It took another day for them to return to the hill. The whole time all their champion could do was writhe in that makeshift stretcher they had built out of branches.
In the ongoing panic, no one thought to hide his sight from anyone.
The tribe, the captives, everyone saw the wounded legend struggling to breathe. Wounds only suggested by cracked scales, otherwise hurting deep inside. And when he passed by the pedestal on which his stone figure stood, the contrast could not be sharper.
But they brought him to the tower where, in a daze, he perceived the shaman and his apprentice trying to practice among a hectic crowd of followers.
There was nothing to heal. They didn't even understand he had been burned alive and so they could not understand the seeping pus that sweated from his thick scales.
Another two days until the pain receded enough for him to rest.
Elua had remained by his side day and night, begging and crying, helping in any way she could, which was none. In her torment she accused everyone of having abandoned their champion, and she accused herself as well.
But when he woke up once more, quiet this time, she was asleep.
Etelet, at his side, shook up and saw his open eyes.
"Ah. You're awake? Elua, wake up, he is awake."
Tunu pushed himself to stop the apprentice.
"Let her sleep." He winced.
"I'm sorry, Tunu. I led you right into an ambush."
"They killed the guide first. You did everything right, I was just... I played right into their hands. What a fool!"
He forced himself to keep his voice low. His eyes kept glancing at the kobel still asleep on the blanket. She looked so exhausted.
So frail.
"You should take my heart, Etelet. You should... ah!"
Tunu felt the burning wave wash over him again. More than that, he could feel that foreign heart contract so much that it brought him to tears. He was forced to hold his chest, just forced to do it and expose the pain.
"With you at least it would not be wasted."
"Nobody is taking your heart, Tunu. Calm down, you need to rest."
"If I had fed... If I had fed they would still all be alive... a wyvern gave me a gift and I do nothing with it! Worse, I fear it! What's wrong with me..."
Whatever the apprentice had to retort to this he kept it for himself. All he could really do was clean the scales and wait.
"Where is Lutuk?"
"With the chief. An old kobel fell and they have been with her ever since."
"Mala?"
"I don't know. Why? Anything Lutuk can do, I can do better."
"Then you can read the stars?"
That made the young kobel snort.
Of all the things he hadn't wanted to learn this had been about on top. All the stars were good at was navigation and for a tribe that hade made a mountain their home it was meaningless.
But he nodded.
"The stars hate your guts, if you want to know. Well, they hate your heart. You want my interpretation? The stars fear it because it defies their law. The stars want us weak and docile."
The stars were a vast screen of stillness in the immensity. Mirrors uncounted, opening the secrets future and past but otherwise silent. Just as Lutuk interpreted them, so did his apprentice.
One had used his caution and experience. The other spoke out of hope and passion. Both said the same thing, the only thing that mattered. That heart was evil. Of that, no matter how many words they wove around it, there was no doubt.
And so it was evil to let that heart beat.
By now Tunu had sit up, his hand hovering just above Elua's cheek. He wanted to caress her and dared not disturb her tormented sleep.
"If I don't grow stronger we'll lose everything."
"If you don't grow stronger it will all have been for nothing. But as for us, don't worry. I found a way to ensure peace will endure no matter what."
"What?"
The apprentice hesitated. He was getting anxious but at the same time there was a joy rising on his face, to finally mention it.
"Among the fawns' arts is a sorcery that lets you order others around. Imagine not having to guard the captives anymore. No need to kill or terrorize. No more punishments. They would become unconditional allies."
"And you could use it on me?"
"Are you crazy?!"
Etelet shot a glance at Elua, got relieved to see he had not waken her up. Still, the thought had made him lose his composure for a moment.
"Why would we ever use it on you?"
"If I become a threat to the tribe, I want you to use it. Promise me you'll use it to rein me in."
"That's absurd. We would rather die than hinder you. To turn you into a doll? It would kill us. Stop talking nonsense and get better already."
It had never occurred to the scaled lizard that the wary looks he got, the fears, the concerns, were as real as the stars; how he interpreted them likewise.
For the kobels he had been nothing but a beacon of hope. And if they saw him as a monster they longed for him to be monstrous. At no point did they fear what he could become. That was him. That was all him.
That was Tunu enduring the solitude.
Even now he could not understand it.
So he just thought Etelet was too afraid to say yes and considered that he could steal that sorcery, somehow, inflict it on himself and then, then finally he would be able to feed, to become the champion his tribe needed.
he looked past the young kobel, at the door where his horns could pick rumors of agitation.
"Something is happening outside."
He had barely uttered that when the door opened. A scarred fighter entered, panicked.
"It's the prisoner! Your servant, champion, she... she got free!"
Elua was waking up. He pushed her to get up, stumbled and fell on the wooden floor. His head throbbed but that heart of his beat faster and the senses cleared.
She saw him stagger to the door, hold against the frame to catch his breath.
"Tunu!" She screamed.
He was already out and in the short hallway.
"Where is she?!"
"Still in the basement!"
But if she was free she wouldn't be, and if she was then she was still imprisoned. He chased those thoughts away and pushed himself to the stairwell, down and to the basement's entrance.
Downstairs the darkness forced those lizards to either rely on their night vision or on torches. Two warriors brought the latter to him and he walked forth, into the large room in which his personal servant was usually tied.
From the smell alone he understood what had transpired.
She was there, she was still there, the torches' flames unable to light her shapes at that distance.
The female kobel sat on top of a warrior's corpse. Another one lay further away, just as mangled. Splattered blood evoked the brutal struggle that had played out.
He approached. His horns made the torches redundant.
She hissed at their approach, akin to a cornered animal. The red stones on her body ate what little light came her direction. Red liquid poured down her red fur. Arms covering her prey, she plunged her muzzle down, maw open to bite.
"She is feeding..." Tunu whispered.
The scaled kobel had kept approaching, mesmerized. The two warriors behind him had stopped short, not wanting to risk themselves closer to that threat.
Their torches already revealed enough.
Once he felt close enough, Tunu crouched and faced her. The female stopped a moment to meet his eyes and the purple pupils pierced him.
All the fear inside her was gone.
And he in turn could not feel any fatigue anymore. On the contrary, he felt great. His whole body lifted by an indescribable force.
He approached a hand she tried to slice with the bone knife she had stolen.
"Free her."
"Champion?" A warrior asked, a bit lost.
"She is following the path of the wyvern."
"She is a captive!"
"Not anymore. She is one of us, and a warrior. Out, the both of you! Tell everyone Savae is one of us!"
They turned around and fled, taking the light with them. But neither seemed bothered by the sudden darkness.
She hissed again. Whatever words she had for him got drowned in hatred.
Moments later she was back to devouring the flesh.
"Yes... yes!" Tunu rejoiced. "What was I so afraid of? This is the way! This is what we kobels do."