(POV: Calder Isehn)
Calder had never liked Daniel.
That irritation had existed ever since they arrived on the field. Daniel had stepped forward like leadership was something you could just claim by speaking louder than everyone else. Calder found it appalling.
Now Daniel stood at the front of the group again, calm voice, open hands, explaining their situation to a ring of villagers who very clearly did not want them here.
"We don't have room," one of the villagers said for the third time. "And we don't take in armed groups or suspicious travlers for that matter, now git!"
"We're not armed," Daniel replied evenly knowing that the villagers had only made this exscuse.
Calder almost laughed.
They might not have weapons, but they had abilities. The villagers, of course, did not know that, and no one here was going to tell them or so he thought.
The wooden gate remained shut and unyielding. The group waited in the road—twenty-some people clustered together, tired, dirty, hungry, and very aware of how they must look. Calder shifted his weight and scanned the palisade. Two men on watch. One with a bow, poorly strung. Another gripping a spear like he hoped it would make him braver.
A small village. Cautious. Reasonably so. They would have turned them away. They almost did.
Everything changed when the screaming started. The sound of a galloping horse from behind them in the direction of the woods that had just escaped.
A black and brown beast strode up as a voice called, "Make WAY!"
Their group tried to part in time but the woman steering the beast pulled it to an abrupt stop, swinging herself down and in her arms was a young child. A boy—no more than ten—was carried down from the horse by the woman who just arrived. He wasn't moving likely unconscious from and his leg was twisted wrong, bone pressing against skin that had gone gray with shock. The villagers shouted over one another, panic bleeding into anger.
It seemed these villagers recognized the pair and it was proven when the one who had been speaking earlier called down, "Misa, what happened to Olis? Where are the others?" The woman did not answer only sobbed clutching onto the very still boy.
Daniel turned toward the group instinctively.
So did Calder. Because they knew they could help but it was foolish as Mariel had already stepped forward.
She was small, soft-spoken, and had been quiet since the field. When her screen had appeared, her ability had seemed harmless compared to the others.
Restoration.
She knelt beside the boy without waiting for permission. "Let me," she said.
The villagers blanched clearly not wanting the help of such a strange person—then desperation won as their faces started to change when seeing it. The light.
Calder watched closely as Mariel placed her now glowing hands on the boy's leg. Light flickered faintly beneath her skin, pale and trembling. The bone shifted. Skin knit. Color returned.
The boy screamed once. Then gasped as he was pulled from his stuper. The gate opened ten minutes later. They were allowed in, but not trusted.
The villagers housed them in an old granary on the edge of town. No guards inside, but a few stationed outside. The message was clear: you are guests only because we owe you. That said, Mariel's treatment was worlds better. Apparently the boys mother had invited her to stay with them and the villagers all seemed all too happy to have her as well.
Calder felt jealous. Shelter was shelter, but the treatment was intolerable. He had just experienced the worst ordeal of his life and now he had to sleep in what was basically a barn? What even was this place? Sure it was better than outside and having to keep watch but it was still bottom of the barrel shit. Absolute shit!
Calder's thought drifted to the past few days then at the thought that it could be worse.
They had only gotten better clothes and were able to look semi-presentable to the vilagers thanks to Elin.
Elin's ability had been impressive when she'd explained it.
Creation.
Anything she could conceptualize—as long as she had enough mana. No one had known what "enough" meant.
She worked for hours in the forest while we walked and while we rested, hands glowing faintly as fabric formed between her fingers. Shirts first. Pants. Cloaks. Simple, rough things, but better than nothing. People cried when she handed them over.
She smiled, tired but proud. "I can do shoes too," she said, voice hoarse. "Just… give me a minute."
Calder noticed the way her hands shook.
Daniel didn't, no one else seemed to either maybe it's because he was watching her too much. Or the others weren't paying her enough attention that made him more upset.
Elin sat down to work again. Halfway through the first pair of shoes, she collapsed. At first, they thought she'd fainted. Then her breathing slowed. Then stopped. Her screen flickered once.
Mana: 0
She died on the forest floor, surrounded by half-made shoes and people who hadn't known enough to stop her.
Mariel who had been keeping her company at the time screamed.
Daniel dropped to his knees beside her checking her over before gritting his teeth and shaking his head.
Calder had said nothing.
They had all learned then that over using your ability was not just dangerous it would kill you. Their once group of 29 was now 20. They had already been attacked multiple times in the woods and lost people. This place was truly hellish.
Over the next two days, the group scavenged what they could. Old clothes donated reluctantly. Blankets that smelled of mothballs and damp. Calder noted who complained and who stayed silent.
Daniel tried to keep everyone together. Tried to keep order. Calder watched him do it and felt his jaw tighten. Leadership wasn't about calm voices and reassurance. It was about leverage. That was when Calder knew Daniel wasn't fit to lead. Because Daniel still believed this would work out.
On the third evening, the sound of horses reached the village. Calder felt it before he heard it—the shift in air, the way villagers straightened in fear instead of curiosity. Five riders. Disciplined. Armored. White cloaks edged in gold. Holy Knights is what the villagers whispered.
The group clustered together instinctively. No one stepped forward. No one cheered. They had learned enough by now to be cautious of anything that was new.
The knights dismounted slowly, deliberately.
One removed her helmet. "We seek travelers," she announced. "A group that should have arrived here recently." Silence stretched.
Daniel started to step forward.Calder beat him to it. "Why are you looking for these travelers and just who are they?" Calder asked calmly trying not to give anything away but honestly his and the others facial features made that impossible.
You see they had learned as soon as they met the villagers that humans in this world haver few color variations all of the villagers and all of the kights had dark black hair and deep black eyes. Their facials structure was also similar their faces more flat and noses the same. Meanwhile everyone in their group had a wide range of features that made them stand out from red hair to high check dones to very large or pointy noses. Different was the only words that could be used.
The knight leading the company studied him with interest. "Because you are important," he said. "And because others are already searching."
Calder glanced back at Daniel, just briefly. See? he thought. This is what you walked us into.
The knight continued, voice smooth. "We offer protection. Guidance. Sanctuary."
"And in return?" Daniel butted in causing Calder to frown.
The knight smiled faintly her whit teeth showing. "Cooperation." No one moved. No one spoke.
The group was no longer desperate enough to accept promises for nothing in return. Calder folded his arms and scoffed.
"We'll need time to talk amongst ourselves," Daniel said not wanting to agree to something unknown for everyone.
The knight inclined her head. "I hope you do not take too long. Others will surely arrive soon and they may not offer..." She left it at that and turned away.
As the knights stepped back, Calder leaned closer to Daniel and spoke quietly, so only he could hear.
"You don't get to decide for all of us anymore."
Daniel stiffened at my words.
Calder straightened, eyes already tracking the knights as they moved away. Because whether Daniel liked it or not, he couldn't decide for everyone.