by Eric Vall
I leapt and wrapped around his midsection. The slowed-down drawl of my name caught my attention as Gawain yelled, and I picked him up from the ground. I carried him, but not far. The earth shook and the trees rattled when the ice giant hit the ground, and shortly after, we had, too. There was a weight on top of me, but it was lighter. Gawain’s weight? That would have made sense, but I wasn’t sure. Everything had happened so fast I couldn’t even begin to process it.
I saw an outline, another human, approach the ice giant. I tried to warn them to stay away, that it was dangerous, but I couldn’t find the voice or the words. My head spun, and it occurred to me the toxin from the gastrotoad might have had an effect on me after all. My eyes felt heavy, and I shut them, just to let them rest a little. I’d exhausted everything I had with my attempt to save Gawain.
The last thing I heard before I fell asleep was the roar of the giant, followed by a soft, feminine voice in my ear.
“Gryff?”
Chapter 8
When next I woke, I was alone in a bed I didn’t recognize. My head pounded, and my body ached something awful. With quite a bit of difficulty, I turned my head. To my immediate right was a nightstand with water and a number of different colored potions and tonics. I turned to the other side and saw a second bed with a second person.
“Gawain?” I rasped, but there was no response. “Gawain.”
After the second time he stirred, and he sat up sleepily. He rubbed his eyes, and I noticed the side of his face that had been scarred was now cleaned up.
I frowned. “What happened to us?”
Gawain scoffed and shook his head as he stood. He walked over to my bed and slid a nearby chair over for him to sit. Close up, he looked tired, as though he hadn’t been awake very long himself.
“You passed out after the ice giant collapsed,” he explained. “I tried to carry you away, but we barely made it out of the way of being crushed. We’re lucky to be alive.”
I nodded. “How did we get here then?”
“Friend of yours, or so they say.” Gawain smirked a little. “A freelance group called the Wild Reds came by and closed the rift. Said that they were staying in Wildren and heard the collapse of the trees.”
“The Wild Reds?” I repeated, and then my eyes went wide when Gawain nodded. “Ashla is here?”
“Yes, I believe that was her name.” Gawain sat back in the chair and folded his arms over his chest. “Anyway, we were both in pretty bad shape, but you passed out from toxin inhalation. Their healer has been coming in every so often to look after you.”
I smiled a little. I’d been meaning to run into Ashla for quite some time. It was oddly fitting I’d meet her again on this journey.
“Anyway, we’re going to be here for a little while until we’re back to our best,” Gawain informed me. “I’ll let the healer know you’re awake.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled as he stood quickly and stalked away.
He returned several minutes later with the healer, a heavyset man with hair as dark as night and a red scarf draped over his healer’s cloak.
In tow was Ashla. She looked the same as I remembered with her sharp features and thick braids that hung over her shoulders. Her skin was sun-kissed, and her eyes were the same warm chocolate brown that could devour a man. White armor with etched details were clad on her shoulders and forearms, as well as around her breasts. The armor looked like hands that held her in place, or groped her. I supposed it depended on how you looked at it. Either way, I thought it was an interesting design choice. Her top was black with long sleeves, and was held up by blue straps that came around her neck. A blue tailcoat trailed down her left side, but did nothing to cover the black straps that barely concealed her nether regions. Black thigh high boots clung to her sun kissed skin, and in a few random places belts were worn as accents.
“Well, look who decided to join us,” she teased as she walked in.
“It’s good to see you, Ashla,” I said, though my voice was barely above a whisper with how sore my throat was.
“Gave us quite a scare, you did,” the man said as he sat where Gawain had before. “The name is Rejy, by the way, though you can just call me Doc. Everyone else does.”
I chuckled as best I could. “Alright, Doc.”
“How are you feeling, Gryff?” Ashla asked. She stood on the other side of my bed with her arms crossed as she looked down at me.
“Like I just had my insides torn out through my throat,” I answered honestly, and Doc snorted.
“That’s about right,” Ashla replied with a wry smile. “You’ve been through hell these last couple of days.”
“Days?” I asked, and I turned back to look at Gawain, who had situated himself back on his bed. “How long have we been here?”
“Two days, going on three,” Gawain supplied, and I gawked. We’d purposely left early from Tietra so we wouldn’t be slowed down, but here we were, days behind now, with only more days to come.
I sighed as I pressed my head harder into the pillow.
“Don’t worry about it so much,” Gawain added.
I didn’t respond, but I appreciated that he’d put in the effort all the same. I closed my eyes and let Doc talk to me about the treatment he’d been giving me as well as his expectation I remain in bed for at least another three days until they could be sure I was toxin free.
“How will you know?” I asked.
“Well, for one, you’ll lose the sickly purple color around your eyes,” Doc told me. “Also, you’ll feel your energy return to you. That’s really the biggest sign, as with any ailment. Rest, and drink plenty of water, and you’ll be good to go back on your journey in a few days.”
I sighed. I wasn’t thrilled with the plan, but if it was what I had to do to ensure I was going to be healthy and at my best while Gawain and I hunted for the ciphers, then that was what I would do. I thanked Doc, and he and Ashla took their leave. I lay motionless and stared at the ceiling for a long while before I drifted back to sleep.
The room was dark when I opened my eyes again. The headache was mostly gone, too. All that remained was a dull pain that seemed distant. It really might have just been from lying down for so long and the pressure that had gathered there. I sat up slowly. I didn’t want to risk jostling my stomach if there was anything in there to keep down anymore. I didn’t remember being sick, but if my earlier sore throat was any indication, the contents of my stomach had not been pleased.
“You’re awake again,” I heard Ashla murmur. I looked around and saw she was perched on a stool near the window on the opposite side of the room.
“How long was I out for this time?” I asked a bit wryly. I knew my health was important, I wasn’t going to argue that, but I still felt a little guilty for holding up progress on our mission.
“A little over a day,” Ashla told me. “You were in and out a few times, and we took advantage of that to give you more medicine, but other than that, you slept soundly.”
I nodded, though I doubted she could see it in the darkness of the room.
“What are you doing all the way out here?” I pondered. “Last I heard, you were on your way to Varle, per your letter.”
“We travel everywhere, Gryff,” she replied with a soft laugh, “but I’ve taken a special interest in this area lately, so we’ve made our base here for the time being. We help out around the tavern and the inn, and make our rounds on patrol to earn our keep.”
“And here is?” I questioned cautiously.
“Wildren,” she replied. “Your friend mentioned you were headed this way anyway, so he decided it would be in your best interests to rest here.”
“Gawain said that?” I asked, genuinely stunned.
Ashla nodded. “He was concerned for your health while you were asleep. He said it was his fault you were in the thicket that late at night. I think he feels guilty for putting the two of you in harm’s way like that.”
I looked at the other bed in the room where I found Gawain
to be asleep. A smile crept onto my lips then.
“It’s a good thing we were out there, though,” I commented. “If we hadn’t been, things could have been much worse than what they were.”
“I agree,” Ashla hummed. “You guys really did a number on that ice giant. He was a nasty one. It was risky to poison it like you did, but I don’t know if you could have felled it any other way.”
It was then that I noticed there was a jar in the window filled with a bubbly clear liquid. Within it was the poisoned eye of the ice giant.
My jaw dropped. “Why do you have an eye in a jar?”
Ashla looked to the window and smirked. “The liquid it’s soaking in is called Separ. It dries out the eye and puts a coating around it to keep it from absorbing the moisture it pulls out again. Once it’s dry, Doc will crush it and grind it into a powder to put into poison darts.”
“Whoa! You can do that?” I exclaimed with sudden excitement.
“Of course. Monsters are more useful than people give them credit for,” Ashla explained. “Just as any livestock can provide meat, milk, leather, etcetera, monsters can be harvested the same way.”
I nodded in understanding. “You’re pretty knowledgeable about this stuff. You should meet my squad leader.”
“Arwyn Hamner, right?” Ashla asked.
I blinked in surprise. How did Ashla know that? I’m sure I hadn’t mentioned Arwyn to her before. Maybe Gawain had, though?
I nodded slowly before Ashla continued.
“She had always been one of the good ones in that place,” Ashla mumbled.
“You went to the Academy in Varle?” I sat up straighter, curious about Ashla’s story and the connection I sensed she had to Arwyn.
“We all have to do our time at some point,” Ashla replied flatly. “I was no exception. Graduated top of my class, but no one cared. No one but Arwyn anyway.”
“Sounds like Arwyn was pretty special to you,” I gathered.
Ashla smiled. “Arwyn always pushed me to be better. She saw my potential and nurtured it the best she could. Her ways of thinking outside of the box always impressed me. I was eager to be like her.” She trailed off, and a frown settled where there had just been a smile moments ago.
“What happened, if I may ask?” I pressed.
Ashla flicked a braid over her shoulder and sat back against the wall as she moved her eyes to stare out of the window.
“I ran away,” she admitted at a near whisper. “I finished my time there, and I planned to stay and help Arwyn with her research. I was fascinated by what we could do, what we could still learn, but I chickened out.”
I shifted in my bed and folded my hands in my lap. “I’m sorry if this sounds insensitive, but why would you chicken out from research? It’s not like you were out battling in the rifts all the time, right?”
“It wasn’t the battles.” Ashla shook her head. “Obviously, they don’t bother me.”
She nodded to her axe propped up in the corner beside her, and my eyes scanned over it. It wasn’t coated in ice as it had been the last time I saw it, but it was still an impressive weapon. Even in just the light of the candle by the bed, I could tell the massive blade had seen some hard fought battles. No, Ashla was no stranger to a fight.
“Then why run away?” I prodded.
“It’s … complicated.” Ashla sighed at length, then hung her head. “Anyway, I’d not seen her for years until we met again in Bathi Highlands a couple of months back.”
I picked my brain for a moment, then remembered I’d seen her and the other Wild Reds briefly after we closed the rift in the Highlands. They’d helped battle the waves of monsters that poured out from the gate while the town had been swallowed by the Shadowscape.
“You didn’t want to see her,” I concluded. It wasn’t a question, and Ashla confirmed it with a short nod. “Is it too much to ask what happened between the two of you?”
Ashla looked up again, and her eyes were harder than they had been before. “Perhaps another time. For now, we should see if you can keep down solid food if you’re feeling up to it.”
I frowned a little as she dashed my curiosity but nodded all the same. “Yeah, I could use something to eat.”
“Your belongings are in the corner there.” She stood and offered me a thin smile. “Get changed and come down when you’re ready.”
I stretched around to see the bags that had been attached to Eva and Holly were indeed in the corner as Ashla mentioned. Shocked, I turned back to her.
“How?” I asked curiously. “We let our horses go before the fight with the ice giant.”
Ashla laughed a little at that. “You don’t know? The horses that come from the Academy are imbued with an enchantment. They’ll always find their way back to their rider. Your horses were no exception. They wandered back to you shortly after we closed the rift.”
I nodded slowly. So that was why Gawain and I had been able to find them so easily after our encounter with Penny and the bandits in the wild.
“Like I said,” Ashla continued, “get dressed and I’ll meet you downstairs.”
“Okay,” I started, and then I called out to her. “Hey, Ashla?”
She turned, and some of her braids fell in her face. “What is it?”
I offered her a sincere smile. “Thank you for taking care of us.”
Her mood seemed to lighten a bit at my words, and a soft smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “We mages have to take care of one another.”
“Right.” I nodded, and with that, she left and closed the door behind her.
I stretched my arms over my head with an obnoxiously loud yawn though it didn’t seem to affect Gawain at all, as he kept on with his gentle snores into his pillow. I shook my head as I chuckled, then climbed out of bed. My legs wobbled like a newborn deer’s as I took my first steps in days, but I easily fell back into the engrained, simple task of walking. I threw on a pair of pants and a comfortable shirt before I followed after Ashla.
As I descended the creaky, polished stairs, I noted there were portraits hung above the rails. I didn’t recognize anyone from them with the exception of one man, Elder Sterling.
I stopped to admire it for a moment. His face was the same, a little smooshed, but handsome, and much younger. Bright green eyes were filled with hope and wonder, and his posture and smile were dignified. He had long, silver blond hair that was slicked back, and wore an adorned indigo-colored cloak. I wasn’t sure if the indigo was supposed to indicate the kind of magic he had specialized in, or if it was merely a fashion statement, but the dark color blended nicely with his sun-kissed skin.
I should have figured Sterling was a man of importance. After all, he was one of the final keepers of the ancient libraries that still remained. I looked at the other portraits. There were five more, three men, and two women. I wondered if they were the keepers of the other libraries, but my thoughts were interrupted by the gurgle that lurched in my stomach.
Man, I was hungry. I put a pin in that theory so I could come back to it later and made my way down the rest of the stairs.
I’d expected the bar part of the tavern to be a busy place at night, but the only people who were there were the Wild Reds and a man I assumed was the innkeeper. There were no other patrons to speak of.
Ashla stood at a large round table and waved me over when she spotted me. The men that surrounded her looked up at me and raised their glasses to me.
“Hey, he lives!” one guy cheered, and the others murmured something similar.
I chuckled and scratched the back of my head bashfully as I stopped beside Ashla.
“Boys, this is Gryff,” she introduced me, and the men raised their respective glasses of whatever was in their pints. “Introduce yourselves.”
A man directly across from me cleared his throat. He was a good size, likely a shield for their banisher if I had to wager, and he had more hair in his thick black beard than on his bald head.
“Name’s Karn,” he introd
uced with a boom in his voice, then gestured to a smaller man with short, equally dark hair and red eyes beside him whom I assumed was the banisher he protected. “This here is Joshua. He’s mute, but he’s still a force to be reckoned with, so keep the short jokes to a minimum.”
The others laughed, and Joshua rolled his eyes as he elbowed Karn in the ribs before he bowed his head to me politely.
The man on the other side of Joshua was bigger in stature, but not as big as Karn. He had a handsome face and bright blue eyes underneath long lashes. He had his knees tucked up into his cloak, and it reminded me of how I used to do the same to my sweaters as a kid when I was trying to keep warm.
“Drew,” he said simply.
“You already know me,” the guy next to him told me. Sure enough, Doc sat on the other side of Ashla, and he waved to me.
I waved back. “Good to see you again.”
“Likewise,” he replied and then went back to his drink.
On my other side was a man of a similar build to Drew, but a black, silver studded eye patch covered his left eye. His yellow blond hair was short and spiky, and he wore a scowl on his face, as though he were distracted by something. Ashla cleared her throat as she pointedly glared at him, and he sat up a little, though he slumped back immediately.
“Zyg,” he muttered quietly and then stood suddenly. “Excuse me.”
Without another word, Zyg left us and climbed the stairs back up to the rooms. Karn had opened his mouth to argue, but everyone silenced him before he could.
“Don’t mind him.” Drew sighed. “It isn’t anything personal.”
I nodded, then took a seat in the chair Zyg had left.
“He just found out a good friend of his went missing,” Doc chimed in. “He’s not been in a good state for a few days now.”