Warning: Occasional acts of violence, threats of violence, some profanity, and dragon fights. If you have made it this far and are still expecting a cozy feel-good story, turn back now! It's not too late!
Though it was easy to get lost in a city like Nerania, Andiz always managed to find her no matter how far they were apart. So when Zikee found the healer and Ty knocking on her door hours later, she was only slightly annoyed that it took so long.
“Kiki!” Andiz immediately threw his arms around her, Ty stepping past the two completely. “Are you okay? Were you hurt? Did something happen?”
Zikee gave his head a gentle pat. “I’m alright, Andiz. Just ran into some trouble is all.”
She figured it better not to go into great detail about the Dandy encounter. Even someone as kind as Andiz would be calling for blood if he knew the extent of what she’d witnessed. She couldn’t let him turn savage too.
“Was your tour fun?” she asked in an attempt at levity.
Andiz pulled away slightly teary-eyed. “Yeah. Ty lost a few silvers, but I think she liked the break, too.” They both looked to the halfling, who’d grown quiet the minute she entered.
Her fox mask dangled in her hand, teeth bared at the captive Zikee had tied to a nearby chair. Qui had only recently regained consciousness, her mind having been suppressed for so long she needed several hours to retain her memories. Yet despite that, she seemed to recognize one of her own if the silence was anything to go by. She wouldn’t meet Ty’s gaze.
“Kiki, is that-“
“Qui Valentina,” Ty said with a hiss. “Director of Project Ranger.”
Qui’s head fell further.
“Former Director,” Zikee said. “She’s been cooperative so far.”
Andiz looked at her, his usual concern evident. She put up her hands.
“I did not lay a hand on her, gentle wing,” Zikee said. “We simply talked.”
Andiz still seemed unconvinced, though it was Ty that spoke up first.
“And why is that?” she asked.
There was an underlying growl to her voice, the halfling barely hiding her views on the director. Zikee couldn’t blame her. The circumstances of her capture aside, this was the same woman responsible for Project Ranger. She was the director. She was the woman who would have overseen everything that had happened from the very first day Project Ranger started.
She might as well have held Ty’s leash.
“She deserves a lot worse,” the halfling said.
Qui finally met her gaze, though it was only for a second before she looked away again.
“I know you must hate me-“
“Hate you?” Ty laughed so loud Zikee wondered if the neighbors would hear them.
Being they were miles from home, she’d had to purchase a room at the nearest inn for the interrogation. It wasn’t perfect, but it was insulated enough that one had to actively listen to hear the other rooms. It was safe enough for their purposes.
“Hate doesn’t begin to describe it.” Ty stalked toward the restrained woman, her eyes shining with intent. “You have no idea how long I’ve dreamt of this moment. Every time I looked at that damn scar on my neck, I thought of you. You and the other founders. Do you know how many times I imagined killing you? All the little ways I’d tear you apart. Make you wish you never lived.”
Qui didn’t respond. Andiz took a step towards them, but Zikee stopped him with a hand. Even if his heart was in the right place, he must have known as well as she did. This wasn’t something they had any right to interfere with.
Seeing the fire in Ty’s gaze, she could only remember what Vivica had said. For a child molded by Project Ranger, perhaps this was more cathartic than even Zikee’s hunt for the Siver Dragon. Or perhaps there was something else that drove her. Something Zikee couldn’t quite place as she watched moving to her former tormentor.
In the end, it didn’t quite matter. Zikee took a step forward in Andiz’s place, Ty glaring at her when she put a hand on her shoulder.
“Hmph. What, you gonna try and-“
Ty stopped herself as she saw the glint of steel raised to her.
Though she could feel Andiz’s disapproval, it only seemed fair to make the offer. Ty could likely get the job done with her bare hands if she so desired, but there was always something about the feel of flesh on steel that offered some degree of finality. It was why Zikee always turned to it in her time of need. And it was why she now offered it to the surprised halfling.
“Make it as quick or as slow as you desire,” Zikee said simply. “Your call.”
Ty looked from her to the sword, her fingers wrapping around the hilt hesitantly.
It wouldn’t be a pretty sight, but Zikee stepped back to watch anyhow. She felt like she owed Ty that much. And perhaps Andiz felt the same way as he made no moves to stop either of them. Or to look away. He simply took a seat near the door, arms folded like a priest holding a vigil.
“Before you die,” Ty finally spoke, “I have to know. Why? Why Project Ranger? Why us? Tell me why they…”
Though her voice trailed off, Qui seemed to understand, still refusing to meet the halfling’s gaze.
Despite being tied to a chair, Zikee had expected some degree of resistance when her life was threatened. But even now, the former director seemed oddly cooperative. To a worrying degree. Zikee recognized the look of rage of one with an unforgivable wound. The hatred that would drive a person to commit unspeakable acts.
That wasn’t what she saw in Qui Valentina.
As she stared at the ground, there was no life in the woman’s eyes. It was almost like the vacant stare she’d worn under Dandy’s spell, but even more pronounced, as if she’d never lived to begin with. They were not the eyes of unbridled rage. They weren’t even truly looking at Ty to begin with.
“Because we were dying,” Qui finally said.
Her lifeless gaze didn’t move as she seemed to stare out at what only she could see. Ty watched her with the blade still resting inches away from the founder’s throat.
“We thought it was necessary,” Qui said. “I still remember that first day we came up with the idea. There were only six of us, at the time, but we could all see the writing on the wall. Our nation was on the brink of collapse. Our families were starving. And even through all that, we had those creatures on the horizon always hungering for more. If we didn’t do something, we knew we’d all end up dead.”
Zikee’s eyes flickered with recognition. Even in her tribe, she remembered hearing the rumors spread when she was only a girl, though they seldom spoke of it in a positive light. It was the time before the boom of dragons. A short period, perhaps, but one that had been intertwined with the legend of Eligor the Strong.
As the story went, he’d been the first man to find and tame a dragon for himself. But the stories seldom focused on how the world reacted to his discovery. It was always a footnote in the legend that there’d been a brief famine at the time, only lasting a few years. As the dragons became more widespread, so too did the local wildlife get thrown into utter chaos. Whole ecosystems were decimated. Several creatures went extinct.
“We had to do something,” Qui said. “We were dying. Our children were dying. And we thought that was justification enough to start our project.”
Ty didn’t say a thing in response, and for once, Zikee couldn’t quite read her expression. Given her life in the lab, Zikee doubted she’d even heard the legend. But it was doubtful knowing it would be enough to change her mind. Qui continued on with the story without regarding anyone else in the room, simply staring out into her own memories.
“I was the director,” she said. “I was the woman behind it all. I wish I could say I didn’t notice when things became dire. That we lost our vision at some point. But that would be a lie. Yes, in the early days, we tried to be civil. We tried to take willing volunteers. The sick. The needy. But as time went on with no results, we grew desperate. I grew desperate. Our volunteers became whoever we could find on the streets. Whoever wouldn’t be missed. Orphans. Elders. And our methods…”
Her expression darkened, the lifeless gaze falling to the ground.
“What else could you call what’s become of me but divine punishment?” she asked to no one in particular. “We prodded them. Dissected them. Bred them like lab rats just to save ourselves. And it worked! Gods, it worked! It’s thanks to Project Ranger that our nation is still standing today. We gave them the tools they needed to stabilize the world. To fight back against those dragons. And all it cost was our humanity.”
Her gaze finally moves, though it isn’t to look at Ty. Or to get lost in another memory. When it moves, Zikee is surprised to find her gaze locking with the founder’s. It’s for the briefest of moments, barely a second, but that’s more than enough time for Qui to come to some sort of conclusion, a bitter smile crossing her lips before her eyes fell once again.
“I suppose Dandy should have done more to me. He certainly tried. It’s only by sheer coincidence I was freed. But when I left, I told myself I’d seek whatever punishment the world sought.” She looked to Ty, finally seeming to notice the blade to her throat. “If I am to meet my end here, it’s only fitting it would be by a child I once raised.”
Ty flashed her teeth, pressing the blade closer.
“No, gutting you like a damn fish would be more than fitting!” she growled. “You think some sob story erases what you did? What your people did?”
Qui didn’t respond, only continuing to stare into Ty’s eyes. The halfling’s voice shook with a flurry of emotions.
“You made us,” she said. “You took our lives. Took our futures. And for what? To save your own damn skins? You deserve a lot more than death as far as I care!”
Qui broke away for only a moment, giving a small nod.
“I know.”
She was looking back at Ty seconds later, her body relaxing as she seemed to ready herself for the coming execution.
But Ty didn’t make that final cut. Even with her tormentor right in front of her, the halfling stood there, her grip on the sword waning. It shook in her hands, Ty’s breath growing heavier and heavier as she stared back at the founder. But eventually, her green fingers went slack. The sword dropped to the ground with a metallic clatter.
It didn’t seem to offer Qui any form of relief.
“Do what you want with her,” Ty said. “I don’t care anymore.”
She wouldn’t wait for a response, turning to walk past everyone and disappearing into the hallway, the door slamming shut behind her.
Zikee wasn’t sure whether to be disappointed or concerned. Even Andiz didn’t look all that relieved to see how things turned out. He knelt down to pick up the sword, offering it back to Zikee. She made no moves to sheath it. Whether or not Ty made the choice, this was still the woman responsible for Project Ranger. The mother of the Silver Dragon, in a way.
And more importantly, as Zikee raised the blade, she could see the longing in the woman’s eyes. She’d voiced as much right before Ty left. This was the end she desired. The punishment she craved. It was only fitting that Zikee gave it to her, allowing her some semblance of finality. One savage human to another.
“Thanks for the story,” Zikee said, resting the blade against Qui’s skin.
She expected nothing in response to this, but to her surprise, the woman smiled at that, tears gently flowing down the sides of her face.
“Thanks for letting me finally tell it.”
Zikee could only nod at that, bringing the sword across her neck in one swift motion.
