"Your...your brother," Sam echoed as if she'd never heard the word before. Still. In all this time, she'd never imagined Ryllis might have a family.
"My birth parents," Ryllis said, "threw me out when I was ten. They had too many mouths to feed. Can't blame them. That's life on the wasteland. I thought I learned then...not to trust anyone."
She turned to the side, her gaze distant. Sam took another step forward, and another, closing the distance between them. When she crouched down, Ryllis tensed a little, but went on talking.
"For years, I wandered by myself. I learned how to fight. Made a living killing monsters. Surviving on my own. Until I met...him." Ryllis sighed. "This little brat of a werefox. Saved him from a monster, thought that'd be the end of it. But he wouldn't stop following me around.
"I learned his name was Jin, and he was like me. No family or home. I didn't want anything to do with the kid. Kept telling him to get lost, but he wouldn't listen. I even tried ditching him in his sleep. Didn't work. One way or another, he'd catch up with me again. Fine. Since he wanted it so badly, I let him stay. It wasn't so bad...having someone to protect."
Her lips twitched – almost a smile. It made all the breath whoosh out of Sam's lungs.
The way Ryllis was talking, it reminded her so much of the way she talked about her own siblings. Exasperated, but with love underneath it all. Nothing like the pain in Theo's voice whenever he brought up Victor.
Then Ryllis drew herself up, shoulders stiffening. Just like that, she'd become the razor-sharp warrior once more.
"I was being stupid." Bitterness flooded her voice. "Thinking I could protect him... It happened when we visited a portal town. I got careless. Slavers captured him. By the time I tracked them down, they had already sold him to wizards on the other side."
She curled her hand into a fist and slammed it into the floor, loud enough to make Sam jump. But Ryllis kept grinding her knuckles into the stone as if trying to shatter the armor.
"He was valuable, they said. Rare, because of his silver fur." She hissed out the words through clenched teeth. "All I knew was that it was my fault. I brought Jin there. I thought he'd be safe. Instead, he – so I crossed over too. I needed to find him. To make it right."
Finally she lifted her fist – only to slam it down harder than ever.
"I swore I would save him. That's the whole reason I came here. But now I – I can't even manage that." Another laugh, but this one didn't hold a trace of humor. "I can't even stand up. It's gonna end like this, huh. So fucking pathetic."
She breathed out, long and low, then leaned her head against the wall. Her eyes slid shut. Sam stared at her face, stained with blood, drawn and haggard, and her heartbeat pounded until it drowned out the battle raging behind them.
The words burst out. "Then I'll find him. Okay? You can rest here, and I'll go look for your brother. Just tell me what he looks like."
Ryllis snapped her head back down, staring at Sam with huge eyes.
"What the hell?"
Her disbelief only made Sam double down. "I'll do it. I mean, I was already going to free all the prisoners anyway. I'll just look for your brother among them."
Ryllis kept staring. And staring. It was like her face had frozen in that wide-eyed, utterly bamboozled expression. Maybe if the situation hadn't been so serious, Sam would've found it funny.
Then she blinked, coughed a little, cleared her throat. When she spoke, her voice was listless. "Just quit it. This has nothing to do with you."
"Yes, it does!" Sam insisted.
"Why?"
"Because – because I want it to, that's why!" Not the most eloquent answer, but she'd never been very good about being put on the spot like that.
Ryllis groaned. "That's not a reason."
"Yes, it is!"
Another groan, then Ryllis turned away. But it didn't take long for that dry little laugh of hers to fill the air.
Sam couldn't help it; she grinned too.
"Hey." When Ryllis spoke, Sam blinked. "Come here."
Ryllis...was asking her to come closer? No way. But her body had already responded, shuffling forward on her knees.
In a flash of red, Ryllis' arm shot out. Her hand clamped around Sam's wrist and dragged her closer.
"Wait, wha – " Her voice died in a sputter when Ryllis pressed her hand directly atop her injury. When blood squelched beneath her fingers, Sam tried to pull away. Only for Ryllis to grip tighter, her nails digging into Sam's skin.
"Wh-what? What? Ryllis?" Panicked thoughts whirled inside her head. Maybe she shouldn't have made that suggestion? But she meant it, every word. And Ryllis wasn't attacking her, just forcing her to press on that awful wound as if it didn't hurt at all. Sam couldn't make heads or tails of her behavior.
And no time to ponder about it before Ryllis glared at her. But it wasn't anger glinting in her hazel eyes. It was...resolve?
"Cast the healing spell. Now."
"Huh?" Sam blurted way too loud. Then again, who could blame her? "But I thought you – "
"Cast it, I said. And when you're done, make a contract with me."
Okay. She was definitely hearing things. Right? But one look at Ryllis' face sent all her doubts flying away. That intense gaze held no room for lies.
"Wh-why...."
"Because you're an arrogant little shit, that's why. You'll find Jin for me? Give me a fucking break. I'm doing it myself! All you have to do is give me power!"
"Ah, wha, but you said, you didn't want to – with a wizard – "
Ryllis' mouth twitched. "You're the wizard. That's the difference."
Every protest died in Sam's throat. She stared at Ryllis, her heart pounding a slow beat of wonder.
"I...." This time, her voice came out a whisper. So quiet she barely recognized herself. "It's not...it's not because I drove you into a corner, is it?"
Ryllis pushed Sam's hand down, smearing her blood all over her palm. Biting her lip, Sam used all her willpower not to flinch away.
"It's because I want to," Ryllis said. "So do it, Sam."
'Sam.' Her name, in Ryllis' voice. Something so simple, so small, but it made Sam feel like floating up to the stratosphere.
No, she had to keep her head. Answer Ryllis' resolve. So looking Ryllis right in the eye, she nodded.