It had been a few hours since Kaylun, Xerxes and Airi set out to depart for what remained of the Gen'rafh lands. Whilst a lot of their journey was spent in silence, when they weren't quiet, what was shared was key information.
Xerxes had discovered that Kaylun's clan had been spending the last 600 years in solitude, relying on their own resources to sustain themselves and build a small civilisation.
It struck Xerxes as odd, but after a bit of reluctance, Kaylun explained that they couldn't trust mankind as they too were hunted by people other than Orpheus. It was what brought their numbers from the tens of thousands to the mere hundreds.
That fact truly brought some clarity to the level of desperation the Gem'rafh were in, they were at a point where someone like Xerxes himself was someone who Kaylun needed to rely on. Supposedly there was another person who aided them, who had the strength to fight against Orpheus, but he had priorities on a scale that wouldn't allow him to travel between the interpass and where he came from.
Fighting for survival at every moment, it was something that Xerxes could relate to, though it wasn't on their scale. He could understand that they didn't just want to 'survive' but they wanted to 'live'. It made Xerxes reflect on his first ever battle that was intense, that gave him the name 'Executioner'.
Looking back on it, and with his increased resonance with the Orc soul fragment, he could feel a longing, a very strange longing. It seemed as if the spirit to fight anymore had gone and that it wished for something more. Despite the nature that had been narrated by the world as violent, barbaric monsters, the Orc still had something it hoped for. Maybe a better outcome.
So, if the world saw these creatures, these giants, they would probably pale in fear and label them as 'monsters', but Xerxes knew a bit of the truth. They just wanted to live. So he was going to ensure that he was going to defeat Orpheus for limiting their freedom.
Who was he to put shackles on people's freedom? Xerxes felt chained himself in a way, and if there was one thing he hated it was that inescapable feeling of despair. So for someone to inflict that on someone else... it was the most deplorable thing someone could do.
***
The journey totalled to roughly 20 hours, including the minimal rest they had and the rations of food they restricted themselves to. But even through that their pace didn't significantly slow down. Kaylun said affirmatively, "We have arrived."
Puzzled, Xerxes asked, "There's just veils of snow and a thick fog everywhere I look? Are you sure we've arrived..."
The giant looked forward and began strutting through the snow, confident that this was his home. Xerxes followed, not questioning his confidence, and eventually, through the layers of fog and snow,
Massive spruce trees towered in the air and their branches sagged under the weight of the snow. Rope bridges and wooden walkways webbed between the trunks and some connected to different buildings that seemed to be watchtowers and other huts.
But as Xerxes' gaze fell down to the crude shelters and huts, big enough to house armies, he saw them. Many giants moved, or rather were forced to move. Shackles thicker than a man's torso were clamped around their necks and their energy was slowly depleting.
Xerxes immediately looked towards Kaylun, whose face was contorting with emotions of rage and guilt. Though, it seemed he wasn't acting. Not yet.
As Xerxes looked closer, something caught both his and Airi's eyes, with an unmistakable voice.
Airi's voice almost came out too loud, "Thornfum?!"
Near the central square, a large stone that was surrounded with many men in black clothing and fur-lined cloaks pushed a dwarf, with a poor excuse for a beard, clothing a size too small for his stomach and an iron helmet that was on his head.
"Get ya' paws off me scruffs!" he roared, to a point Xerxes and Airi could make it out.
His voice sounded hoarse, and from Airi's enhanced perception, she could make out a few things.
"He's bloodied, and when he's not shouting like a lunatic, they seem to be talking about that large grey stone."
Kaylun affirmed what they had all thought, "That grey stone, it is moonshard, but it can only be harvested on a full moon, that full moon being in two days."
Xerxes' mind trailed back, and thought aloud, "But it doesn't make sense, how could Thornfum be here when he was clearly further away than us, we had the time advantage..."
Kaylun didn't have the answer, nor did Xerxes, but they knew acting now would only be too uncertain.
Xerxes muttered low enough for Kaylun to hear, "If you do anything now..."
"-I know, I know acting now would only be disastrous. I wouldn't be able to liberate my people, but..." He punched the floor in agitation, causing the snow to scatter around.
"Look at them! Do you not see the despair on their faces, do you not see the breath of life fading from their eyes!?" Kaylun's voice cracked, enough that Xerxes wasn't sure if the soldiers below could hear him.
Xerxes reached out and set a hand on the giant's shoulder, steady but gentle. "Kaylun… I think I know how that feels. That helplessness, watching the people you care for being hurt. But rushing in like this…"
His words trailed off as a memory tore through him. The Fallen Kingdom. Leiya and his battle. The moment she charged forward, driven by grief and fury, unaware she was throwing her life away.
Stopping her had been selfish, he knew that, but if he hadn't, she would have died that day.
And looking at Kaylun now, he saw the same reckless resolve. The same willingness to die meaninglessly.
Leiya didn't deserve to die that day. Kaylun didn't deserve to die today.
She still clung to her ambition of killing Yves. Kaylun still had dreams left in him. Their purpose hadn't been broken yet.
Back then, Xerxes hadn't had the strength to give Leiya anything more than desperate words. He couldn't pull her out of despair. Hell, he couldn't even pull himself out.
But he remembered what it felt like, before everything collapsed, to believe things could change.
And standing here, with Kaylun shaking under the weight of his own grief, Xerxes felt something stir inside him for the first time in months.
Hope.
Orpheus and his minions weren't gods, they were human. They bled the same, and Xerxes' skills had been sharpened; his approach to battle had been hardened.
Now, he learned how to walk on his own two feet again, and with that realisation, he knew he had the power to save these people.
To turn this nightmare around.
They just had to be patient, just long enough to make their strength matter.
"...it would just cause you to lose the chance to truly turn the tide. Just give me some time and let me think of something."
Xerxes clenched his bandaged fist, with a resolute expression, "I promise I'll find a way."
Kaylun glanced at Xerxes for a while, and thought on how different he was, 'This human... he is completely different from the ruthless fighter in battle. This determination... conviction. His conviction makes me wonder how much humanity has changed over the centuries.'
A small and feeble smile formed on Kaylun's face, even in this time of hardship, "I will extend my trust to you, Xerxes Draedon."
He put forward his hand, and so did Xerxes, shaking on that promise.
They both then got low to the ground, observing as much as they could.
Xerxes looked forward, trying to focus on the plan, but he had to comment on this shift in him to Airi, 'You know, Airi, I can't remember the last time I held a glimpse of hope. All this time in Baratheon, my emotions dulled like a blade, my beliefs were shadowed, but this is who I am and who the truth family taught me to be.'
Airi peered across the tribe's establishment, and replied, 'Yeh? And who are you meant to be?'
Xerxes didn't hesitate this time. For the first time in months, he knew exactly who he was. Not the broken boy Baratheon shaped, but the young man who Aemon raised, the student of truth, the survivor who refused to stay fallen.
'I'm meant to be the one who won't let the world stop him. I will keep walking through all of it, through the pain, the blood, the heartbreak, with hope that it will all be worth it.'
She stayed silent for a moment, and with a bit of concern she added, 'Just don't break yourself before reaching that end.'
Xerxes looked forward, closing in on one detail, 'Death didn't, so I'm sure I won't break.'
With that their conversation ended, and they spent a while figuring out various patterns that the soldiers had.
During the day Orpheus' men did routine checks on the giants, though there was no sign of any of the 'elders' Kaylun was mentioning. The elders were the most skilled warriors and knew the secrets in crafting blades made of moonshard.
Additionally, Thornfum seemed to be tasked with studying the rock as much as possible, but after much resistance, which he was reprimanded for, they put him in an earthen dome, where he was kept in solitude, having multiple guards on watch.
That was something Xerxes could work with, in conjunction with another key detail he heard one of Orpheus' men mention, 'The dwarf has some backbone, but you've heard it haven't you? The boss mentioned it, when it approaches nightfall, the big old rock reacts to the moonlight.'
But, through their hours of observation, there was still no mention of Orpheus, after all he was still supposed to be a decent distance away.
He wanted to really see how far he was, so with a full 24 hours almost passing, Xerxes needed to do one last thing before he was confident in putting up a resistance against them.
He pulled the peerer artifact from his clothing, and placed it down, then he muttered the word, "Orpheus."
Xerxes' brows furrowed instantly and he rubbed his eyes trying to confirm what he was seeing. Kaylun grunted in anger when seeing it. On the map there was something unusual. Two individual signatures that belonged to Orpheus showed.
One was further into the interpass, the second...
Suddenly, a pulse of energy surged through the entire tribe, giants, despite their stature, seemed insignificant to the man before them. Foot soldiers who were boisterous immediately changed their attitude, and bowed in reverence.
It was a totally different person to who Xerxes once interacted with. Walking through the blizzard, dragging the head of a giant that was still tied to a chain, he didn't seem so unassuming now, instead he invoked fear into those who saw him.
Airi felt Xerxes' body go rigid.
"You-you're trembling."
That he was. But Xerxes wasn't trembling because of fear. There was something more underlying, an emotion Xerxes had been so good at weaponising in these past few months, and that was his anger.
Kaylun's patience was running thin, his eyes were locked onto his fallen brethren, and it was understandable, but Xerxes' plan was ready. Though it didn't account for the two Orpheus' that appeared on the map, he had a vague idea of what he would require.
Xerxes glanced over at Kaylun, whose rage was at its limit.
"I'll need you to cause some mayhem down there, you think you can do that, Kaylun." Xerxes said with confidence in his voice.
His plan did involve some risk, but without it a plan wasn't so much of one, it was more so a fantasy. Xerxes had to be prepared to take them and have companions that were willing to oblige.
Xerxes quickly explained his plan and Kaylun put his faith in it, whether or not he would live would depend on a few factors that were solely in Kaylun's control.
Nodding his head, Kaylun spoke, "It is better than anything I can form, but the latter part of your plan, how confident are you,"
Looking back to Baratheon, "I guess it all depends on her, on, Leiya."