CHAPTER 33
Sakura
Oliver?
Sakura coughed into her elbow one more time and cracked an eye open. The cloud of dust from the deadly cave-in had yet to settle, but she could see movement in the light of Keenan’s candle.
It shouldn’t have been possible. But a middle-aged man stood atop the pile of rocks.
His short black hair was plastered to his skull, and he panted as if he’d just finished a mile sprint even though a thick layer of ice coated most of his body.
It melted as she watched, trickling down his boots to the rubble beneath him.
He stumbled on the uneven surface and fell against the wall, sliding down as the ice broke and stole his support.
A few choice words spilled off Keenan’s tongue as he raced across the distance separating them.
Sakura watched, stunned, as the weapon-smith pulled his friend’s arm across his shoulders and hefted him to his feet.
The guard’s skin was gray, and his lips were dry and cracked.
He usually held himself as straight as Sakura did, but now he sagged against Keenan’s side.
Pulling herself together, Sakura rushed forward to help. Oliver stretched a quivering hand behind him before it collapsed back to his side. “Ice,” he croaked. “Need it.”
Bemused, she stepped past and grabbed a large chunk with both hands, then held it up to his limp fingers. He sighed…and the ice soaked straight into his shriveled skin.
Sakura looked up, a thread of anger coursing through her as she stared at his pointed ears. “You’re—”
“Dehydrated,” he said. “More ice.”
“Ingenious, but foolish,” their unidentified companion mused. “Breaking the rock by freezing water, but using the liquid in your own body when you couldn’t reach enough water in the ground? An impressive competitor, indeed.”
“You’re a magic-user.” Sakura could hear the accusation in her voice, but the memory of the woman who declared her prophecy was playing on repeat in her head.
“A weak one.” He absorbed another chunk of ice through his skin. “A strong one would be able to stand on his own.”
“Weak?” Keenan shook his head in disbelief. “You just broke through—how much rock?”
“And nearly destroyed myself doing it.” Oliver’s skin was returning to normal, but he still clung to Keenan for support. Looking at Sakura, his eyes gained a little of their usual sharpness. “Is that acceptable, Your Highness? Or do you scorn me because of my ancestors?”
She swallowed and looked away. He could no more help his magical heritage than she could her royal one. “What happened to your ears?” she finally asked. “They’ve always been round before.”
“He hides them with magic,” the disembodied voice supplied. “But he needed it to join the competition, so he withdrew his disguise.”
The guard’s gaze transferred to the ceiling. “Perceptive, but only partially correct. Who is our companion?”
“No idea.” While Keenan helped Oliver down to the floor, Sakura fetched another chunk of ice. “It refuses to tell us. So you have water magic? Is that how you recovered our cloaks from the waterfall?”
“And drew you to shore, yes.”
“Tricks of the trade,” Keenan laughed. It sounded tight. “I guess you won’t be teaching me those.”
“No.”
Whatever she felt about the magic-user who had ruined her life and hastened Daichi’s death, Oliver had been a faithful companion. Sakura would not judge him based on an unpleasant experience with another of his kind.
As she knelt next to him with the ice, Keenan’s hand brushed her shoulder. “Thank you,” he said quietly. “For helping.”
A bit of warmth spread from the spot he touched. Perhaps “ruining her life” was an exaggeration. “A lion may help a mouse without diminishing its dignity,” she replied loftily, lifting her chin.
Keenan just smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I’m not a ma’am.”
Shaking his head, he helped Oliver settle against the lumpy pack he’d rescued. “Of course not, ma’am.”
“You two are the oddest humans I’ve ever met,” the voice commented. “Shall we begin? If you wish to defeat the new competitor, it would be wisest to leave while he is weak and unable to utilize his magic.”
Keenan scowled up at the air. “This isn’t a competition. If I didn’t want to leave my friends behind when they were outside, what makes you think I will do so when one is here and in need of help?”
“You can bring him along. But he will challenge you more tomorrow.”
“As long as he’s fit to do it, I don’t care,” Keenan growled.
“Have you encountered many humans?” Sakura cut in before Keenan could lose his temper with the creature. “By your statement, I infer you are not one.”
“I am not.” After a moment, it added, “And you are the first I’ve met.”
“You can’t call us the strangest if you don’t know anyone else!” Keenan protested.
Sakura imagined the creature blinking owlishly at them. “Why not? I’ve only met you, but you are strange.”
“It would be just as accurate to say we’re the least strange you’ve ever met,” Sakura mused. She glanced over at Keenan, but he still looked hot under the collar. Literally, as he swiped his hand across his dry brow again.
“If you are typical specimens, then humans must be strange creatures indeed,” the voice said curiously.
“Your behavior and your words are not consistent. If you’re fond of each other, why did he want you to return to the surface?
Unless he feared competing against you for the treasure, but then why do you insist on staying? ”
Keenan shoved to his feet. “I’m going to take a walk,” he ground out.
“Be wary, Keenan,” Oliver called out as he stomped away. “The air is thick with magic, and I cannot tell the purpose.”
The weapon-smith gave a sharp nod but didn’t slow.
Sakura rubbed her elbow. He didn’t even have a light; how was he to see where he was going? She could take him one, but the last time that he stormed off, he’d told her that she shouldn’t have followed him.
As she rose to her feet, Oliver held up a shaking hand. “Your Highness, would you mind bringing me the rest of the ice, please? I would get it myself, but…” He gestured vaguely to his body as his hand fell back to his side.
She paused. She wasn’t accustomed to acting like a servant. But no one else was around, and while the guard’s color was better, he still looked terrible.
“Can’t you fetch it with your magic?” she asked. “Since you have a water affinity.”
He shook his head. “Even at full strength, sending my magic through the air is too expensive. But your secretive friend is correct; I had to withdraw the magic concealing my ears to absorb the previous pieces. I have nothing left.”
“Yet you wish me to bring you more ice?”
One side of his mouth pulled up, the closest to a smile she’d ever seen on him. “To drink.” He glanced up. “I will not be doing anything else with magic until tomorrow.”
Sakura followed the direction of his eyes. “So if our friend, or any of its friends, decided to attack us…”
“I would be useless,” he confirmed, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back against Keenan’s pack.
Rubbing her elbow, Sakura watched him for a moment before returning to the mound of melting ice. His warning to Keenan echoed in her mind. She was certain she’d seen Daichi’s body, as impossible as that was. Keenan thought she was hallucinating. But what if they were both wrong?
What if it was magic?
She hurried back to Oliver, holding the ice to his lips and brushing away his murmured thanks. She wanted to simply find the tinderbox and escape back up the shaft, but she needed to wait for the guard to recover. Even if that meant spending the night in the cavern.
Based on their experiences since reaching the tree, they might need his magic if they hoped to survive.