The Last Light (The Wandering Inn, #5)

by Pirateaba

That was how Ken met the [Doctor] known as the Last Light.

Yayyyy

There had been a group of people from her world, from where she lived, perhaps from the same state, and they had lived and died so close by without her ever knowing.

Yeah, but they kind of sucked.

“What are we going to do?” “I don’t know.” “I do.”

Die, probably.

“Luan, I have an idea.” “Does it involve us risking our lives?” Ken nodded. Luan blew out his cheeks. Then he looked at the battlefield, at the wounded. “It is worth dying for?” “Nothing is worth dying for. But this—this is worth living for.”

“I warned you. This world is not yours, Geneva. There is no mercy here. No quarter. Your world is gentler, nobler, I think.” Geneva stared at the burning camp. She felt something wild, hysterical, bubbling up inside her. She laughed. “No. It’s the same. The exact same.” The same as the worst of her world. How could she have thought it would be otherwise? They bombed a hospital. Just like her country had. They attacked the wounded. Just like they did during the war. Every war. Snipers shooting medics. It was exactly the same.

Geneva lay on the ground, blood pooling on the ground as her camp—and her cause—burned down around her.

Ah, beans.

Something cried out to him as he opened the report and stared down at the name in ink. Yes, he could feel it. It wasn’t coincidence. It wasn’t chance. This was only the start. And everything he had witnessed, all the little pieces, they were falling into place. Something was happening. The world was beginning to move again. Behind Niers, on the chessboard, a piece slowly slid forwards and stopped.

He must marry Erin. I demand it.

Erin stared. She could do a blank stare incredibly well, and, what most people didn’t know, she could do it even when she knew what was going on. Sometimes she did it just to annoy Ryoka or Pisces. In this case, Erin knew what Ulia meant, but she bought time as the woman explained it to her in order to think.

What would you call a system where everyone was at each other’s throats, fighting for customers? Anarchy?” “How about a free market?”

Erin grabbed Mrsha as the Gnoll snuck towards the table. The Gnoll blinked up at her. “Touch the board and you will regret it.” Erin smiled pleasantly at the Gnoll, without a trace of the anger she’d directed towards Agnes and the others. She loved Mrsha, and Mrsha knew that. The Gnoll cub looked into Erin’s smiling face, turned, and ran yelping up into her room.

She danced on top of the world and showed the other player there was still sky above. Here we are. How far can we go? The game is endless. Come, dance with me. Play with me.

Now kiss.

“It looks great Lyonette, really. But why don’t you put it in your room before Ivolethe attacks? Let me know if the bee starts to move. Actually, let me know the instant it moves, okay? In fact…I’ll go down to the city right now and buy a leash.”

Yes.

Bird was shaking his head as he felt the bow with trembling hands. “It is too much. Too beautiful. I cannot take it.” “Yes, you can.” Erin made him lift the bow and try it out. The first arrow that Bird shot went halfway through the wall of her inn. Erin made him try the bow outside after that.

Since Erin had forgotten to have lunch, she had some of the sliced raw meat the Gnolls loved so much. Someday she was going to get sick from it, but it tasted really good.

The Gnoll saw Erin looking around the room, and then look towards one of Krshia’s walls. There was nothing there, but Brunkr knew that Erin was pointed northeast from the position of the setting sun in the sky. “There’s something…coming. Something bad, I think. I just feel uneasy.”

Doom.

“Ew! How does Erin serve this stuff?” “Because it works. Eat.” Revi did so, reluctantly. She kept making faces, although the blue stuff really wasn’t that bad tasting. Taste-wise, it was actually pleasant. It just had a terrible appearance, texture, consistency, and smell.

Durene edged closer and whispered in Laken’s ear. “You know I don’t mean sword, right? He was talking about his pe—” “I get it, Durene.” “So can I hit him?”

Why should what other people say or believe matter? I know who I am. That’s all I need.”

I’m blind. If I’m in a situation where a monster is close enough for me to hear or touch, I’m probably dead since running away when blind is very, very difficult.

The secret’s out of the bag. Not that I had any real hopes of keeping my class secret. But the dice have been cast. What will happen next? It’s odd, but I actually think I know.

We never tried the idea because we quarreled over sharing the harvests, but if it’s all of us working in the village together, I don’t see why not.”

Dirty commies... Kidding!

Having a half-Troll lover is a wonderful thing in many ways. But when she’s excited, Durene is fully capable of lifting me up like a kitten. And I, like kittens, do not take well to being shaken.

I left Wiskeria with that.

I'm naming my next cat Wiskeria.

Sleep is an alluring thing. Funny. Having someone I love changes that. I feel Durene’s presence when I sleep and when I wake—she’s inevitably up before I am. And because I miss that, I get up.

Nah.

“I own these lands. If you cannot accept that, I am afraid there is no place for you.

Should have said that sooner my guy.

He looks so relieved he might faint. I can see why—if a village is in dire straits, the elderly might be the first to be deemed expendable.

The fuck.

There have been epic battles waged in the name of survival between different animal groups. The duel between the lone rat and the fledgling Frostwing is not one of them.

“Stand. I see your lives like flames on the sea. You are mine. The water will not touch you. The wind cannot quench your fire. So long as I live, your fates and mine burn together. I do not give you permission to die. So stand—and show me nothing but victory.”

This feels ominous.

“It’s all happening like he said. Exactly like he said.”

I can't remember who this is...

Ivolethe tasted the sense of foreboding and premonition on the air and felt déjà vu creeping over her while she simultaneously smelled, heard, and thought of all these sensations as well. It was the feeling of destiny, of fate.

There was something disturbing about Erin. It was that when you got to know her, the innkeeper of the Wandering Inn never did normal things. In any other person, Ryoka might have assumed the small pot with the shaking lid was…something explainable. With Erin, Ryoka immediately suspected the worst.

Ryoka didn’t thank Erin for saving her or Mrsha. She looked at Erin and flicked the mana stone on the table. Then she nodded to the Razorbeak’s corpse lying just outside. “For someone who doesn’t like killing, you’re awfully good at it.” Erin’s face went white.

Fuck off, Ryoka.

There was no time. Erin hesitated, and then poured it out of the window. The slime dropped into the snow and she saw it vanish into the deep drift outside her window.

This has to be bad.

It was all chaos. It always was with Relc. But seeing him here made Erin smile. She looked at Zel and made a spur-of-the-moment decision. It wasn’t hard, and it didn’t matter much, right? There were lodestones to go around. Ivolethe watched as destiny changed.

Foliana’s eyes grew brighter, or maybe the world grew dimmer.

“Wullst, I am the [Lady] of this carriage, not you. If you would like to cross your legs, shave your beard, wear a pink dress and some rather uncomfortable undergarments, then you may sit in my place and dictate to me all the things I already know. I’ll even let you eat my cookies if you go that far. Until you are that committed, please do not presume to state the obvious.”

The outside world is a complex place to keep track of, as you well know, girl. And my descendants within the estate are hardly valuable sources of information. They spend their time lazing about, bickering, and not doing anything of worth. That inbred lot is useless to pay attention to unless I wish to keep up with ballroom gossip.” Magnolia smiled, although it was so bitter it couldn’t really be called a proper smile.

Teriarch was at the head of a virtual cookie empire that could literally bury his opponents live in cookies. He had enough cookies to fill the sea, to build himself a castle and army! He could do anything! He was a cookie god! The Dragon blinked at the tiny screen and then slowly rolled—or perhaps collapsed—onto his side. He stared at the screen. “I feel so empty.”

“Tree shit.” “Bullshit, if you will excuse my language.” Pisces and Ceria spoke at the same time. They looked at each other, and then at Yvlon. “Pig shit. Bird poo. Squirrel feces. Lizard poo. Drake poo. Excuse me. I thought we were listing excrement.” Ksmvr came over, covered in Creler goo.

Venitra, Ijvani, and Az’kerash all heard Ryoka’s muttered words as she realized that Klbkch, Xrn, Zel, Ilvriss, and the disguised pair of undead were all staring at her corner table in turns. “Oh fuck me sideways.”

Erin Solstice was having a good day. It seemed like a lot of days were good days recently, but today was excellent. She’d made a cake. She had important visitors, and she got to meet Xrn, who was really cool! And best of all—she got to play chess. Why couldn’t all days be like this?

I love Erin.

Brunkr backed up, eyes wide. He reached for a sword he didn’t have. He turned to run— Venitra twisted his neck around with a snap. Brunkr’s body jerked once. She held him up and stabbed her hand through his chest, breaking bone and skin. She dropped the Gnoll’s lifeless body. Brunkr’s open ribcage stared up at the cloudy night.

No!

“Krshia?” The Gnoll looked at Erin. She had tears in her eyes. “He is dead. My nephew, Brunkr. He is dead.” There was a hole in the world. Erin fell through.

She can apparently shoot blood from her crotch and—” What was that? “She can shoot blood from—it is what we heard, master.” There was a long silence as both Venitra and Ijvani waited. Az’kerash’s mental voice sounded peculiar when he replied. Do you mean…no. I see rumor has mixed with fact, Venitra. Try to differentiate the two.

She tapped her mouth. Regrika blinked. “What?” “It was your smile. You smiled like Mrsha does when she’s been naughty. Kids are bad liars. And so are you.”

Ryoka’s heart burst. She collapsed. Teriarch stared at Ryoka Griffin as she fell to the ground. He stared. She lay on the ground, dead. Teriarch reached out with a trembling claw and touched her. Then he opened his wings and roared.

The Drake looked at her sympathetically and shook his head. “Don’t blame yourself for everything. You couldn’t have known what was going to unfold. You took a job and the Necromancer made you pay for it. But you couldn’t have known.” “Maybe.” Ryoka looked away. She gripped her arms tightly. “Maybe you’re right. But it’s still my fault. Do you understand that?” “Of course.”

Dragons have hides stronger than diamond, and hearts softer than snow.”