The approach of feet slogging through the puddles and sucking out of the mud drew my attention to Tucker as he came to stand beside me. With his matted, filthy hair and haggard appearance, he looked as exhausted as I felt.
“What do we do with them?” I asked.
“They can’t form a new army,” Tucker said. “They have no one to lead them and no weapons.”
“There are still leaders out there, generals and lieutenants, and whatnot. They could find weapons and still be a threat.”
Tucker rubbed his chin as he surveyed the field. “They could be.”
“I can’t kill unarmed men and women who have surrendered.”
“Neither can I, but where do we put them? We can’t set them free.”
And we’d circled back to the dilemma that had me standing here when he arrived. Indon launched himself off the ground as he took flight again. He swayed unsteadily in the breeze as his wings made a flapping sound that wasn’t there before.
He settled before us and closed his wings. “What do you intend to do with them?”
“That’s what we’re trying to decide,” I said. “They’re not a threat now, but we can’t guarantee they won’t become one in the future.”
“May I make a suggestion?”
“Of course,” Tucker said.
Indon gestured at the woods behind us. “Let the forest judge them.”
I shifted toward the thick edge of trees a hundred yards behind me. I’d made further progress across the field than I’d realized as I’d fought my way through the soldiers.
The dead littered the ground between us and the woods. I couldn’t see beneath the thick canopy of trees, but I sensed the poltergeists there… waiting.
The section of woods closest to me hadn’t caught fire, but thirty feet to my left, only charred remnants remained of the first fifty feet of trees.
“You are not the only ones these amsirah tried to harm,” Indon continued. “The Revenant Woods deserves a chance at retribution too.”
When I turned back to the gargoyle, I tilted my head back to take him in. It was unusual for me to have to look up at anyone, but I did so with this creature.
“What if the Revenant Woods sets them free?” I inquired.
“It won’t be on purpose, especially with the poltergeists,” Indon replied.
“That’s for sure,” Tucker murmured as he studied the woods. “Most of them won’t survive. The ones who do will be few, and I doubt they’ll be capable of raising an army.”
“If they survive the forest, they won’t survive the towns and villages. The amsirah will kill anyone they find, but at least then they’d have a fighting chance. Plus, they can’t leave Tempest,” I said.
“Eventually, they’ll get what’s coming to them. And if they do try to raise an army, we’ll destroy it and them,” Tucker said.
“I’m so tired of fighting and death.”
“Me too,” Tucker sighed.
“They will not be allowed to rise again now that we are here to defend Tempest,” Indon vowed. “If we’re to help our friends, we must decide quickly.”
“Were there still gargoyles and amsirah in the dungeon when the palace collapsed?” I asked.
“Yes. One of us remained inside with a handful of amsirah.”
“Are they… were they killed?”
“No, they are trapped, though. I do not know about the amsirah.”
