Chapter 479 (2/2)

“Is this seriously a jealousy thing?” Randidly asked.

Lyra stood up. “You fucking prick, do you think I don’t know the stakes of this?”

When she spoke, her voice resonated powerfully with the ambient Aether of the Village around him. Abruptly, Randidly became aware of the huge amount of Aether that the Village was putting off. And all of that energy flowed through Lyra. Her eyes were glowing violet, the power there, at her fingertips. They both stared at each other, breathing hard.

“You work with the Creature, who would have us fall to the Calamity,” Randidly finally said, surprised how tired he sounded.

Lyra shook her head. “She offers us a confirmed route to life.”

“So you admit to working with her?”

Lyra just gave him a look. Heedless, Randidly continued to speak. “There is another confirmed route to life, that doesn’t rely on trusting the Creature’s version of events… that is simply being strong enough to defeat the Calamity.”

“Where does your confidence come from…?” Lyra asked, shaking her head. “Think how often we have almost died. That was during the tutorial. You think it won’t scale when the kid gloves come off?”

“The Creature sees us as nothing but toys,” Randidly said slowly, trying not to grit his teeth. He knew the difficulty, perhaps even better than Lyra. He had been out there, fighting it. But she continued to refuse to see that. “I will find a way to defeat the Calamity. I have some clues and given time to test some things out, I have my confidence, from training. How can you put your faith in the Creature…? I can’t Lyra. Our deaths would not give her pause.”

Lyra looked at Randidly. Suddenly, abruptly, something broke in her, and her lip trembled. Her eyes were cold and lonely. “...even if you can’t trust the Creature… trust me, Randidly. I’ve talked with her. I’ve seen what she has seen. Violence is not the answer here. Your power stems not from the ability to fight, but your ability to subvert the design of the System. Let’s use that. Let’s figure this out together. If you do not… you doom us all to die by the Calamity. This I swear.”

Randidly breathed in, and then breathed out. This was… not how the talk was supposed to go, but he couldn't say he was surprised. He knew that Lyra held resentment in her chest about the way he had treated her, he just had a hard time understanding why she would let it affect a decision of this magnitude.

He also resented her, for playing so cavalierly with her life, and for pretending to be captured by the Creature, while really being fine. In addition, she had chosen to work with the Creature, believing its words, while keeping him in the dark. It felt like a betrayal against all of humanity, and something that Randidly couldn’t forgive.

The sticking point with this conversation was that she couldn’t be removed, not easily, not quickly, not simply, as the Village Spirit of Donnyton. But Randidly didn’t want to be around her if she insisted on working with the Creature. Randidly had no doubt that Lyra would communicate with the thing as soon as they were connected to another Zone with one of the Creature’s incarnations.

That resonance with the Village Aether made Lyra powerful, but it also meant that she could only display her power within the Village. Once he left it….

Randidly sighed, looking at Lyra. “You swear we will die by the Calamity…? How can I trust you, or the Creature, if all you do is offer me threats and ultimatums…?”

Lyra said nothing, her eyes glittering. Randidly shook his head slowly. He turned and walked back out the door. He sensed her fold her arms, but she said nothing as he left. Donnyton was his baby, in a way, the same way that Randidly would never forget the people who had come to Donnyton in the beginning, and became their core.

Now, he was being forced away, because he refused to do something as drastic as try and destroy Lyra, and he refused to be within her sphere of influence if she would choose to trust the Creature on this point. He also knew that she was aware how personally Randidly was taking this decision, and she was vindictive enough to enjoy the pain she was inflicting.

And that bit of sadism made Randidly hate her.

At the door, Randidly stopped. “If you betray this town… I will not show restraint.”

“Ah yes, the first, and last, recourse of men: to lose their temper. Be well doggy.” Lyra said, her tone sarcastic.

Randidly left, feeling ready to kill something.