Episode 155 Everything I Need to Know
Everything I Need to Know
Every little sound makes Viala jump. If only she had elf ears. She may have better hearing than humans, but that’s nothing compared to the keen ears elves have. A foe could be on top of them before she’d hear anything out of the ordinary.
Perhaps she should have let Taliel help guard everyone. Taliel is far more qualified for guard duty than Viala is.
Taliel slumbers peacefully beside Jonas, though. They both need sleep.
A twig breaks nearby, and Viala’s heart thuds.
Should she investigate?
She tries to stand, only to topple over on top of Tharios when the cord between them offers little slack. Flameless void.
Before she can move, he flips her to her back, hovering over her.
She’d make some joke about the situation if she weren’t so frustrated by her inability to do anything useful.
“What am I protecting you from?” he breathes. The magic of the oathbinding clearly picked up on her fear, and he’s acting automatically now.
“A nocturnal animal, most likely. I heard a twig snap. Then I tried to get a closer look and fell on you.”
He stares at her as his lips twitch, and she rolls her eyes.
Then he stiffens. “It’s not an animal. Destruction magic. Powerful destruction magic.”
A swirling shield of wind immediately surrounds their camp, and Tharios is on his feet before Viala can blink.
Then Taliel is there, her arrow nocked. “What do we face?”
“I sense two. The same two who attacked Viala and me. That direction.”
Taliel nods. “Protect Prince Rominy,” she calls over her shoulder. “He will be a target, and he is vulnerable.”
Then she shakes her head and speaks in Nunian.
Translating for Jonas, most likely.
Jonas mutters something, and Viala picks out the word life. With life? With his life, most likely. The rifle he usually carries slung over his back is trained in the direction Tharios indicated as Jonas blocks Rominy with his body.
“What’s going on?” Rominy asks as he tries to sit up, but Elowyn shoves him down.
“Stay there.” She forms fireballs in each palm as she takes a defensive stance opposite Jonas with Rominy between them.
A moment of jealousy surges through Viala, but she pushes it away.
Now is not the time. Thank the fates Elowyn is here and strong once more.
Grandmera stands as well, and a feeling of helplessness weighs Viala down.
The strongest magic wielder among them, and she sits within the circle of their protection alongside Rominy.
Then the ground begins to move.
“Not on my watch,” Grandmera says. She presses her hands toward the forest floor, and the quaking stops. Grandmera’s soil magic would have been helpful in that clearing.
Vines snap at Tharios’s shield, but none penetrate it. Taliel quickly destroys a rogue root with her destruction magic.
“What’s their end game?” Tharios asks Taliel. “I can do this all night.”
“I’m not certain. Perhaps they simply wish to frighten us. Make us scared of our own shadows.”
Rominy definitely looks frightened.
“I can take them down,” Elowyn says, her fire growing larger by the second.
“Not on your life,” Tharios responds. “How are you feeling?”
“Are you serious? Stop being a healer for two seconds. I feel fine. And I can do this.”
As if Tharios could ever stop.
“No. If you die, the Crown Prince of Nunia dies. We just went through this. Stay where you are.”
Elowyn looks like she wants to argue, but she swallows her protests.
It was just an excuse, though. One Tharios knew would work. One Elowyn couldn’t argue with.
“I’m open to suggestions,” Tharios says to Taliel.
“I could approach them in close combat,” she says. “But it would be risky without my warrior band at my side, and I won’t put any of you in danger by asking you to protect me.”
“We’re not in immediate danger, so let’s hold off on that,” Tharios says.
“Agreed,” Grandmera says.
“Can you do anything with your soil magic?” Tharios asks her.
“It would just be mine pushing against his the way it is now. Little more than a distraction.”
Elowyn murmurs over her shoulder in Nunian, translating for Rominy and Jonas.
Jonas says something in return.
“He says he could shoot them,” Elowyn translates, though only Viala needs it.
“In the dark?” Tharios asks.
“If you need light, you have it,” Elowyn says.
“I’d have to form a gap in the shield,” Tharios says. “We’d be vulnerable.”
“A bullet would be more effective than an arrow, but these are my woods,” Taliel says. “And my aim is true, even in the dark.”
Elowyn translates for Jonas, and he shakes his head, his face paling in the dim light from Elowyn’s magic.
He says something no one translates, and the conversation continues in Nunian. Viala holds back a sigh.
She could take both elves from here. She did before.
It was terrifying, though. It could have just as easily gone very wrong.
And Tharios hasn’t even hinted that he wants or needs her help.
While they argue, a crack sounds above. What was that?
“It’s a branch!” Taliel cries as she sends waves of destruction magic upward. Pricks of dust hit Tharios’s shield in every direction, distracting him long enough for a gap to form in front of Taliel.
“Tharios!” Viala yells, and Jonas lunges for Taliel.
Tharios closes the gap but not before a whizzing arrow flies through the night.
“Jonas!” Rominy rushes toward the guard where he crumples at Taliel’s feet.
Tharios’s eyes widen in fear as he looks from Jonas to his shield and back again. “I can’t do both. I can’t—”
“Tharios Westaria. You will not panic,” Grandmera says firmly.
Viala rises to her feet. No more fear.
“What are you doing?” Tharios asks.
“Saving us so you can save him.” She latches on to his air currents, begging them to heed her call. “Let go,” she says between gritted teeth.
“You’ve never harnessed the wind,” he whispers.
“Then give me another option, elf prince. Before that man dies.”
Tharios’s eyes dart around, and he curses before slowly relinquishing control.
The force of the swirling air is enough to suck the breath from Viala’s lungs. How does Tharios do this?
“Go,” she chokes out. “I don’t know how long I can hold it.”
He drops to the ground at Jonas’s side as Taliel hovers beside them both.
“The arrow missed his heart, but barely,” Tharios says. “His heartbeat is erratic. I need to stabilize it.”
“Will he live?” Desperate fear grips Rominy’s voice.
“Yes. But...” Tharios glances at Viala.
Time. Tharios needs more time than she can give him, and they both know it.
“Bind my heart to his,” Taliel says. “Will that keep him stable for now?”
Viala stares at Taliel along with everyone else.
“What?” Tharios asks.
“You heard me. Will that give you the time you need?”
“Yes, but—”
“Is he attached to another?” Taliel asks.
“No,” Rominy says. “He’s...uh...unattached. By choice.”
Taliel’s eyes meet Tharios’s as Viala struggles to contain his wind currents.
“His heart would have to consent,” Tharios says.
“Is there danger in attempting it?” Taliel asks.
“No. It simply wouldn’t work. But you know nothing about him.”
“He took an arrow for a near-stranger without hesitating. I know everything I need to know.”
“H-honorable man,” Rominy says. “Please.”
“He’s younger than you,” Tharios says.
“How old is he?” Taliel asks.
“Thirty,” Rominy says. Then he says it in Nunian as if unsure of himself.
Taliel nods. “A mere two decades. Nothing between elves.”
“He isn’t an elf,” Tharios reminds her, and Viala growls at him.
“She is willing, elf prince. Do it before I lose control of this shield and we all die.”
Determination steals over Tharios’s face, and Viala focuses on her magic as Tharios leads Taliel in the words of the heartbinding. They all watch as the final syllables are spoken. Taliel tumbles to the ground, and Rominy lunges toward her, catching her and laying her gently at Jonas’s side.
“His heart consented,” Tharios says, surprise knotting his brows.
“Ponder later, elf prince. I’m losing the magic.”
Tharios rushes to her side, reaching for the air currents she barely controls just as her magic collapses, and she stumbles to the forest floor. Rominy scrambles to catch her before her face hits the dirt.
“Viala!” Tharios cries.
“She’s fine,” Rominy calls out. “I’ve got her.”
Viala coughs a few times as she wheezes, trying to catch her breath.
But Tharios must sense through the oathbinding that she’s all right because he doesn’t rush to her side. Thank the fates. They’re all depending on him.
And Tharios holds his shield while Elowyn stands at Rominy’s back with fire swirling in her hands. Grandmera keeps her own palms on the ground.
“Now what?” Elowyn asks.
Tharios glances around their little circle. “I wish I knew.”