63 Return (1/2)

Putting one step in front of the other, Daneel struggled to get to Reese before he was too late.

On the way, he reflected about the fact that ever since he had come into this body, it was as if his only purpose was to finish a thesis on all the sorts of pain that could be experienced by mankind. Right off the top of his head, he could recall ten types that he had discovered just in the last few days, but of them all, the one that had hurt the most was definitely the heartbreaking anguish that had filled him after the episode in the Lord's mansion.

The present plan's purpose was exactly to attain salvation due to what had happened, then. Now that they were on the cusp of success, there was no way that he would let something as mundane as agony keep him from witnessing it in all its glory… so ignoring the protests from all over his body, he kept walking and walking and walking.

He could scarcely believe that it had only taken a few minutes for him to reach the spot of the confrontation from Reese's side. Now, it was as if his destination was on the other side of the world, with him having had his legs removed and given a broken crutch that was more of a hindrance than support.

After what felt like an eternity, he clambered up one of the many hills among the landscape to see how far he still had to go. He had memorised the exact properties of the terrain on the way over, so even though Reese was definitely hidden from almost everyone would be looking, he knew certain signs that would let him know where the man was. Only… as soon as he reached the summit, he felt his gaze being pulled to a different direction, where he noticed something that he hadn't spotted all this while as he had been completely self-absorbed ever since the victory over the hangman.

He clearly remembered remarking on how silent the surroundings of the town were when he and Reese had made their way to the spot of the exchange. Now… in the background, he could clearly hear the sounds of people screaming and low explosions that seemed muffled. As he turned to the town, he fell back a step and blinked, unable to believe what he was seeing.

The pristine town he had grown up in was almost unrecognisable, now. Fires had broken out in multiple places, blazing brightly in the darkness of the night, their smoke rising into the sky and mixing with the clouds to make the atmosphere seem much more ominous and sinister than it had been before. From his vantage point, he could see tiny dots that were definitely people running around the town. He had no idea whether they were fleeing, being chased, or the ones doing the chasing, but one thing was certain: there was something going on here that he didn't know about.

Tearing his eyes away from the captivating scene, he went over everything that had happened so far. Then… the dots began to line up, and he felt once again like the immense fool who had marched into that fight with the hangman, believing that he had achieved supreme power that would grant him victory even though no such thing should be possible in the boundaries of Graiton.

The training area had been empty. The armoury had been emptied. The quarters of the soldiers had also been completely empty… and now, he remembered vaguely that the cavern in which that crystal formation was present had been filled with dwarves, many of whom might have been armed and prepared for battle.

He slowly saw that he couldn't really blame himself for not noticing this fact beforehand, as the atmosphere in that cave had been such that it was very difficult to concentrate on anything that wasn't related to peace and tranquillity. After the prayer was done, he had directly turned around and left the place through the opening through which he had entered, so he had had no chance to observe the others around him closely and understand that something was afoot.

'But… what's the purpose? Even if the dwarves have decided to go to war… the enforcers are too strong! Are they simply going on a raid, maybe? Well, it is possible… but with their existence exposed, how can they hope to go back to the city and live peaceful lives, once more?'

The questions kept piling up, but no answers were forthcoming, at least where he stood. He turned to the town and watched it for a few more moments, trying to spot something that might give him a hint about the fell things afoot in this night… but he failed.

'I should get back to Reese… all I care about is the Lord, and his end. I'll just do my job, first… and worry about the rest later.'

Taking support from this decision, he dug out energy from the deepest recesses of his body and headed east. Each step was more painful than the last, but this time, the inquisitiveness raging within him gave him strength, as he had begun to visualise the end of this journey as the place where he would find at least a few answers.

On the way, he did notice one detail that helped him to direct his thoughts away from the chaos in the town. In a path that cut through the rolling hills so that it would stay on flat ground, for the most part, deep ruts were visible, which meant that the cart had passed through not long ago. This meant that the food was on the way… but compared to what he had just seen, this seemed like an almost trivial development.

Slapping his cheeks to force himself away from the questions once again, he trudged on and finally breathed a sigh of relief when he reached the foot of the low hill atop which his friend would be waiting. Getting on all fours, he bit his lips and tongue to stop himself from making a single sound and scrambled up to the bush below which he was supposed to find Reese…but felt his blood go cold when he only found the hole there, but not the man.

'No… did something go wrong? Or, wait! What if he went to give the signal? But I didn't spot him on my way!'

Trying to calm his frayed nerves, he moved a bit further to see the situation at the exchange spot… and let out a slow breath when he saw that everything was in place.