Chapter 11 #3
I did my best to comprehend what I’d learned as I was finishing my bread.
It had been almost fresh, and the cheese had tasted deliciously tangy.
Cleaning my apple on my borrowed robe’s sleeve, I slightly leaned forward to listen.
I was so engrossed in the explanations that I flinched when biting into the green fruit.
The piece of produce was hard, and my thoughtless approach had triggered a wave of pain.
Dion’s head shot around at the sound. Following my glower that was directed at the apple, he frowned before snatching it away from me.
I shifted to glare at him, but my expression softened as he rummaged for a pocket knife, and once he’d found one, he cut the fruit into small pieces.
Stunned by his small act of kindness, I received my food back—after Dion had stolen one bite, but I was fine with that—and gave him a shy smile before turning my attention back to Fig.
“Ireas has magic connected to the element of light. Illuminating the darkness, for example, or creating bright orbs that shine for a few hours so others can use them. But that’s only the basics—his specialty allows him to slow down the effects of injuries or sicknesses in vegetation, animals, and humans.
He can’t magically heal, but he can win time to find the right treatment. ”
I was baffled and amazed, and the piece of apple that I was chewing almost dropped out of my mouth. I quickly swallowed the bite down and considered the talents of the young medic, who smiled shyly at me. “That’s extremely useful!”
“Sometimes. Rarely. But in addition to my magical talent, it’s my goal to know as much about emergency care and non-magical treatment as possible. By the way, I’d like to examine your injuries later. Just to be safe.”
I nodded to him as I pondered on how much these men were telling me, and I wondered if it was because of my potential involvement in the whole ominous dream affair. Gods, that sounded ridiculous even when I just thought about it.
“I can control fire,” Thain chimed in and threw a handful of bright blazing flames from his palm into the burning pit.
Ducking and then calming my racing heart, I turned my head away from the campfire that was flickering dangerously after the redhead’s stunt.
“I’m also extremely successful with the ladies and the gentlemen.
So, if you ever want to play with any kind of fire, come find me.
” Thain winked at me once more, and I saw Dion glowering at the redhead.
By now, it was more than obvious that those two weren’t on good terms, and I wondered if it’d always been the case.
Thain made a carefree impression on me, but the suspicion that he was shallow when it came to flirting was there. I couldn’t help but speculate if he was just all talk or indeed some kind of philanderer.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’d rather not,” I said, and Thain clutched his chest, feigning a heart attack, which made me laugh.
“You wound me, sweetheart.”
Before Thain was able to continue with his sassy act, Dion growled. Loud. “That’s enough, Thain. We’re trying to be serious here.”
“Here we go again,” Ireas mumbled, exasperated as if these two were at each other’s throats regularly, and they possibly were, considering the other men’s reactions.
Fig narrowed his eyes. “Dion, Thain, keep it together. I’ve had enough of your squabbling.”
Dion’s scowl was impressive, and from the daggers he stared, it was clear he wanted to retaliate, but a warning glance from Antas silenced him before he could even start. The older man had to tell me his trick.
As if nothing had happened, Fig returned to the original subject. “You’re already aware of Dion’s ability to manipulate darkness and shadows. As you’ll spend quite some time together in the next few days, he can tell you more about what he’s able to do himself.”
I nodded, although I’d rather bite my tongue off before asking Dion about his talents again. I could go without further demonstrations, but could my curiosity cope?
Fig went on. “I have some earth magic that helps me fight. My talent allows me to wield the ground itself, and the power aids me to stand upright while trying to throw my opponents off balance. Also, if I wanted, I could cause a very localized earthquake, but it would exhaust me for a few days.”
“So you don’t have infinite resources of magical power?”
“No, every Wielder has their unique capacity. Deplete your power, and you’ll have to recover before you can wield again.
Use too much, and you will enter a state we call magical burnout.
If you’re unlucky, you won’t be able to recover from a burnout, and more than a few have died because of it.
It’s imperative that Wielder learn where their limits lie before everything else.
But enough of that. We have a few more important things to go over.
Just to be sure, you do understand that you’ll accompany us, Nayana? ”
Without making a conscious decision, my forehead wrinkled, and a pang of irritation pierced my chest before I realized Fig hadn’t issued an order, although his phrasing had indicated one.
Once I stopped bristling, it became quite clear he wasn’t able to imagine I wouldn’t accept his men’s protection and fellowship in exchange for whatever the dream demanded of me.
Gods, that never ceased to sound ridiculous.
No, staying with the men was my best chance to stay alive, yet I needed more information. “It’s a fair offer. Still, before I make a decision, I have to know more about your plans.”
Fig shared a look with Antas, who took over.
“The truth is, Nayana, I still don’t know why my dreams led us to you.
However, there are rumors of someone with oracular visions living in the Savatos Mountains of Marsia, and I am inclined to believe there is truth to them.
So, the best course of action is traveling to Kalcas in Marsia and trying to find out more about said seer’s whereabouts.
I hope that this lead won’t be a dead end. ”
“Also, you should stay as far away from Iolesia as possible for a while anyway,” Fig added.
Taking my time to let all the information sink in, I was silent for several moments, but shifted nervously in my spot.
It felt weird to go on a wild goose chase with men who were strangers to me, but I couldn’t help that my intuition told me to stop questioning everything and just agree—not just for protection or because it made sense to put some space between me and Credenta, but also because my curiosity started to burn hot and bright.
These men knew so much about this world, about things I’d never heard of, and I wanted to know more. “I’m in.”
I might have been wrong, but I observed a sense of relief of varying intensity on the men’s faces. Well, except for Dion. His mouth curled downward as if he’d bitten into something sour. Stupid bastard.
“Then it’s settled. Tomorrow, we’ll ride toward Marsia. It’ll probably take us around three to four weeks to reach Kalcas. We’ll avoid major roads and towns if we can help it. If we have to fill our supplies, a team of two will get them. We also have to find a horse for Nayana. Can you ride?”
“It was my first time on horseback yesterday.”
“I’ll think of something. For now, Dion’s horse should have no problem with the additional weight.”
Nodding, one man after the other agreed to their leader’s plan. Only Dion scowled at the prospect of me as his passenger for the foreseeable future—as if I was particularly happy about the upcoming proximity to the moody dumbass.
“If no one has anything to add, we should all rest. Guard duties are as usual. We’ll break camp at dawn.”