Chapter Thirteen: Fight
The thing about dulling your feelings was that it allowed you to see some things with more clarity and others became hazy with your neglect. Sorrin knew this, probably better than anyone at this point. He’d dulled some feelings and heightened others until he wasn’t sure what he was seeing clearly anymore and what was just happening to him, but he did know one thing for sure, and that was that the Camadors had to be stopped.
Everything was in place. The reinforcements from Halphia and the other Senators had arrived, and everyone was on edge, waiting to see what would happen next. They were armed and armored in the way that used to be second nature to Sorrin, and it was so strange to form up with them, just like he had in the old days.
It was an odd sense of living a moment more than once, though he was on a different end of it now, standing in line while someone else delivered the motivational speech and rallied everyone together.
Halphia found his eyes as she stood next to her new commander, the one who had replaced him, and Sorrin let her look at his face. He imagined that he looked tired, perhaps weary, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. Sorrin just wanted this to be done.
He hadn’t had much time to talk to his old friend since she’d been here. This wasn’t a social visit, after all. She’d come with a purpose, and Sorrin meant to see this through to the end. There would, ideally, be time to talk later, but he was more than a little aware that this could be the last time he ever saw her.
Halphia was too valuable to send into battle. Especially this battle, so she wouldn’t be going in with them, and that was of some comfort.
Now, if only he knew where Abby was.
Sorrin was angry with her, yes. He was angrier than he thought he could be at someone for something like that, but there was still a very large part of him that didn’t want her to get hurt. He knew she would be here for the battle. The grudge she held against the Camadors was real, and it was strong. They’d taken things from her, different things than they’d taken from him, of course, but still. She had reason to want to see them destroyed.
And she had a role to play in this plan. When Halphia had asked if she would be leading the humans out of the city, Sorrin had simply inclined his head. He knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that Abby would still do her job here.
So he told himself that he didn’t need to worry about it, even though that was, as Abby was so fond of saying, easier said than done.
He forced his thoughts away from her and turned his attention back to the rousing speech from the commander, trying to feel the motivation he was trying to impart. Sorrin remembered how the words from the man up front could make even the most fearful new recruit suddenly believe in themselves. He remembered giving those speeches himself back when things were different, trying to get fired up for the fight. He remembered the one he gave before the battle with the Camadors four years ago.
Sorrin stepped forward.
“I’d like to say something.”
The current commander looked confused until he recognized Sorrin, but he looked to Halphia for guidance. Halphia nodded her head graciously. “Of course, Sorrin. After all, you were there the last time.”
People began to murmur amongst themselves as he stepped out of the ranks and made his way to the front of the lines. Now that he was up there, all the words he’d thought of saying flew out of his head, and he just looked for a moment. Much like the squad he had commanded, the warriors here were from all walks of life. Different clans were represented, different races. Some he recognized from being native to the Independent colonies, such as they were, and some that had to have come from further reaches of the galaxy, brought together by their dedication to a cause.
They were all so fresh faced, so young looking. He knew that they’d passed all the same tests that he had to get to this point, and that they were trained as well as they could be, but Sorrin also knew that sometimes that wasn’t enough, and that was what he wanted to tell them.
“My name is Sorrin,” he said finally. “And like Senator Halphia said, I was at the attack on the Camadors four years ago. In fact, I led the attack on the Camadors four years ago. I stood in a position very much like this one, and I gave a rousing speech very much like the one your commander just gave. I wanted my people to be at their best. I wanted them on fire with the need to see this battle to the end. I wanted them to believe they could do it. And in the end, that was where everything went wrong. You see, those of us who have been in charge, we stand here and we tell you that you have to fight, that you have to win, that victory is the only condition that matters. I’m not going to stand here and say that they’re wrong, that we’re wrong, but there is something else to consider. Survival. Caution. Going back home to your families at the end of the fight. You can give something your all and still die. You can think you know everything about an opponent and still be surprised by the outcome. Nothing is certain. I don’t say this to send you in with fear, but with knowledge. Four years ago, we fought the Camadors and very few of us lived. We thought we knew everything we needed to know and that our strength was enough, but it wasn’t. So just remember that caution is as worthy as valor, and I hope to see you all on the other side of this.”
He blinked, surprised that he’d spoken so much. Halphia put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and he went to take his place back in the lines, not looking at the others. Sorrin didn’t want to see pity on their faces. He just wanted to get this done.
The lines moved out. Halphia fell into step with Sorrin as they moved, and she leaned in close to him. "I'm proud of you, you know," she murmured as they walked.
Sorrin didn't look at her, just smiled shortly. "You shouldn't be."
Halphia didn't argue, and Sorrin could imagine the serene smile that would be on her face. For someone who loved peace as much as she did, she was surprisingly comfortable in times of war. She marched in the lines like she belonged there, and Sorrin was proud of her, too.
"We'll have the element of surprise," she remarked next.
"I hope so." His mind was on Abby and her betrayal, however reluctant. If the Camadors had been watching her, then there was a chance that they knew their entire plan and this would end badly.
"You don't think so?"
Sorrin turned his head and looked into those too perceptive eyes. She wanted his honest opinion, and she also knew something was going on. Something more than what he was saying. But she wasn't going to press him for the information, and he was pleased about that.
"We'll be fine," he said finally.
The floating city loomed in the distance, the sun reflecting on the shiny metal dome at the bottom. The ladder was still there, leading up into the city, and it was just like them to leave it there, a testament to their arrogance. For one wild moment, Sorrin felt like he had four years ago. He wanted to climb that ladder rashly and burst in, his gun in one hand, sword in the other. But he was older now, and he had learned better, so he made himself stay with the group.
The guards were on the wall, as usual, and it was they who had captured Sorrin the last time he had attempted to gain entry into their city. Now they had a plan for them.
There were five in all, spread out in intervals around the circular wall that guarded the city proper. The commander lifted a hand, and five of the best snipers the colonies had to offer slunk off into their positions. One sniper for each guard.
They'd discussed this, of course. Each guard had to fall at the same time. If one fell before the others, then they would sound the alarm, and it would all be ruined. Caution, Sorrin thought. It was of the essence here.
The commander lifted his hand higher, and no one dared to make a sound. None of the guards had a good view of the ground from up there, and they mostly just watched the perimeter. One of the things about being unbearably arrogant was that it made it hard to imagine that anyone could break through and gain entrance into the city.
Hopefully they were going to show them the price of that mistake.
No one breathed it seemed until the commander lowered his hand in a downward slash that was the cue for the snipers to fire. Their shots were already lined up, fingers on the triggers of their guns, and no sooner had the commander dropped his hand than the blasts went off, silent and deadly streaking towards their targets in jets of silvery green energy.
The impacts made no sound either, but one by one the guards fell, holes burned into their chests.
No one moved for several seconds, waiting to see if there would be any sort of alarm raised from someone seeing what had just happened. When it was all silent, they moved to phase two of the plan.
"We're going in in waves," the commander said. "First line, then second, then third. Take out anyone you see, no questions asked. There are prisoners here, humans, and who knows what else. Getting them out is not our priority."
Sorrin frowned, but then a cleared throat caught his attention. He turned, and the sight of a Camador woman standing there nearly made them all reach for their weapons. Sorrin recognized her just as Abby stepped around her, hands lifted.
"It's alright," she said. "Kaleth is a friend."
The so named Kaleth snorted. "You assume much, human."
Abby rolled her eyes, and it was such an Abby thing that it momentarily made Sorrin ache. She looked...different. There had always been something heavy and worn about her, ever since the moment they met, even though she tried her best to deflect it with humor and bravado. Now it was worse. She looked somehow thinner, and her eyes were bloodshot and heavy, dark circles ringing them as if she hadn't been sleeping. It had only been a week since the last time he'd seen her, and he wanted to pull her closer and demand to know why she wasn't taking care of herself.
Instead, he focused on the plan.
"There are reinforcements coming," Abby was saying, and if she was nervous to speak in front of a veritable army of aliens, she didn't show it. "Kaleth and I will go up with one of your lines and rescue the prisoners."
"We won't be able to protect you," the commander said, visibly dismissive of Abby, more than likely because she was a human.
"That is fine," Kaleth said, and her voice was melodious as always, but sharp. "I can protect her and the others just fine."
"And why should we trust you?"
For a moment, Sorrin thought the words had come out of his own mouth.
Kaleth shrugged. "She trusts me," she said, pointing to Abby. "And I do not want to see my people rule this planet. That is all you need to know."
"It's okay," Abby said. "She's on our side."
And whose side are you on? Sorrin thought, but he kept his mouth closed.
"Have it your way," the commander said. "You'll go in with the second and third lines. First line, move."
The warriors in the front saluted, and Sorrin saw that they were the most experienced, the strongest and best with their weapons. They were the first wave, the ones who would break through any defenses the Camadors might have. The second wave was more of the newer warriors, the ones who were getting their legs for the first time and who might not have seen battles like this before. The third was a mix of the two, ready to clean up any messes. Sorrin was in the third line, and he was ready.
Up and up they climbed, hand over hand on the strange metallic ladder. The sounds of fighting could already be heard from above, and Sorrin's heart was pounding as he moved. Somewhere behind him was Abby, climbing with them, ready to throw herself into danger to save people. To try and make things right.
That's all any of them could try to do, honestly.
It wasn't at all like the last time he had done this. That had been night, the sky heavy and dark. The screams of the dying had been a grisly background to everything that went wrong.
Now it was day, mid afternoon to be exact, and there were still screams, but most of them were the shrill, unpleasant sound that the Camadors made when they stopped being so beautiful. It was actually something to see, and all around them as they vaulted over the edge and landed in the city, the Camadors were now ugly, twisted things.
Gone were the perfect faces and tumbles of shiny hair, and in their place were scales, thick and grey spreading from their faces down their necks and over their arms, claws that jutted out from their fingers, sharp teeth, like fangs, and eyes that glowed red with fury. They hissed and screeched, sending balls of flame flying from their fingers even as others tried to claw the eyes out of some of their opponents.
Core powers. They hadn't known the Camadors possessed such things all those years ago. They'd taken them at face value with those serene faces and placid smiles, and they'd suffered for it. Now, they wouldn't be so hasty.
From the looks of it, the battle was going in their favor. Some of the warriors were wounded, the Camadors were very fast, but most of them were fighting hard, chopping down the enemy as they pushed through towards the tallest building in the floating city.
"That's where she is," a voice said behind him, and Sorrin turned to see Abby standing there. "The Caran, I mean. If you...I mean, if you were looking for someone to blame for what happened to your people." She looked uncertain, and she didn't wait for Sorrin to say anything, probably fearing the worst.
Instead she answered Kaleth's impatient beckoning, and the two of them slipped through the fighting, heading for that shining beacon in the center of the city.
That was where they had escaped from weeks ago, where the prisoners were kept. The official plan had been to try and break enough of the Caran's forces that she'd be forced to surrender, but Sorrin wasn't so sure that would work.
"I'm pushing towards the stronghold, there!" he called out.
The commander faltered for a moment, and Sorrin could see the struggle. He wanted to tell Sorrin to stick to the plan, but he had no command over him. So instead he just nodded and motioned for a handful of warriors to follow.
Together, they fought their way through.
Abby and Kaleth were nowhere to be seen once they reached the stronghold, but the sprung open cells were signs that they had indeed been through there. Sorrin didn't know if the prisoners were all human or if the Camadors had some manner of collection of them, but they were being freed, which would only make the Caran angrier.
Good. He wanted to fight her when she was angry because he was angry, too.
He caught a flash of Abby's bright hair on the next floor, and looked to see her crouched down, speaking to a handful of human women who looked like they were dazed to be rescued. She pointed towards the way out, and Kaleth helped them out of the cell.
Sorrin was still waiting for her to betray them.
For a moment, Sorrin and Abby's eyes met across the hall, and she wavered for a moment, looking like there was something she wanted to say. But she didn't say anything, instead moving on, flitting up to the next level on swift feet.
From outside the sound of the reinforcements arriving was comforting. This was already longer than his comrades had survived the last time they'd fought the Camadors. Perhaps this would work after all. Sorrin kept moving.
Three Camadors moved to oppose him as he made his way to the next floor. They hadn't changed yet, so they were still beautiful, standing there in their white clothes.
"Stop," the man called out, lifting a hand. "You will go no farther."
"You will not stop me," Sorrin said, and he had his sword flashing through the air in no time. He cut one of them down easily, and then whirled on another, slashing her across the middle while her face twisted and her hands came up. He could see the heat gathering there, and he killed her before she had a chance to kill him.
The last of them, a white haired male, screeched, and he launched himself at Sorrin, claws pointed out, ready to slice his face to bits. Sorrin braced himself and let the creature's momentum drive him down the blade of his sword.
A sort of serenity filled him at that last kill, and he knew, deep inside himself, that he could do this. He could win this fight. Sorrin wasn’t the same as he’d been before, and now it was a good thing. He shook the male’s dying form away from his sword and kept moving. The sounds of fighting were all around now, both outside the stronghold and within, but he was focused on the goal he had in his head. Getting to the Caran.
The main room of the stronghold seemed to be where they were keeping all of their prisoners. Sorrin skidded inside and saw that Kaleth was fiercely defending Abby who was working open the cages with a key they'd clearly taken from a dead guard.
"Traitor," one of the women that Kaleth was fighting hissed. "You are a disgrace to our kind."
"And you will be dead soon," Kaleth snapped, her face twisted, her fingernails elongated, and fire shot out, slamming right into her opponent, who screamed and screeched as she died. All around them, the humans seemed to be terrified and confused, and Abby worked quickly, trying to soothe them and get them to move at the same time so that they wouldn't get caught in the fighting.
"Go faster!" Kaleth hissed, trying to fend off two at a time.
"I'm going as fast as I can," Abby shouted back.
"No!" screamed one of the human men in the cells. "This is wrong. They will destroy us for this!"
Sorrin pitied him, that he'd rather stay locked away than risk the wrath of the Camadors who would surely not care for his wellbeing one way or the other.
"They would destroy you anyway," Kaleth said, dispatching both of her opponents with a flourish. "Do you really think a deal with my kind would keep you safe?"
"She promised!" cried one of the women. "We would be safe. She would let us go!"
"That's right," Abby said, anger clear in her tone. "She'd let you go and then you'd have been her slave forever. Death might be kinder. Now come on."
She wrenched the door open, and Sorrin noticed that for all their complaining, they still followed her out. He had to wonder if the anger and bitterness in her voice was directed at the prisoners or herself, but he didn't really have time to dwell on it.
As soon as the last of the humans had disappeared out the door and Abby and Kaleth were going to follow, the door against the other side of the wall slammed open and a tall, refined, inhumanly beautiful woman stepped into the room.
She was a study in cream and gold and red, and judging from the way she carried herself, and how she walked into the room like she owned it, she had to be the Caran.
Abby's eyes went wide and she shrank back, looking more afraid than he'd ever seen her look before, so Sorrin was fairly certain that his guess was correct. His instinct was to go and put himself between her and the Camador woman, but he stayed rooted to the spot, waiting to see.
"Tsk," the woman said, clicking her tongue. "This will not do."
Her voice was the sweetest music Sorrin had ever heard, and he had to blink to keep himself from leaning in closer to hear more of it. That wasn't what he was here for.
She waved a hand, and those guards who were left stopped fighting immediately, turning to look at and bow to their leader before every single one of them dropped to the floor, prostrating themselves with their arms outstretched and their foreheads pressed to the ground. "Caran," they murmured, voices like a song.
"Better," she said. "Now. I am very disappointed in you." Her eyes landed squarely on Abby, and Sorrin bristled when the blood drained from Abby's face.
"In me?"
"Yes, you. I gave you a simple enough task, I thought. And I thoroughly warned you what would happen should you fail or betray me, did I not? It's as if you were not even listening. Or as if you did not even care about the fate of your planet. Your friends, your family. All of them will die, and we will make sure that they know it is the fault of one stupid little human girl who couldn't even do one thing right."
“I won’t be your pawn!” Abby shouted, hands clenched into fists. “I won’t betray my people. Or...or anyone else.”
Sorrin saw how hard it was for her to keep her eyes from flitting in his direction. He wanted to just assume that most of her words were for show and keep a hold on his anger at her, but it was hard. Abby was a sincere sort of person, he knew that by now, and he knew that it must have hurt her to lie to him. He glanced away.
“Oh, please,” the Caran said, looking bored. “Do not tell me you’ve gone and started to care for one of these brutes. Do you actually believe a creature like this could actually care for you back?”
It didn’t even seem like she knew who Abby was talking about, she was just insulting in a general area, knowing she’d hit someone. The lax way she went about it didn’t make anything better.
“And you, Kaleth,” the Caran continued, turning her gaze to the dark haired woman who had been fighting for them. “If possible, you are an even larger disappointment. I do not expect humans to understand true power when they see it, dull and uninspired creatures that they are, but I expected better from one of my own. What is it, Kaleth? What did they say to you to make you betray me?”
Kaleth was trembling from head to toe, and Sorrin thought it was rage at first, before he noticed that she was trying not to sink into the same bow that the rest of her kind in the room were in. Sorrin could only imagine how it had been carved into her head that the level of respect she was meant to show her leader was non-negotiable, and standing in defiance to it now was actually something he could respect. Creators, what was happening to him? Sympathizing with a Camador. What would come next?
“You have forgotten yourself, Kaleth. You have forgotten what it means to be one of us. Kneel, Kaleth, and perhaps your punishment will not be so harsh.”
She spoke in a mock soothing voice, clearly meant to make Kaleth believe her, and Sorrin watched, waiting to see what she’d do. He wasn’t foolish enough to try and attack the Caran right now while she was holding court and had several of her guards surrounding her. That would be suicide, but he held his sword ready, fingers wrapped tightly around the hilt. He wanted nothing more than to kill her and have done with it. But apparently this production had to play out first. If Kaleth knelt to the Caran, then at least they would know she hadn’t truly been on their side. Or at least that she was easily swayed.
For her part, Kaleth seemed to be resisting as hard as she could. Her body shook, and there was blood running down her fingers where they were clenched into fists from her nails biting into her palms. She took a deep, shuddering breath, and instead of kneeling, she lifted her chin. She held the Caran’s gaze with defiance, and then spat right in the woman’s striking face.
For what felt like a long time, no one moved. No one even dared to breathe, waiting to see what the Caran would do. Such disrespect was clearly not tolerated, and Sorrin wondered if anyone had ever dared to do anything like that before. If they had, they probably hadn’t lived for very long afterwards.
Slowly, the Caran’s face began to change. It morphed from the lovely and terrifying mask it had been into something even more horrifying. It was clear why she was the leader when she changed, her claws were longer, as were her fangs, and her eyes burned red with fire. The screech she let out shook them all to the bones, and Sorrin had to resist the urge to drop his sword so he could clap his hands over his ears and block out the sound. It was terrible to hear and the Caran was terrible to look at, rearing up to her full height and moving to attack.
Kaleth defended herself, meeting her in the middle, and the screeching just grew worse.
Abby was too close. Sorrin could see that. She tried to back away, but with the guards prostrate all around, there wasn’t much room for her to maneuver.
The Caran knocked Kaleth back and then whirled on Abby, glowing red eyes searing into her. “You,” she said, and her voice nearly echoed with her power and fury. “You did this. Humans are a poison, a disease, and you all deserve to die. It will begin with you.” She reached out, and fire gathered at her fingertips, growing and growing until it was a veritable wall of flame.
Abby looked stunned, and she was rooted to the spot for the moment, either from fear or shock or some other paralyzing emotion. Sorrin saw her mouth form the word ‘no’ and then the word ‘help’, and he was running.
Time seemed to slow down for him as he ran, pushing past anyone who was in his way. He knocked down the guards who had remembered their purpose and were getting up to stop him, and he moved past Kaleth, also picking herself up off the ground. As he watched, the flame left the Caran’s fingers, and the seconds seemed to stretch endlessly, measured by the frantic beats of Sorrin’s heart as he pushed his way forward and managed to knock Abby back and out of the way. The flames rushed past him, singeing his nose a bit with how close they came, and then slammed into the back wall, blackening it.
Sorrin breathed a sigh of relief as everything kicked back to normal speed for him. “Stay here,” he said to Abby.
“Sorrin? But—”
“Stay. Here,” he said, hopefully making it clear that he was serious about this. If anything happened to her, if she put herself in danger unnecessarily again... He didn’t want to think about it. Sorrin closed the door on the maelstrom of feelings swirling around in him, and he focused on one thing.
This was the woman, the thing, the twisted, evil creature, who had led the assault on his people. When Gollen Par had burned, she’d been at the helm of the attack. She’d probably enjoyed it. It seemed like the sort of thing she would do, burn an entire city just for her own sick amusement. They hadn’t even recovered the bodies of most of the fallen who had died in this city, and Sorrin didn’t want to know what she’d done with them. He didn’t want to know anything except how it would feel to stand over her body and know it was done. For four years, this had been his mission. Revenge had been his motivation, the only thing keeping him going. It had taken the person he’d used to be and turned him into this, and while he’d once wanted to die at the end of this mission, now he wanted to live. He wanted to have that moment of victory, of knowing that he didn’t have to live with this hanging over him anymore.
Sorrin was going to win.
He stepped forward, sword lifted up. His blaster had been discarded somewhere, but that was fine. He could win this with one weapon.
The Caran snorted. “And what do you plan to do here?” she asked, not seeming to care one bit about the sword in her face.
“Kill you,” Sorrin replied, and he began to fight.
Honestly, when he looked back, he wouldn’t even remember the individual moments of the fight. He wouldn't remember the moves he made or the moves that the Caran made. The parries, the dodges, the strikes all blended into each other, becoming a blur of motion that never stopped. His heart races and his breath burned in his lungs, sweat and smoke clouding his senses.
Above it all was the sound of his heartbeat and the way his body moved, muscle memory taking over and allowing his head to focus on the only thing that mattered.
He got wounded, he knew that, sharp hurts that bled and stung, but he couldn't focus on that, either. There was no time. No time for anything but pressing forward again and again.
Sorrin saw the moment when she realized that she had lost. When the fury filled those eyes to the brim and she began to lash out in anger. That was her mistake. One flash of his sword, and Sorrin had sliced off one of her hands, the metal cutting easily through the fine bones of her wrist. One more flash, and he was removing her head, whirling his body through the motion.
When it fell, no one said anything for a beat, and then the guards launched themselves forward. Sorrin thought that perhaps this was the end of him. He was exhausted and aching, and his breath was stuttering in his chest, and if they all fell on him at once, then it would be all over. Not the worst way to go, by far, but...
Before he had time to contemplate that too much, the doors burst open and more warriors poured in, engaging the rest of the guards and leaving Sorrin unharmed.
He slumped back against the wall, one hand pressed to his chest.
It was finished.
In the aftermath of the battle, there was plenty to do. Some of the Camadors had escaped the city when the fighting began in earnest, and they would need to be hunted down. Kaleth was the only one who would be spared, in light of the fact that no one would spit in the Caran's face unless they truly meant to stand against her. Abby glared at anyone who dared question her, demanding that the Camador get medical attention along with everyone else who was wounded.
Amazingly, she was fine. Kaleth had defended her, and no one had managed to lay a hand on her. Most of the other humans were fine, as well, and the human military took over where they were concerned, promising to get them back to their families as soon as possible.
The floating city was a flurry of movement, and Halphia climbed on board as soon as it had been deemed safe.
No one had tried to make Sorrin move from his spot, slumped down against the wall. Maybe they'd seen him fight the Caran, maybe they knew who he was, maybe they had orders to leave him alone. Either way, aside from a few curious glances, people were leaving him be.
Halphia came right over to him, though, and sat down beside him on the floor, heedless of how dirty it was with soot and blood.
"You need to be seen to," she said.
"I know," Sorrin replied.
"Are you alright?" she asked, and that was his friend Halphia asking, not the Senator.
He turned his head to look at her, and her eyes were full of concern. "I don't know," he answered truthfully. "It's finished."
"It is finished," she agreed. "Finally. You did what you said you would do."
"Yes."
"And now you feel strange."
"Yes. Empty, I think."
She nodded her head. "You need a new purpose."
"I suppose so."
"But that can wait. Right now you need to go get those wounds looked at. I don't want you bleeding to death before people have time to hail you as a hero." Her smile was impish as she got to her feet, and Sorrin gave her a look of alarm.
That wasn't what he wanted. He'd just wanted to end this. Judging from the look on her face, Halphia knew that and was going to enjoy his discomfort.
There were a lot of questions still left to be answered, and they were all things only he could deal with. He had to figure out what came next for him, where he would go, what he would do. He supposed he could go back to his apartment. He could regale Caldir with stories of Earth and the fight and finally let Amalda feed him. That would be...normal.
But it didn't feel right.
He wasn't the person he'd been four years ago, but Sorrin didn't think he was the person he'd been four week ago either. With the death of the Caran, it was like a burden had been lifted from him, and he was having a hard time knowing who he was without it. He'd felt old for the last four years of his life, but he was starting to remember that actually, he wasn't, and there was plenty of living ahead of him.
How strange.
And then there was Abby.
Once she had been taken away to be looked at and examined and questioned, he hadn't seen her again. Halphia probably had questions for her, and so would her own government, since she'd played such an integral part in the battle. Sorrin didn't really know what he was going to say to her anyway. Something. Maybe he would apologize. Maybe she would.
Leaving Earth with that unfinished felt...wrong. Leaving Earth at all felt just as strange. By the time he was climbing down the ladder to the floating city for the last time, he just wanted to sleep. Too many thoughts were swirling around his head, leaving him confused and cranky.
For now, he just needed to rest.