 

“You’d have to check with the guild,” Trish said softly. “It’s possible that they did, but others increased the other shards even more.”

 

Louis sighed. “I’ll have to see what happened to them.” Shaking his head, he shook their hands one more time. “Thank you again, Walkers. I’m done being one of you. I have a family to support now.”

 

Stephanie grabbed his arm and took Samuel’s hand with her free one. “Thank you. Let me show you our home, Louis.”

 

“Momma, can we get sugar cones on the way home?” Samuel asked.

 

Stephanie looked away. “I’m sorry, Honey... we can’t right now.”

 

Cammie stepped forward and held out a large copper. “Take him. This day should be a big celebration for him. Today…” she paused, clearly trying to master herself. “Today, he got his father back.”

 

Louis met her eyes, then took the offered coin. “We will. Thank you. I hope your pain is met with such solace in time.”

 

The family left, leaving the crew with the priestess. She excused herself and went to get the ritual started for the next rebirth.

 

“Cammie?” Cyra asked softly, touching the dwarf’s shoulder.

 

“Later, please?” Cammie whispered. “We were going to train.”

 

“Yes,” Vulk grunted, stone-faced. “Training.”

 

Trish exchanged a glance with Stern, who started heading for the door. “Training, it is,” Trish said.

 

~*~*~

 

Training was different— Vulk was more aggressive than normal, and Cammie would blank out at times. By the end of it, both of them had started to calm down. They went back to the inn, separating to do what each wanted to do.

 

Stern, Trish, and Cyra were in the large bathing room. They’d been quiet, each lost in their own thoughts. Stern looked up as he toweled off to take stock of the two women he loved, thinking about what it might be like in the future if the crew failed and people died.

 

Cyra chewed her lip, but she caught his gaze. She gave him a timid smile. “Do you think it was their father and mother?”

 

“Huh?” Stern asked, jerked out of his own thoughts.

 

“Cammie and Vulk. Do you think both of their parents are fractured?”

 

“Not sure,” Trish said, joining the conversation. “Mother, maybe. Cammie’s said they need money for her.”

 

“Obviously not down in these tiers,” Stern said. “Has to be higher up, where the cost of shards goes up sharply.”

 

“Yeah. That was my thought, too.”

 

“But what about their father, then?” Cyra asked.

 

“Only they know and they aren’t talking about it,” Stern sighed. “Cammie knows we’re interested in hearing their story, but she obviously wants to wait on telling us.”

 

“We can only be here for them,” Trish said, dropping her towel and pulling Cyra into a hug. “I understand you wanting to help.”

 

Cyra exhaled. “I do. She was in so much pain during the reunion.”

 

“She and Vulk both were,” Stern agreed. “We’ll hear about it in time. After they tell us, maybe we’ll be able to help them.”

 

“I think Vulk will end up drunk again tonight,” Trish said softly. “I won’t fault him if he does.”

 

Stern considered it, then nodded. “If what we think is true, yeah.”

 

“Maybe let Cammie know so she doesn’t yell at him?” Cyra suggested.

 

“Yeah. I’ll pull her aside and have a quick word,” Trish said. “Should we try holding a dinner tonight?”

 

“Let’s see what they want to do,” Stern said as he began to dress.

 

~*~*~

 

When they made it back to the room, Cammie was there, sitting on the sofa. Pawly was in her lap, enjoying the petting Cammie was giving her. Cammie jerked a little when the door opened, then looked back down at Pawly. “Welcome back.”

 

“Thanks,” Stern said. “Has she been keeping you company?”

 

“Ever since I got back from my bath,” Cammie said. “As soon as I sat down, she was in my lap.”

 

“She can feel when people she likes are in distress,” Stern said. “We were talking about a crew dinner. Are you and Vulk interested?”

 

Cammie’s face flickered through a few emotions. Stern blinked against the onslaught of the tangled ball.

 

“Vulk won’t join us tonight,” Cammie finally said tightly, anger burning in her gut.

 

“We thought he might go out and drink,” Trish said, sitting beside Cammie. “We can’t fault him. We think it has to do with your family and the rebirth.”

 

Cammie’s head snapped up, and she stared at them before snorting. “Kind of obvious, wasn’t it?”

 

“Yes, but we don’t know what it is,” Cyra said as she sat on Cammie’s other side. “We’ll wait to hear it, but we want you to know that you aren’t alone.”

 

Cammie swallowed, her anger turning to ash as sorrow— deep, heart-wrenching sorrow— filled her. “Mo… mother…” She trailed off as tears dripped from her eyes.

 

“Fractured?” Stern asked, moving to sit on the table across from Cammie.

 

Cammie’s head jerked up and down.

 

“That’s what we thought. I take it she didn’t have a recovery fund?”

 

“Too small,” Cammie whispered as she cried.

 

Pawly meowed softly and wiggled, showing her belly to Cammie.

 

“Pawly—” Trish began, going to admonish the cat for trying to trick Cammie.

 

“No,” Stern cut Trish off softly. “Cammie, she’s offering you her rarest gift. She wants to make you feel better.”

 

Cammie blinked down at Pawly as her tears began to fall faster. “Belly rubs, huh?” With a tentative hand, Cammie stroked Pawly’s belly. Sniffling, she cleared her throat. “Mother died in the Winterspring dungeon.”

 

“Platinum tier,” Stern nodded. “What about her crew?”

 

“All of them,” Cammie whispered. “Full wipe.”

 

“Shit...” Stern whispered. “How long ago?”

 

“Five years ago.”

 

“Your father?” Trish asked softly.

 

“We didn’t have one. Mother… only told us he left. We asked if he fractured, and she said no.”

 

“I know what it’s like to not have a father,” Cyra said, placing her hand on Cammie’s arm. “Both of my parents died looking for new dungeons when I was too young to remember them. It was how I came to be with Gran.”

 

Cammie blinked slowly, her hand still stroking Pawly’s belly. “Oh...”

 

“I almost lost my family the same way,” Stern added. “My father, three mothers, and their two best friends are a crew. Only Dad made it back from a dungeon once. I was that close to being without any of my parents. It took him months to assemble another crew to go in and start pulling them out.”

 

Cammie looked up at him. “Really?”

 

“Yeah. It’s why I want to pull as many people out as possible. I want all the families to be whole again.”

 

Pawly meowed, getting Cammie to look down at her. The cat reached up and hugged Cammie’s head with her large paws.

 

Cammie sniffled and lowered her head.

 

Pawly pulled her down to hug her better, then began grooming Cammie’s face.

 

“See? All of us are here for you,” Trish said.

 

“Vulk… drinks because he thinks it’s his fault,” Cammie whispered. “He was being a pain just before Mother left for her run, and he said we’d be better off without her. Then, she didn’t come home.”

 

“Shit...” Stern breathed out. “That scar has to be deep.”

 

“It's still a raw wound,” Cammie said. “I’m not sure he’ll keep being a Walker once we get the money to help increase her payment.”

 

“What about you?” Cyra asked.

 

“I don’t know…” Cammie trailed off, lifting her head when Pawly let her go. “Thanks, Pawly.”

 

Pawly chuffed, then rolled off her lap.

 

“Today has been a rough one,” Stern said softly. “Why don’t we order some dinner and call it a day?”

 

“That sounds good,” Cammie said, wiping her face.

 

“We’ll be going to Amelia’s rebirth tomorrow,” Trish said. “You okay for that, Cammie?”

 

“I’ll be better.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Can we ask about fish for Pawly?” Cammie asked. “I want to thank her for being here for me.”

 

Pawly chuffed and bumped into her leg.

 

“Of course,” Stern said, standing up. “I’ll go let the bartender know.”