Bize swayed on her feet, as she looked at Aubert. After a moment, she limply fell to her knees. “Why must it be like this? I spend a great deal of time, energy and resources for that arrow. I’d created it specifically to torture you, and to discover what sort of monster you truly were. I didn’t expect this answer. The fault doesn’t just lie with you, Aubert. I bear some of the blame myself. You said it true, that our pride has brought us here. Not just yours – ours.”
The elderly woman weakly hugged her knees close, and began to sob.
The farmers, formerly under Aubert’s control, encircled the small group by this point. Many of them had been brought here and kept alive by Aubert’s power, all the way from the former era. Many stared blankly, standing still as statues and trying to come to terms with their new reality. Most simply rejoiced.
