Eeri gently threw the bone she was holding into the fire, the last remnant of the yubo leg she had just eaten. Her interlocutor stopped talking and looked at her, in silence, aware that it was going to be necessary to leave her some time for her to absorb what he had just told her.
"It was that, then she articulated. They didn't say anything more?"
"They said they thought you were dead. It's happened before, and sometimes they give a decent burial to the homins they find, if they can. Does that surprise you that much?"
"From them, yes," said Eeri. "I always thought they were working against hominity."
"Against hominity? You know, they need hominity. And despite what their appearance suggests, they are not all the same. Some of them have the heart to protect all of us."
"ney, I see. And we owe them our lives. They saved us and healed us… A kamist and an… agnostic."
The ranger smiled softly and looked at the hominid sitting across from him. It had been several weeks since their bodies had been brought to his camp, and he had taken it from there. The care he had given them was beginning to pay off. Eeri had been the first to come to her senses the day before. She had let out an incredible howl, and had become so agitated that it took two homins to hold her down until she came back to her senses. Then she fell into a dumb silence when she saw her friend beside her. The next day, she got up calmly to find him, finally accepting some food. He was hopeful for the other fyros, even if he still needed several days of rest.
"It looks like your friend protected you from the flames. He was much more burned and injured than you, but he seems to be slowly recovering. They found him clinging to you, which is probably why you were less affected by the flames than he was."
"He protected me…"
"They suspected that hisseed of life had been hit. They had to extract a huge wooden thorn that went right through his skull, and that should have killed him. I hope he didn't lose his mind completely… In any case, his survival is undreamed. And yours too! In truth, it is a miracle that you are still alive. 'Miracle', that's the word they used. Can you imagine?"
Eeri remained silent, her gaze plunged into the campfire. Her fault. It was her fault. Again. Taking the path to Fyre, as if after Coriolis it would only be a walk without any danger. Then she lowered her gaze to her hand, lying motionless on her lap. The burns were still alive there, marking her palm and a part of her forearm. She turned her left arm over, to contemplate the palm of her other hand, miraculously spared by the flames.
"It won't come back, dey?"
"I don't think so. You were in a bad condition, unconscious, unable to regenerate. They spent a long time clearing up to find you under the rubble of the partly blown-up cliff, and after a certain time, some wounds become untreatable…"
"So these marks are imprinted in our seed of life…"
"Yes. And even their technology can't do anything about it. As I told you before, it's already a damn miracle that you survived."
"We Fyros are said to be very resistant to fire."
"And to being buried under tons of rubble, obviously! By the way, how is your eye?"
"Still nothing."
Eeri got up slowly, leaning on her left arm, and took a few steps to reach the tent that housed Azazor. She looked at the scarred face of her friend, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully on a cot. A light cloth modestly covered his torso and legs.
She felt a tear running down her face.
"It was that, then she articulated. They didn't say anything more?"
"They said they thought you were dead. It's happened before, and sometimes they give a decent burial to the homins they find, if they can. Does that surprise you that much?"
"From them, yes," said Eeri. "I always thought they were working against hominity."
"Against hominity? You know, they need hominity. And despite what their appearance suggests, they are not all the same. Some of them have the heart to protect all of us."
"ney, I see. And we owe them our lives. They saved us and healed us… A kamist and an… agnostic."
The ranger smiled softly and looked at the hominid sitting across from him. It had been several weeks since their bodies had been brought to his camp, and he had taken it from there. The care he had given them was beginning to pay off. Eeri had been the first to come to her senses the day before. She had let out an incredible howl, and had become so agitated that it took two homins to hold her down until she came back to her senses. Then she fell into a dumb silence when she saw her friend beside her. The next day, she got up calmly to find him, finally accepting some food. He was hopeful for the other fyros, even if he still needed several days of rest.
"It looks like your friend protected you from the flames. He was much more burned and injured than you, but he seems to be slowly recovering. They found him clinging to you, which is probably why you were less affected by the flames than he was."
"He protected me…"
"They suspected that hisseed of life had been hit. They had to extract a huge wooden thorn that went right through his skull, and that should have killed him. I hope he didn't lose his mind completely… In any case, his survival is undreamed. And yours too! In truth, it is a miracle that you are still alive. 'Miracle', that's the word they used. Can you imagine?"
Eeri remained silent, her gaze plunged into the campfire. Her fault. It was her fault. Again. Taking the path to Fyre, as if after Coriolis it would only be a walk without any danger. Then she lowered her gaze to her hand, lying motionless on her lap. The burns were still alive there, marking her palm and a part of her forearm. She turned her left arm over, to contemplate the palm of her other hand, miraculously spared by the flames.
"It won't come back, dey?"
"I don't think so. You were in a bad condition, unconscious, unable to regenerate. They spent a long time clearing up to find you under the rubble of the partly blown-up cliff, and after a certain time, some wounds become untreatable…"
"So these marks are imprinted in our seed of life…"
"Yes. And even their technology can't do anything about it. As I told you before, it's already a damn miracle that you survived."
"We Fyros are said to be very resistant to fire."
"And to being buried under tons of rubble, obviously! By the way, how is your eye?"
"Still nothing."
Eeri got up slowly, leaning on her left arm, and took a few steps to reach the tent that housed Azazor. She looked at the scarred face of her friend, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully on a cot. A light cloth modestly covered his torso and legs.
She felt a tear running down her face.
---
Eeri"Quand on a le nez trop près de la bouteille, on ne voit plus le bar"