Champion of a Lost Cause

Smoke chokes the servants’ passage as Effruin reaches the cistern chamber, clutching Harvess’s cracked bow while blood seeps from his wounded shoulder.

Behind him, Harvess, Andreas, Caroline, and the inn guards remain in the burning upper rooms. No ally follows Effruin into the passage.

A carriage waits beside black water, its harnessed horses stamping nervously. Coin sacks, travel cloaks, and provisions lie ready beneath the driver's bench.

The old cistern wall has split open into a half-lit tunnel leading beyond the inn. Cold air moves through it, carrying damp stone and distant rain.

Above, bells and shouted orders converge through the smoke. Boots hammer across the inn’s floors, while firelight pulses red through cracks in the passage ceiling.

The horses toss their heads as the chamber fills with haze. The carriage, the coin, and the tunnel wait in uneasy silence for Effruin’s next choice.

Effruin reaches the cistern’s edge and casts Harvess’s cracked bow into the black water. It strikes once, then sinks beneath the ripples.

The water closes over the last splinter of his family’s weapon. Smoke drifts above the chamber, while cold air continues through the half-lit tunnel.

His wounded shoulder pulses beneath the cloak, but the carriage remains ready beside the cistern. Coin, provisions, and travel garments wait untouched beneath the bench.

The horses stamp and pull against their harness as distant alarms multiply overhead. Their fear trembles through the reins and into the cramped stone chamber.

The tunnel carries rain from beyond the burning inn.

Behind Effruin, smoke thickens at the passage mouth. Ahead, the tunnel slopes into darkness beyond Tahu, offering distance without shelter or witness.

The cistern keeps its silence over the drowned bow. Effruin stands beside the waiting carriage, with the city’s bells driving him toward the open tunnel.

Effruin climbs into the waiting carriage and gathers the reins with his remaining hand. The horses plunge forward, wheels grinding over the cistern stones.

The carriage enters the half-lit tunnel beneath Tahu. Its cramped walls scrape the sides, while smoke thins behind him and rain-scented air strengthens ahead.

Coins clatter beneath the bench as the carriage jolts over broken masonry. Travel cloaks and provisions shift in the dark, ready for the road beyond the city.

Behind him, bells fade beneath stone. The horses carry him through the final bend, emerging beneath a curtain of rain beyond Tahu's outer foundations.

Effruin drives the carriage into the wet night. The burning inn, his family's bodies, and the city's alarm recede behind him as the road opens into darkness.