Chapter 18: Slight Repercussions

It was about four in the afternoon, judging by the position of the sun in the sky. Everyone was tired and sore, so they set up the tents, making sure Sara was comfortable and in earshot, and settled around a small fire to relax. Thendat glanced up from the fire at Darren. “You mentioned something about Delis, an ancient knight, you said?”

Darren stared into the fire, mentally traveling back through the years. “Yes, the spirit of a brave and powerful warrior. I found him while traveling through an old tomb in search of some lost travelers. He had been trying to help some travelers a few years earlier, and had gotten lost and died. His spirit wouldn’t let go of this world, however. His desire to help the helpless was too great. So I accepted him, on the condition that he would only come when summoned to help another, and never for self.”

Milar leaned back against a fallen tree. “And this…Staff of Magnus?” Darren looked at Acerin, who was sitting with his back to the fire. “Acerin knows more about it than I do, apparently. But as for what it is now…” He pulled out the pouch and opened it, examining the contents. “Fragments of the orb still contain power. The power won’t diminish over time, so I’ll seek someone out in Pilosh who can tell us the best way to use them. There are a few pieces I couldn’t collect…I couldn’t find them.”

Legerra spoke with eyes closed, half-asleep. “And what about your hand?” Darren reflexively closed it, then opened it and stared into the red depths of the stone that took up an inch of his palm. “I don’t know if I can remove it. I don’t know if I want to remove it. It’s still got loads of power, and could be useful…but we’ll have to wait until Pilosh to check it out more.”

Thendat stood a distance away from the fire, leaning against a dark tree. “And your…apprenticeship?” Darren was still staring at his palm. “For a while, I studied under The Mage, yes. Some of the best and worst years of my life were spent there. When he thought I’d learned enough to be his little messenger and assassin, he released me and I left. He was still mostly good then…he went downhill when he learned I was continuing his work without him.”

Thendat didn’t move. “And what was his work?” “To gain in power and knowledge beyond any other. He hoped that he would learn the secret of immortality. That’s why he mistreated me…once he learned of my lack of aging.” Darren sighed. “Eventually I learned enough to escape. I would complete his missions, and then return to him. One day I didn’t return. And eventually he stopped looking for me. I don’t know why he wanted Sara.”

Milar closed his eyes. “Anything else, Darren?” Darren looked at him strangely. “No…why do you – oh, of course. You think that I hide things from you. Rest assured I’ll tell you of what I plan to do…but I will not tell you everything.”

Milar sighed. “And why not?” Darren half-smiled with the irony. “I can’t tell you.” Milar said nothing, but Darren could tell he was burning on the inside. “I’m sorry, Milar. I cannot give an easy explanation for what I do.” Milar headed for the tents. “I’m sorry too, Darren. If you can’t trust us…how do you expect us to trust you?” He slipped inside the tent and lay down.

All talk ceased. As the fire died, the rest of the group left except for Thendat. “It’s my watch.” Darren started to say something, but stopped. “Fine.” He headed off towards the tents. But Thendat noticed him go past the tents and out of the camp.

Fraydon climbed down from the tree above Thendat. “You want me to watch, or you want me to go?” Thendat glanced at Darren. “Leave him be…he doesn’t want company right now.” “How do you know?” Thendat closed his eyes. “I know.”
~
Sara jumped off the cliff and landed on the bottom, light shining around her. “Nanashi! Where are you?”

The voice came. “Well, well…looks like you survived. Although I can’t say it’s because of your own power. I thought you were getting better?”

Sara flared up. “Don’t talk to me like that! All you’ve done is give pain. You haven’t given me a reason to be here, and I see none to stay.”

She could sense Nanashi smiling. “That’s right…but I don’t need to give you reasons. You don’t have a choice in the matter.”

She woke without the searing light or the pain that it brought. She tried to get up and groaned. Ah, there it is. Different place, though. I’m still alive, that’s good. But what’s happened and how much time has passed?

She got up as quietly as she could, silently screaming with her wounds. Her armor lay beside her. She shuddered at the thought of trying to put it on with the freshly-dressed wounds. Instead, she grabbed a cloak and put it on, stepping outside the tent and looking around.

The scenery was unfamiliar, as would be expected. She could see Thendat and Fraydon talking in hushed tones several yards away. She quieted her steps and blended in with the environment, walking away from the watchers and towards the glow in the distance.

Darren sat on a dried tree stump cross-legged, doing nothing as far as she could tell. She snuck up behind him anyways, stopping within arms length. {If I were an enemy, you’d be dead by now, Darren.} He responded. {Eighty-three.} {What?} {Eighty-three. That’s how many seconds it took you from the tent to here. Ninety-six steps, you’re not wearing your armor, and don’t even think about floating above me.}

Sara stared at him. “What are you saying, Darren?” “Nothing. I shouldn’t have said that before showing you what happened.”

He stood and faced her. “Do you want to know what happened in that time you were sick?” “Yes.” Sara watched as Darren raised his right hand. “Darren, your hand…” “That’s part of the memory. Relax. It’ll all make sense soon.”

His hand touched her forehead, the jewel in his hand cold. His memories of the past week filled her. It felt like a jolt of electricity ran through her along with the knowledge she gained. When it was over, she was visibly trembling.

Darren looked concerned. {What is it?} {We all almost died…and it’s my fault.} Darren sighed. {Don’t place blame. Look at what happened instead. I’ve gained in power. An evil man is dead. The only real loss we suffered was to our feet.} He smiled.

Hers was much less genuine. {And what about next time, Darren? What if someone dies because I’m not able to help them?}

{You underestimate your own strength. You fought a poison for days that killed a full-grown man in hours. In actuality…it was the fault of everyone in this camp for letting you stand watch. You’re not meant to be a front-line fighter, Sara.}

{Darren…we haven’t trained in a while.} He raised an eyebrow. {Changing the subject already? If it suits you, we’ll train.} The exchange of magic began, and didn’t end until early in the morning.

Fraydon looked in Sara’s tent, slightly nervous about her absence. Thendat reasoned it away with “Darren’s out there too, so she’s fine.” Fraydon looked at Thendat. “That only makes it worse.” He looked back at her. “…what did she say to you?” “She’s definitely fallen for him.” “Wonderful. Alright, I’ll go look for her.” He sighed and moved off.

He found them sitting against the stump, her head on his shoulder, both sound asleep. He thought for a moment, then pulled out an arrow and fired it directly at the space between Sara’s head and Darren’s. Darren’s hand shot out and was knocked away by Sara, who caught it instead. Their eyes were still closed as Darren spoke. “Really, Thendat. Did I come off as that big a jerk last night?”

Thendat smiled in spite of himself. “Only a bit. We’ve realized that as a woman, you need to have some secrets.” Darren’s eyes opened. “Touché.” He stood up and stretched, yawning. “Who else is up?”

“We all are.” Legerra, Milar, Fraydon, and Acerin joined Thendat. Legerra was the speaker. “Sara. Good to see you alive and well.” “Thanks.” Sara stretched as well as she could, gave back Thendat’s arrow, and left with Fraydon to put on her armor.

Darren kept stretching with his back to the other men, fully aware of the others’ eyes on him. “Questions?” Legerra’s voice sounded behind him. “Well, I thought you said you were just friends?” “We are.” “Well, when you both sneak off in the night and we find you here, it doesn’t look like it.” Acerin spoke groggily.

Darren finished stretching and turned around. “I stopped caring about appearances a very long time ago. And besides, I have no reason to lie to you all about this. What do I have to gain?” They couldn’t think of anything.

“Well, then. We continue our journey. Except it doesn’t look like it from the way the others are running back here.” Darren pointed at Sara and Fraydon.

Fraydon reached the men first. “Riders have surrounded our tents. They haven’t examined tracks yet…but when they do, they’re going to trace it here. There was no time for either of us to cover them.”

Milar looked around. “Nowhere to hide, Darren. And we can’t run far.” Darren noticed everyone looking at him. “What do you want from me? I can’t make trees appear out of nowhere!” He thought about that for a second. “Never mind. Acerin, you have to hide Thendat. Sara, you take Fraydon. I’ll hide Milar and Legerra. Stand closer together, but not too close. Let’s move away from where the tracks end.” They ran half a dozen yards away, hiding the tracks they had just made. “And it’ll look suspicious if trees move, so you might want to stay still. Okay, now!”

And not a moment too soon. Well-armored men on horses came thundering towards them, following their trail. Darren counted twelve men and fourteen horses. The one with the most elaborate helm, obviously the leader, got off his horse and down close to the ground, inspecting the tracks. “They came this way…but there’s nothing around here. Perhaps one of them hides in the trees…”

Acerin dropped his own illusion, still maintaining Thendat’s, and made it look like he stepped out of a clump of trees. “No need for that, gentlemen. I have no reason to hide.” Darren mentally slapped his forehead. Idiot! He’s going to get himself killed or worse.

The man off his horse had his sword out in less than a second, and the riders circled Acerin, fencing him in with long spears. Acerin didn’t move. “I said I have no reason to hide.” “And we have no reason to trust you.” The leader lifted Acerin’s head with the tip of his blade, then tilting Acerin’s head to both sides. “You don’t have any markings. You must not belong to The Mage. And you certainly didn’t make three tents for yourself. So you have companions with you, and they must have left you as bait, then.”

Darren was impressed. He knows much about the land and people, and except for the bait thing, he’s accurate. Acerin said nothing. The leader looked around with a slightly nervous tone. “So where are your companions?” Acerin smiled wickedly. He fears. “I need no companions. And as for The Mage, he is dead.”

There was a round of hearty laughter from all riding, but not from the leader. “Stop! There is no lie in his voice.” The group quieted. “Who killed him, boy?” Acerin clenched a fist. Stop calling me boy…“I did.” The leader looked around again. “Truth concealed in falsehood. You slew him with the help of others. I know they are nearby.”

Acerin suddenly disappeared from the view of the riders and leader, much to their dismay. He crept out of the circle and stood off to the side, behind one of the horses, reappearing. “Leave me and my camp in peace and you will not be harmed.” The riders turned in surprise to face him, the leader silent for a time.

“Very well, mage. But consider yourself warned. Your companions are dangerous to associate with.” He mounted his horse and the riders followed him towards the tower, no doubt to find out how The Mage died.

After a minute, all illusions were dropped. Each person set out to complete their tasks. Thendat, Milar, and Legerra went to take down the tents. Fraydon went to dispel all traces of their stay. Acerin walked towards the camp, whistling loudly. Darren shook his head and turned to Sara. “So now we - Sara? What are you doing?” Her aura was still bright, and couldn’t see the effects.

Sara dropped half of her illusion, revealing two horses standing without riders some distance away. She spoke, still concentrating. “They don’t need them. When Acerin startled the riders, they let go of the reigns for a second, and an illusion isn’t that hard to maintain among the unsuspecting.”

Darren grinned broadly. “Congratulations on your first con job.” She grinned back. “First? You have no idea.” Darren led the horses back to the camp, shaking his head in amusement.

That was quickly gone when he found Acerin relaxing on a stump on the way. “What were you doing back there? Haven’t you heard a single thing I’ve said this whole trip?” Acerin opened one eye and closed it again. Darren clenched his hands and the stump exploded. Acerin landed on his back and sprang up, ready to fight. “What was I doing? At least I was doing something! What were you doing, Darren? Hiding as a tree like a coward?”

Darren’s eyes blazed into his. “Are you really that unobservant? Don’t you see they were looking for me? I destroy a smuggling ring, The Mage dies. My brother has been shamed. Any or all of their friends send out more mercenaries looking for me. Don’t you think I could’ve destroyed them all? Don’t you think there might be other ways to solve problems, without bloodshed?”

Acerin pretended to think for a second. “Hmmm…no, no I don’t.” He barely had enough time to summon energy before Darren’s fire smashed into him. “Darren! What-”

Darren’s voice was cold and hard. “Seeing as you don’t think there’s a way to solve problems without bloodshed, and you endangering this group is a problem…I’m going to have to solve it your way. Unless, of course…you were lying to me.”

Acerin silently seethed, but Darren kept speaking. “None of the others have seen us talking. What you say is heard only by me, and what I say is heard only by you, so listen well. I will not have you endangering any other person in this group. What you do with your own life is up to you, but you are one of us, now.”

Acerin said nothing as Darren started walking to camp, the fire gone. Suddenly he turned and spoke, “Why didn’t we just wipe them out?” Darren hid a smile at Acerin’s question and answered gravely, “Some of those men were little boys of the village when I grew up there. Their captain wasn’t nervous about an ambush. He knew that if I faced him openly, his men would most likely die. He feared for the lives of his men, as all good leaders do.”

They were ready to leave within the hour. The addition of horses made the trip seem much shorter. What could have been a week’s trip now would take only a couple of days.

Milar and Legerra rode one horse, carrying some of the heavy gear with them. Thendat, Fraydon, and Sara rode the other horse, carrying some of the lighter gear. Every so often Darren and Acerin would switch with one of the other riders, to cool down themselves and let the others run some.

They kept up a quick pace, only sleeping five hours a night and getting more rest while riding. In three days, they arrived at the great gates of South Shirn’s capital, Pilosh.

- posted by Nick @ 5/01/2004 03:16:00 PM