Damhnait was walking a pace faster than I was able to keep up with. My legs were killing me, my back was sore and the drumming of my heart was grating all of my resolve to continue to walk. It was during these times where having spiritual sight as the best. I circulated fire within me, moving them within my legs, pushing the energy inside. Imagining the idea of my legs strengthening beyond their natural level. I smiled as walking became slightly easier. Preferably I'd not use this unless I absolutely needed to, even the slightest drain of my senses could be damning. And magic always drained my senses, no matter how little of it I used.
The silence of our walk wouldn't be filled in by talk. I was too tired, and Damhnait was considerate enough of my condition to not force me into the torture of engaging in conversation when I'm in the state I am now. But not considerate enough to ask if I needed a break. Good girl, she hasn't forgotten that we needed to move. Even if I hated her for it. I'd laugh but I think I'd start hating myself for that, too.
But even my magically enhanced muscles had their limits. One tree root extended itself out than I had expected, I tripped over it and instincts took over. I knew how to fall without hurting myself, it was as natural to me as breathing. I extended my hands out, but they wouldn't move. I couldn't turn my body well, and there was too little time for all of that. So with the grace of a drunkard I fell face first into the dirt.
I heard the sounds of leaves being crumpled next to me. I didn't have the energy to move anymore, beyond turning my face to look at the feet of Damhnait.
"You alright?"
"Yeah."
"That's good to hear. Have you given up or can you seriously not move?" She walked over to the side of my head where my face was located and squatted down. Probably so I could see her eyes better from this position.
"I've decided to take a break. Go on ahead, I'll catch up to you. Eventually."
"Very funny. I'll set up camp and catch something for us."
"Kind of you to take care of such a lazy brother, Dam." She didn't respond, instead getting back up and walking towards some direction. Whatever direction. Didn't matter, I didn't have enough energy to move let alone think. I waited there, face next to the dirt, and stopped thinking for a while. Up until I heard the sound of leaves rustling, the steps of Damhnait coming back to me. I wonder if she had, for whatever reason, given up, or that I've zoned out for longer than I thought.
"Caught us something." Damhnait said as she started to gathered up wood. Probably for a fire. Sadly her candletop nickname was only tongue in cheek, the only way she could produce a fire herself was with her hands the old fashioned way. We had no fire drill, so rubbing a stick into a board fiercely until embers would form was all she could do. But that's just her. She's never been blessed with spiritual sight, and I doubt she's suddenly been blessed now of all times. She didn't know how to cast spells, or materialize the spirits. Not like me. But, unfortunately, I had no energy.
That only meant I couldn't move. Another reason I would prefer not to use as much spirit as I could get away with is exactly for these moments. I need a sizeable amount of essence in order to materialize fires, using them just to strengthen muscles is a waste. I could rest and eat for that.
Damhnait, of course, knew that I could. So she walked over to me and grabbed my hand and moved it away from my body, then placed a bundle of twigs on my palm and waited for the manifestation of the flame. I formed the spell, spinning and concentrating a mass of fire essence until it collapses into a point and enters into this material plane. It doesn't take much concentration, just a lot of the essence.
Smoke could be seen rising from the tinder. That's one of the last uses I have left in me for today, now all I had to do was drag myself up into a sitting position and wait until I got enough energy back to walk. Hopefully Damhnait doesn't try to convince me that sleep is necessary right now, I can tell I'd listen to her sweet words of rest and foolishly do as she says. Or hopefully she does, I don't know.
Damhnait had already moved the tinder into a larger pile of sticks, blowing into it and agitating the tiny spark into a full flame. In the mean time I tried to push myself up into my knees, a task that wouldn't be so hard if not for the screaming of muscles to stop moving. I ignored the pleas and positioned myself into a sitting position, taking in breaths of air as if I had just sprinted. Am I really this tired? Was carrying Damhnait that much of a hassle?
"Need help?" Damhnait said while turning her head to look over at me, a squirrel in her hand and a stone knife in the other. She preferred using the stone knives for most things, the copper was too soft for a lot of work to be done easily. But that was besides the point, when did she get a squirrel?
"How'd you get that?" I tried to point at the squirrel with my hand my arms weren't following my orders. Damhnait looked down at the squirrel and gave me a toothy smile.
"Caught it."
"With what?"
"My knife, of course. You know how good I am with it, right?" Her knife? Did she sneak up on it and stab it? No, that's wrong. Squirrels practiclly have eyes behind their heads. What did I know about Damhnait that I wasn't recollecting? Knife throwing. She's very good at throwing knives and hitting targets with them. That's what she used. I should've realized that sooner, without a method of bodying animals or foraging for edible plants we would die regardless of our escape.
"You threw it?"
"Yep. Took me a couple of tries and almost lost my knife, but I managed to score a hit. Couldn't use this stone knife, it'd break, so I used the copper one. And I couldn't aim for any squirrels that were on branches or too high up trees, I'd definitely lose the knife. But I got one after enough walking."
I watched her back as she continued her butchering of the squirrel, her dark dress heavily ripped towards the end. This was most likely her nightwear, she had no cloak, no brats, only a belt and her dress. She wore not even a shoes, but neither was I. Hopefully snow won't plague us in the near future. We were in very bad straits as we stood now, if we had to face the cold on our feet it could lead to our deaths.
We stayed in silence for a while, the occasional scratching of stone against stone was all that appeared. I wonder what she's planning on cooking the squirrel meat on? It'd be best if we could boil it, but we have no pots. Eating it raw would be saved only for the worst of situations. Placing it on a flat enough stone would work, most likely.
She wasn't thinking the same thoughts as I was. I could see skewers of meat being prepared, the still bloody chunks of meat being stabbed through with twigs and placed next to the fire. That was a better method of preparation than what I had thought up.
"Come closer." Damhnait spoke up, not looking at me but continuing to skewer chunks of meat onto twigs. I didn't speak up, instead crawling my way to her side. The smell of blood got stronger the closer I crawled to her. We'd need to find a stream or a creak in order to wash the blood off of her. For now, drying her hands off with leaves would be the best we could do. Ripping our clothes apart for rags was not ideal.
Sitting down near her I began to speak, "Need help with anything?" Damhnait looked over at me and shook her head.
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"I don't want to drag you over here is all."
"Ah." That's a good reason.
The meat chunks had cooked enough, probably. I grabbed a stick, something Damhnait didn't comment on, and began eating. I barely tasted the meat, either because squirrel meat is really this bland or because I've already used more of my essence than I should've. I'll live to regret it later, for now I'll mindlessly eat the meat offered to me by my sister. She grabbed her own skewer and began to eat in silence as well.
Days went on like this. I'd walk, occasionally lighting a fire when it comes to night. Only in the third day of mindless walking, when I'm pretty sure I was starting to see into the realm beyond, that I had allowed myself to sleep. I hadn't seen a single sign of anyone following us, and even if anyone were I'd not be in any condition to fight him, or them, off. Damhnait had been the provider of food as I had no way of gathering it myself, outside of berry picking. Without a bow or something to easily throw I'm useless in hunting. And I doubt I'd be able to bag squirrels through throwing rocks.
Push comes to shove I might do that, of course. But Damhnait hadn't lost either of her knives yet so that wasn't needed.
Other conditions also lead to our hurrying. We'd come across pathways, large ones most likely heavily used by humans. we ignored those, we didn't follow them. I wanted to walk for roughly a week to get as far away from my village as I could and as far away from any possible hostiles villages as well. Grueling marches, but necessary for our survival. But equally, if we continued like this for too long we would eventually have to face winter, or early snow, barefoot. There's not a small chance of us dying do so.
And those days of walking turned into a week. And then that week turned into two. It was in the second week that we caught sight of smoke rising into the sky. We were walking directly to a village, then. Two weeks of heavy walking, many sleepless nights also walking, this was a godsend. The risk was as low as we could make it. Even still, caution over anything else must be followed. For tonight we would sleep as much as we can. The next day we would try our hand at interacting with the villagers.
I still held my shield. Damhnait still had the sword we earned in battle, and I too had my sword. I'm willing to trade the plundered item for food and lodging. We would be an ugly sight, exhausted and dirty beggars armed with weapons asking for a place to sleep. Hopefully their kindness exceeds their own level of caution. A sword in exchange for cloaks and shoes would be fine as well, probably preferable. I'll figure it out once I get a good enough reading on the chief.
The night left, as she always did. The dark intruding shadow no longer blanketed the world in chilling mystery, and Damhnait and I were walking on a path that lead to the village. It's one thing to appear through the forest, ragged and miserable, and another to appear through the road. Still ragged and miserable, but coming in a familiar way. Morning had broken past, and the sun could be seen. We wouldn't want to arrive at the dead of morning, as that would be to suspicious. And neither did we want to spend too much time waiting. Now was the best.
The fields could be seen now. Their own crops had been harvested, sheaves of the wheat was seen standing, most likely left to dry. Already some of the villagers could be seen threshing the wheat, some sifting when enough of it has gathered. None noticed me, but it would be better if they knew about my presence before I suddenly appeared, shield strapped to my back.
So I hollered. "Hello!" Was all that was needed to grab enough people's attention. Upon my sight, the people a field away recoiled. Hopefully because of my shield, and not because I looked like death itself. One boy was being told something, and he ran towards a large house. Looks like that really was all that was needed. I continued to walk, Damhnait sticking close by. I'd walk until they would tell me stop. If they were my enemies, or had helped my enemies in acquiring men or resources, I doubt it'd be a problem immediately.
Still I stopped a good distance away from them, not receiving a command to do so. Getting too close would be too familiar, and too far would be inconvenient. So we waited, the villagers holding their flails and eying me cautiously. One man, a brown haired man, spoke up. "What're you two here for, travelers? Don't look to be in good condition, the either of you." He kept is flail on his shoulder
Fuck, I forgot to think up a good lie. I scratched my head and wondered what I could tell them, the truth wouldn't be in my best interest to say. But Damhnait, at least, had better wits on her.
"We're refugees, hoping to take refuge and if not, perhaps engage in some trade." She took off the sheath from her belt and showed it. She slowly took out the blade, not too fast as to cause alarm, and showed the beautiful sheen of the sword to the villagers. Most of them shifted their holds on their flails, at least one gave an appreciating whistle at the sight. This would work, not too much information and not too little. And it wasn't even a lie.
"Aye? What village or town are you two from, then?"
"Aermagh." That one? Good choice of name. We should've passed that a long time ago, it was somewhat near our village but still distant enough to not hear much news of. The direction we walked, and for how long we walked, should mean that this village should be known to most. Hopefully.
"Aermagh, huh? Well, best not to pry too much into your business. Let's have you meet with the Chief, and if he decides to give you refuge then that'd be on him. Let me take you to him."
"Thank you for the kind hospitality, kind sir." I smiled and began to walk closer to him, the villagers kept their eyes on us, and more than the kind man joined to guide us to the chiefdom's home. They still had their flails in their hands. In silence we walked, the house not too far away but enough for some amount of small talk to occur. It occurred to me I haven't been asked to give a name. I wouldn't ask for theirs, then. I kept my posture loose, ready to attack but to the untrained eye might look casual.
Damhnait looked tense. I grabbed and squeezed her hand, hoping some of the tension would leave her with that. In the corner of my eye I could tell she calmed down a bit. That's good.
"What're your names, travelers?" A different man spoke up. I looked over to him and nodded, thinking up a good alias that I could easily remember. The name of my little brother came up. I wouldn't forget that, definitely.
"My name's Faolán, and this here is Nessa. We're siblings if you couldn't tell from our similarity alone." Damhnait eyed me. I remembered the name, you should be happy.
"I'd guessed that."
I waited for him to give back his own name. He didn't. He kept his hand on his flail, occasionally glancing at both of us from the corner of his eye. Alright, we aren't going to be treated too kindly then.
The chief's house was noticeably smaller than the one dad had. For one, it was a single large building. Two, there were no other buildings surrounding it, meaning it really was only just one. But this village, from what I could see, had no more than two hundred people at best. That shouldn't be much of a surprise. Still, however, respect should be shown and courtesy should be followed. I'm going to be relying on these people, perhaps for many days or perhaps just to trade.
A light haired man was standing outside of the entrance, tidying up his clothes and speaking to a man next to him. They looked similar. The man tidying his clothes turned to me at my arrival and gave a smile. At least, he was going to, but it fell upon seeing my face. And then my clothes. Then his face turned into a look of unconcealed disappointment. But that quickly was wiped away by a small smile.
"Welcome, travelers. I'm Chief Finbar of Eifinn village. This is my village, and as is customary I'm obliged to give you some amount of hospitality. Would you prefer to come in or to stand out here?"
I could feel the weight of his question. He didn't want me to come in, and I had enough of a grasp of social games to know this. I shook my head, "Thank you for the offer, Chief Finbar, but I'd have to refuse. Your offer of hospitality is welcome, and perhaps I should take advantage of it. But it won't be without compensation. Nessa, the sword." Damhnait, or Nessa as I called her just now, nodded and gave me the sword along with its sheath. I handed it over to Finbar and with some amount of hesitation he took the item from my hands.
Inspecting the sheath, he turned it over and looked closely along it. There only slight signs of blood which I'm sure didn't pass by him. He unsheathed the blade and instantly his eyes glistened. A smile crept across his face.
"Are you two nobles? Son and daughter of a chief?" I nodded. He looked at me and sheathed the blade, handing it to me back. "And the sheath on your hip, is it also a sword?" I nodded again.
"Aye, we were. If you'd be kind enough not to inquire too much into our past we'd appreciate it. And we'd appreciate offering one of the blades to you in exchange for clothes and footwear, perhaps some food if you're generous."
"Not so fast, young man. I won't question you too much for now. But, it'd be a stain on my honor if I were to throw you two away back into the wild after what I'm sure was a horrible experience. You may stay here. We always keep an empty roundhouse ready for any travelers. Please, stay in it for a couple of days. We'll negotiate a deal in the meantime."
That sounded almost too good to be true.