Songbird: What it Means to be the Hero

{-Allyna-}

She didn’t come along to be the sidekick but, apparently, that’s what she was. Kaylin had mentioned the story in front of her—how, supposedly, Noa recognized the three of them. Of course Allyna had taken matters into her own hands and asked if he recognized her, too. She had to be in there somewhere, right? She was the hero’s sister! She was just as helpful as he was! So, she had to have a role in this.

Noa, no matter how long she tried to convince him otherwise, was firm in his observation, though. He’d never seen her before, nor sensed anything special about her.

Even “funnier” than that bullshit was that Rennyn actually agreed to let Noa come with them. Really! He apparently didn’t trust her with anything, but would let some noble kid get involved!

It definitely didn’t get any better when Rennyn finished explaining their plans. “First thing tomorrow morning, we’re leaving for Zaitha. Make sure you’ve got everything ready before then.”

“Wait, we’re really going through with this? With him?” Allyna gave a very wide, and very pointed, gesture towards Noa.

“You heard the same thing we did,” Kaylin remarked. “Finding the other two, and keeping Noa with us, may make the difference in what’s to come.”

“He’s just going to get himself killed! Then it’s our problem!”

“I could say the same thing about you,” Rennyn returned. “All you’re going to do is cause more trouble. That’s practically the only thing you’ve done since we started.”

“Really? What do you want me to do, then? How the hell am I supposed to be any more than dead weight to you?” Allyna wasn’t even paying attention to the others at this point—this was a sibling thing and, if they had any common sense, they’d make sure it stayed that way. “I know! You don’t know where Dhymos is, right? What if I tried to find him for you while you’re off looking for those other friends of yours?”

“No, you can’t.”

“Why, you think I’m gonna run off? Go live out some fantasy while the rest of you are off saving the damn world? Yeah, bet that’ll definitely get me included in the history books!”

“No, Allyna.”

“Then why the hell not? What can’t you trust me doing that you don’t want me out of your sight?”

“I don’t want you getting hurt.” It was a near whisper—something desperate, something panicked. “I’ve seen what Dhymos is capable of doing to people. He’s only gotten stronger and he won’t hesitate to use every piece of power he has. And if he realizes who you are to me—”

He paled at even the thought.

She couldn’t quite find it in herself to calm down with that alone. “What happened to the natural order of things? You know, of older sisters looking out for their younger brothers? You don’t have to worry about me. I should be the one worrying about leaving you on your own.”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you’d seen the kinds of things I have. I know he’s going to use you against me one way or another if you go off on your own.”

“Do you think I’m going to join the guy who’s literally trying to destroy the world?”

Rennyn shook his head. “Willingness is never a problem for him. Just how long it takes to break a person. It doesn’t matter what you say. No one can stand a chance against him. Not like this… maybe not even at all…”

Kaylin dared to interrupt, cautiously saying, “I… think it might be worth considering. It could be useful to have someone else able to keep track of what Dhymos is doing. Allyna could be that person, since the three of us need to stick together.”

For once, Allyna found herself grateful for something Kaylin had said. “See? She agrees with me! If I can’t be useful to you here, then let me be useful to you by doing that. I’m not going to accept just sitting around here. Let me prove to you that I’m capable of handling myself.”

“This is all around a terrible idea,” Rennyn mumbled. “Kaylin, you know what he could do.”

“I also know that he’s probably not going to do it,” Kaylin muttered back. “He might be further along than we are, but I doubt he’s completely prepared, either. I’ve never known him to start something he hadn’t thought through, or try to do something just to mess with you. I think it’ll be fine.”

“He… probably knows about the five of us,” Noa added hesitantly. “I don’t think Dhymos is going to be worried about Allyna. If all of us together is really the only thing that can stop him, then we’re going to be his main focus.”

“Neither of you know her like I do,” Rennyn defended. “The moment she gets out of sight, she’s going to do something—”

“You know I do understand when something’s serious,” Allyna interrupted. “Can you believe for once that I’m not just doing this for myself?”

Well, a part of her was—at this point, she doubted she was going to see anything exciting if Rennyn had anything to say about it. But she wanted to do something, too. She wasn’t just going to play follow the leader until this was over. She wanted to be known for something, even if she wasn’t technically one of the “heroes.”

After a moment’s consideration, he offered a different viewpoint. “We told our parents we’d stick together.”

“I’m pretty sure they’ll understand that this could help us get ahead of whatever Dhymos is planning,” she returned. “Besides, the important one—you—will still have people with you. And if Noa’s right, then you’re still in a lot more danger than I’d ever be.” Since he still seemed unconvinced, she continued. “I’m more than capable of taking care of myself! I could help you learn about other important stuff before Dhymos has a chance to do them. You could actually know what he’s doing! And maybe I could keep an eye out for those other allies of yours while I’m at it. We’re probably going to cross paths sometime, right?”

“I hate everything about this,” Rennyn declared.

“But you know we’ll all do much better if she’s out there,” Kaylin mumbled.

Well, that was certainly subtle. Allyna knew they all hated her company but Kaylin couldn’t have tried to be at least slightly less obvious? At least the feeling was mutual.

Rennyn sighed. “I’m not going to be able to say anything that makes any of you realize this is a bad idea, am I?”

“You’re the only one who thinks this is a mistake. There’s a pretty good chance you’re wrong, you know. And if that’s the case, then there’s no good reason to pass up this opportunity. Everything will be fine, I promise.”

“Haven’t you learned by now that you can’t make those kinds of promises?”

“Well, I’ve certainly learned that immediately skipping to the worst case scenario doesn’t help anything either.”

Hearing it all forced Allyna to remember she hardly knew her brother at all. A brother who, apparently, had lived fourteen lives before this… a brother more better-known by a practical stranger.

Luckily, she didn’t have to think about it for long.

“Fine,” Rennyn muttered, clearly surprising all of them. “Allyna can go.”

“You mean it?” Allyna asked. She knew she shouldn’t be questioning it, but she had to make sure she’d heard him right. “I can go help you guys by figuring out what Dhymos is doing?”

He nodded, even if it didn’t look like he wanted to. “No matter what I think, I’m outnumbered. Maybe… I really can convince myself that this’ll help things. I guess I can’t deny that having some information about Dhymos’s status could be useful…”

“Great! I’ll just take the things that were supposed to be mine, then, and see if I could get a little more supplies for just myself.”

“Not yet.”

She frowned. “Come on! I’m so close to being able to do something. Why are you still trying to stop me?”

“Because I haven’t finished with all of my conditions.” Rennyn’s tone grew more serious, though it also had a kind of distance to it. “I want you to listen to this next part very carefully, okay? You need to understand everything that could happen while you’re out there—all the tricks Dhymos could try to pull. Then perhaps I could be reassured with the fact that you at least know exactly what you’re going to face out there.”

It seemed no one was nearly as concerned about it as he was, but none of them stopped him—least of all Allyna. If this was what he thought he needed to do to let her go, then she’d let him do it. But, honestly, who did he think she was? Did he really think she was just going to fall for every trap she came across?

After his explanation, he briefly showed her how to handle a sword, as if she didn’t already have a vague notion of self-defense. After that, with all his explanations done, he seemed slightly more content with her amount of knowledge. They decided that, while he and the others would head straight for Zaitha, Allyna would stop by most of the towns along the way and around it. That way, she was still close in this “test run” of sorts, but also had a chance of learning information that they wouldn’t have.

She tried to hide her excitement when they officially split up. This was it! Now it was her chance to be the hero!