The Gods Don’t Care for Flags

JP with Omni, Lorem, Bandorchu and LucianNeepreen

Gonyaul took a deep breath, closed his eyes and tried to recenter himself. He realized the room hadn’t started spinning once since he started talking, that was a positive sign. When he opened them he was resolved to have a better attitude.

He looked back and forth between the others, more interested now in what they had to say, than his own frustrations.

With their bond, Voah would not answer for Tarmen. But she assumed that it was because he had thrown in his lot with the Creed of Slivikhi.

Tarmen shook his head, having a momentary talk with himself. He could just be putting all of his frustration on one fact, instead of being smart about it. Well, he hadn’t always been the smartest.

“If Vastad goes to war with the Empire as his soldiers, then Zin will stand with him. War and death are kin…. And I can’t fight for the Empire. So that would put me against the gods. Enemy to one land, traitor to another.”

With the declaration, he felt empty. No triumphant middle finger towards Zane and the Duke, no brash call for booze to celebrate. Just an empty pit.

“Took nearly dyin’ twice to have that rock hit me. I can’t help but feel I deserve it.”

He took a drink, emptying the skin with a small hope there would be booze somewhere in there.

What Tarmen said jogged an idea in Gonyaul. That was right. He had seen Tarmen take on things way worse than this, to the brink of death, and he was still moving forward. A small spark of hope accompanied it.

“Friends” he addressed them all, trying his best to speak louder.

“We look at this wrong perhaps? Arcadia and Pillars has thrown all this at us. And we still standing. But other times we were separate or not know things. Now we learn and are together. We going be alright.”

He was struggling to get his point across. The translations were never exact from his native language and he couldn’t use his hands to talk which made everything feel very awkward and choppy.

Alexis gave Gonyaul a smile.

“True enough.”

She returned her attention to Tarmen and considered her next words.

“I don’t think the gods much care about what flag their troops carry. They are just here. Convenient.”

To her the Pillars simply were not that important. At the moment there was exactly one god she had any connection with, and what a shitty connection that was. But for her friends, they mattered. A lot.
She leaned forward.

“Apparently Zin walks among us now. Might as well go find ‘em and see if you can’t do your part, your way. Without Empire colours.”