Die. Respawn. Repeat. Chapter 8: Ready Or Not

I don't need the skill to do much. I need it to push Tarin off balance and give an opening.

This version of my past self is more than enough.

Firmant gathers in a sudden wave, and I see the way the old crow's attention suddenly shifts, confused by the sudden manifestation. I don't waste the opportunity. I charge at him, trying to distract him, to push him into the path of my old self.

It just barely works. He lifts a wing to deflect the swing of my fist, and my knuckles collide with his feathers like they've collided against steel; at the sa ti, a brilliant blue blazes into existence opposite him, Firmant spinning into solidity. My copy has none of the awareness that I do it barrels into Tarin like it doesn't see him.

And then sothing different happens.

I feel a sharp snap, like a temporal thread blurring and cracking. A word cos to mind before the mont even completes, and my copy fades out of existence.

Paradox.

I'm creating temporal clones, of a sort, and it can't sustain itself now that its path has been changed. It's a good limitation to be aware of. The well of power here isn't gone I can call that sa copy out again, make it run into Tarin again but an echo doesn't last once it's thrown off its taphorical tracks.

I take advantage of the mont to spin, using one hand as leverage and the other to grab the top of Tarin's wing. In one smooth motion, I toss him onto his back. It takes surprisingly little effort to move him. His bones are light, and without reinforcent...

He hits the ground with a thump, and around us, there is silence.

And then a little crow pipes up. "Woooow," he says. "That was cool! Can you do that again?"

"Pah!" Tarin says. He gets up, dusting himself off; a small puff of Firmant pushes off the dirt on his back he can't quite reach. I flinch a little bit, and he stares at with a grave look in his eyes. "Crows only lose if opponent cheat," he says, and then he gives what I'm pretty sure is a smirk. "Good! You learn."

I grin back at him, but internally, my mind is spinning. The level of ability Tarin's displayed here is beyond anything I saw last loop. I separated from the rest of the crows pretty quickly, so it's easy to imagine that there are things that I missed...

...like maybe it's not just enchantnts being suppressed. Tarin seems to notice the look on my face, and he gestures for to follow him. I glance back at the crowd, a warning on the verge of my lips.

But if Tarin says he'll handle it, he'll handle it. If he doesn't... I have one more loop to make things right.

"Integrators give you interface, yes?"

I've been expecting Tarin to bring up the upcoming raid. I'm surprised when he brings up my Firmant instead. He's ntioned a couple of tis that my Firmant is weak, and this latest iteration he's ntioned that it's unstable; I don't know what either of these things an, but I do know that if sensing Firmant is sothing rare, then I've got an advantage other people don't.

"Yes," I answer. He nods.

"Not everyone get Interface," Tarin explains. "Trialgoers get Interface. Few chosen ones, if working for Integrators directly, get Interface. Interface does impossible things with Firmant. Like that." He gestures with a wing to where I'd fought with him outside.

"Normal Firmant just reinforce." He taps his wing again, and this ti there's an almost tallic clang as one wing smacks against the other; the next strike produces the sound of feather-against-feather. "Sa as your Durability credits, yes? But basic. High rank skill, pure Firmant cannot copy."

I open my mouth to ask a question, but Tarin holds up a hand, and his expression grows grave. "Interface secrets unknown to us," he says. "Integrators give slowly. Integrate slowly, they say, or planet go pop. We know Credit categories. Is all. Understand?"

"Sure," I say, frowning slightly. My voice sounds strangely hoarse to my ears scratchier than it should be.

"But," Tarin continues. He stares at with a piercing sort of gaze. "Still need to condense Firmant, yes? Stronger Firmant, use more Interface skills without tiring."

I think back to the dizziness and throbbing in my head from my overuse of Second Wind; this certainly explains so of that. I still feel a tiny bit of that ache, even now, but strangely it hasn't been exacerbated by my earlier use of Temporal Echo.

"How do I condense Firmant?"

Tarin gives a look that I can only interpret as speculative. A lot of the energy he's been showing bleeds away, and now there's sothing deeper in his gaze a cunning I haven't seen from him before.

"What is Firmant?"

I blink. "I don't know," I answer. "So kind of energy. On Earth, we'd probably call it magic."

"Ah," Tarin raises a feather. "But crows have word for magic, too. Why we call Firmant? Why not magic?"

"I don't know." I bite back the frustration in my voice. Ti's running out. A quick glance at my interface tells we have about nine hours left, and that's more ti than I thought, but it's still not enough.

"Firmant unnatural." Tarin jabs that feather at , and I wince, half-expecting it to be solid as iron; instead, a soft feather graces the center of my chest, and he looks at with a deep gravity in his eyes. "Firmant from Integrators. Soaks into planet, into people, see? Different for each. Different planet, different Firmant."

He's trying to tell sothing, I feel like. I furrow my brows slightly, trying to understand.

"You different from crow." Tarin brings my mind back to the conversation. "What you call yourself?"

"Ethan?"

He gives a withering look. "Species."

"Human," I clarify, embarrassed.

"Human different from crow," Tarin continues. "Crow Firmant condensed by creation. We make things, Firmant get stronger. We progress, Firmant stronger. Human? Don't know. What you need different from what crow need. Understand?"

"Yes." It makes sense to , but it doesn't help. I can't even sense any Firmant inside myself, for all that my ability to detect it appears to be unusual. "How do I know if my Firmant is getting stronger?"

Tarin takes a mont to consider the question. "You use skill just now," he says, pointing again to the outside of his hut. "You use before? Skill stronger now?"

I rember the way the Firmant blazed into existence. It's a fair bit brighter than the last ti I used it, but I don't know what I've done to make it different. "It was stronger," I admit.

Tarin nods. "Planet, species, you," he says, listing each item off on his feathers. "Progression different for each. You and other human? Progress differently. But Firmant has stages. Progress enough, you feel change. When you feel change, you must embrace it. Condense it. Important. Understand?"

"I don't know what condensing it ans," I say.

"Make harder. Make stronger." Tarin frowns. "Bring into alignnt. You can choose. Tarin thinks you keep your instability. Is strength. But your choice. Firmant aspects not well known."

"Right." I'll keep that in mind, but none of this seems to be helpful now. I'm itching to leave, to start doing sothing that will at least give the credits I need. The spar with Tarin will have helped, but I won't know how many credits it's gained until I trigger a credit reward.

"Ethan." Tarin's voice stops in my tracks. Sothing in his tone is almost... sad. "You see fight, yes? But harpies still kill ."

What a question to have to answer.

"I... I didn't see you fight the harpies," I say. "Only just now."

But the truth hangs in the air between us Tarin is capable. More capable than I am. If he died, then there's more to the raid that I don't understand.

"Your Trial is repeating Trial, yes?" Tarin says, his gaze drilling into . It's still surprising to how easily he seems to have accepted the nature of my Trial, but then I don't know what he's used to as far as the Integrators go. Maybe this kind of thing is normal for them. "But this urgent. You anxious. Why?"

I grimace. I should have explained this earlier. It slipped my mind I didn't think I had to explain any more than that there would be a raid on the village. "My Trial is a ti loop," I say, a little reluctantly; the words sound ridiculous when said out loud, but Tarin doesn't even flinch. He seems barely surprised at all. "But the Interface says that I only get three chances to stop this raid. If I fail... it says your village will be removed from my map. I don't think it just ans my map will stop tracking you."

Tarin's expression darkens, and I realize that I've underestimated him.

His speech is a little strange, but it's just a quirk of the translation, nothing more. Underneath that speech is a sharp intellect. He calls it an honor to be chosen to host a Trial, but given his willingness to train , and everything he's told so far...

I think he knows exactly what Integration ans for his planet. But he's holding it back. Why?

Are the Integrators actually watching?

The expression is gone in an instant, and he goes back to light and friendly. "Maybe Integrators just punish you! Make map less useful," he says, his voice surprisingly jovial for what I've just seen on his face.

"I think you should consider running," I say quietly, my voice perfectly serious. Tarin shakes his head, slow, almost invisible.

"Against the spirit of the Trial," he says. A quiet anger burns in the nature of the raid itself is against the spirit of the Trial. But I don't say anything, because there's a look in his eyes that seems to be telling not to say anything more. "We fight! But... stay close, yes? Then you know why we fail. Then you can tell ."

"If we don't win this ti."

"If," Tarin agrees, but he seems convinced that we won't. "You tell how Mari and I t next ti, yes? Then we get started fast."

"How did you et?" I blink. Tarin grins at .

"She threw rock at my head." He shows a patch on his head where his feathers are just entirely missing, but he seems startlingly proud of it. "Was very good courting rock."

I do not know how to respond to this, and Tarin seems to enjoy my discomfort. He grabs by the hand, tugging along. "Co!" he says. "Need to train you a bit more, yes? Sparring help? We get everyone ready. And hide children! Must find good places."

I rember the crate, the way the harpy kicked it up into the air. I wince. "Not the crates," I say. "Sowhere they can still escape and run if they're found. And with each other."

I don't know if that would actually help. Maybe a quick death is better, but I can't imagine that's how I would want to die, in the dark and alone.

Tarin seems to sense what I'm thinking, because he gives a firm nod. "We have place," he says. "We keep so guardian crows with them, yes?"

I don't know if that's enough, but I nod anyway.

It will have to be.