0.4 - Remara

Remara and the first note spent uncounted time passing over surface after surface of the spheres. The music they made together set broken melodies right and drove back encroaching touches of darkness from the mind’s cacophony.

6.10 - Remara and the Twixt

“I see how it is, I see. You Overheaders come to gawk, gobble our fish, jaw a bit with the local plantlife, and skip town, eh?” Naeed tenses, but Alleyu is wearing an ear-to-ear smile. Naeed’s shoulders relax.

6.9 - Remara and the Twixt

He skips over half her words, refusing to acknowledge them. The part of his heart that never stopped crying has never wailed louder, and he speaks over it with an effort. “What are you talking about? Remara…”

6.8 - Remara and the Twixt

“Excuse me please watch out for yourself!” Naeed only half-registered the words shouted at him as he hurtled into the road. A root at just the right spot hooked his foot one moment and the next he found himself sprawled at the feet of a traveler.

6.7 - Remara and the Twixt

It is easier than he thought to let the story spill off his tongue. In some ways, it is like dreamwalking his way through the forest. The memories that every rest drags him through rise sharply to mind—nearly to his waking vision—as he speaks them to Remara.

6.6 - Remara and the Twixt

Naeed sits on the chilly stone ramp long after he fails to persuade Remara to talk to him. Subdued, Na’Stra sits on his lap, quietly grooming her hide and fiddling with Naeed’s fingers.

6.5 - Remara and the Twixt

And that was the end of it, for a time. The new name sat in his mind as the temperature rose and life burst from every burrow, nest, and branch. The new name settled like a blanket of snow over the old one, and he came to be grateful for the replacement that covered over his old life.

6.4 - Remara and the Twixt

Getting to Overheader’s Patch requires a lengthy walk. Half an hour takes them to the edge of Underscoop, and Alleyu tells him that another hour past it will take them to the field in question.

6.3 - Remara and the Twixt

As the memory ends, Naeed stirs his limbs under a hefty quilt. A sharp squeal rings out nearby, followed by the sound of small feet slapping stone.

6.2 - Remara and the Twixt

Hot, salty liquid runs over his tongue. Savory. Warm. The broth is light and flavorful. He opens his mouth a little wider.

6.1 - Remara and the Twixt

The air sucks moisture from every exhalation and parches his throat on each breath taken back. Naeed fingers the strap of the waterskin on his back, half as large as himself and nearly empty.

0.3 - Remara

Where there had been a symphony was now a cacophony. The choir reeled in shock, trying to find their places. The heart was stunned to silence.

5.8 - Remara and the Tiny Man

Calm settles over Arc like a shrouded cage, shutting his swift-growing fury up into a little prison. In this moment, he is just a wingless chick and this is the corpse of his mother.

5.7 - Remara and the Tiny Man

The melody follows him under, into the dark. At first, it is Aria's voice lullabying him to sleep as she used to in the nest they shared as winglings. It cradles and soothes him, rebuffing ill memories and promising safety. Rest.

5.6 - Remara and the Tiny Man

Wildspeech enters, placing his sun-dot in a wall-sconce and filling Eldest Stem's home with light. A few terse sentences of explanation later, things begin to move. Nutte Wildspeech is woken and dispatched to shuttle individual coals to Remara.