"Easy. Easy! Dammit, EASY!" I snap to Einervaene as we come tumbling out of her spell. Grabbing onto her, my magic lights up my sabatons with its silver-emerald glow and the powerful swirls breaks our fall. Landing against the ore-ish earth with a crash, I rise up with a young woman departing my grip.
"We have to hurry..." she moans tiredly, stumbling about cluelessly as my failures continue to afflict her. I sigh and look back at how far we have come since I finished assembling my gear. The lack of a heavy bag is speeding us along quite nicely but with a dreaded due-by date forcing our legs along, it's not enough.
"Slow down now, you're burning up the magic you need to heal yourself with." I remind her, taking her by the hand and crushing it slightly to distract her with the pain so she can't launch us off.
"Ow, let go of me!"
"Einervaene!" I bark, freezing her with a shiver that still manages to widen those canyon'd eyes.
"Brewbrt, please... We need to hurry... Mother... She's going to..." she struggles to say as her exhaustion makes it all the easier for her emotions to get the better of her. Pulling her in close, I tighten my arms as gently as I can and stroke her hair as she shakes and trembles.
"Maintain your strength, we're making good time. Let me keep us moving." I tell her as other concerns come to mind as we are heading to the execution of a dearly beloved noblewoman. There's going to be a lot of security around this place and if it comes to it, I will have to fight my way up there to get Einervaene present. Yet, to maintain the strength to fight, I cannot burden myself too much with travel. My incompetence is holding us back to a malicious degree.
My failure to stop...
"Come on, Einervaene, try to catch some sleep or simply rest. I will carry you as far as I can before nightfall." I whisper gently as I pick her up, carefully positioning her near my neck. Walking on ahead, I look away from the imminent signs of her crippled nature. Even as I crest a rise in the earth and come upon a grand view, I keep on moving, my quick-to-act magic keeping us stable on the otherwise impeding path.
We're far from any roads and developed land, necessity has forced us to shoot across the primal wilderness. An almost ghastly landscape of rusting surface metal and molten pools struck too often for comfort by the sky. I can not confirm if this civilisation is capable of taming the rumbling up above, but, it seems all the more aggressive out here. No one can be seen and spotted and for good reason, this is not where people should be, let alone the vulnerable.
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Finding a gap in the earth, I observe its bloody-eager teeth at the bottom and rear my weight back. Throwing us over it with as little magic as possible, I try to absorb what force I can into my screeching slide. Einervaene grumbles distastefully and I want to imagine she can quite easily make an image of the pale marks I have left on the ground. Moving up without a fuss, I get us over another crest of jagged metal, its blades carved on the whetstone of time itself.
With a hand on her head, I take the moment to look at the land to see where we need to go. Referencing the map we were given, I try to spot a landmark of any kind that might be able to lead us the right way. It is easy to lose one's way when going across the great distance of the land, everyone wanders left or right when they think they are heading straight and true. I turn to the sky and watch as lightning strikes onwards towards the horizon.
It lashes out against the land, blowing a bright, white hole into the peak of some lone pillar. The natural formation warps under its heated weight and falls down awkwardly, freeing up some of the view and I recheck the map. Focusing a bit of magic into my eyes, I spot what seems to be a building, at least, I sincerely hope it is. Even back home, I often find my eyes missing homes made of stone and reed because of how their owners made do with what they had.
I look down at Einervaene right as she blinks her tender eyes.
"Don't worry now, please. Trust me with all that you are." I ask of her as I adjust my now patchwork cloak. Using the rings in its reinforced corners, I hook them onto the slots on my armour, their noisy clicks spooking my friend. Taking a step back, my magic flows the same way and I rush off into the contactless freedom of the sky. Gently floating on my breeze, we glide across hours of walking and climbing, steadily coming back down as I do my best to predict the abrupt sky.
Noting a road off in the distance, I tilt us in its direction as even if it's an abandoned one, it is something that can assure us.
"We're going to make it, right, Brewbrt, both of us?" Einervaene asks quietly against my helmet.
I find myself quiet, "Yes."
"Good... I want you to keep your promise, do you hear me? I won't forgive you ever if you break it..." she sniffs as her grip lovingly tightens. I smile even if she cannot see, but, I am glad she can't. Those who attacked us could very much be here along the perilous final path to Eratheen, perhaps more than I can handle. My thoughts are misery-inducing, I cannot see us both getting out of this, not with how everything has developed.
I am sorry, Einervaene, but, I cannot promise you anything but the warm touch of your mother. I hope my prayer can even guide this silent voice of mine to whatever cell they have my old friend unjustly chained up in. I will see to it that Einervaene sees her again, that the two can embrace once more. If I fail to see that...
Focusing my mind on my injuries, I shake my head clear and blow some wind back into my cloak to bring us up higher.