reasons! They worship people like Thompson and Ranjak and it didn’t take long to figure out that those two wouldn’t give a damn if they could about what it is we were fighting for in the first place!”
Alighieri paused. The noise from the yelling died down and he waited, staring at Luke.
“You knew what that was once. You were the one on the front line, at the head of the army every time, ready to die for an idea. Ready to die for Relias. You learned to push your pride away, your personal vendettas and lead the Darks against Lynch. Whatever happened in that prison, it looks like you’ve forgotten all about that.”
It was Luke’s turn to fume. Alighieri tried to squeeze past him. Luke put a hand in front of him and stopped him.
“You were too scared to pick a sword up even when you were on the front lines. I had to keep you from running away scared at Olsgrad when you were in a camouflaged pill box and I had the guns of the entire Legionnaire army aimed at me. Don’t lecture me on loyalty.”
This time Alighieri was unable to return Luke’s glare. He simply waited for Luke to drop his arm and he left the room. Luke watched between the blinds as Alighieri took short, dragging steps down the hall with his hands in his pockets. Luke pounded the door with his fist and turned back to the mirror.
He could sense it. The Ditrinity was gone. And for a brief moment, drowned in the silence and standing in the middle of the room, Luke felt as though he were back in dark, musty corners of his ten by ten prison cell.
Chapter 5
The next few weeks were calm even by peacetime’s standards, with the exception being of Luke’s surgery, which went as smoothly as getting oneself sliced open can be. What few healers they had refused to repair the wound. Ready to let the surgery heal up naturally they were approached by a talented young, strangely familiar Durant girl who offered to take the job of healing Luke. He just wanted it done, but the girl did a better job of closing him up than any healer he’d ever had work on him before and she did it in record time and without prompting the body to generate any scar tissue.
That was one aspect of healing that proved to be difficult to any healer and most couldn’t overcome it. The healing process most often left small scars but also reduced the recovery period to almost nothing. This girl had cut what little recovery time there would have been in half. But following the surgery Luke kept himself on a strict diet, eating four to five thousand healthy calories a day while working in an increasingly intensive workout routine. Most often he’d go alone, in the middle of the night where nobody could bother him. Other times, one or several of the Ditrinity would go along with him, letting their strict workout routines coincide with Luke’s. But as time passed and Luke became stronger, larger, gaining back most of the mass he’d lost in prison, he saw the Ditrinity less and less, preferring more to keep to himself and his thoughts.
It was a peaceful time. But speaking with regards to Luke’s social situation it was a veritable battlefield. It hadn’t taken long for word to spread about Luke’s presence and many people made their discomfort clear. Complaints were filed to the Dark government. Accusations both true and falsified, were thrown around with the intents of having Luke thrown from their settlement.
Luke didn’t bother talking with them. It was a waste of time. He had made attempts on several occasions to help with different odd-jobs: repairing and replacing turret emplacements, reinforcing the gates along the outer walls, setting up perimeter defenses. Those who had already busied themselves with those tasks were more than happy to accept his help. The minute they found out who he was, whether through word of mouth or seeing the characteristic marks on Luke’s body, their behavior made a polar shift he was thrown from their