The Last: Endling #1

Khara’s friend eventually finds a stable where the three travelers can put Vallino and spend the night. He also brings them food. Tobble and Khara attempt to cheer Byx up, but she struggles to find a reason to be optimistic. Khara points out that the eumony is premature because Byx is still alive, so there’s a possibility that there are other dairnes still alive that no one knows about. Khara also wonders why a group of soldiers murdered Byx’s family when they must have known the species was about to be declared extinct. Byx doesn’t want to listen to her speculation, however, and bitterly points out that the eumony is good for Khara because it means she will be able to get a higher price for turning Byx over to Ferrucci.

The following morning, Khara continues to insist that she take Byx to Ferrucci because she believes it is the only way to keep Byx safe. They walk to the Pillar of Truth where they must pass through a guard gate to get inside. Byx is once again overwhelmed by the number of felivets, terraments, and raptidons that they see. Tobble asks where the dairnes’ floor is and is told that it is at the very top. They arrive at Ferrucci’s door and are greeted by Luca, Ferrucci’s assistant. Byx hesitates before entering, aware that whatever happens next will change her life.

Byx is fascinated by the large number of books in Ferrucci’s rooms because she has only seen one book in her life. Khara and Ferrucci greet one another before Khara introduces Byx, allowing her to stop pretending to be a dog. Both Ferrucci and Luca are shocked by the sight of a dairne. Ferrucci panics, insisting that they move into an inner chamber. Khara explains why she brought Byx to Ferrucci, but he says it is too dangerous to have Byx there because there are men loyal to the Murdano everywhere. Ferrucci orders Luca to take Byx to the dungeon, claiming that it is the safest place for Byx. However, he also whispers something in Luca’s ear. Khara tells Byx that she can trust Ferrucci, but even she seems shocked by this turn of events.

Luca walks Byx down a long set of stairs. Luca explains that he is at the academy to study species that are in danger of becoming extinct. Luca tells Byx that Ferrucci ordered him to kill her and that if Luca says the word, he is sure that the jailer will commit the murder for him. However, Luca has decided not to kill Byx because of his studies. Luca explains that Ferrucci has gone on record certifying that the dairnes are extinct. Because of this, Araktik is coming to Cora di Schola to participate in the eumony, which is a very prominent and politically important ceremony. If word of Ferrucci’s mistake were to spread, it could cause Araktik to order Ferrucci’s death. Luca promises to return later, but Byx pins her hopes on Tobble coming to find her.

Byx is just about to fall asleep when a felivet in the cell beside hers calls out to her. The felivet asks Byx to prove that she is a dairne by discerning the truth of his next words. The felivet tells Byx his names. He is called Elios Str’ank or Hadrak the Third, Lonko of the Dread Forest, but his friends call him Gambler. Byx declares the felivet’s words truthful, causing Gambler amusement as he has failed to convince the scholars that he tells the truth. Gambler claims that humans are the only species amongst the six governing species who tell lies. Gambler also suggests that dairnes are not the only species near extinction, for the felivets are quickly succumbing to poisoned waters. Gambler says that the humans do not like the dairnes because they feel threatened by dairnes’ innate ability to tell truth from lies, and they also dislike felivets because they resist the humans’ attempts to wage wars and conquer lands. Byx asks Gambler how he can be sure that he tells the truth, and Gambler says it is because felivets see everything.

Luca uses weak magic to conceal himself from the jailer and let Byx out of her cell. He tells Byx that he is freeing her at Khara’s request. Byx refuses to leave without Gambler, and Luca hesitates, questioning the logic of releasing a predatory creature. Byx asks Gambler if he will attack him or his friends, and Gambler promises not to. Luca frees Gambler, and the three of them leave the dungeon through a different door. Khara and Tobble are waiting for them. Khara hesitates to welcome Gambler but accepts Byx’s promise that he is a friend. Luca leads them to a building near the Plaza of Truth where the eumony ceremony is about to begin. They make their way through the building, which is empty and under renovation, and head to the attic, where they can watch the ceremony from the window.

Before the ceremony begins, Byx moves to the window as a raptidon begins offering instructions to the gathered crowd. Luca leaves and returns with food for everyone, including Gambler. Byx steps away to eat but quickly returns to the window as the natite Chief Scholar officially pronounces the dairnes extinct.

Ferrucci speaks at the eumony, giving the history of the dairnes, but he speaks too quietly for Byx to hear. When Ferrucci is finished, Araktik takes the stage. Luca tells everyone that Araktik was once a student on Cora di Schola; she bullied other students, Luca included.

A group of constabularies comes up the stairs, and Luca tells Byx and Gambler to hide. Byx tucks herself into a chest full of clothes while Gambler jumps up into the rafters. Two constables come into the room and demand to know what Khara and Luca are doing there. Khara implies that they are lovers whose parents don’t approve of their relationship, so they came up there to meet clandestinely. The constables tell them to leave, so Khara calls out that they’re going to visit their friend, Vallino. After Luca, Khara, and Tobble leave, the constables begin searching the attic for treasures to steal. One opens the chest where Byx is hiding, and she cries out. Gambler roars and tells Byx to run. Byx tries to escape through the trap door where they entered, but there are more constables coming up the ladder. Byx runs for the window.

Byx jumps out the window and extends her glissaires, but she doesn’t know where to land. Fixing her gaze on Araktik, she ends up crashing just beyond the seer. As she quickly drops onto all fours and runs, she sees out of the corner of her eye that Gambler has escaped the attic as well by leaving through the window and climbing onto the roof. Byx manages to escape several human constables by crashing through vendor stalls and doors, but one of the constables is a raptidon who follows Byx’s movement from the air. Byx runs into an alley and is trapped, but then Gambler arrives and ordering Byx to climb onto his back. He then leaps onto a nearby roof and knocks the raptidon out of the air. Gambler runs with Byx on his back, and his grace and strength reduce her to awe.

Gambler and Byx eventually arrive safely at Vallino’s stable stall. Khara has arranged for them to escape the island on a smuggler’s boat. On the way to the water, they discover that the constables have placed handbills all over the island to announce that the flying dairne at the eumony was only a hoax perpetrated by Luca, Khara, and Gambler. They reach the boat and board. Khara anxiously tells Byx that they are involved in something far more complicated than she can handle. However, Byx reminds Khara of her special sword protected by theurgy spells. Byx asks Khara who her family truly is, and Khara confesses that she is a Donati. Khara explains that the first Murdano was opposed by three clans: the Corplis, the Rantizzos, and the Donatis. The war raged for a decade, and then the Corplis turned traitor, causing the Donatis and Rantizzos to be defeated. Khara’s grandfather was the Baron of Riverhome, Keeper of the Arms of Kainor the Magnificent. When he was killed, his wife was imprisoned and his soldiers were killed. Their home, Watersmeet, was given to the Murdano’s seer, the grandfather of Araktik. The home is now called Sorcerer’s Spike.

As Byx listens to Khara’s story, she realizes Khara’s sword is part of the Arms of Kainor the Magnificent, the Light of Nedarra. Luca asks where the Arms are, and Khara lies by telling him that they were all stolen when their home was taken. Byx knows that Khara is lying, but she understands that the lie is to fool Luca, not her.

Khara insists that Byx should decide their next destination, but Byx doesn’t feel as though she is prepared to lead anyone anywhere. Tobble suggests that they try to find the mythical Dairneholme that is drawn on her map. Byx explains the myth of the First Colony and describes how the dairnes are said to live on a sentient island that floats from place to place. Khara says that there are two such islands in existence; they are actually living beasts that float around the ocean, collecting debris that eventually created islands. She says one is called Rhomboo and the other is Tarok and claims that the map’s features indicate the larger island, Tarok.

Gambler suggests two possible routes: north toward Murdano’s capital city of Saguria or south so that they can all return to their own territories. Luca suggests that Saguria is a better choice because it is a civilized city. However, Gambler warns that the Murdano soldiers will be more prevalent there because the Murdano is preparing to invade Dreyland, a country that lies further to the north. Gambler says that if they continue north, they might have a chance to find a way to stop the systematic extermination of the felivets and any other species that the Murdano might want to exterminate next. Luca argues that there is no proof of a systematic extermination of any species, but Khara and Tobble both believe Gambler. Byx protests that she is a fool and they should not choose their path for her sake. However, they all agree to go north.