KESM: Terra Quatuor Chronicles

The barrier lay quiet, except for the faint patter of rain against the dome's remnants. The attack had passed, but its echoes lingered. The soft, rhythmic drumming of water against the cracked dome sounded like fingers tapping on glass, a haunting melody reminding them that peace was never more than an illusion.

Sabbath sat slouched, the ache in his ribs still sharp. Each breath dragged him closer to lucidity, the pain, an anchor in a sea of exhaustion. Saving Hayz had cost him — he'd also endured the full brunt of the Cumulodrake's attack. Blood still clung to his tongue, metallic and bitter. 

Across from him, Jon hovered just above the ground in meditation. Carefully contemplating his next spell. Hayz leaned against a shattered rock, his breaths shallow and uneven, while Emaila knelt nearby, her trembling hands maintaining the fading shield. Angelie stared upward, her gaze lost in the faint remnants of storm clouds, her lips pressed into a thin line. 

Sabbath stared at nothing, his eyes glassy, seemingly lost in thoughts. He had simply shifted focus from one pawn to the next, for a brief moment.

Returning Sabbath then leaned forward shortly after, wincing as his ribs protested, nonetheless healing. "We need to talk."

Jon's eyes opened, his hovering form slowly settling onto the wet ground. "Talk about what?"

"This." Sabbath gestured to their ragged forms, to the fading glow of the sigils on their wrists. "About what comes after."

Jon's expression hardened. "After? You mean if we survive this mission?", finally touching the ground. His amber eyes burned with something between anger and despair. "You mean if we survive this mission?"

"Yes." Sabbath replied evenly. "I mean after. After we're free."

Jon snorted, a sharp, bitter sound. "Free? Do you honestly think freedom's waiting for us on the other side of this? We can't even walk away from this mission without forfeiting our lives!"

"We don't have a choice," Angelie interjected, her voice sharper than usual. "We have to clear our minds. Doubt and hesitation will only kill us faster."

Jon's laugh was hollow, but somehow relieved. "We've always wondered what freedom would feel like. And now, If there's one thing I've come to realise since this mission was assigned. It's that tools don't retire, they plan to have us discarded, and even if they don't. Do you think we can just walk away from this life? Pretend we're not—"

"Not what?"

Sabbath interrupted, his tone cutting through the space like a blade.

Jon's response died on his tongue, his fingers tracing Sigils at his side.

"Broken?" Sabbath continued, his voice softer now. "Damaged? Doomed?" He let out a slow breath, his gaze sweeping across the group. "We've all thought about it. About what we'll do if we make it out of this."

Those words hung in the air like a specter. No one retorted. They were simply tense from the battle, it was a truly grueling undertaking.

Angie's eyes glistened as she leaned back against the shattering light barrier. "If we make it out of this, I want to see every Kingdom. Not just in history books — I want to experience them. The culture, the people, everything. I would love to see what makes them so different."

Jon smirked faintly. "So, a grand adventure, huh? Maybe I'd tag along, well, just documenting your findings. But you know, our book would need a better ending, without some throwaway line about 'expendable wretches sent to die'."

Emaila's leg trembled from suturing her pierced thigh, not from the pain, simply reflex, desperately clinging to a sense of normalcy, never acknowledging how numb she….they all had become to pain. She glanced over. "Is that your plan to leave Me, Jon?" 

"Speak for yourself." Hayz said, his grin weak but defiant. "Who's he leaving you for? Angie? Certainly not!" "Angie and I plan to have a cottage of our own in every city. Right in the center of their bustling trade market. Something tasteful, you know? Maybe both of you can come visit sometime."

Angelie rolled her eyes, a faint laugh escaping her lips. "Sure, and what's the plaque going to say? 'Hayz: He Tried'? Or maybe, 'The Almost Decent'?"

The banter was thin, stretched over the raw wounds of their reality. But it was what they needed, to be in high spirits. Sabbath started the conversation just for that purpose.

Sabbath then said just before the banter quieted down. His voice tinged with warmth, if only a bit somber. "Wait, what's a guy supposed to do while you lovebirds are checking out different Kingdoms, making cottages in cities and all that? "You must know I'll tag along!

There was a beat of silence, then Emaila laughed. "Oh yeah we need to find Sabbath a lady friend" 

Sabbath replied "Well, guess you guys have to make good on that promise. Let's just find somewhere peaceful."

Emaila's fingers rolled around the remains of the bandage she had used to conceal her tattoos. "I used to dream about it." she said quietly. "Being free. I'd imagine myself back home, in the city where I grew up. There was this expanse of woods just outside the city, covered in wildflowers. My brother and I used to play there when we were kids." She paused, then continued. "I told myself that when this was all over, I'd go back there. I'd sit on those meadows, feel the sun on my face, and just….breathe. No Fiends, no battles, no chains. Just me, the wind, and obviously you guys."

Her words hung in the air, fragile and painful. Another reminder of this long and arduous journey.

Angelie spoke next, her voice steady but laced with a deep, aching sorrow. "I still haven't recovered my memories. Part of the reason I want to check every Kingdom is really in search of someone who can restore them. Before all this, I wasn't very good at anything, I was always clumsy, scavenging for scraps whenever I could, only ever getting better with the help of my adoptive sister, and that's the other part. I still need to find her, to know why she left Me. Maybe then I can spend my days with a brush in my hand, enjoying calligraphy or painting….instead of a blade." She looked down at her calloused, bloodied fingers. "I'm so glad you found Me, Hayz." 

Hayz leaned back, staring up at the stars barely visible through the shield's dome. "I never had anything to go back to. Not really, my clan can do without Me, they must think I'm dead already. So I guess I'd do something stupid, like open a tavern. Call it 'The Boundless.' Serve bad ale and worse stories to anyone who'd listen." He smiled faintly, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Figure I've got enough scars to pass as a weathered old barkeep."

Sabbath whispered with mirth. "Didn't you just call it a cottage?"

The others turned to him, laughing.

Jon's own dreams punctuating the laughter, "I'd find a place no one's ever heard of," he continued, his gaze fixed on the ground. "Somewhere quiet, where no one knows my name. I'd build a little house, plant a garden. Live out the rest of my days where the world can't find me. Holed up in my study, engrossed in Magecraft."

Hayz shook his head, his grin returning. "You're all thinking too small. Me? I'd buy a castle. A big one. Fill it with all the treasures we've earned from these hunts. I'd live like a king. No — better than a king. A legend."

"Of course you would." Angelie said, rolling her eyes. He'd mentioned at least three different dreams already. 

"Don't let Hayz's delusional get to you Sabby, you still have that little rascal to cater for.

They all laughed this time. It wasn't quite joy — but it was reassuring. A clinging to something fragile, something they couldn't let go of.

The molten rocks around crackled softly, its light casting flickering shadows across their surroundings.

Sabbath spoke again, his voice quiet but firm. "We all have something planned. Something that'll make all this fighting worth it. And if we make it through this….we'll have it"

His words carried a weight that silenced the group. They knew he meant it, even if they didn't fully believe it themselves. Despite the reality. They were overjoyed by having each other till the very end of this long journey, most crews would be half their number, if any even survived to this point.

Bound.

They weren't just fighting for survival. They were fighting for the lives they'd imagined, the dreams they'd clung to in the darkest moments. The Kingdoms had stolen everything from them — but they couldn't steal hope.

Not yet.

"I'm doing this for us. For the lives we'll have when this is over. When we make it through….that's all that matters." Sabbath said to himself.

"And even if we don't make it, Sabby, we'll die together" the members of his crew, his friends, his bonds, his family, all said in unison.