Chapter 484: Beyond the Road

The connection didn't return the following week.

Nor the week after.

Damon stopped noticing its absence long before Ester stopped measuring it. She still performed occasional checks because, in her own words, "not feeling any problems isn't the same as confirming that no problems exist," a statement Damon decided not to argue with because he already knew exactly where that conversation would end. The structure near the base of his spine remained physically identifiable for some time, but its activity decreased so gradually that there was no specific moment that could be called its closure. During one examination, it still responded almost imperceptibly to mechanical stimuli; during the next, there was no longer enough of a response for Ester to distinguish it from normal variations in the surrounding tissue. Three days later, not even Aria could detect any functional reaction without resorting to methods Damon wasn't willing to authorize.

"So it's over?" he asked, sitting on the edge of the infirmary table.

Ester observed the projection for a few more seconds before switching it off. "That specific pathway, probably."

"Probably."

"Do you want me to lie?"

"No. I'm just complaining about the word."

Aria stood nearby, holding her tablet against her chest. "There's still a minimal structural difference in the region."

Damon looked at her. "Are you trying to give me hope of recovering something I've already said I don't need to recover?"

"I'm being precise."

"That's worse."

Aurelia, who had appeared because Aria insisted this was "an observable historical event," approached the now-deactivated projection. "It's possible the structure will remain as a latent possibility for years."

Damon sighed. "Now there are two people using 'possibility.'"

"Would you prefer 'we don't know'?"

"Actually, yes."

Aurelia smiled. "Then we don't know."

"Perfect."

And it was true.

Perfect might have been an exaggeration, but it was good enough.

Damon left the infirmary without feeling that anything was missing. He descended the steps, crossed the corridor, and when he reached the courtyard, jumped down the last three steps at once simply because he could. He landed on both feet, absorbed the impact normally, and continued walking.

No connection responded.

None needed to.

Jian Yue was on the other side of the courtyard, watching Neria.

This time, two wooden swords were in use.

Damon slowed down.

"Finally?"

Jian Yue looked at him. "Finally."

Neria stood a few meters ahead, adjusting her guard. She no longer looked like someone holding a borrowed weapon. There was still hesitation in some movements, she still relied too heavily on her right leg when tired, and she still needed to think before certain transitions, but she held the sword naturally enough that the object no longer seemed foreign in her hands.

"Rules?" Damon asked.

Neria answered before Jian Yue.

"No head. No hands. No knees. No full strength. Stop immediately if anything hurts."

Damon nodded. "And who's the victim?"

Jian Yue raised her own sword.

"Me."

Damon smiled.

"Finally, someone with common sense."

Jian Yue looked at him.

"Want to take my place?"

"No."

"Then sit."

He sat.

Neria's first bout lasted less than fifteen seconds.

She advanced too quickly, tried to change direction too late, and Jian Yue touched the side of her shoulder before Neria could bring her weapon back.

Neria stopped.

Looked at the spot where she'd been struck.

Then at Jian Yue.

"I lost."

"You were touched."

"Isn't that losing?"

"Depends on the rules."

"What's the rule?"

"Today? Learning."

Neria thought about that.

"Then it isn't over."

"Exactly."

Damon rested his chin on his hand.

"She really is a better teacher."

Jian Yue smiled without looking at him.

"I'm going to remember that."

"You shouldn't."

They started again.

On the second attempt, Neria lasted almost thirty seconds. On the third, she managed to dodge two attacks before receiving a touch on her arm. On the fourth, she stopped a blade correctly, retreated without crossing her feet, and attempted to counterattack, but Jian Yue had already moved out of the line.

On the fifth, something changed.

Not power.

Not speed.

Neria simply stopped trying to hit her.

She began observing.

Damon noticed first.

She started wasting fewer movements. She stopped following the sword and began watching the body moving it. When Jian Yue advanced, Neria didn't try to block the entire strike; she shifted just enough to change the angle and let the wooden blade pass beside her.

Jian Yue smiled.

Neria noticed.

"Was that right?"

"Continue."

She continued.

She lasted almost two minutes.

In the end, Jian Yue found an opening and touched her left side.

Neria retreated.

She was breathing faster.

But she was smiling.

"Again."

Ester, who had just entered the courtyard, answered from a distance:

"After five minutes."

Neria closed her eyes.

Damon began laughing.

"She can sense it."

"That's not possible," Neria replied.

"I've already accepted it."

During the break, Neria sat beside him.

"She's much faster."

"Yes."

"So are you."

"Yes."

"That's irritating."

"That too."

Neria drank some water.

"But now I can see certain things."

Damon looked at her.

"Before, I only saw the sword."

"And now?"

"Shoulders. Feet. Where she looks. When she holds her breath."

"Good."

Neria remained silent for a moment.

Then asked:

"Did your connection come back?"

"No."

"Do you miss it?"

Damon thought before answering.

"Less than I thought I would."

"Because you didn't need it."

"Maybe."

"You hate that word."

"Profoundly."

She smiled and drank some more water.

"I've been thinking about traveling alone."

Damon turned his head.

That had absolutely nothing to do with the connection.

Perhaps that was precisely why it caught his attention.

"Where to?"

"I don't know yet."

"That sounds like excellent planning."

"I'm learning from you."

"Everyone uses that against me."

Neria rested her arms on her knees. "Not far. Somewhere I can reach in one day and return from the next."

"Without Eir."

"Yes."

"Without me."

"Yes."

"Without Ester."

Neria became thoughtful.

"If possible."

Damon laughed.

"That part will be the hardest."

She became serious again. "I want to find out what it's like to take a trip where nobody is waiting to decide whether I can manage it."

Damon understood immediately.

It wasn't about escaping.

Nor about proving anything to Eir.

It was exactly the opposite.

Neria already knew she could leave and return. She already knew Eir would remain where she was. She already knew Mirath would still be available and that Damon, Ester, and the others wouldn't disappear just because she spent a night away.

Now she wanted to test something simpler.

Doing something without witnesses.

"Have you talked to Eir?"

"No."

"Are you going to?"

"Yes."

"And Ester?"

"Afterward."

"Coward."

"Strategic."

"Jian Yue is teaching you bad things."

"You started it."

Jian Yue called from a distance.

"Five minutes."

Neria stood.

Before returning, she looked at Damon.

"Do you think I should?"

He took a moment.

"I think you should find out whether you want to."

"I do."

"Then the question has already changed."

"To what?"

"How to do it without turning the idea into something stupid."

Neria smiled.

"That was very Ester."

"I take it back."

She returned to training, laughing.

Eir received the idea better than Damon had expected.

Which probably meant Neria had chosen the right moment.

They were in the Valley that night. Neria sat near the great trunk, her wooden sword beside her. Liora slept on a root several dozen meters away, apparently exhausted after spending the afternoon trying to convince someone to teach her archery.

Damon didn't know who had made the mistake of showing her a bow.

He preferred not to find out.

Neria spoke without beating around the bush.

"I want to travel alone."

The nearby roots stopped.

Eir didn't respond immediately.

Damon remained quiet.

"Where?" she finally asked.

"Don't know yet."

"How long?"

"One or two days."

"Why?"

Neria looked at her own hands.

"Because I've never done it."

The forest remained silent.

"Can go with Damon."

"I can."

"With Jian Yue."

"That too."

"With Ester."

Neria made a face.

"It's not the same thing."

Eir already knew.

That was the difference.

Months earlier, she would have continued offering alternatives as though the problem were finding the right person to accompany Neria. Now she simply asked:

"Want to go alone."

"Yes."

"Afraid?"

"A little."

Damon smiled.

That question was becoming a recurring one.

Neria noticed too.

"That doesn't stop me from choosing."

Eir took a moment.

"No."

Several roots approached.

They stopped before touching her.

"Don't like it."

"I know."

"Can ask you not to go."

Neria fell silent.

"You can."

Damon looked at her.

That was important too.

Consent didn't mean Eir had to pretend she had no desires of her own.

"Then I ask."

Neria took a deep breath.

"I'm going anyway."

The roots remained motionless.

Damon waited for some tension.

None came.

Eir merely replied:

"Yes."

Neria looked toward the great trunk.

"Are you angry?"

"No."

"Sad?"

"A little."

"Scared?"

"Yes."

"Me too."

Eir took a few seconds.

"Then come back."

Neria smiled.

"I'll try."

She didn't promise.

Damon noticed.

So did Eir.

"Good."

Ester was more difficult.

Not because she opposed the trip.

Because she wanted details.

"Destination."

"Still choosing."

"Route."

"After the destination."

"Transportation."

"Walking, probably."

"Duration."

"One night."

"Communication."

"Tablet."

"Emergency route."

"Transfer if necessary."

Ester crossed her arms.

Neria looked at Damon.

"She's enjoying this."

"She doesn't express joy conventionally."

"I can hear you," Ester replied.

"Naturally."

After almost half an hour, they chose a place.

A small town called Talven, a little more than half a day's journey from a safe Transfer point. No political importance. No ancient ruins. No forgotten laboratories. No known mysterious bloodlines.

Damon made a point of confirming that last part.

Aria was offended.

"I checked."

"You said that before Veyra."

"Veyra didn't have anything either."

"That's far too good an argument."

Talven had a market, two inns, a small local temple, and a stone bridge famous only because it had survived three floods.

Neria liked it immediately.

"Why?" Damon asked.

"Because it seems useless."

"Excellent."

"You understand."

"Profoundly."

The trip was scheduled for four days later.

Neria would spend one night away.

She would bring money, food, Ester's basic medications, and the tablet for emergencies.

Nobody would follow her.

That last part had to be stated explicitly because Xue Mei appeared in the middle of the conversation and remarked that it would be easy to maintain enough distance to go unnoticed.

Neria looked at her.

"No."

Xue Mei shrugged.

"I only said it would be easy."

Damon pointed at her.

"Thinking doesn't violate an agreement."

Aria, on the other side of the room, slowly turned toward him.

"You're using my argument."

"It was useful."

"I knew it."

Neria shook her head.

"You're all strange."

"You live here," Damon replied.

"Sometimes."

That made everyone fall silent for a second.

Neria noticed.

"Was that strange?"

"No," Damon replied.

And it really wasn't.

Mirath was a place where she stayed.

So was the Valley.

Perhaps someday there would be others.

None of them needed to be the only one.

On the eve of the trip, Damon found Neria sitting in the same room in Mirath that she still called hers, packing her bag. The key remained beside her, as always.

"Nervous?"

"Yes."

"Going to back out?"

"No."

"Excellent."

Neria placed a change of clothes in her bag.

"Damon."

"Yes?"

"Don't show up in Talven."

He pretended to be offended.

"I wouldn't do that."

"Not even if I take a while to respond."

"How long?"

"A few hours."

"Are you negotiating conditions now?"

"I'm establishing them."

Damon smiled.

"Better."

She closed her bag.

"I want to find out if I can miss you all without needing to come back immediately."

Damon fell silent.

That was perhaps the clearest explanation of all.

"Then go."

Neria nodded.

The following day, she would pass through the Transfer alone.

Without anyone waiting on the other side.

Without Damon walking beside her.

Without roots following her steps.

And for the first time since she had been taken from the Valley a hundred and seventeen years earlier, Neria would leave a safe place without anyone taking her anywhere.

She would simply go.

Because she wanted to see what lay beyond the road.