Limits

The whole city was aware we would get attacked soon. Everyone worked to either make more weapons of war, finish up the walls or help Atols take care of the fields. Even though our private house was almost finished, there was no point for me to plant the herbs now. They wouldn't grow, besides a lot of buildings might get damaged during the battle. Instead, I worked like crazy to finish those arrowheads. 'A bit over 300 shots might not be a lot, but we don't have the time to create more really. I still need to make some Extracts, before the battle takes place' I thought.

Crow scouted the enemy army again, and notified everyone that they were about three days away from appearing here. I left the making of arrowheads to other blacksmiths, and focused on medicine making. I had to make loads of Extracts from Blood Yarn and Earth Grabbing Sprouts. The stronger soldiers we had, the higher probability we would win.

The amount of herbs was not that small, but it wouldn't be enough for everyone. I worked tirelessly for the next two days. With all the blood Yarn and Earth Grabbing Sprout exhausted, I moved on to a more potent poisons and medicines. I had to restock my own supply, and besides just as Ama suggested, I wanted to use the stronger poison for the Scorpions. Of course I wanted to use the fire as well, this time Crow helped with that. He proposed an idea to use flammable oil. The arrows would be dipped in that oil, and shot just before being ignited.

It wasn't a bad idea, but I wasn't sure if the flame wouldn't extinguish due to the speed at which those arrows would travel. It was worth a try, and we loaded one Scorpion to test it. With the arrow dipped in that oil, we lit it and shot it out. "Baam!", The arrow flew through the air, while the Scorpion stayed in place. That alone was good enough. We looked at the arrow, and the flame managed to survive until the arrow hit the ground. "It weakened, but as long as we use enough oil, and hit the Mordars straight on, we should be able to burn them" I said.

With that, we had the ability to use some poison or fire with our arrows. The next step was to improve our soldiers. I gathered all the Shades, Atols and Lizards who were above average, and distributed both Extracts to them. I told them to take the Blood Yarn Extract first, then take the Earth Grabbing Sprout Extract next. The amount I distributed was not that great though. Everyone got at most ten milliliters of those Extracts, and I could only select a bit over 100 soldiers.

That was for normal soldiers, there were a few people who I wanted to improve much more. Lerion was one of them. I gave him twenty-five milliliters of both Extracts. He was close to breaking through to his Inner Limits, and I hoped he would break through before the battle. Crow also brought a few of his people. I asked curiously, "Where is that woman Lira?". Crow shook his head, "She is confined. I don't trust her anymore. I'm not sure whether she is a spy or not". I gave the present Shades some Extracts, and asked Crow to bring me to her.

He was surprised about that, but agreed nevertheless. We entered the Overseers building, and headed upstairs. There were two rooms on the second floor, that were guarded. We entered the one on the left, where Lira sat. She looked at me with hatred in her eyes, while Crow stood behind me. "You brought him here to torture me as well? I'm not a spy, I never was!" she stated. I asked Crow to give us a minute. He agreed and left the room.

I sat down on the other chair, and said "You hate me, that much is clear". She replied, "That much I can agree with. I hate you, how you treat people, how you need to control everything". I shook my head, "You don't know me. You have no idea what I've been through, and how my life looked like... Do you know why Crow believes me so much? It's because he trusts me. He knows me for many years, we've been through thick and thin together. Yet all you do is assume. Do you know what would happen if I let Irsa escape?".

She didn't reply, just stared at me. I continued, "Eterians would receive the design of our new weapons. They wouldn't necessarily build them, but they would know how to deal with us. They would be prepared. Irsa tried manipulating you, and you fell for it. That is all". She finally replied after a while, "That doesn't change anything. You still use people like objects. You destroy anything you see fit. Who gave you the right to decide all that?". I thought about it, and replied "You remind me of someone. She also said something like that to me. The answer is, no. No one gave me the right to decide. But the world isn't fair Lira. I will stop at nothing to defeat my enemies. Yes, it is ruthless, but only thanks to that your city might just survive. Where would your values go, when there was no city and all Shades perished?".

Before she replied, I continued "I don't think you are a spy. You are just weak. I also figured why you are so angry at me. It's not because I treated Irsa the way I did. It's because of Crow, isn't it?". Her face changed slightly. I said, "Crow is not my slave, he will never be. I'm not manipulating him in any way. He has the right to say no, when I ask him to do something. Do you know why he does it anyway? Even if its dangerous?". She asked "Why?". I replied, "Because he knows it's necessary. Don't think that Crow is stupid, he can think for himself. It's you who can't. You assumed I was using him, yet he would do the same things without me telling him".

I let that sink in, before saying "I came here to give you a chance. I once was given a chance too. You can hate me all you want, that is not my concern. My concern is the Mordar Army, which will arrive shortly. We need people, we need strong people to defend this city. Your skills are good, you have the potential. But, if you prefer to sit here, I will leave".

A while of silence later, she replied "What is that chance about?". I smiled, and placed two bottles in front of her. "You broke through your Inner Limits right? The red liquid is a blood purifying medicine. There's thirty-five milliliters in there. The bottle next to it, will increase your strength by a lot. You can take the red one only once in your life". I then stood up, and headed towards the doors. Before I left, I said "You assumed wrong by the way. A lot of soldiers got this, as well as new weapons. Crow received this kind of medicine from me twice. I'm not a monster to my friends, as you paint me to be". I then left the room.

Crow said, "You seem to believe her more than I do". I replied, "She is not a spy, she is just looking out for you...". I was lost in my thoughts for a while. 'Wasn't I the same? Didn't I try to look after someone as well?'. Crow grabbed my shoulder, and asked concerned "Nex, is everything alright?". I woke up from my thoughts, "Yea, why do you ask?". He said, "You never cried before". I touched my cheeks and indeed, I've been crying. I smiled, "I'm alright. Memories of the past I suppose. Talk with her yourself, she is not a bad person".

I then left to find the five Atol leaders. I wanted to hand the leftover extracts to them. I had around a hundred milliliters left, which would mean twenty for each. When I handed them the Extracts, they were very happy and thanked me many times. I said "Mani, Olan, Eram, Atal and Olip. All of you deserve this medicine. Take it, and try to break through to your Inner Limits. The other medicine is for your strength. Use it when you want to break through, not now". They nodded, and found a spot to drink the Blood Yarn Extract.

The painful screams resounded through whole Sedon. As if it turned into a ghost city full of pained souls. I couldn't help everyone with the absorption of the Blood Yarn Extract, but these people were warriors or soldiers. If they went through this, they would be stronger, a lot stronger in the future. 'We should see the Mordars crossing the horizon tomorrow. I have to rest properly, I have to be at the top of my condition for the battle' I thought.