25 Chirreb 4385: Flying off into the Sunout

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

Outcast and I joined in to nibble at the ropes because we'd tied the ghempoch REALLY WELL and most of us didn't know enough about knots to make a good one that would undo easily. And of course the rope had to be really strong (not to mention fire-proof!) to hold him so it was also hard to cut. It took a long time to get the ghempoch free, even after Secret came over to help too. He was relaxed and calm while we worked, not tense and ready to explode the way he'd been all the time earlier. He even thanked Nightbloom before he left. "You have put my mind at ease, bo --"

She put her spear to his mouth. "No! You will never speak of what I told you. Never!"

He dipped his head, nodding meekly. "I won't. But you have given me peace, the first I have known since seeing your village. Thank you."

We watched as he rose slowly into the air on his injured wings (Trust reattached them after the ghempoch agreed to leave but they weren't working that well yet.) As he flew off to the Verticals, the last sparks in the sunlamp died. Night fell.

When he was well away, Nightbloom asked, "Do you really think. He bought that?"

"I think he really wanted to believe it," Secret said. "He wants it to be someone else's problem, and now it is."

I nodded. We all watched the dwindling speck of the ghempoch's burning claw disappear in the twilight gloom. "Sooooo ... does anyone else think that we need to check the villagers now to make sure half of them aren't bonstables?" I asked.

Secret giggled madly, while Nightbloom and Outcast grimaced and raised their hands.