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November 5 - November 18, 2025
Holy shit. I swallowed, and I held out my hand to Tipid. The man stepped forward, and he pulled me into a hug. I could barely move. I couldn’t believe it. A wave of emotion swept over me, traveling up my legs, pausing at my chest, and moving its way to my head. I suppressed a sob. “I don’t know if it’ll be enough, brother,” Tipid whispered, grasping the back of my head and putting his forehead against my own. “But we’re here. We’ve been watching, and we couldn’t watch anymore. We’re here.” “Very touchy-feely, these Crest,” Donut said.
Crawler Number 1,982,122 Asi Hamami Level 59 Fox Warrior. Carl, thank you for helping us. I have lost so much, but I still have not lost my hope.
“Hup! Hup! Hup!” the other crawlers started to chant, rising in din. “And these guys,” Milk said, her voice also rising in volume. “The former crawlers. They can’t transfer their skills, but that’s okay, don’t you think? They already gave what they could. And some gave everything they had.” They all started throwing something over the edge of the railings down upon us. Flowers and streamers. These were the white and gold flowers from the plains, from before it all started. I didn’t know where the colorful streamers had come from, but as they fell, they filled the broken city of Larracos with
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“Twenty seconds,” the Sledge announced. The Sledge turned and looked at me. “I made a difference?” “You did,” I said.
“Katia!” Donut gasped, leaping forward. We all rushed to her. Her entire right arm was gone, all the way to the shoulder. Her left leg was gone. Her right leg was gone up to the knee. She was missing an ear as well. Katia smiled sadly from the bed. “Just a few things I’ve lost along the way.” I remembered when she’d lost the ends of her fingers on her hand, all the way back on the Iron Tangle. “I had no idea,” I said. “How could you? We’ve all become experts at hiding what we’ve really lost.”
“Bye, guys,” Katia said. She raised her cybernetic, right arm and waved. And then, just like that, Katia Grimmsdottir... Art Professor. Crawler. Hero. Human. Friend. Mother. ...disappeared in a puff of smoke. “Bye, Katia,” Donut said sadly.
