He pauses a bit to take a drink from his bottle.
“But enough about politics,” he says. “We should be discussing more important matters. Like for example, what’s going on between you and Rose? Is it just me, or have you two been getting a little closer in these past two days?”
“I… suppose you could say that,” I tell him.
“Hah, I knew it!” the dwarf says. “I thought there might be something going on when I saw the two of you together yesterday night, but I wasn’t really sure!”
“Well, it’s nothing official,” I say, “so I’d appreciate it if you kept this conversation between you and me.”
“No worries there, lad,” Hadrik says, with a grin. “I know that I may look like the big mouth type, but when it comes to sensible matters like these, I assure you that I can be the soul of discretion!”
“Leaving Rose aside, though,” I say, “I think what we all want to know is what’s going on between you and Arraka! Have you proposed to her yet?”
The dwarf laughs.
“Now you’re asking the right questions!” he says, and he takes another drink from his bottle. “I’ve been meaning to do it, but I just couldn’t find the right moment! I’m still thinking of an excuse to give Flower or Illuna to lend me the amulet for a while so that the two of us can have some quality time alone together.”
He pauses, and we both take another drink.
“But in all seriousness, though,” Hadrik says, “if it hadn’t been for her intervention earlier today, I’m not sure how well I would have handled myself against that ogre captain. I have no doubts that she’d kill me without hesitation if she ever got out of that amulet, but I guess I do owe her one for now. I’ve never really had to work together with others to take care of my enemies before. I usually travel and fight alone, so I’m not really used to these kinds of things, but I’ll admit that being part of a group has been a nice change of pace for me. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t really come to this tournament to win the Magium. I came here for the experience, mostly, and I’d say it’s been going pretty well, so far! What about you, Barry? What are your plans in case you actually win this tournament?”
“Well, I’m going to use the Magium to become a mage,” I say.
“Yeah, I got that, but I mean afterwards,” Hadrik says. “What do you plan to do after you’ve become a mage?”
“Oh, I’m planning to conquer the world, of course!” I tell him, jokingly.
“Is that so?” the dwarf says, with a grin. “Then maybe I should hold off on my proposal to Arraka for the time being. It pains me to let her go like this, but the two of you would make a much better couple!”
“Barry, you never told me that you fancied Arraka!” I hear Rose say in a playful tone, from somewhere behind me. “I could talk with Illuna to give you some time alone with her to confess your feelings if you want!”
“That’s very kind of you,” I say, as I turn towards her, “but I’d rather do things at my own pace, for now. I’m very shy, and I might end up ruining the moment if it’s just me and her!”
Hadrik grins, as he looks at Rose.
“Should I take it that you’ve finally changed your mind and decided to join us?” he says. “I’ve got many more bottles of ale stashed up in my backpack so there’s no need for you to hold back!”
“Actually, no,” Rose says. “I only came here because I had a few things to say to Barry before going to sleep!”
“Say no more!” Hadrik says, and he gets up from his rock. “Please, take my seat! I was just about to go back to my tent.”
He then raises his bottle again.
“Cheers, Barry!” he says, as we both clink our bottles once more, and then we chug down the last of our ale.
“Okay, Barry, listen closely!” Rose says in a low voice, as Hadrik heads for his tent. “I think you might have already realized by now that—”
She pauses mid-sentence and she looks at my face.
“Barry, are you drunk?” she asks.
“Maybe a little,” I answer her.
Rose giggles.
“Hold on,” she says. “I’ve got some herbs in my backpack that will get you back in shape in no time, and you won’t have to worry about a hangover either. I’ll be right back!”
After she’s done searching her backpack, she comes back with a fistful of red leaves, and she tells me that I need to chew on them for thirty seconds. Once I’m done, I realize that my dizziness is completely gone, and I can think clearly again.
“So, as I was saying,” Rose says, “you might have already realized by now that Kate, Hadrik and I had a little discussion before voting for you and Daren to take the first night shift. I’m sorry that we didn’t invite you as well, but someone needed to stay with Daren so that he wouldn’t get suspicious.”
“Yeah, I kind of figured that something was wrong when I saw how well in sync you three were,” I say. “So, what’s this all about, then?”
“Well,” Rose says, “you know how Illuna said that Flower still needs to remain in stasis until at least tomorrow evening?”
“Yeah, I remember,” I say.
“The thing is that Illuna hasn’t slept at all since before her shift last night,” Rose says, “and I’m starting to get a bit worried. I think she’s afraid that Daren will kill her in her sleep if he sees her vulnerable, and she no longer has Flower to protect her while she’s not awake. She probably only continued to travel with us because she would be in much more danger alone than in a group, considering all of the powerful mages roaming around the continent right now and the fact that she is too tired to keep suppressing her aura until tomorrow.”
“So you want me to keep Daren busy while you and Kate try to convince her to take a nap?” I say.
“Yes,” Rose says, “that’s why I persuaded Hadrik to say that two of his tents are unusable, so that Kate and I could sleep in the same tent as Illuna. I think we can get her to fall asleep if we promise that Kate will keep an eye on Arraka’s amulet to see if she tries to escape again.”
I sigh.
“I know that Daren isn’t always the sharpest tool in the shed,” I say, “but I think you’re underestimating him a little. I would be surprised if he didn’t already figure out your plan…”
“I don’t care if he did or did not figure out my plan,” Rose says. “What I want is for him to stay away from Illuna so that she can finally get a good night’s sleep. I don’t think that Daren would try to hurt her while she’s unconscious, but keeping him as far away from her as possible is the only way Illuna can feel safe right now. I’m really sorry that I forced you into this, but I’d much rather have you with Daren than Hadrik, and I can’t join you because I need to stay by Illuna’s side, since I’m probably the only one that she somewhat trusts in our group. But if you don’t feel like going through with this, I understand… I’ll try and see if Hadrik—”
“No, no, that’s not what I meant!” I say. “Look, here’s what we’re gonna do. I’ll make sure that Daren doesn’t come near your tent during our shift, but if he gives any hint of having figured out what you’re up to, I’m not going to start making up lies about it. If he asks, I’ll tell him the truth. Deal?”
Rose smiles, and she shakes my hand.
“Deal!” she says.
“Alright, then,” I say. “Well, in that case, I’ll be off to begin my night shift. Wish me luck!”
“Good luck, Barry!” Rose says. “And thank you…”
She then heads towards her tent, while I grab my crossbow and start walking towards the place where Daren was sitting and polishing his weapon.
“Took you long enough,” he tells me as I sit myself on the grass beside him. “Did Rose tell you to keep me busy while they try to put the banshee to sleep?”
So he really did have it all figured out.
“Yeah,” I say. “She just finished giving me the briefing.”
Daren sighs, as he slowly stops polishing his sword.
> “Listen, Barry,” he says. “I realize that I’ve been a bit of an ass lately. Even more so than usual. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry…”
Hearing Daren give me a heartfelt apology is feeling about as natural as seeing a fire elemental bathe in a mountain spring. However, he does appear to be sincere about this.
“It’s okay,” I tell him. “Don’t worry about it!”
“No, it’s not okay,” Daren says. “I’ve been stubbornly hanging onto the idea that banshees cannot possibly be trustworthy, and I was almost willing to start a fight with you because of it. Even after clear evidence had been presented to me of the contrary, I still refused to believe it, and that almost ended up costing my life.”
“You’re talking about that time when you were hanging from a wooden beam in the caverns and Illuna offered you her hand?” I say.
“Yes…” Daren says.
“Come to think of it,” I say, “you didn’t start acting this way only after meeting Illuna. You’ve been acting strangely ever since Azarius told us about artificial mages and the Beacon of Hope.”
I pause for a little.
“Now that I think about it,” I continue, “I don’t remember you speaking a single word to Kate after you found out that she was an artificial mage and not a banshee.”
Daren looks at me for a few moments, as realization dawns upon him.
“Barry, you’re right!” Daren says. “I really haven’t spoken with Kate at all since that day. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“A lot of things are wrong with you, Daren,” I say. “You’re lucky that you have a friend like me to accept you for what you are.”
“You know,” Daren says, “just because I’m in the middle of an existential crisis here, doesn’t mean that I can’t still smack you in the head with this branch for being a smartass.”
“Fine, fine,” I say. “You want to know my honest opinion about this, then?”
“Sure,” Daren says. “Let’s hear it.”
“Alright,” I say. “Well, what I’m thinking is that you stopped talking to Kate because you’ve been subconsciously resenting her for proving you wrong.”
“What are you saying?” Daren asks. “That I’ve been blaming her for not turning out to be a real banshee like I thought she’d be? I mean, I know that my pride can get in the way of my reasoning sometimes but, this… I mean… I wouldn’t…”
“Listen,” I say. “It doesn’t matter why you did it. What’s important is what you plan to do about it now.”
“Yeah,” Daren says. “I guess you’re right…”
He pauses a bit before he continues.
“Tomorrow, I’ll try to make things right,” he says. “I don’t think I can bring myself to apologize to the banshee, but I’ll try my best to get along with her tomorrow, and to show her that I no longer retain any hostility towards her. As for Kate, I’ll need some time to think about how I’m going to approach this, but whatever happens, I’m not planning to let things go on like this. Thanks for hearing me out, Barry… I think I’m feeling a little better now.”
It was a few hours later that Kate and Hadrik came to take over our shift. I asked Kate in private about how things went with Illuna, and she told me that the banshee was a bit reluctant at first, but they managed to get her to fall asleep eventually. They couldn’t convince her to shut off her alarm, though, so she’d keep waking up every hour or so, in order to check up on Arraka, but at least she got enough rest to pull her through the next day.
After a good night’s sleep, we all got up early in the morning, packed our tents, and resumed our journey, aiming to reach the ruins by sundown. Since we knew exactly which way we were headed this time around, we could afford to keep going without stopping to look for every single one of Flower’s markers, which saved us quite a few hours on our way back.
Due to everything that’s happened in the last few days, our group was visibly starting to become a lot more closely knit. Even though I couldn’t say that we all got along perfectly, the fact of having survived through such hardships together by trusting and relying on each other seemed to have developed a certain bond between us. Even Arraka was starting to act more like a member of the group. As a reward for her cooperation yesterday, her locket was left open, so every now and then she would join our conversations by adding her unique commentary, even though most it was either somehow tied to the atrocities she committed during the still winter, or a dark joke of some kind.
Throughout our journey back to the ruins, Daren had tried on multiple occasions to initiate casual conversation with Illuna, but his awkward attempts at trying to make up with her only managed to make her even more suspicious of his motives. Despite his boasting, however, he still didn’t utter a single word to Kate by the time we’d reached our destination.
The fox was quite surprised when she learned that we’d returned with the chalice. I don’t think she was really expecting us to pull it off. However, she kept her word and removed all of our collars upon confirmation that the artifact we’d brought her was indeed the one she was looking for. Since we didn’t really feel like spending any more time than necessary in this place, we waved goodbye to the fox and the leopard, we started heading out of the forbidden forest, and we prayed that we’d never see either of them again for the rest of our lives.
A few minutes after leaving the ruins, we hear the leopard calling out to us.
“Wait!” he says, in the Common language. “I forgot to ask. Is one of you named Rose, by any chance?”
“I am Rose…” Rose says. “Why do you ask?”
“A doe named Elaria has been waiting impatiently for your return,” the leopard says. “She seemed very worried about you. Would you like me to transmit a message to her?”
“I…” Rose starts to say, but she pauses. “No, I’d rather talk to her myself. Could you please tell her to come here? I’ll be waiting for her.”
“As you wish,” Leo says. “She’ll be with you momentarily.”
“So you’ve finally decided to grab the bull by the horns, then?” I ask Rose, after the leopard leaves.
“There’s no time like the present, don’t you think?” Rose says, smiling.
“Wait, what’s this all about?” Daren asks us.
“It’s a secret!” Rose tells him, smiling playfully.
“Right…” Daren says.
About ten minutes later, Elaria finally shows up, and she pauses for a few moments to catch her breath before she begins to speak.
“Rose!” she says in her ancient language. “Rose, I was so worried! The animals in the forest kept talking about the group of humans captured by the golden fox, and when I recognized your descriptions I rushed towards the forbidden forest as fast as I could. I was hoping that I could persuade the fox to let you go, but when I heard she sent you to the ogre fortress I had almost lost all hope…”
When the doe finishes talking, Rose approaches her and gives her a big hug.
“Thank you, Elaria!” she says. “Thank you for always looking out for me! I’m really sorry for the way I’ve been acting lately. I’ve been actively avoiding you ever since Molan’s father died. I was feeling guilty and I just couldn’t bear to look you in the eyes anymore. But someone made me realize that I was only making things worse by not talking to you. I shouldn’t have abandoned you like this. I should have been with you in your time of need. Can you ever forgive me for my selfishness?”
“Of course!” Elaria says, as a tear drops from her eye. “Of course I’ll forgive you, Rose! You will always be welcome in our home, no matter what happens. Don’t you ever forget that!”
“I promise I’ll come back to visit you as soon as I’m done helping all the sick people in my hometown,” Rose says. “And I’ll bring with me those blue leaves that Molan likes so much!”
“I’m sure that Molan will be ecstatic when I tell him this,” the doe says, smiling. “Please, take care of yourself, Rose!”
“I will
!” Rose says. “I’ll see you again, soon! Goodbye, Elaria, and thank you again, for everything!”
She waves goodbye to the doe, and then we all resume our journey, while Rose looks as if a great burden had been lifted off her chest.
Once we put some good distance between ourselves and the edge of the forbidden forest, we decide to set up camp near a small river, in an area without many trees. Flower, who has recently woken up from her stasis, is now being filled in on the details of what had happened since she’d been put to sleep.
“I’m so glad that Petal’s plan worked out in the end!” Flower says, after she hears the whole story. “I got a little worried when she told me that she needed to put me in a stasis for two days, but I decided to trust her judgment.”
“Wait, did you just say Petal’s plan?” Kate asks. “Didn’t you say before that both of you worked on this plan?”
“Well…” Flower says, feeling a little embarrassed. “The truth is that Petal is the one who usually makes all of our strategies. I just follow her lead most of the time… At first, I didn’t think she would help out this time around, since she was always making sure to keep her distance and not get involved with you guys. But then something happened that made her change her mind in that night before we reached the fort. She wouldn’t tell me what happened, exactly, but all of a sudden she’d become so much more active in planning the whole operation, and she even took care to minimize the risks to your safety! I don’t know what got into her, but I’m really glad that things turned out the way they did!”
Rose smiles at me. I think we both know what made Illuna change her mind before we reached the ogres. It seems that our discussion in private with her during her night shift had a lot more of an impact than we’d originally thought.
Magium: The Mage Tournament: Book 1 Page 27