SPEAKER_03 0:37

Echo village. We're here all day.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Angelica, that took entirely too long.

SPEAKER_03 0:43

Old man, I swear, I will twist whatever manhood you have left into a square knot. If you start with me right now, I just carried your shriveled carcass on my back for two days straight.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Yes, and I needed to arrive here in one day. Hence, you need to work on your endurance and speed. I thought you worked out. Now then, on to business. Magic dust. From the looks of things, Queen Marlena has not exactly invested in the rebuilding of this village, which benefits our purposes greatly. All we need to do is find debris left over from Cain's dragon fires and gather the ashes into a knapsack.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

Well, there's certainly more than enough debris to choose from. Let's start with that pile over there.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

The provost and Angelica began walking towards a large pile of rubble in the northern quarter of Echo Village. As they made their way, they saw the charred remains of bodies. Men, women, children, and animals who had been slain by Borough Cain. One body, in particular, caught Angelica's eye.

SPEAKER_03 1:59

Oh my god. No. This child. I I know this child.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Angelica, there are literally more corpses here than either of us can effectively count. It is a wonder we are not surrounded by vultures and flies. Nothing good can come from torturing yourself with.

SPEAKER_03 2:20

No, Ollie. I know this child. I know this child.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Far be it from me to inject logic into an emotional moment. But I have difficulty seeing how you could possibly discern any differences between these remains, my dear. That child could be any child.

SPEAKER_03 2:41

I said I know her. At least I did.

SPEAKER_00 2:47

Talk to me. Tell me what happened. How do you know this little one?

SPEAKER_03 2:52

I was on my way to Dagalist. It was on one of my scouting trips, after my sister and I had met you, but decided we might need Dominic to be our dragon rider. Anyway, I was riding along, and I happened upon the carriage being robbed by raiders. Normally I would have kept going, but I I saw this child. They were threatening her, saying they would kill her if she didn't tell them where her parents, whom they had already killed, had hidden the rest of their gold. Are they dead?

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Mother's head is rolling down the hill as we speak. And the father's internal organs are not so internal anymore. A yes or no would suffice, ma'am. We don't get paid by the word. Yes, jackass. They're dead. You hear that baby girl? Your parents are taking a dirt now. If you don't want to join them, you tell us where the rest of their gold is. She doesn't know, ma'am. Let's just take what we have and get out of here before someone sees us. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize this was up for decision. I thought I was in charge. And I thought we were, oh, I don't know, raiders. Are we raiders? Well, yes, but then shut up. She knows, and she's going to tell us, or join her dead mummy and daddy in Elysium.

SPEAKER_03 4:18

Touch one hair on her head, and you'll follow in short order. Heck, I might kill you all anyway, just to get some exercise.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

What in the nine hells are you supposed to be?

SPEAKER_03 4:33

Me? I'm the last thing you're going to see before you die.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

You're gonna regret that.

SPEAKER_03 5:04

Hush little one. It's all over now.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

I assume you destroyed them.

SPEAKER_03 5:12

I did far worse than that. I inflicted just enough punishment to kill each of them slowly. And then I left them in the middle of the road to rot.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

And what of the child? You said her parents had been slain. What did you do with her?

SPEAKER_03 5:29

I took her with me. I don't know why Ollie. I wasn't exactly the mothering type. I think she reminded me of myself in my youth. I know what it is to feel helpless and afraid. Anyway, I came across a travelling family as I continued towards Dagalist, and I gave her to them.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

A family of strangers just willingly agreed to take on another mouth to feed?

SPEAKER_03 5:54

My sword can be very persuasive when she wants to be.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

You do not need to tell me that, my dear. However, that still does not explain how you know that this is that child.

SPEAKER_03 6:07

Before they departed, I gave her a medallion that I used to wear. It was a simple chain, but its ornament was fashioned from a dragon scale. It was a gift from my father, a consolation of sorts when he chose my sister to be the tarragon over me. I used to wear it as motivation to be better than her. I told that child that it was magical, that it would keep her safe. The corpse of this child is wearing that medallion. That's how I know. It's her, Ollie.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

Angelica, you might be imagining things. Dragonfire is magical after all. Nothing here survived Cain's attack. Nothing here could.

SPEAKER_03 6:55

Nothing except a dragon scale.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

Angelica pulled the medallion from the corpse of the child and held it on for the provost to see. It was unblemished, sparkling even, as if recently shined. The provost sighed as Angelica's frustration only grew.

SPEAKER_03 7:13

Ellion's beard. How did anyone survive this attack?

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Most did not, my dear.

SPEAKER_03 7:19

This is our fault, Ollie. You, me, my sister, the Order. We did this. People died because of our greed and desire for power. What was I thinking? I wish we had never done any of this. The fruitless pursuit of power. That's what we're looking at, Ollie.

SPEAKER_00 7:41

For perhaps the first time in my life I see your point. We will make this right, Angelica.

SPEAKER_03 7:48

There are bodies of dead children here, Ollie. There is no making this right.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

There will be far more than this if we do not stop Ursula. We will have plenty of time to hate ourselves later, my dear. For now, we must be about our business. Gather as much of the dust from that pile of debris as you can fit into your knapsack. Be careful not to mix it with this other pile over here.

SPEAKER_03 8:14

There's actually a difference. It all looks the same to me.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

The magic feels stronger from that pile.

SPEAKER_03 8:21

You can feel it? Maybe Ursula didn't rob you of your essence entirely.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

She could not rob me of what I was born with, but what I have on my own is admittedly nothing compared to what she bestowed upon me. At any rate, teleportation requires the strongest of magical energies, my dear. If we choose incorrectly, we might rematerialize inside of a wall or worse, as one person. Neither of us wants that.

SPEAKER_03 8:49

Oh, I don't know. Progelica has a nice ring to it, don't you think? You'd get to have hair again, too.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

Or perhaps you would finally look your true age, have pale blotchy skin, lose all of your muscle tone and find yourself completely bald.

SPEAKER_03 9:05

Huh. Touche.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Yes, gather the dust, my friend. And then tell me as much as you can about where we are going. It is bad enough that we are teleporting with magic dust. Teleporting blindly is something I have never done. It is essential that you give me as much detail about our destination as you can muster.