Maybe the ability to delude ourselves is a survival tool that nature gave us.

How else would we live with ourselves?

LoG, 421

"You wanted him to come and rescue you! You were hoping for it! I didn't! I wanted to stay right where I was. To fight next to Grizzly. Radan separated me from him! Don't you understand? I never ... back ... away. I never leave the battle unfinished because, for me, it's like a defeat. When I fall on the ground I get up and keep trying!" Words poured out of Squinty like water, as flashes of her previous fights with Sien and Enoka flew through her mind.

Liton approached Orla and stood by her side. Squinty noticed his hand was on his axe. Maybe he is wondering whether he should intervene. That's nonsense. I would never attack Orla. I am just ... furious about everything. Life is happening to me and I didn't ask for any of this.

Orla shook her head in Liton's direction. Then she backed away and moved over to hug Jewel who was still lying motionless on the ground. "I am sorry." Squinty heard her say through a forced whisper. "I didn't know Radan separated you from Grizzly. Now I understand your anger. I think that I ... I would have reacted the same way."

Squinty cursed her own hot-headedness. She was quick to anger but she couldn't apologize for the world of her.

I hate that about myself.

Thinking about how she could make it up to Orla and somehow make her forget about that outburst of hers, she approached Jewel as well. "How is he?" Squinty muttered, hoping her voice sounded kind.

"He died in the Obsidian Mine Tunnel, a Light ago," Orla replied, calmly and that was when Squinty saw it.

Jewel's punctured eye was smashed up into a socket by a bone blade that had been run through the dog's brain.

Squinty was shocked and at a loss for words. "I ... I didn't know."

"How could you know?" Orla replied gently.

"I thought ... Since he was with you ... That he was merely wounded."

"Oh, no," Orla said in dream-like voice. "We were just looking for a place for him to sleep forever, while we were waiting for Radan. I couldn't have possibly left him down there in those Tunnels. So I took him with us."

Squinty thought about the horror that Orla must have felt, as she walked through an unknown land with a man she had just met, next to the corpse of the dog she loved. "That's awful." She heard herself say.

"I guess here ... Here it could be nice. Under this tree? What do you think?" Orla asked for her opinion tenderly, with care, as if they had never fought moments before.

"I ... sure." Squinty found herself nodding when a rustle of leaves on the forest floor was heard.

"What was that?" Liton jumped on his feet, brandishing his axe. Squinty joined him but a moment after, pulling out her daggers and ready to "disappear" if the need be. Orla came to stand next to them as well a bit later, her bow at the ready.

What came out from among the trees surprised the three of them. They all simultaneously lowered their weapons.

"It's ... Grizzly! And Onyx!" Squinty was the first to exclaim as the two War Dogs approached in a measured, solemn step. The bigger of the two, her brown mutt, was proudly and gently holding Mr Big Ears in his teeth and wagging his tail. Onyx was walking right next to Grizzly, with a slower gait. She carried a body on her back and it wasn't too hard for Orla and Squinty to recognize a crest of red hair.

Odon was lying entangled in Onyx's charcoal fur as if wrapped in a black shroud. Squinty saw no sneer on his lips, no challenge in his eyes. A stare that contained an amalgam of both surprise and sheer excitement reflected his recent sudden meeting with Death.

After having checked up both dogs and having assured themselves they were not badly injured, the trio silently proceeded into preparing two graves. It was time to say farewell. Liton was digging the holes while Squinty and Orla walked around the forest in silence, picking out big, white stones. When everything was done, Odon and Jewel were laid down into their final resting places.

Squinty stared at two piles of stones, gritting her teeth. She thought how they would not have the chance to be preserved in the Lagad Glass Dome, and how their bodies would rot underground. Then she recalled another pile of stones she elevated, not so long ago.

Roko.

Yet for her, it was as if it had happened in another time, in another life.

Orla disappeared into the forest under the pretext that she was going to go and look for some food.

Squinty knew well enough Orla wanted to be alone and both her and Liton respected Orla's wish. Squinty didn't know whether she should welcome the new member of their group with the open arms. Still, Orla seemed to trust him and Squinty decided to support Orla's judgment.

There were millions of thoughts running through her mind.

Why did Vadrifa look so uncomfortable in The Orphanage? Why the red-eyed birds? Why The Geyser? Why The Second Water War?

Nothing really made sense anymore, life and death alike.

Who did The Leader Borna really talk to? And who was The Warrior? Why did she have the same type of Etching as I did? How could she do all those things she did? How did I create ice armour out of nowhere?

Squinty had gotten pretty much used to her "disappearing act" and considered The Camouflage handy on many posterior occasions. Yet this new thing she could do ... That was unsettling.

Where did it all come from?

Without having realized it, she pulled Mr Big Ears into a closer hug, as she accommodated next to Grizzly.

Liton's voice startled her, interrupting her thoughts. "Hey, kid. Aren't you a bit too old for plush toys? I can't seem to figure you out. You ambush people with your daggers during The Light but fall asleep hugging your teddy bear and listening to a bedtime story? Talk about double personality disorder."

Grizzly let out a growling sound at that sentence as if he understood Liton was teasing his Rider.

"It's a rabbit. And you wouldn't understand," Squinty retorted, calming The War Dog with her palm.

"And what's with the creepy hair and the unintelligible whispers? Never heard of scissors, I see?"

"I could say the same about your beard. And you've never heard of clothes," she bit back at him.

"That's Weller's way of life. Easier to dig like that," Liton explained with a smile. "Our community has long given up on wearing trendsetting garments. Function over fashion, kid."

Squinty cringed at the repeated use of the word "kid". "Where I'm from, there was no community. It was every kid for themselves." Squinty changed the subject.

"What about your parents?"

"I never knew my parents."

"That is a bummer. All of the Wellers' children are cared for and ... The whole community makes sure they grow up feeling safe and protected. Funny story, really, but I have no idea who my kids are nor how many of them I have." Liton tried to cheer her up.

"I already had an encounter with the likes of you." Squinty spat on the ground. "It's just that you were greener and meaner."

"Where was this?"

"In The Lagad City Cloaca," Squinty replied calmly. "And let me tell you, that member of your community wasn't as lively as you are."

"You are talking about the Drowned Wellers. The Dwellers," Liton muttered. "Damned Mind, I thought they were just a wet-nurse's tale."

"Who are they?" Squinty's curiosity was piqued.

"They are The Wellers who dug too deeply, too greedily, and struck a water vein they shouldn't have." He replied in an eerie, ominous voice. "Water filled their lungs and they drowned, drowned deep down in the lower layer of The Squareworld."

Just as Squinty was about to ask him what he meant by that, Orla emerged from the forest and onto the clearing. She seemed absentminded as she approached Grizzly and Onyx, caressing their giant heads. Both dogs were a lot taller than Orla so when she tiptoed in a vain attempt to hug them, her head bumped under their chins.

"I am watching you," Squinty added, touching her daggers to make a point. "If you try to hurt her ..." She made a motion towards Orla.

Liton snorted. "Don't be an idiot, kid. I am not your enemy. I swore a life debt to Orla and I intend to respect that debt".

"We shall see," Squinty concluded darkly and went over to stand by her friend. She was still distrustful of The Weller and she wasn't sure if he would stay true to his word.

"What's our plan?" Squinty asked. "What did Radan say?" she added, hating herself for that follow-up question.

"He told us to reach the river. I think he ... He must have sent Grizzly and Onyx to us."

"He probably expects us to go on alone." Squinty mused. "That's why he flew me here and left me here with you."

"Maybe the weird old man will catch up to us once we are on the river bank. After all, he claimed to know where The Princess of Lagad was. We can't do anything without him. We don't know where to go look for her." 

"So ... what are you saying? Reach the river bank and then simply sit there and wait hoping he will show up and guide us?" Squinty didn't like that plan one bit. If anything, she liked relying on herself only.

"Do you have a better idea?" Liton was getting impatient. "He is the one with information."

"I agree with Liton," Orla said after short pondering. "Let's just go to the river bank and see if Radan will show up. He must have a plan for us. After all, it's not too far. I can hear the water rumble from this clearing."

"I guess it would do us good. The War Dogs can also freshen up and rest after the battle," Squinty grumpily agreed. "We need some water for the road, too."

The more they were approaching, the mistier the air became until they could barely see the person immediately in front and behind them. The dense fog clouded their view. Even though they could clearly hear the loud hum of the water, they weren't able to see the river until they practically stumbled upon it, wetting their feet in the shallows.

"The Reka aren't that fond of visitors," Liton warned them. "Let's step back a bit and make camp. The Dark is approaching and we should be on our guard."

Orla's enthusiastic squeak interrupted his cautious tirade. "Oh, my Mind! What are those?"

When Squinty and Liton looked at the direction Orla was pointing at, they saw a herd of various-coloured horses frolicking on the blue grass, right next to the river.

Their brown, black, grey, green and purple coats shone in an unusual way. When they all turned to look at the newcomers, Squinty discerned that they all had bright white eyes.

"They look so beautiful!" Orla exclaimed once more.

"Well, if they weren't wild, we might have hoped for new mounts," Liton muttered, disappointed when they all took flight towards the forest. "They just gone and ran away as soon as they heard us."

Orla squealed. "Not everyone! This grey foal stayed!" she rectified herself.

Squinty got a better look and she had to admit Orla was right. The youngest of the herd didn't run away with the others and it was now eyeing Orla warily.

Orla was now approaching it boldly, with a piece of dry bread she somehow produced from her soldier backpack.

"Just take it easy," Liton whispered. "If you play nicely it might even let you pet it."

The foal seemed to enjoy both the attention and the bread it got from Orla. It stretched its head and neighed contently. Orla extended her trembling palm and touched its silvery shining flank.

The foal's coat shone even stronger, becoming almost translucent.

Orla suddenly looked tense and uneasy at that change.

"What's wrong?" Liton yelled at her.

Squinty was unsure whether the message was being transmitted due to the loud water sound. "Orla!" Squinty called her more urgently.

"I ... I can't let go." Orla glanced back at her travelling companions, shaking like a leaf.

"What do you mean you can't let go? Just ... Remove your palm and come back here with us!" Squinty shouted.

"It ... It's stuck." Orla repeated, horror-stricken, as the lithe animal started pulling her towards the water.

"Liton, help her! Grizzly, Onyx, go!" Squinty reacted fast, afraid for her friend.

Liton ran towards the silver horse, grabbing its tail, but both of his hands got stuck in the similar fashion as Orla's before that.

The foal was now speeding up, its eyes shining ominously. Its front hooves were already touching the water surface when Grizzly and Onyx reached it and bit into its flanks, each on their own side.

Their jaws remained locked on horse's flesh.

No matter how much The War Dogs shook their mandibles, trying to release the grip on the foal, they were unable to. All three were now glued onto it with what it seemed to be some kind of sticky, adhesive substance, shouting and yelping at Squinty to help them.

The foal dove under the surface of the river. Squinty followed it without hesitation. The water was transparent and clear so she could track it with ease. When her breath ran out, instead of going back up to the surface, Squinty mercilessly continued the pursuit.

She didn't even realize she was now swimming surrounded with an ice armour.