“Tyler!” Kellia screams before Luke can say anything.
“You know him?” Fritz asks.
Kellia is smiling wide when she grabs Tyler by the hand. “This is my future cousin-in-law. He is a great gypsy bard who worked his way from poverty to the ranks of nobility in Freedom.”
Everyone stands in stunned silence as Kellia leads Tyler below decks while she babbles about family matters. Luke grabs a cloth from a sailor to wipe the water and blood off his face. He is very happy to see Aedyn and Nyx approach him. Nyx still looks a little nervous as she gives Luke a gentle hug and puts her head on his shoulder.
“That’s for giving me some of your blood, little brother,” she timidly whispers.
Luke hugs her back, being careful not to hold her too tight. “You have no idea how much I like this hug. It’s the only thing that has gone right for me today. Now, please let go before you trip and somehow knock me overboard by accident. Thanks.”
“You seem annoyed and angry, Luke,” states Aedyn, who gingerly puts a hand on Nyx’s shoulder.
“First, I fall off the raft and my friends forget to help,” Luke begins to rant, checking the bad events off on his fingers. “I enter the ship to discover it’s an inferno waiting to happen. Then, I get stuck arguing with a paranoid noble. Once I win him over, he sets the oily water on fire by accident and I have to escape. Then, Nimby and Fritz hit me in the face with the damn raft when they come to pick me up. Also, my good boots are ruined. It’s been a very bad day and I’m stuck with a bad feeling.”
“Let me guess. You don’t trust Tyler,” Nyx says.
“Not in any way,” Luke whispers with a wry smile. “Have Fizzle keep an eye on him and stay more hidden than usual. See if you can get some information out of him, Nyx. You’ve dealt with nobles before and if he pisses you off then it will save us some trouble later on. I know that I won’t mind a noble with no teeth.”
“I won’t cast any spells,” she quickly declares.
“I don’t expect you to, but this is a conversation for tonight. The two of us will be sharing the night watch, Nyx,” Luke tells her, reaching out to squeeze her arm. “On second thought, don’t bother talking to Tyler. It’s better if you get some rest before tonight. Right now, I need dry clothes and food. This has been a horrible morning and staying out here will probably get me killed. I will see you tonight, Nyx.” He turns to walk away and steps on one of the oil bags, which explodes and covers him in oil. The slippery liquid covers the floor and the next step Luke takes sends him crashing to the ground.
“Are you going to be okay?” Aedyn asks as he helps Luke to his feet. A quick spell from the priest turns the oil into water. Everyone notices Nyx start to back away from the vanishing liquid.
“Worst day ever,” growls Luke before storming off to his room.
*****
“We rarely had nights as clear as this back in Gaia,” Nyx whispers, standing on the prow of the ship. She breathes in the fresh mist of the broken waves and stares up at the stars.
“Sounds like you’re feeling better. You had all of us worried for a while,” Luke says. He is cautiously watching the riverbanks where the trees have begun to thin out.
“So, I heard,” she sighs before turning to him. “You were worried so much that you didn’t take the first night’s watch over me.”
“I would have been there the first night, but I wasn’t able to,” Luke argues, looking Nyx in the eye with a pained expression. “Nimby, Fritz, and Fizzle wanted to take the first night since the rest of us had more serious injuries. The rest of us were pretty messed up. I was asleep for a day and a half after rescuing Aedyn and Kellia. Aedyn had to use his magic on himself once he woke up because his body was too injured to contain the power needed to heal you. When he tried, one of his wounds reopened before he could make any progress. That was when Fritz came up with the blood injection idea, which I volunteered for about thirty minutes after waking up. I’m sure you can get him to tell you about that tomorrow. You know, Nyx, I didn’t get to say this earlier, but I’m very sorry for letting you run off injured.”
“Don’t worry. I refuse to forgive you,” Nyx teases him, crossing her arms and grinning.
“I’m being serious,” Luke claims.
“There is nothing for me to forgive you for. Our job is to keep Kellia alive and both of us are capable of fighting on our own,” Nyx declares. She walks over to Luke and pats him on the cheek. “Besides, I tricked you with an illusion to hide my wounds. It was my own fault that I got hurt so badly. Don’t beat yourself up over my mistake, little brother.”
“I’m not going to argue with you on this. I’ve learned enough about you to know that I should pick my battles very carefully,” Luke says with a friendly smile. He sits next to a crate and stretches his legs until he feels his knees pop. “I’m still apologizing, stubborn ass.”
Nyx takes a seat on the other side of the crate. “You’re the last person to criticize my actions. I heard you went berserk on the goblins that were attacking Aedyn and Kellia. Not that I can blame you.”
“Can I ask you a personal question, Nyx?” Luke politely requests.
“I guess so, but I maintain my right to lie if I don’t like the question,” the caster replies.
“Are you willing to cast magic?” Luke asks. He feels a strong shiver run through the crate before he hears the nervous shuffling of her feet. A minute of heavy breathing passes before she stands up and walks around the crate.
“I don’t know. I hate to say that, but it’s the truth,” she timidly admits.
“To be honest, I was hoping for a better answer,” Luke says.
“Well, screw you! I see you’re back to being an insensitive bastard. I’m going to the other side of the ship,” Nyx snaps. She turns to walk away from Luke, but he quickly grabs her by the ankle.
“I didn’t mean to make it sound so cold. It’s just that I need to know. We will need to depend on you and your magic in the future,” Luke says as calmly as he can. “To be even more personal, you will need to depend on your magic in the future. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re vulnerable and nearly defenseless without your magic.”
“I’m not useless,” Nyx defiantly declares. “I have a crossbow and a mourning star. I can still fight without my magic.”
“You’re not a warrior, Nyx. Your skills are in casting spells, not in wielding weapons,” Luke says, continuing to hold her ankle. “I want to know if being without your magic will put your life in danger. I have to know, so I don’t leave you undefended again. Now, please tell me the truth.”
“Leave me alone!” she cries. Nyx tries to get away and crashes to the ground before Luke can let go of her. He can hear her trying to hide her sniffling.
Luke fights the urge to reach out and console her, which he believes will upset her even more. “All I want is some honesty. As a warrior, I can’t begin to understand how hard it is to lose your magic, but I do understand how hard it is to go on after failing. We all screw up at some point during our first adventure, Nyx. I screwed up about once a day when I was protecting Kellia at the academy. I didn’t even know who I was protecting for the first few days of my mission, but I kept going. Now, are you going to be weak and give up or are you going to try again?”
Nyx continues to cry where she landed for several minutes. When she finally stops, her eyes are puffy and her face reminds Luke of a sad kitten. A few tears are still held in her purple eyes as she silently sits on the deck.
Eventually she whispers, “You sound just like he did.”
“Who are you talking about?” Luke asks, obviously puzzled.
“Do you think of me the same way as he does, Luke? Am I just some weapon that can help you do your job?” Nyx questions the warrior, her tears returning with a vengeance. She quickly pulls her black hair in front of her face to hide her tears. “It sounds like the idea that I can’t cast magic is frustrating to you. It means one of your weapons in battle is useless and you don’t k
now what to do with it.”
“I don’t think of you as a weapon. You’re a very dangerous individual, but you’re not a weapon,” Luke fervently insists. “The only reason I’m asking is because I don’t want to leave you alone in a situation that you can’t handle. Knowing what your limits are will help me decide on strategies that will keep everyone alive. I’m asking you this for your own safety.”
Nyx abruptly looks up and stares accusingly at the nervous warrior. “Then, why did you leave me with that barbarian in the middle of the orc battle? Was that for my own safety? Leaving me badly wounded with a stranger was your way of keeping me safe?”
“That barbarian said he would protect you while I took care of something,” Luke contends. His voice is a little shaky as he thinks of the dark form he saw during the battle. “He had saved my life when he could have let those orcs kill me. I believed he was a good person and felt that you could hold him off if he tried anything.”
“That isn’t good enough,” Nyx snaps. “Why did you leave me?”
“I guess there’s no point in me asking for you to be honest when I don’t tell you the truth,” he admits, standing up to help Nyx to her feet. He uses his sleeve to wipe her face clean of the dried tears and dirt from the deck. “I saw the Hellfire Elf running away from the battle. He had a longbow out and the arrow that hit you looked like the kind that he uses. I tried to catch him before he escaped, but he got away from me at the edge of the camp. I guess you could say I’m obsessed with him.”
“The Hellfire Elf is another one of your mistakes, huh?” Nyx mutters under her breath.
Luke blushes slightly and runs a hand through his hair. “I should have killed him when I had the chance, but I wasn’t strong enough. He hospitalized me once and I crippled him once. I guess you could say me and him have to break our tie. Now, who were you talking about earlier? Who called you a weapon?”
“Gabriel talked to me last night,” Nyx answers with a crooked smile. “He called me one of his greatest weapons and told me that I would be an important piece against the coming darkness. It seems everyone I meet has some idea of what I will do with my life. If only somebody would give me a say in the matter.”
“The gods typically don’t bother asking for our opinions,” the forest tracker says. “I have only met two gods in my lifetime. Zaria was the one who started me on this adventure and Gabriel met with me before I fought the Lich. I think I amuse him, but he never mentioned anything about a coming darkness.”
“Well, he did say that he would consider himself relieved that I was with some boy. I assume he meant you,” Nyx says. She walks to the railing and watches the trees drift by. “Then again, he is ancient and could consider Fizzle a boy, but I don’t think the gods take drites into consideration. I just don’t like knowing that something is planned for me and I have to go along with it.”
“That’s mortal nature,” Luke mentions, joining Nyx at the railing. He leans against it and watches the other side of the ship. “Still, I guess this means you will have to cast spells again at some point.”
“I’ve already come to terms with that inevitability,” she admits with a deep, shuddering breath. “Are you going to help me after this mission is over?”
“I already promised that I would.”
“When was that?”
“The party after Fritz and Bessaria defeated those demons.”
“I don’t remember even talking to you that night.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
“Why is that?”
Luke picks his words carefully as Nyx watches him suspiciously. “You had won every drinking contest that night and then you found me. You rambled about the coming darkness as I was trying to help you to your room.”
“Oh gods, I didn’t make a fool of myself, did I?” Nyx nervously asks.
“It took me a few hours to find your clothes scattered around the deck, but I don’t think a lot of people remember your antics,” Luke responds with a wide grin. Nyx blushes bright enough for the color to be seen in the starlight.
“I could just die now,” she groans, holding her head.
“I’m just kidding. You were a talking drunk instead of a stripping drunk. I got you to your room before you did anything embarrassing,” he assures her with a friendly shove to her shoulder. “Anyway, I promised that we would remain partners after this adventure and I stand by my word.”
“Partners? That’s all I am?” she snaps, her voice reverting to an angry tone. “Why don’t you tell me what you really think of me before we continue this conversation?”
A high-pitched voice from behind her makes Nyx jump as it announces, “I think you’re a stubborn fool who is more dangerous than an army of trolls. You do what you want whenever you want and you tend to throw a spell before you try anything else. You are rude, unrefined, and abrasive when someone first meets you. Other than that, I think you’re a decent person to hang around with and I wouldn’t want to get run over by goblins next to anyone else.”
“Nimby! Don’t scare me!” she shrieks, her mourning star already in hand.
“What are you doing here? You said you were tired,” Luke mentions.
“I was tired when we got back, but I’ve been sleeping most of the day. Also, Nightshade keeps meowing at the porthole, so I thought that I would come out to see what you guys were doing,” Nimby says with a charming grin. “Apparently, I came in at the best part. Tell us what you think of our dear Nyx. Don’t worry, Luke. You can’t be any worse than Fritz who starts with her legs and works his way up to her neck whenever we ask him this question.”
“He does what? I’m going to kick him in the head,” Nyx snarls, gentle spinning her mourning star.
“Do I have to answer now?” Luke asks.
“Yes,” Nyx says.
“I really think I should answer later,” he replies, his hands falling to his sabers.
“Don’t be shy. It’s only the three of us here,” Nimby states.
“You mean fourteen of us,” Luke corrects him.
Nyx and Nimby are about to say something when Luke draws his swords and whirls around. A tall, armored form leaps onto the ship from the trees, crashing into Luke with terrifying force. The serrated Chaoswind sparks against the twin sabers as the Hellfire Elf pushes Luke to the middle of the deck. As soon as Luke stops giving ground, ten agile figures flip onto the ship from the coast and draw various types of blades. Nimby and Nyx go back to back, their weapons drawn, as the chaos elves advance towards them.
“You were seeing with your ears again,” the Hellfire Elf growls, his stinging breath burning Luke’s nostrils.
“It worked last time. You know, I think you’ve gotten weaker since I beat you into ground,” Luke taunts the demon. He pushes the Hellfire Elf’s blade to the side before dashing by the demon and making a deep cut along its side.
The assassin turns to Luke and gently pats the fresh wound. “I can see that the Chaoswind will taste your blood again.”
The Hellfire Elf starts an upward slash while it spins around and barely grazes the string that holds Luke’s hair in a ponytail. The forest tracker makes a nimble dive at the demon’s back, which misses when it leaps over him. Using his forward momentum, Luke rolls out of the way of a downward strike that puts a long gouge in the deck. He flips up to his feet and turns to face the Hellfire Elf. Both of them stand still as they watch each other carefully.
“You have improved,” the Hellfire Elf snarls, his black tongue slowly licking his lips.
“I guess I should say thanks,” Luke mutters as they circle each other.
“Stop playing around and finish it off, Luke!” Nyx impatiently shouts.
After wildly swinging her mourning star, Nyx finally lands a blow to the side of chaos elf’s head. The assassin drops to the ground, only to be replaced by three of his allies. Two men and one woman close in on Nyx, so that the only path of escape is to jump over Nimby and leave his back exposed. She can feel and hear the halflin
g slashing and parrying behind her with a lot more skill than she expected. From the sound of things, it is infinitely more successful than her wild flailing.
“Those two are dealing with some personal issues at the moment,” says the chaos elf that is standing in front of her. “That means we get the two of you to ourselves.”
“I don’t need magic for you, jackass,” Nyx proudly declares after she realizes her unique advantage. “Just looking at the way all three of you are standing, I can see that you’ve overlooked something.”
“The caster thinks she’s a warrior,” he mockingly laughs. All three chaos elves thrust their rapiers at her throat. Nyx drops to her knees and the thin blades get tangled with each other. The mouthy chaos elf lets go of his sword and levitates to the safety of the riggings, leaving his allies struggling.
“When back to back with a halfling, I can still duck,” she says, standing up quickly and hitting the other male chaos elf in the chin with her weapon. His head snaps backwards and blood flies from his mouth as he collapses. The back of his head is pressed against the middle of his shoulders while the body lies on the ground. Nyx turns to the nervous woman and flails her weapon wildly. She manages to get the chain wrapped along the blade and yanks the weapon to the side. It is enough to push the incoming stab to the side so that it skims her shoulder instead of piercing her chest.
“You’re not very good with a weapon,” the female chaos elf says. She makes a quick twist with her arm and flings Nyx’s mourning star over her shoulder. Her arrogant smile vanishes when the caster moves faster than the chaos elf expected. The assassin is stuck with her blade over her head while Nyx pushes her loaded crossbow into the woman’s face.
“I can’t miss from this range,” Nyx warns the woman. “I suggest that you leave the ship before I shoot you in the face.”
“My friends and I still outnumber you,” she hisses.
“You mean these guys?” Nimby asks, rhythmically running his daggers along each other’s edges. “They really should learn how to fight as a team instead of continually jabbing at me in groups of three. I mean, I knock one down and another steps up to do the same thing. It’s sadly predictable.”
Legends of Windemere: 02 - Prodigy of Rainbow Tower Page 28