Kilniara nodded excitedly, “He … remember he explained his people’s expectations?”

Gwenvair replied thoughtfully, “Yes. To be promised to one another?”

“Yes. For life.”

“He explained more in depth. It is a promise to be with one another through any pain. He spoke to me more clearly; ‘in sickness and health, for better or worse, in wealth or poverty, until death.’ This is the vow his people use.”

Gwenvair still shivered to hear the totality of the vow but was able to respond with some equilibrium, “It seems similar to the one before it. It is a bit more detailed. A complete commitment to one another?”

Kilniara nodded, “Yes, it seemed to be a promise of loyalty in relationship but also a promise to tie fates, fortunes, and futures together. To always travel through life with one another and never abandon one another in our pursuits. The promise was mutual. He promised to work towards our desires and goals as well, but the goals were to be … he seemed to imply that the goals must be to our mutual benefit.”

Gwenvair blinked at that, then gasped, “Mutual?”

Kilniara nodded slowly, smiling, “My goals as well… and he promised me strength equal to his.”

Gwenvair’s gasp shifted to a few pants, “He promised to allow your strength to equal his?”

“Yes.”

“Did he not fear abandonment?”

“He did. He feared it. And that is why he wishes to be careful of our commitment, as the commitment was expected to be lifelong.

Gwenvair paused at that, “He was aware of …”

Kilniara nodded quickly, “Yes, another’s fear of abandonment.”

Gwenvair smiled, “He… is kind.”

“And he wished for the decision to be certain.”

“But that seems … is that...” Gwenvair trailed off in confusion.

“It’s a True Vow.”

Gwenvair gasped, staring at her, “He triggered a True Vow? You vowed already!?”

Kilniara blushed at that, then turned away, “It… yes. He returned a True Vow, but he stopped me before I could complete it.”

Gwenvair seemed to grow more relieved at that but was still shocked, “A True Vow,” she then grew quite angry, “And you try to offer it to him without thought and so easily? You are a fool girl!”

Kilniara blushed at that, embarrassed and looked away. Gwenvair slapped her on her arm.

“You push him and step in without thought.”

Kilniara’s blush deepened although she did grow a bit angry, “I know my own heart. I know my decision.”

Gwenvair stared at her for a time before she sighed, “Such a vow is… incredible. And dangerous. You vow for life, and once you are an immortal… the vow only grows in strength! It will be for life! Thousands… tens of thousands… even hundreds of thousands if you gain in such power.”

Kilniara smiled at that and shrugged, “And?”

Gwenvair huffed helplessly at that, smiling and laughing, “You choose too easily.”

Kilniara smiled back, “And you fear too much.”

They fell silent at that, returning to their comradarie until Gwenvair started their conversation again, looking up at Kilniara.

“A Vow!”

“A Vow,” Kilniara replied with a soft smile, pausing for a bit before her grin grew and she continued, “I felt the power gathering as I began. It’s not simply a vow.”

“A True Vow,” Gwenvair whispered with some awe.

Kilniara nodded. The two fell silent but Kilniara smiled while waiting for Gwenvair to process it all. It took several minutes, and her emotions ran the gamut of excitement, worry, fear, and joy before she finally looked back up at Kilniara, “A Vow!”

Kilniara giggled but said nothing, still waiting.

Gwenvair looked at her and soon was smiling brilliantly, “A promise to grow all to his strength!”

Kilniara nodded.

Gwenvair continued, “And to never abandon others.”

Kilniara nodded again but she replied softly, “But he wishes a guarantee to not be abandoned either.”

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“That makes sense… but… a Vow!”

“A True Vow equally between parties!”

Gwenvair’s eyebrows perked up at that and she smiled, “No wonder he is so cautious and wishes to be certain with time.”

Kilniara responded quickly, “I don’t care if I need to wait. I will have plenty of time.”

Gwenvair stared at her, eye’s rising in consideration, “True.”

* * *

The walk out to the wall now passed in a blur, its repetition followed by exhausting days made the whole thing a mindless pursuit, fading to nothing and Joe suddenly became aware of being on the wall, his shift now beginning. He sighed then began stretching, spending a good long moment making sure his entire body was prepared before stepping to the front of the wall.

“Sir. I am ready. You may have your rest.”

The man who’d been washing walls of fire over the monsters in the field took a look back, stumbling slightly before collapsing onto his knees. He nodded and sighed.

“Thank you. I release the wall to you, sir.”

Joe nodded and turned away, already lifting his bow and an arrow to his string, “Go rest. I’ve got this.”

And soon, arrow after arrow flew over the fields, striking monsters and reinstating his line like he’d always done, pushing it a good distance away from the wall. He once again allowed a few monsters through to be killed and butchered now that the giant’s corpse had been completely butchered. All went well for several hours as he was able to use his mana points without tapping into his own mana although his points’ mana began dropping ever more and more. He began to get worried about how fast he was going through his mana when he reconsidered an old idea, especially with how packed together all the animals below were. What if I hit two at once?

Joe pondered his epiphany, going on autopilot and letting his hands fire his arrows while his mind chewed the idea. He looked over the monsters after coming up with some ideas before frowning and realizing he really didn’t have an advantageous shot, especially from his current angle. Can’t really aim for the legs… arrows just go into the ground… most of the bodies are too thick… not going to punch the arrow through, so… maybe the ears, but… it’s not enough time for the mana point to do its thing? Right? Worth a try, though? Should keep testing…

Joe paused a bit, glancing over the monsters before returning to reforming his line once again. He frowned, seeing how those chances were proving to be few and far between. He took some moments before finally watching an animal that might work out. It had a longer neck with rather largish ears and Joe took his chance, firing the arrow right by its head. The first arrow strike just missed the ear, killing the animal behind it. He fired another and this time caught the ear, piercing through it causing the arrow to twist off to the side. It still had enough power to plunge at an angle into another beast. It collapsed, dying as the beasts normally did when killed with his mana. The first monster with the large ears stuttered when the arrow pierced its ear. Its leg collapsed under it and the animal tumbled. It bowled across the ground before it struggled to its feet once again, although the back right leg was broken. Despite the bad break, the beast still struggled to charge at the city.

So… not exactly effective, but… an option… Joe turned back to tidying his line then sent his eyes back to the crippled beast. It had been trampled and killed, killed both by the feet and the angered bites of those beasts. So… ok, maybe a little… but… a bit too much effort for not much gain… but still an option?

Joe added it to his fights, but he couldn’t use it regularly. Despite that, the extra kills he got and the tumbling of the beasts that messed up the monster’s lines did reduce the number of shots he needed to fire. It gave him a rest and allowed his mana points to last just that bit longer. He even started firing off normal manaless arrows at the smaller beats he was certain he could kill or terribly wound with purely physical force, keeping his mana points for the large and very large monsters. Despite that, by the time late morning rolled around, he found his points beginning to run out of mana and had to call in some back up.

“Gwenvair?”

Her reply was quite quick, “Yes, Joe?”

“I’ll need a short break now. Is there someone who could take over?”

Gwenvair shouted back, “They are ready.”

“Please send them forward.”

Five people stepped up to the wall at Joe’s side and began firing off ice, fire, lightning, and small rocks. They were quick to take over, one of them offering him his rest.

“We can hold, eccentric. Take your rest.”

Joe nodded, “Thank you. I will need maybe a half an hour or so.”

The man nodded, “That will be easily done for us.”

Joe smiled, “Thank you.”

He went back and settled on the stairs with the others, not really breathing deeply or even that tired. Just… so dumb… I can still fight, but … guess I’m going to have to train up my mana stuff a bit more… and get more points? If I can?

Kilniara slipped up beside him and looked at him with concern, “Are…you OK?”

Joe smiled, “I’m fine. Really.”

Kilniara breathed a few times but then looked towards Gwenvair who also leaned forward with concern, “But… you were using so much mana? I thought you were … injured?”

Joe nodded, “I am still able to use my points. I am only slightly overdrawn from my personal mana. I’ll be fine soon. Really.”

Gwenvair stared at him for a bit before she smiled and shook her head, “You spent more mana in this morning than most did on the entire clan wall. Are you certain you are well?”

Joe quirked an eyebrow, “It was that much?”

Gwenvair stifled her chuckle, “It’s not nice to mock, Joe.”

Joe sighed and shook his head, “I really wasn’t mocking. I did not know how much I spent, or how much is considered… a lot.”

Gwenvair stared, “This is common amongst your people?”

Joe sighed, “Fighting this long defending a wall? Yes, many of my people have done so in the past, but spending mana,” Joe shook his head before shrugging, “I really don’t know what’s normal with that.”

Gwenvair sighed, “But your injury?”

Joe nodded towards Kilniara, “I’m fine. She asked. I’m fine. You asked, I’m still fine. I wasn’t using my personal mana, so I’m fine. I just need to allow my personal mana to rest.”

Gwenvair’s forehead furrowed in confusion, “But… why is it… you said you needed to rest for… mana, yes?”

Joe nodded.

She took a moment to parse, her whirling thoughts easily seen on her face, “But, then aren’t… oh, it’s different mana?”

Joe smiled, then shrugged, “It’s a different source, but I … I really don’t know much more than that. Most of my ability is from my melee combat. I’m no mage. The mana I’m using now doesn’t harm me, but the other mana is… from an effort that is tiring and… exhausting to me. I… don’t know how else to describe it.”

Gwenvair frowned, “It seems… are you certain you haven’t damaged yourself?”

Joe quirked and eyebrow, “I’m pretty sure. This doesn’t happen with you and your people?”

She shook her head, “I’ve never heard of such a thing. Kilniara? Garnedell? Zilnek?”

All three shook their heads now, the two boys pausing their conversation to offer a ‘no’ before returning to their own conversation. Only Kilniara replied longer.

“I have never heard or seen it.”

“No mana injuries?”

Gwenvair quickly shook her head, “Oh, there are mana injuries, but I have never heard of one with a mana injury who is able to continue using mana without harm or pain.