Drak got up from the ground.
Slowly — his right arm with the elbow given way, both hands braced on the earth until his legs found their weight. It took ti.
He stood.
He looked at the fifty-two behind him.
Then at Mara.
"It’s over."
The sa voice he’d used to say the law was the law.
The fifty-two didn’t move right away.
Drak looked at them.
"It’s over," he repeated.
---
[DraconicLegacy]: Drak got up. with his elbow given way. he got up and said it himself.
[Zerox]: hey I slept 2 hours and ca back. what did I miss?
[Warwolf]: @Zerox Drak fell. he’s saying it’s over. you’re just in ti.
[Martijn_Wiesma]: the way he said it. it wasn’t surrender. it was acknowledgnt.
[Bangsund]: the 52 waiting for Drak’s signal. Drak gave them the signal. that’s how this works.
[Drakeking]: I had a coffee while the stream stayed on screen. I didn’t miss anything. well done .
---
The fifty-two separated.
Not all in the sa direction — so toward the eastern edge of the camp, so toward the south, so simply sat down on the field where they were with their arms on their knees.
Those who left, left in silence.
Without looking back.
Kai watched them go.
"Won’t you call them back?"
"Those who leave out of conviction are the only ones who serve." Mara watched them go. "And those who stay out of conviction too."
Kai looked at her.
"And the ones sitting on the field?"
Mara looked at the twenty-so who hadn’t moved.
"Those are still deciding."
---
[Stephen_Sumrs]: Despite what happened, Mara hasn’t decided to expel them. three distinct groups.
[DraconicLegacy]: "still deciding" — Mara giving them ti. that’s also leadership.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Mara letting them go without chasing them. consistent with everything she is.
[Martijn_Wiesma]: the ones who sit. I wonder what they’ll decide.
[Bangsund]: Kai asked what we were all thinking. Mara answered as always. direct.
[Drakeking]: my boss is going to ask why I have dark circles. I’ll tell him it was a force majeure situation.
---
Serah sat down on the field.
Not with the kind of sitting of soone exhausted — with that of soone who finishes sothing and needs a mont before what’s next.
Markings at thirty-four. Left shoulder with accumulated damage from four impacts that would take hours to process completely.
Lira arrived from the south and sat beside her.
Without saying anything to each other.
Both staring at the field — the Orcs who had stayed, the ones still deciding, the forty-seven loyal beginning to move from the flanks toward the center.
"The shoulder?" Serah said.
"Fine." Lira. "The markings?"
"Thirty-four."
"Bad."
"Yeah."
---
[DraconicLegacy]: Serah and Lira sitting together without anyone planning it. (╥﹏╥)
[Stephen_Sumrs]: "fine" / "bad" / "yeah" — the whole conversation in four words. they’ve been together for months.
[Zerox]: Serah and Lira’s dynamic these last few days. Mara unified them without aning to.
[Martijn_Wiesma]: With Mara you never know, though maybe it’s because Lira is now closer to Kai.
[Bangsund]: both shoulders damaged. sitting on the sa field. no tension. that’s sothing new.
[Drakeking]: Serah asked about Lira’s shoulder. Serah. asked. about Lira. mark the date.
---
Drak approached Mara.
With his right arm bent close to his body — the elbow wasn’t going to be any good for the next few hours.
"The camp needs a Warlord."
"I know."
"If you leave—"
"I didn’t say I’m leaving yet." Mara looked at him. "And you have the elbow."
"The elbow heals."
"In three days."
"Two."
Mara looked at him a mont.
"Two," she conceded.
Drak nodded.
"Who leads it?"
Mara looked at the field where Urgo was. The wounded to one side. Those who could move helping those who couldn’t. The damage inventory Urgo was taking with his eyes.
"You already know," Mara said.
Drak followed her gaze toward Urgo.
"Urgo will never accept it."
"Urgo accepts it if you ask him."
Drak processed this.
"Why ?"
"Because you were the one who led the challenge." Mara looked at him. "That gives you responsibility for what cos after."
---
[Warwolf]: Mara transferring responsibility to Drak. even in this she teaches him.
[Stephen_Sumrs]: "that gives you responsibility for what cos after" — Mara being a Warlord even in defeat.
[DraconicLegacy]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Drak is going to ask Urgo. Urgo is going to accept.
[Zerox]: Mara conceded "two" when Drak said two instead of three. small. but she conceded it.
[Martijn_Wiesma]: these two have been together two years. they know each other. they’ve had this dialogue in their heads for a long ti.
[Bangsund]: Mara leaves the camp to Urgo but through Drak. that’s political. Mara is political without trying.
---
Urgo arrived when Drak went toward him.
The two spoke quietly for a minute.
Kai didn’t hear what they said.
Urgo looked at Mara.
Mara held his gaze.
Urgo nodded once.
He went back to the damage inventory.
---
Mara approached Kai.
"What did you say to the forty-seven when you got behind this morning?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Urgo was already there when I arrived." Kai looked at her. "The forty-seven ca on their own."
Mara processed this.
She looked at Urgo organizing the field.
"And you?"
"I ca because I felt like it." Kai looked at her. "And because you said it was the best fight in two years and no one fights you like that just once and I want the next fight soon."
Mara looked at him.
Her ears didn’t drop this ti.
"Ego."
"Curiosity."
"They’re the sa thing."
"Sotis."
---
[Drakeking]: "because I felt like it" — Kai summing up his whole motivation.
[Stephen_Sumrs]: "ego" / "curiosity" / "they’re the sa thing" / "sotis" — this exchange deserves a fra.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ KAI AND MARA ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[DraconicLegacy]: Mara asked what he said to the 47. Kai said nothing. the 47 ca on their own. that says everything about Mara and about Kai.
[Zerox]: ears didn’t drop this ti. Mara looked at him directly. progress.
[Martijn_Wiesma]: no one fights you like that just once and doesn’t want the next fight. there will be a rematch for sure.
---
Serah arrived from where she was sitting.
Lira behind her.
Urgo approached Mara from the field.
Brek behind Urgo. Keth. Gorm.
The four veterans in front of Mara with the field processing the end of the fight behind them.
"What do we do now?" Urgo said.
Mara looked at them — the four, the field, the ones still deciding in the center, the loyal moving about.
"This camp is yours." She said it looking at Urgo. "You built it the sa as ."
Urgo looked at her.
"We both built it."
"Yes." Mara. "And now it’s yours."
Urgo processed this for a long second.
"And you?"
Mara looked at Kai.
Kai looked at her.
"Is there room for a Warlord without territory?"
Kai didn’t answer right away.
He looked at Serah.
Looked at Lira.
Back to Mara.
"Always."
---
[DraconicLegacy]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ "ALWAYS" ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Stephen_Sumrs]: Kai consulted Serah and Lira with a look before answering. without words. the three decided together.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ MARA JOINS THE GROUP ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Bangsund]: Kai looked at Serah and Lira before saying always. the three had already decided before Mara asked.
[Martijn_Wiesma]: (╥﹏╥)(╥﹏╥)(╥﹏╥)
[Drakeking]: "always" — one word. the whole developnt built toward that word.
---
Serah’s markings pulsed.
Lira adjusted her glasses.
That gesture from both of them showed a certain level of jealousy.
Urgo looked at Mara.
"Brek handles inventories better than ."
"I know."
"And Keth runs the trainings."
"I know."
"And Gorm—"
"Urgo." Mara looked at him. "I already know everything. That’s why it’s yours."
Urgo closed his mouth.
He nodded.
He went to his work.
---
[Zerox]: Urgo giving the report on why he can handle this. Mara telling him she already knows. (╥﹏╥)
[DraconicLegacy]: "I already know everything. that’s why it’s yours." — that’s how you hand over command.
[Stephen_Sumrs]: Urgo accepting. with a condition. Brek, Keth, and Gorm are going to sustain that.
[Warwolf]: Gorm is going to miss Mara. he won’t say it. I see it in how he looks at her.
[Martijn_Wiesma]: Brek handles inventories. Keth runs trainings. Gorm hunts. Urgo coordinates them. the camp works.
[Bangsund]: Mara set up the camp so it would work without her. she did it right.
---
Mara looked at Mount Heiguers.
The northern sector sun now fully up — the battle had started in darkness and had ended with the morning overhead.
The mountain with the marks of eighteen days of combat — the slope where she had fought Kai, the split rock that was still there, the roots that had served as platforms.
She looked at it a mont.
Then she looked at the group.
"Alright."
---
[Drakeking]: Mara looks at the mountain with nostalgia and she hasn’t even left yet, with everything she carried on her this ti.
[Zerox]: the split rock still there. Mara looked at it. I saw it too.
[Stephen_Sumrs]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Warwolf]: "alright." two weeks on the mountain. a civil war. and "alright." Is that the only thing she’s going to say?
[DraconicLegacy]: Mara looked at the mountain. then at the group. that order matters. the mountain was first. the group was after. that also matters.
[Martijn_Wiesma]: viewers: 27,400,000 at 6am. this stream changed sothing tonight. I can’t explain it but I feel it.
---
Drak was at the edge of the field when the four started moving toward the north road.
He watched Mara pass.
"Warlord."
Mara stopped.
"Drak."
"The eighteenth." Drak looked at her with his arm bent close to his body. "Will you teach it to before you go?"
Mara looked at him.
Then at Kai.
Kai was looking at her with his usual smile.
Mara turned back to Drak.
"When I co back."
Drak nodded.
The four kept going toward the north road.
---
[Bangsund]: "when I co back." — MARA IS COMING BACK. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ
[Stephen_Sumrs]: Drak asked for the lesson. Mara said when she cos back. that’s a contract.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Mara’s arc doesn’t end here. she cos back. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[DraconicLegacy]: Drak led the rebellion and ended up asking for a lesson. that’s what a good student does.
[Zerox]: the four on the north road. toward wherever they go now. Mara among them.
[Martijn_Wiesma]: Mount Heiguers behind. Valdris ahead. the next arc starts sowhere on that road.
---
[System — notification]
[The system notes that Mara joined the group]
[The system notes that Urgo took the camp]
[The system notes that Drak asked for the eighteenth]
[The system notes that Lira is now Kai’s partner]
[The system notes that Mara feels a certain attraction to Kai that will end the way we all know]
[The system closes the Mount Heiguers DLC]
[Current viewers: 27,400,000]
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