“What happens to you between cycles?”

“Hmm?” Keto rolled her eyes as Quartes grunted ahead of her. She knew he had to have heard her, even if he wasn’t actively listening he could figure it out without her needing to repeat herself.

“Between cycles what happens to you?”  She repeated, drawing it out to make her point.

His footstep stopped ahead of her and Keto worried she’d found another topic that led Quartes down into one of his stupors. Instead he merely waited for her to catch up to him and the two continued on side by side.

“Normally, there is simply no Heir of Lehn coming out of the battle with the First Dragon,” he started.

“Right, and much like said Dragon, the Heir simply returns in time,” Keto finished.  They had talked of this before.

“Right,” Quartes answered with a clip and then there was a pause.  Keto nearly laughed, he was so bad at wordplay.  She knew full well that he knew that he hadn’t answered her question.  So, the bard let the silence linger on for a moment more.

“And?” Keto offered when the silence had dragged on too long.

“And?” He almost sounded sincere there.  Almost.

Keto did smile this time, “You, did not end in that last battle and it’s been how long now?  What have you been doing all this time.”

“Being but not quite existing.”  Quartes glanced over at her and gave Keto one of those sad smiles.  She regretted how often she had seen them but these were important things to know.  However, she let the silence hang for a moment, hoping he’d continue on his own.  “Fighting the First Dragon is the purpose of the Heir of Lehn.  I had done that, scattered the dragons he’d gathered or created.  There wasn’t much for me to do.”

Quartes paused as they reached a part of the road that had been washed out by a recent storm or such.  He cleared it and then reached a hand back to Keto to help her across.  She smiled and took it.  Her hand secured in his palm she made her own leap.  “Thank you.”

They continued along the trail.  “I wish I could say that I went and hunted down those dragons, prevented what would happen in the Provinces and elsewhere.”  He paused as he scratched his forehead, and Keto caught the pained look on his face.

“But your story was to rally the people and then fight the First Dragon.”

“And it was dead…I,” he paused and Keto looked over to him.  Quartes wore a strange long, pained but almost paniced, “…I only dimly remember those years.”

“That is strange for you, for your kind’s memory.”  Landians were said to have flawless memories, able to relive any moment of their life.  As far as Keto had seen Quartes represented this.

“I don’t think it was my memory, I can pick a moment and remember it.  I think it was the nature of my thoughts.”  He looked over at Keto, his pale eyes caught somewhere between staring out and lost back in no doubt one of those memories.  “It wasn’t time yet for the grand battle, wasn’t time to rally and save people.”

“But you had to do something in the world.”  Quartes had gone back to staring forward along the trail but Keto now spared glances towards him.  “I don’t think your story would survive with you just living in the middle of some forest somewhere.”

“No you’re right,” Quartes waved away a dragonfly that search for an easy opening to take a bite at his chin.  “In those woods I’d find those fleeing Kercs or even Hagarcs and I’d intervene.  Shard of Lehn blazing, eyes glowing…”

“Things that made an impact,”  Keto offered and Quartes nodded and then continued forward, the trail had exited out of the crop of trees they had been passing through and Keto pulled her wide hat back off of her back, her eyes relaxing.  “What about the shards.”

Quartes’ eyes, still safe in the confines of his hood, narrowed in thought.  “Those are one of the few things that felt like me.  I only saved a few shards from after I broke Lehn’s Sword in my battle against the First Dragon.  I needed the rest to be ready but many of them had become pieces horded by dragons or other leaders that had survived the end of the Cycle.”

“Those sound like those should be some fun stories,” Keto stowed away this new bit for her notes letter, and something to see if she pursue more details about.  That was the struggle with Quartes, despite the two years they’d spent together now, and her clear interest, getting his past out of him was like pulling teeth.  One would think a story would want to be written down…

“…the trick was to get them back without making a scene of it.”  Keto shook herself out of her thoughts, caught up on the few words she’d missed, and then nodded.

“Thus was born the stealthy Quartes.”  That brought a chuckle from the old Landian which brought a bigger smile to Keto’s face.  “What, you don’t like my new name for that time in your life?”

“I don’t think the Ode of Stealthy Quartes quite has a ring to it.”

“No you’re right…it should be the Lament of Stealthy Quartes…

From the shadows he quietly leapt,

Though it was he who slept,

For without his broken sword,

Life was such a bore.”

Keto’s singing stopped and she looked over at Quartes, her smile overly large.  His was serious.  She stared at him smiling, waiting until she saw it, the twitch at the corners of his mouth.

“What, does my song not deserve applause?”

“I uh…wouldn’t quit your…occasional and inconsistent job.”  He was fully smiling now.

“But my occasional and inconsistent job is occasional, and beautiful, singing!” Keto’s shout of mock anger widened Quartes’ smile.

“Have you considered a different job?  I hear dungeon delving is in demand.”

“No, that field has a little too short of a life.  Present company aside.”  Quartes chuckled again and they continued on for a few more steps.  “Hey Quartes?”

“Keto.”

“Are we going to stop for lunch anytime soon?”

“Well,” she could hear the resigned humor in his voice, “how about the next bit of shade we reach so that we’re not stuck in the sun.”

“Deal”