Chapter Four:
OLD PATH
Soft light filtered in through the narrow windows.
Morning, early.
Still quiet.
Hanna blinked awake and slowly sat up,
brushing hair from her eyes.
Then she reached blindly to the left.
Hand patting around the nightstand between their beds,
trying to find her glasses.
"Slimes…
no,
not again…" Jane muttered from the other bed.
Rolled sideways under the covers,
mumbling.
"Don't!
don't,
get
clos—"
She twisted suddenly,
tangled in her blanket,
thud!
Jane hit the floor,
groaning.
Hanna leaned over the side of the bed,
adjusted her glasses,
hair falling forward.
"Morning."
Jane stayed on the floor,
arm across her eyes.
"We are never
taking slime missions
again."
Jane sat up,
scratching her head.
Hanna walked slowly to the old kettle,
setting it gently on the rickety table.
"Want some tea and toast?"
Jane stood, smiling.
"Always!"
She wobbled slightly and turned toward the bathroom.
Stopped at the door.
"…Thanks,
pointy—"
A sudden breeze of cold swept past
crystallizing a perfect frost-ring where her fingers had been.
Behind her,
the door was hissing!
Jane stared at it.
Turned.
Hanna smirked.
"I think someone will need to
eat
her tea today,
not drink it.
Just guessing."
Jane blinked at the mark.
Then at Hanna.
"…I think that someone
had a concussion
from falling out of bed.
She's really
sorry…
and
would like to not eat her tea."
Jane opened the door.
"So,
she'll just
take a quick bath.
Right?"
Hanna rolled her eyes, smiling.
"I think that is a good idea…"
Jane stepped into the bathroom,
closing the door slowly,
peeking at Hanna.
Hanna poured water into one lilac mug.
Water started flowing inside the bathroom.
Hanna sat back on the bed,
brushing her hair.
Her eyes drifted to the window
quiet outside.
The Explorer's Vault gates creaked open.
They stepped outside together.
Jane followed, pulling her coat tighter.
"You sure you're ready for this one?
They only registered the site last week."
Hanna nodded once.
"I'm not the one who fell out of the bed.
And new missions mean we can do all the steps ourselves."
Jane gave a quiet hum.
They walked in silence for a while,
feet crunching lightly over gravel and dust.
Wind passed over low grass,
bending it.
The road curved gently between hills.
Ahead,
nothing but space and
a mix of brown and gray.
They kept walking,
then reached a dense forest.
The light dimmed,
sky warming to amber.
Shadows started to stretch across the trail.
Hanna looked around.
"Think we should camp before the next bend?"
Jane tilted her head,
then nodded.
They stepped off the path,
toward a natural clearing framed by thick roots and wide stones.
Jane let her pack slide off one shoulder.
Hanna was already pulling the kindling from her satchel.
The fire cracked softly between them,
embers drifting gently upward before fading into the dark.
Jane sat on an old fallen tree,
stirring the ashes idly with a stick.
Her gaze distant,
lost in the flickering firelight.
Hanna sat nearby on the grass,
knees drawn close to her chest,
watching Jane carefully,
her eyes thoughtful,
curious.
"Jane…
The day we arrived at the Vault.
When you spoke to that man in Vanarith.
What did you say?"
Jane looked down slowly,
meeting Hanna's eyes.
"I called him Drek'tosh.
It means Loud Coward-Beast,
but in Common tongue
people usually say.
ASSHOLE."
Hanna's gaze lowered, smiling faintly.
"...Oh
cool…"
Silence hung...
Hanna took a quiet breath.
Her voice was barely audible,
above the flame cracking.
"I wish my family had let me learn Etaena
or like not Taena people usually call,
Elf language.
They never let me near anything 'noble'.
But my father,
before he…
d—
…
…
…he taught me one phrase."
Jane sat close to Hanna on the ground.
Hanna hesitated for a moment,
then in a gentle,
melodic tone.
"Lirea
Sevalia
elinor"
Jane tilted her head, eyes warm.
"That…
that is beautiful,
what does it mean?"
"Sleep well…
my…
little
warm…
light." Hanna whispered, eyes reflecting the firelight.
"He…
…used—
…used
…to say it
before bed…
every
night." Tears began to fall slowly on her face, dropping onto the floor.
Jane embraced her friend slowly, like a warm-formed igloo.
Shielding Hanna from everything beyond the firelight.
She rested her chin gently on top of Hanna's head.
The mixture of anger and sadness in her eyes
was as undeniable as the sky awakening each day.
"I'm so sorry Han…"
…
"Even after eight years,
your not-so-much-family
still managed to surprise me in the worst possible way." She smiled gently.
"Well,
Unfortunately…
I don't know Elvis—
I mean,
Etaena yet.
But once we finish
this mission,
if we save some Runs,
we can find a teacher for you,
right?" Her voice softened further, gentler now.
Hanna kept sobbing,
her breaths slower now, inside the space Jane held around her.
"Until then,
I can teach you Vanarith,
if you'd like?"
Hanna's eyes sparked instantly,
lifting to Jane's face,
jumping outside her iglu-arms,
almost hitting Jane's chin.
"Really?"
Jane smiled, nodded slowly.
"Of course,
sit here." She tapped the ground on her right.
Hanna hopped forward
settling next to Jane.
Jane took a stick, tracing slowly,
careful symbols into the dirt between them,
her movements were steady
and deliberate.
"Done," Jane said gently.
Hanna leaned forward eagerly,
studying the strange marks.
"Dular'eth taes'ek.veshan'eth" Jane said, slowly.
"Your turn,
give a try."
"Dular'eth taes'ek.veshan'eth"
"That was pretty good for a first try,
now try again, but more like a hoof stump"
Hanna repeated it,
"Dular'eth taes'ek.veshan'eth"
feeling the words roll naturally from her tongue.
"What does it mean?"
Jane looked at Hanna.
"From my hearth,
you are
blood
and
trust."
Jane continued,
her voice quiet and steady.
"It's hard to say in Common…
but 'hearth' means more than home.
It's the soul of the fire you guard,
not about where you came from,
but where you choose to stay.
It means family.
The ones you'd willingly give your life for.
The ones you choose to protect above yourself."
Jane met Hanna's eyes,
smiling softly in the quiet firelight.
She placed her left hand at her own heart,
then the right hand at Hanna's.
"That's you,
Han."
Hanna didn't speak.
She simply leaned,
resting her head softly on Jane's shoulder,
breathing in slowly,
deeply and
still in tears.
But this time,
it didn't seem to be the sad ones...
The phrase lingered between them,
carried gently on the whispering night wind.
Dular'eth taes'ek.veshan'eth
And under the silent glow of stars,
for a moment,
the world was gentle.
Later,
the fire still burning.
The scent of food lingering.
Jane sat near the fire, legs stretched, leaning against a tree.
Her blade was unsheathed but idle, resting across her lap.
Across from her,
Hanna knelt,
tightening the strings of her pack.
"You haven't been sleeping much," Hanna said softly.
"I'll take first watch tonight."
Jane shook her head.
"I'm fine.
You sleep.
I'll keep an eye out."
Hanna crossed her finger.
"Jane…
You've been running on fumes since the Vault.
You need it more than I do."
"I'm fine. Don't worry," Jane repeated, softer this time.
Hanna gave in with a faint nod
and settled near the fire,
wrapping herself in her sleeping bag.
Within moments,
her breathing slowed.
Jane smiled faintly,
watching her.
Then she leaned back against the tree,
letting her head rest.
The fire crackled.
Sparks danced upward.
Then,
slowly,
her eyes drifted close.
Crack!
A branch snapped.
In front of the fire,
Hanna stood angled,
back toward Jane.
Right arm stretched behind her,
hand open.
Her voice low, urgent.
"Jane.
Jane, wake up!
Jane!"
Jane stirred,
blinking toward the dim firelight.
Hanna stood in front of her.
"Jane,
wake up."
In her right hand the ice glove.
Active.
Ready.
Ahead,
movement.
Low to the ground.
Eyes glinting.
Wolves.
Jane rose quickly, taking her blade.
"What happened?"
Hanna didn't look back.
"I woke up some minutes ago
and saw them coming.
Used ice to push them back,
keeping them far from you."
Jane now noticed the frost in the grass,
a shimmer clinging to one of the wolves' pelts.
Low growls.
Closer now.
One wolf leapt.
Hanna stepped forward,
ice snapping from her glove
a streak across the ground.
The wolf twisted midair—
skidding sideways,
paws scraping frost.
Another came from the left.
Jane moved in.
Shield up.
A heavy thud!
Rang out deep,
against metal and bone.
The wolf staggered back.
A third lunged low.
Jane spun,
blade sweeping wide.
The edge caught its shoulder.
Not deep,
but enough.
It yelped, turned,
vanished into the dark.
Two others paced the edge of the firelight.
Watching.
Ears back.
Another crack of ice,
Hanna's glove surged,
freezing the grass near their paws.
They flinched.
Jane raised her blade again.
But the wolves.
One by one,
they backed away.
disappearing between trees.
Hanna's eyes were already scanning Jane for wounds.
"Are you okay?"
"…Yeah," Jane whispered.
She looked at the firelight on Hanna's face,
still soft.
There didn't seem to be
any anger or pride in her eyes.
Just Hanna.
Jane looked down.
"I should've listened to you."
Hanna shook her head, smiling tiredly.
"It's okay.
I can protect you too,
you know."
She placed a hand lightly on Jane's arm.
"Now,
go to sleep,
chop,
chop."
Jane smiled with a soft laugh.
Then nodded.