“Didn’t we plan to rest up in Carinthia for another day or three?” I asked, right after emerging from my Hallow, taking in the camp-site on the upper slopes of the Carin-valley. Much further down-hill, I was able to make out the town, and obviously the massive Thia-Lake. Judging from the distance and elevation involved, the others had to have left shortly after breakfast the day prior, even before I had started sweating with Mrs. Wu, contrary to our original plans.

“Well, with you not being present, your love had to pick up the slack, you know?” Adra asked, her voice teasing and awfully amused. What made me curious enough to look over to Sigmir, was the strange mixture of embarrassment and pride I was feeling from her.

“No, I don’t know, but please, elaborate.” I suggested, raising an eyebrow as my eyes swept across the three women, with Rai only visible thanks to my ability with Darkness-magic. He was, quite literally, doing his best to turn invisible.

“You see, it started in the morning, when Sigmir came down for breakfast without you.” Adra began, only to have Olivia speak up when she paused for a second, as if they had practised their act.

“And when Sigmir, tall and powerful Sigmir, sat there, all alone, after your… singing voice had entertained the inn, and likely the whole neighbourhood, for the evening and most of the night, more than one of the females was interested in what she’d done to you, and having the same done to them.” she explained, and the blush on Sigmir’s face turned her purple. If not for her emotions, and the complete lack of guilt, I might have been upset, but I wanted to trust her. If she had done something, with anyone, she’d feel guilty about it, of that I was certain. Brazing it out, I decided to simply ignore that the inn’s walls apparently had been incredibly flimsy and by voicing my appreciation of her talent in a fairly audible manner, I had inadvertently advertised those talents to everyone nearby.

“They were quite open about it, hinting that, since you weren’t with her, she needed someone else to entertain and making it about as obvious as could be that they wanted to be the one to take your place.” Adra continued, switching off with Olivia.

“And then? She rejected them, so it hardly seems to be a reason to leave town instantly.” I asked, curious to get the rest of the story.

“Well, it wouldn’t be if everything she did was rejecting them. No, the trouble started when a couple guys decided to take umbrage at her popularity with the females.” Olivia explained, barely containing her mirth.

“And said umbrage was voiced in the most crude fashion, suggesting that they would make you scream, even louder than Sigmir had, as you obviously had to be some sort of... “ Adra paused, shaking her head, before continuing, “Well, let’s not go there.”

“Suffice to say, Sigmir did not take kindly to their words and dragged the loudest of them out, his friends more or less getting dragged with him. And once she was outside, she beat them, quite savagely at that.” Olivia added, before focusing on me. “She really didn’t like what they implied about you, you know?”

“Anyway, she left them alive and I made sure that they stay that way, while Adra and Rai took on a quest in the guild, to take kill some beasties in the mountains, mostly repeatable quests that are supposed to keep the roads safe, but also a quest regarding the Manticores.” Olivia continued, before Adra piped up a final time.

“And so, we got banned from yet another village. Not by your direct action, but I’d argue that you are still responsible. We really can’t take you anywhere, can we?” she asked, finally letting the laughter she had desperately holding in out.

There were warring emotions within myself, a bit of lingering embarrassment at the idea just how audible I apparently had been, mixing with quite a bit of pride at the behaviour of my fierce protector and lover. Stepping over to her, I tried to pitch my voice in a stage-whisper, making sure that the others could hear me.

“Love, I’m sure I should say something along the lines of violence not being the answer, or that their words can’t hurt me.” I paused, motioning for her to bend down to my level before letting my voice drop to a real whisper, that the others would have to truly focus to hear me.

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“Fuck that, I love you for it, and I’ll reward you in the most appropriate manner, come nightfall. My fierce wolf.” I spoke into her ear, before gently nipping at her earlobe, getting an adorable squeak in response.

From the reaction of Adra and Olivia, I was reasonably certain that they had, in fact, listened in. Well, if they wanted to listen, I’d certainly do my best to keep them entertained later.

“Anyway, enough of that.” I decided, stepping back from a blushing Sigmir, before addressing a seemingly empty patch of shadow cast by the mountains above us. “Rai, let’s see how much you have progressed, your ability at hiding has certainly improved.”

The others looked at the spot, likely unable to see anything, while I pushed myself into the shadows, carefully observing my nominal disciple, who had responded to my challenge by drawing his blades, an action I mirrored.

For a few moments, we simply circled each other, getting a feel for the way each of us moved within the shadows. Rai went on the offensive first, moving just like he would outside, with me parrying in a fluid, often-practised motion. The result was different from what either of us had expected, both my strike and his parry lacking their usual weight. Instead of instantly continuing the offensive, Rai took a distance, while I didn’t even try to capitalise on my successful parry, instead staying defensive.

The brief, almost clumsy, exchanges repeated a couple of times, getting dodged and parried away by both of us, neither of us finding their rhythm or balance. When one of my dodges carried me a little too far, a part of my hand leaving the shadow of the mountain we had fought in, I experienced a brief moment of intense pain, as if I had stuck my hand into a blazing fire. In response, I blinked, disappearing and reappearing further up hill, a lot further from the edge. The brief lapse in focus made me realise something and I felt a smile creep up on my face.

Focused movement, deliberate and highly controlled like it was needed for precision martial arts was surprisingly difficult within the shadows. Before, when I had entered them, there had been something I had to focus on, often something outside the shadows, distracting me from their peculiarities. The harder I tried to focus on the Darkness around me, the harder it was to actually understand it. But what if I did the opposite, what if I simply let myself flow or something along those lines?

Closing my eyes, I allowed my mind to drift, back to the deepest darkness I could think of, the Void of space, where there was true nothingness. Without thinking, I shifted away when I felt the softer darkness around me twist, not even trying to understand what was going on, instead simply moving, flowing with it. Without knowing where I was, without trying to know where I was going, I could simply be.

“I yield!” Rai gasped out, just after I had somehow managed to push him out of the shadows against his will, leaving him sprawled before my still shrouded form. It brought me back to full awareness and I let the shadows around me go, as the creepy feeling of being watched returned with a vengeance, leaving me wondering what had just happened. I could somewhat understand what I had done, but the how was a mystery. But the feeling of epiphany, the need to jump around, shouting “heureka” was strong within me, even if I wasn’t quite sure how I would be able to practically use that epiphany.

“Are you alright?” I asked Rai, making sure that I hadn’t been too rough in our training. I was reasonably sure that I had merely dispelled his control over the Shadows but it had been instinctual, not something I fully understood.

“Yes. Are you, Teacher?” he asked, his eyes focused on my hand. Following his line of sight, I realised that my hand looked as if I had the mother of all sunburns, red, blistering and, now that I noticed, incredibly painful.

“Yes, don’t worry about it.” I assured him, trying to sound as casual as possible while hissing through clenched teeth. Even opening my fingers to drop the blade I was still clutching was impossible, though the instant manifestation of a Blood Magic rune-triangle to heal and regenerate helped a little.

“Do you consent to treatment?” Olivia asked, stepping up to the two of us, looking at my hand with concern. For a moment, I wanted to tough it out, simply to be the invulnerable Teacher, but while I liked to be perceived as strong, it wouldn’t do to be an idiot about it, certainly not in front of my disciple.

“Yes, thank you.” I replied, most of my mind still focused on my own healing. Moments later, a curiously prickly sensation, quite different from the way my Blood Magic healed, swept over my hand, leaving it looking hale but I could still feel the underlying damage. Lesser now, but certainly not healed, more as if the world had been tricked into believing the damage was gone, even though it wasn’t. Divine Magic was weird, but I was grateful for the reprieve of pain.

“Maybe we should be on our way, before you become unable to keep your promise to Sigmir.” Olivia suggested, her voice recovering her earlier teasing tone.

“Yes, let’s be on our way.” I agreed, after a short pause.