I could feel myself coming to. I was expecting pain, but instead I was genuinely surprised that everything felt like it was in working order. Looking inwardly I could feel Linette gingerly feeling her way within me. Her roots were extending from her home in my core and moving outward. She gave me a little poke and went about her way repairing her internal pathways. I stretched my limbs feeling the stiffness move its way out of my body. I jumped to my feet trying to test to see if the pain was truly gone. I could feel that everything felt even better than normal. My limbs felt like they had before the choker and as the warmth of Linette spread throughout my body I could feel my magic ebb and flow throughout my body.
After inspecting each part of myself, I could smell that sickenily sweet smell from last night. I approached the tent's door and peeked my head through the flaps. I tried taking in my surroundings but found that I was in an unfamiliar section of the forest. This was most certainly not the clearing I had stopped that night with Henry. I could see other tent's set up like the one I had. After a quick glance I could see roughly another four tents. Curiosity got the better of me and I looked around to see where that smell was coming from. Off in the distance I could see a short and stout man stirring a utensil in a black pot sitting above a fire. Every so often I could see him reach into his waistband and pull out different bits and pieces. I was too far away to really determine what he was adding.
Not that I really know enough to even know what he's adding.
I could tell that Linette was intrigued by the smell that was assuaging our nose. She gave a brief acknowledgement to wanting some food, but went back to her original task. I creeped out of the tent making my way over to the fire. "Girl, I can feel you approaching behind me. Grab a bowl and sit down. You need to fatten up." He gruffed, nodding his head to a stack of bowls in arms reach of the fire resting on a nearby log. I stepped over grabbing a bowl holding it out. I could barely keep the drool from seeping out of my lips. I quickly wiped my mouth so that he wouldn't notice.
"I always hated seeing people leave that God forsaken place. Much too skinny if ya' ask me." He shook his head in disapproval making mention of my weight yet again.
Imagine if he saw us about a year ago after we left that cell.
I cynically said to Linette within me. She didn't stir but I could feel agreement from her. The man that I assumed to be Namen plopped multiple slops of the brownish stew into my bowl. "Go eat, girl." He nodded to a nearby log that was lying down on its side. I quickly went to sit down.
Before my butt touched the log I was already shoveling the stew into my mouth. That sweet taste was assaulting my taste buds. Every spoonful caused my spoon to come down quicker. After my spoon was scraping the bottom of the bowl I could tell that I still wasn't quite satisfied and used the spoon to scrape at each bit of the stew that was available. Not wanting to cause issues I went to stand up to find where to put the bowl down.
"You better not be think'n about leaving without being full Girl." I sauntered over to the gruff man and allowed him to scoop a few more spoonfuls into my bowl. As I was sitting back into my spot I could hear the stirrings of the camp. Now that I could clearly see some members of the camp it appeared that the oldest member of the group was Namen.
Judging from his appearance he was probably around the same age as Staples. Somewhere between adulthood and Headmaster's age. Henry looked to be about the same age as the blonde professor, and the other members looked to be about the same age. I looked around feeling that I was glaringly out of place amongst the people in this group. After being trained by the Warden I was most certainly out of shape like I was when I left the cell, but some of the people in this group had muscles that were the same size as my torso.
The woman that I had heard yesterday came out of her tent as well. I could tell that she was a massive woman. She wasn't that much smaller than the other members of this camp. I noticed that scars riddled her face and arms, and she was covered in some kind of chainmail. She had a neat braid that rested on her head, but even I could tell that she must have been a terrifying individual because the sword that rested on her back was roughly the same size as me.
While I was scanning the comings and goings of the camp I realized that my bowl was empty again. This time however I felt satisfied and didn't need another bowl. I stood up and approached Namen and offered him my bowl. "Need another?" He went to scoop more food into my bowl, but I quickly shook my head no.
"Ai't I'll take your bowl. You go rest and let the other animals take care of t'e camp." He nudged his head at the other members disassembling the tents. "You're the most animalistic one here Namen." I could see Henry coming up to Namen with a big grin plastered to his face.
"Boy ye' may have your father covering ye'r ass but I'll still kick it." Namen waggled his spoon at the grinning Henry.
"I'm sure my father would love to see you do that, Namen. However, you might scare off our newest member if she saw how violent you are." Henry came over grabbing a bowl next to the gruff man. Namen scoffed at the words from Henry but plopped spoonfuls of slop into his bowl.
I stood off to the side watching everything play out feeling that chuckle bubble from within, but ultimately allowed it to die on my emotionless face. I didn't quite know what to do since I had no direction so I just stood there taking in the surroundings of the forest. It was the first time I had been outside in years and wanted to take in everything that was going on around me. I could see small woodland animals scurrying to and fro. Birds were singing nearby, but the most pleasing of all was hearing the breeze blow through the branches. The forest felt peaceful which helped ease my anxiety about what was going on around me.
"It'll take us about a week to get to the port." Henry addressed me while slipping spoonfuls of food in between words. "After we get to the port it'll take us about two weeks to get to the North. From there it'll be a quick three day journey to get to the castle." While Henry was telling me about the future plans of our journey, the rest of the party started piling into the eating area. Namen was scooping spoonfuls of slop into each person's bowl. I could tell that a few of them were taking sneak peeks at me while they were eating, but I gave it little attention. I listened to Henry speak about the different parts of the journey trying to internalize the bits of info he was telling me. I didn't want him to know that I was just some dumb girl who had no clue of the things he was telling me about. I didn't know what this port was. I didn't know what snow was. He mentioned things being cold enough where he was from, that things froze. I had no clue of the things he was telling me about, but I tried to act like I did so I'd occasionally nod my head while he was talking.
"So is she mute?" I could hear someone from the party address me. I looked over at him and noticed that he was shorter in stature than the others that were present. He looked more like I did than closer to the others. He was a few inches taller than myself, but looked scrawny by nature. I could see a pair of glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose that was barely clinging on with what appeared to be twine that held it to his head. His brown hair was curly that set on the top of his head like a bristle brush.
"Shut up George!" Henry glared at George, glancing between George and myself. I opened up my mouth and did my absolute best to answer.
"...N…o" Henry's eyes lit up in surprise at my sudden declaration.
"...It…s… har…d" Just that little bit of speaking made my throat feel like it was closing up in resistance.
"Glad to know that you're not mute." George nodded his head and went back to eating the food in his bowl. I could feel the other members of the group appear to ease up at the sudden tense situation. While I was in the process of looking back at Henry's face to listen to more of his impossible stories of the North, I could vaguely make out a shape rustle off in the distance of the forest. I squinted my eyes trying to get a better grasp of what I was seeing when out of nowhere I could see something launched in my direction. Whatever the object was came careening in my direction aimed directly at my face. It skimmed past my cheek causing a searing heat to bring my attention to. Linette immediately burst into action at my summons. We were being attacked by something. Looking back behind me I could tell that it was some type of stone arrow that had been launched at me.
The group around me explosively reacted and everyone jumped up grabbing their weapons. "Group attackers! Defend Sephanie. Dean, determine how many of them there are." A man in the group sprinted from the eating area running over to where the tents and bags were packed. I grabbed the arrow with a magic tendril and allowed it to float next to me. Whoever had launched the arrow at me had moved from their original position. I willed Linette to put tendrils out to determine where the enemies were.
I could feel the members of our group at first, and as Linette's tendrils reacted to our environment there were bits of life that felt… off.
The energy that I could sense from the members of the group felt warm in nature while the energy I was feeling from these assaulters felt… cold. As Linette came into contact with each of the enemies I silently counted in my head the number of entities.
30, 40, 50, 58! We need to let Henry know. I reached out for Henry and gripped his arm. "...58" I could see his jaw tense at the unsettling news I had delivered to him. "Henry there appears to be more than 50 of them!" Dean came running back to our group when I sensed one of the energies changing. I quickly looked in the direction and noticed something flying towards Dean. It appeared to be another arrow and willed Linette to slap it away. Before the arrow could reach its intended destination it was crushed midair and fell silently to the ground. If others noticed what had transpired none mentioned, but instead I could see the group around me nervously move their weapons in their hands.
I looked inwardly to determine how much magic I could summon at the moment. I most certainly wasn't up to full power yet, but I could most certainly assist at eliminating a section of the enemies. As I was planning on how best to take out a section of the enemies I could feel Henry grip my arm. "Point in the direction of the most enemies." I stared at his tense jaw and pointed towards the western part of the forest. Over in that direction I could feel roughly more than half of them.
"...I… get… them?" I willed the words out of my mouth. He looked at me in surprise. "If you can do it safely." Why is he worried about us?
Being the focus of someone's concern set my nerves on edge. I shook off the uneasy feeling that was seeping from deep within my soul and set out to do what I was purchased for; Killing.
I started drawing magic from within myself like I had during my fight with the Warden. During that fight was the first time I had ever used magic in a way that was taught to us in class. They taught us theories on the matter. Staples drilled into everyone in the class on how to best go about the art of killing things. I pinpointed the location of the largest gathering of that colder energy reading. As I started drawing the force to unleash the spell, I could feel the roots within my being scream at being used before they were ready. The mana flared around me as I worked in tandem with Linette. I could see Linette within me working on appeasing the roots that appeared to be on the verge of destruction. I raised my hands into the air and willed the magic to remove the air from my intended target. Staples informed us that when we removed the breathable air from an environment that it would replace the air with something much akin to a poison. It would cause the subject to become disoriented. If they stayed in the surrounding area for too long they would simply cease to exist.
I set my target limit to 50 meters in all directions. My roots were screaming yet again as the spell had been launched. Screams sounded off in the forest. It wasn't just moments later that several green tight skinned beings stumbled their way from the brush wobbling and unsteady on their feet. I kept my hands held up in the air since I could still feel beings within my airless field. I ignored the feeling as their energies started to dwindle as I didn't want to pay much attention to the fact of what it must be like to diminish and die.
As the roots began to tremble and I could feel the energies getting snuffed one by one did I finally stop the spell. I allowed my hands to drop to my knees cutting the flow of mana to my spell allowing air to rush back into the environment. I could feel Linette hurriedly go back and start working on my eternal damage. I could feel a light burbling within my chest and suppressed the urge to cough. I could vaguely sense that the group around me had been dispatched to go off and deal with the remnants of those green skinned creatures. I finally couldn't fight the urge to cough and felt a deep surge come forth. I coughed into my hands and could see a vibrant color of red stain my hands. I quickly looked from my hands to my immediate surroundings to see if anyone had noticed. Once I confirmed that no one had noticed I ran my hands through the dirt to eliminate the evidence of what had just transpired. I could see the members of the party walking around driving their weapons into the downed creatures.
"You did a good job!" Henry hurried over to my side. "What did you even do there?" I could see a grin running from ear to ear.
"I… removed… the air." My throat felt sore as the words left my mouth. It took every ounce of will not to rub my throat. I watched as Henry ran off to go meet up with the other members of the party. As I watched Henry run off I could see George's eyes watching me from a different part of the camp. There was something about the way he was staring at me that made me feel like it wasn't a stare of celebration.
Did he see us?
I could tell that Linette wasn't really acknowledging my issues, so I decided to ignore her as well. I stood there watching the ongoings of camp and realized how little of the world I really knew. Most of my life was spent in a tiny stone cell. The little knowledge that I did hold in this world was how to end the lives of things around me. I watched as the group members all went about different tasks. Namen went back to his cooking site tearing things down, smothering the fire beneath his boots. Henry was working with the others still dealing with the remnants of the invasion from earlier. After looking between the green blood soaked section of the camp, and Namen's clean area I decided on working with Namen. I walked over to him not really knowing what to do, but instead decided to stand off to the side. I watched as he was packing things up. If he noticed my presence he certainly didn't hint at such.
Speak up. Linette chimed from within. Hearing her voice resound within my head was a little jarring at first, but I wasn't bothered with a newfound sense of her presence.
"Can… I… help?" I spoke the words barely a whisper to Namen. I watched as his bushy brows went up in surprise, and could faintly see the corners of his mouth which was mostly hidden by his thick beard move just ever so slightly upward.
"Why o'course. Y'ur magic able to make tings raise up?" He gestured with his hands of the objects lifting in the air. I nodded my head emphatically as a yes. He chuckled in response to that.
"I need t'ese t'ings moved to ov'r t'ere." His thick accent was barely understandable but I could get the gist of what he was saying and where he wanted them. I allowed that familiar feeling of the magic to flow from within my core to the tips of my fingers. I could feel the tendrils of magic wrap around the boxes of goods and gave them a good heft upwards. At first the strain I could feel was almost too much to bear, but once Linette focused with me on the task it was all too easy. I walked the boxes to the spot that Namen had mentioned and as neatly as possible staked them one by one. After finishing the task I resumed my position at Namen's side.
No blood this time.
I could feel Linette snort from within me.
That was almost too easy of a task for us. That battle was… pushing things.
That's an understatement.
"Hello?" Henry's hand waved in front of my face causing me a start.
I hadn't realized but during my internal conversation, Henry had walked up to me and was trying to speak with me. I could feel the heat of embarrassment rise up into my cheeks.
"We're gonna have a quick round up meeting. After that we're going to try to set out for the day." He went to turn around, but quickly interjected again, "oh by the way are you by chance able to do that counting thing all time?" He raised an eyebrow at me questioning the possibility of me keeping an eye on our surroundings.
"... Maybe…" I truly didn't know yet how draining it would be to keep our feelers out all the time. There were still a lot of matters involving magic that I didn't have a good grasp on. I followed behind Henry to the clearing where the other members were already sitting. Henry gestured for me to sit on a log nearby.
"Well that was an eventful morning for us already." Henry chuckled to himself which was followed by some chuckles from others in the group.
"We all weren't expecting a raid from the Goblins in the area, but the next area we're going to be moving through is a part of the next feudal lords area. We need to keep our involvement in the area to a minimum. I'm thinking we should travel through the Misty Woods." I could hear sharp hisses from some of the group members. The first to speak up was the muscular woman.
"My Lord…" She started. "Henry" He chidded her, causing his eyebrows to furrow together.
"Henry…" She emphasized. "I think that's personally a bad idea. You know that the Mother of Spiders resides in that area. Without a proper sacrifice she doesn't allow people to pass through." She shrugged her shoulders in response.
"Brittany I value your input but the alternative is moving while under the cover of night. It would slow our progress by double…"
Some of the members nodded their heads at his words, but I could see doubt cloud their faces even if they agreed. Henry scanned the faces of his group mates, "We'll figure something out about her, but without anyone else's input we'll make for the Misty Woods."