ROLEPLAY

The night in this place was like no other. Total darkness, deeper than in the remotest root bounty, where glittering plants lit up the space sempiternally. Here, only sawdust, dull and dusty, perniciously smothered any attempt by the slightest ray of light to reflect. The only thing visible was the deep blue of the sky, at this hour of the night so dark that the top of the cliffs barely stood out..

Lyren moved forward, as quietly as a fyros could. She knew the area, had trained there many times, and knew exactly which way to go to avoid unpleasant encounters. The light of the Fraiders' camp was finally visible in the distance. A few torches and fires, at most. They weren't usually aggressive, but they didn't take kindly to visitors who lingered. Lyren approached the fire and bowed to the few Fraiders present in greeting, before declaring :

- I ask for your hospitality for the night.

The Fraiders looked at her for a moment, then without further sign, looked away and went about their business. Their silence was a good sign: the absence of any reaction on their part could mean that she was welcome. Otherwise, she would probably have been quickly chased away. She sat down by the fire, thanking them with an "akep", then took out a bottle of liqueur and presented it to them. One of them walked over to Lyren, put his hand on the bottle the fyrette was still holding. He suddenly brought his face close to her, sniffing loudly. Luckily, she managed to contain any reaction of surprise, and slowly let the bottle slip from her hands. The Fraider stepped back, holding the gift but looking at her with his deep-set eyes, then grunted in a strange way. A sort of laughter, or a rattle of annoyance, Lyren was unable to make out any more than that..
The Fraider's growl caused a moment's silence in the tribe. The guards froze, as if time had stood still for a second or two, then finally continued on their merry way, resuming their deep, sonorous breathing..

Seeing that everything had returned to normal, Lyren tried to calm her breathing. She had the idea of concentrating her mind on trying to distinguish the females from the male Fraiders. Perhaps it was possible for them to find each other by smell, or by their grunts, so similar were they. Perhaps that was why the guard had sniffed her earlier, his growl meant to let the others know that Lyren was a female, who knows. Yet, even observing them attentively, it was difficult for her to make up her mind on the matter..
The calm of the camp, her fatigue and her highly intellectual reasoning soon got the better of her and she drifted off to sleep..



A tyrancha howl in the distance woke her up. Opening her eyes, she first saw the campfire in front of her, which had obviously been tended during the night. It took her a few seconds to remember where she was, just long enough for the haze in her mind to clear. The atmosphere of the camp was the same, she recognized the throbbing hum of the guards' chorus and their heavy, muffled footsteps in the sawdust. It was early morning, and Lyren finally looked around. Then in front of her. There was someone, right there.
A homine.

The oren pyr Lyren tried to articulate sounded like a perfect lumper gurgle. She blinked several times to regain control of her facial muscles..

The hominin in front of her stared at her, silently. A sort of dirty cape covered her head and part of her face..

- What do you want?
- o... oren pyr," Lyren articulated more successfully..
- Rrak said you wanted to see me..
- I... I didn't tell them anything..

The hominin let out a small laugh with a slightly distorted smile that made Lyren shudder..

- Don't underestimate these creatures. They have far more wisdom and resources than ordinary humans..
- I... ney, no doubt...
- So you want to see me.
- ney. I wanted to see you.

Lyren paused briefly to choose her words carefully, but was cut off by her interlocutor's dry, slightly unpleasant voice. Among fyros, it was not common to be addressed as "vouvoyer", and thanks to this, Eeri had set a certain distance, as the most execrable of matis would have done..

- You've seen me. Now you can leave..
- I've got some things for you," murmured Lyren, a little distraught..
- I don't need presents.
- These are not gifts. These are things that belong to you..

The hominin nodded with interest.

- Ah, things that were exchanged when they thought I was dead?
- No. And you're going to have to listen to me before I give them to you," continued Lyren..
- Keep it short.
- I'll take as long as it takes.

Behind her, a Fraider let out a growl similar to that of the previous day, as if to support Lyren's last remark. The hominin in front of her sighed, then with her left hand freed the cloak covering her head and face. She revealed disheveled, grayish hair that looked just as unkempt as her worn, dusty outfit. It took Lyren a moment to realize that Eeri didn't have full control of her facial muscles. His right eye, half-closed and surrounded by an area of damaged skin, showed only a fragment of dark red pupil. His right hand lay motionless on his lap, now protruding from the cape..
She stared at Lyren with her left eye, her gaze stern but vaguely questioning..

- So be it. Let's hear it.
- My name is Lyren. I was raised by the Renegades, south of Dyron. For several reasons, including their betrayal, I left the tribe for good. I'm now a Fyros patriot. My name means nothing to you?

Eeri, silent, nodded a slightly unsteady "no". Lyren continued, slightly perturbed by her reaction.

- I...
- Did Wixarika send you?" cut in Eeri..
- dey. She doesn't know I'm here.
- But it was she who told you about me?
- Among others, yes.
- Who else? Who else?
- Just about everyone is talking about you. Good, bad. Mostly good.
- Right. And what do you want from me, in the end," sighed Eeri, already out of patience..
- Let me continue," said Lyren, trying to keep control of herself. My name was written on a pendant.
- Why should I care??

Eeri's tone had gone up a notch. Lyren closed his eyes and sighed, then murmured :

- I agree..
- How, okay?
- I'm off.

Lyren stood up, slowly, without even opening his eyes to meet Eeri's gaze, then picked up his bag..

- I'll come back when you're ready to listen..
- Sit back down.

Lyren reopened his eyes to look at the homine, seated.

- Sure?
- I'm all ears. I'm out of practice... Excuse me. And if you're going to come back with the same questions, I'd rather get it over with now..

Lyren took the time to sit back down, putting his bag down carefully. Eeri's apology had sounded slightly false and forced. Yet it was an apology, and she had invited her to stay. Lyren smiled, as best she could..

- I have three things to say to you, or to ask of you.
- Go ahead.
- The first is... why haven't you been to see your son in Thesos??
- I... I've been there, I've... I've seen it from a distance. But I preferred to take my time.
- You're afraid he won't recognize you?
- Look at my face... It's...
- Wixarika brought him up talking about you all the time. He's a big homin' boy now. He's waiting for you..
- He's gonna hate me for letting him.
- dey. He'll hate you if you leave him alone and stay here..

Eeri abruptly picked up a bundle with his left hand and placed it in the fire..

- Well, well... I... I know what I have to do. akep. And I don't need any lessons..
- I haven't finished yet," continued Lyren..
- Ah. So you've come from the Drakani too, because I haven't been to see them.?
- Exactly.
- This is more complicated... And... and...

Eeri stirred the fire frantically, then paused to let out a deep sigh..

- Oy. I told Azazor I was going to Fairhaven when we split up in Silan. But I met the eyes of some young homins there. I'm not as disfigured as he is, but I did feel they were looking at me strangely... I felt the need to come here first. Then I realized that I no longer had a pact. I'm stuck here...
- So you need a traveling companion to get to Fairhaven, do you? That can be arranged..
- The Drakani must be furious with me.

Lyren laughed and took the small package out of his bag..

- Absolutely furious. They want to tie you to the bar and stuff you with gingerbread..

Eeri, a little disconcerted, looked at the package Lyren was holding, and instantly understood what it must contain..

- I have to give you this from Kyriann.
- My coat of arms...? How could she give it to you?
- Because...
- She never should have! Just hand it to me !!
- It's just that...
- Ah, but she'll hear me, Mother Kyriann! !!

Lyren placed the small package in front of her.

- Give it to me !
- Patience," replied Lyren. All in good time.
- You forced her to give it to you? That's blackmail.?
- dey," exclaimed Lyren, raising his voice a little. She trusted me to give it to you. It's as simple as that.
- Give it to me !!

Eeri's tone had risen a notch again, prompting Lyren to take a deep breath and adopt his calmest tone..

- Trust me," she said..
- But who are you??
- I'm Lyren, I told you. And I have one last question for you.
- If it's a game, I don't like it," replied Eeri..
- Your coat of arms is there, in front of me. All you have to do is pick it up, and I won't touch it again. This isn't a game, Eeri..

Lyren shuddered. For the first time, she had spoken the name of the hominin before her. Her own mother's name. And now it was time to take the bodoc by the horns and start the last topic....

- This isn't a game, and I don't mean you any harm," repeated Lyren, taken aback by Eeri's unpleasant stare..
- What do you want, then?
- I'd like to know what happened 27 years ago. But before that...

Lyren had chosen precisely this moment to take a bottle out of his bag, an essence of oxyx that had cost him a fortune at Lydix earlier. Even though he knew it was a gift for one of his oldest and most loyal customers, the old nibbler hadn't cared and hadn't lowered his price in the slightest. You want my best bottle, my little fyrette, you have to pay the price! !

Lyren uncorked the bottle with a flick of her teeth, and without a moment's thought, took a small glassful under Eeri's stunned gaze. Then she stood up and planted the bottle in front of Eeri, struggling to hold back her cough, which exploded as she sat back down..

- It goes?
- I'm not used to drinking this," Lyren hiccupped between fits. How do you do it??
- Gotta love it. And the habit, too, that I must have lost after all these years," replied Eeri in a slightly softened voice, grabbing the bottle to inhale. Say, you didn't go for the cheap stuff! !

Lyren's heart stopped. Eeri had been on first-name terms with her. She had gone from the most distant form of language, the one reserved for strangers and notables with whom you wouldn't for anything in the world create a bond, that hypocritical matis language, to a form that was finally normal, fyros. Was a simple bottle enough to create a bond? Lyren remained silent, waiting for her to take a sip..

Luckily, Eeri had turned her full attention to the bottle, leaving Lyren to her questions. She relished the perfume, lifted it before her suddenly sparkling eyes to observe its content, its color, and finally, after a few seconds that seemed to last an eternity, she brought the bottle to her mouth, to take a good sip that plunged her into a kind of gustatory ecstasy for a few more moments..

- ramèch, it's been a long time," she said at last..
- A lifetime," murmured Lyren..
- A... what? dey, a few years, only, but akep, I must thank you..
- From... you... uh, deney. My pleasure. This is for you... for you... uh... keep it. !
- kep," said Eeri with a smile..

A great silence. Satisfied with her bottle in hand, like a kid given a toy, Eeri had forgotten all about the coat of arms and Lyren's other questions. Lyren was totally taken aback. Could she now be on first-name terms with the hominin, at the risk of being tactless, or could she keep to the tone with which she had finally managed to create a bond, while leaving this distance between the two of them? A thunderbolt burst nearby, bringing them back to reality..

- 27 years," she repeated, a slight tremor in her voice, returning to the subject at hand..
- Comment, 27 years old?
- I'd like to know what happened 27 years ago. Or 28.
- Why not 29, or 25??

Lyren replied with a slightly annoyed sneer and a heavy gaze. No kidding, she wondered, is this Eeri really so slow to understand, has she left part of her brain in the old lands??

- Uh... 27, 28... Wait, what year is it again??
- In 2624.
- Already? I've lost count of the years.
- That takes us back to '96," said Lyren, expressionless..
- In eighty-seven...

Eeri froze and silently uttered a name..

- Things happened that year," continued Lyren..

Eeri's face darkened again, and she put the bottle down..

- ney, things happened that year," she declared, distraught..
- I'd like to know.
- To know... What it's like to lose a friend? To know what death is, real death?
- A friend? That's all there is to it.?

Eeri froze, his single eye staring intently at Lyren. She pulled herself together, but it was obviously too late to swallow her last clumsy words..

- Sorry, that's not what I meant...
- But still...
- But something else happened that year, dey? Death... But also life?
- Life...
- Lyren, doesn't that... uh... mean anything to you? I mean... my name doesn't sound familiar.?
- At all.



Lyren felt as if her mind was losing all composure at that moment, but she managed not to explode or burst into tears..

- You're going to think I'm totally crazy, then," she managed to articulate..
- It's a good thing we get on well with crazy girls," replied Eeri in a dry voice, taking the opportunity to swig a glass of essence of ocyx and hand the bottle to Lyren, who refused with a wave of her hand to continue..
- Several times, we were confused. Then I showed my pendant to Wixarika, who...
- It's not possible... I had a daughter. But her name wasn't Lyren..

Eeri's tone was dry, unequivocal, and she continued, in a voice as gnarled as it was trenchant.

- You know what I think? You got close to Wixarika, she told you this story, and you thought you had a chance, that I probably had a little inheritance to play with, since I was probably never coming back. But surprise... Here I am again.
- But it's not true! I've often been asked if we're related...
- But of course. It's too easy to confuse them with someone you want to see. They just missed me.
- But then, look at this pendant !
- If it's really my work, you probably stole it from me, taking advantage of Wixarika's credulity. !
- That's not true... I've always had it, ever since I was a child... And it's got my name on it....
- Anyway, my daughter wasn't named after you. Lykrèch! That was her name! That's what I had written on her pendant !
- Lykrèch?
- I've got better things to do than stir up the past! I've looked everywhere for that girl. She's gone, no longer of this world !

Eeri stood up abruptly. His legs were still agile, compared to his half-paralyzed upper body. Lyren froze, pendant in hand, as the homine snarled away. In a fit of fury, she threw the jewel with all her might in the direction of the retreating hominid, before bursting into tears and burying her face in her arms and hands..

Silence had returned to the camp. Once again, the slow, calm breathing of the Fraider guards punctuated the soundscape, barely disturbed by the cries of predators not far from the camp..

Eeri sat behind Lyren, who had managed to calm her crying, but kept her head in her hands..

- So they called you Lyren," began Eeri, mid-voice..

She paused and placed her left hand on Lyren's shoulder, causing him to flinch. Rrak, a few steps away, looked at her hard. A few minutes earlier, the old Fraider chief had wordlessly picked up the pendant and, with his slow, natural authority, come and handed it to Eeri a little further away. She knew from her years of contact with this tribe that Fraiders rarely made mistakes. They may seem brutal and primitive, but they had a gift for reading the minds of homins, detecting lies and dishonesty. When this happened, visitors were quickly chased away. Among these distant cousins of the fyros, this was undoubtedly the basis of their attachment to the ideas of truth and honor, which have become the pillars of their society. Rrak's look and attitude left no doubt, and he had left Lyren sitting there by the fire. He wouldn't chase her away.

Eeri had taken the pendant from Chief Fraider's hands, then looked at it, trembling. The few letters that were still legible were indeed those she had written in haste, years earlier, before entrusting the baby she had had in secret, to be placed in a safe place. Rrak became impatient, and motioned to Lyren without a word, tapping his foot lightly on the floor..

Finally sitting down, she continued slowly, pausing for each sentence, each word..

- This is my pendant. I wrote that name so wrong... I mean, that name, your name... ...that it could be read ten different ways. I miss everything, you know. I mean, I... I miss a lot. But it's a nice name, Lyren. Maybe even better than Lykrèch, who knows. Now, I owe you a story. You've got a right to know what happened all those years ago. If only I'd expected... But you've found me now, that's the main thing. I don't want to hide the truth anymore. I've been looking for you for years. Without success. Then I lost hope. I've got to tell you. I didn't expect...
- The story can wait," declared Lyren. You must look after Uzykos. He can't be deprived of his mother.
- ney, that's what Azazor told me, too..

Eeri thought back for a moment to the rope bridge at the Citadel. Where Azazor had hesitated to send him into the ravine, then declared :

- Okay, Uzykos, first. I hope he recognizes me..
- Among a thousand. He accepted me, and recognized me, too. We have the same blood, and he was the first to feel it..
- What do you mean??
- He was just different with me than with the others. There was an indescribable bond between us..

Eeri ran her hand through Lyren's hair, then smiled tenderly..

- Nice haircut.
- A long story... I've got some things to tell you too.
- Someone hurt you?
- They tried. But I did pretty well.
- Not like me. I'm hideous and disfigured now.
- It's not about how you look. The important thing is just to be there..
- When I have to," added Eeri, thoughtfully..

- By the way, isn't there a certain Mazé'Yum looking for me, too??
- Ah dey !! You stay away from him! Take care of your son !!

The two homines had left the Fraider camp in the early hours of the morning. Lyren spoke, with a touch of pride, of all those she'd met on the bark, and especially of all those who knew Eeri. But now, no, no, and no. Eeri kept herself from grumbling, but she knew that the Zoraï would pay her a visit sooner or later. Now she had to choose between greeting him with a dagger to thank him for all the bad advice he'd given her, or forgetting the past and seeing if he still had something to teach her. Perhaps it would simply be safer for her to stay away for now, until she could learn more about his possible recent exploits. Lyren snapped her out of her thoughts.

- I forgot, with all that. The fyros and Trykers are preparing a water route. Perhaps you could take advantage of one of the caravans to travel...?
- I know, ney. But everyone will be there...
- Now's the time to show your face. They're just friends !

Eeri sighed, and looked at Lyren with tenderness. He must have been portrayed as a confident, fearless and determined warrior. The hominin who had returned from the Old Lands was very different, still ruminating on the mistakes that had nearly cost them their lives..

- I'm lucky to be back, but I don't deserve all this..
- What don't you deserve? To be reunited with your family?
- No doubt.

Lyren stopped, took out her water bottle and took a sip. The two homines had almost reached Thesos. She handed her gourd to Eeri and stared into his single eye..

- All right, then. If you don't deserve this, there's still time to turn back. I won't force you.

Eeri hesitated, disconcerted.

- Otherwise, there's also what others deserve. Uzykos, to be reunited with his mother. Wixarika, to rest after replacing you all these years. The drakani, to see you again after hoping every day that you'd come back alive... And I deserve to know where I come from....
- okal, okal, let's go! But you're not leaving me alone, are you??
- You mean... That I don't act like my mother?