The women woke up in the serene twilight of morning to take a final dip in the hot spring, Their soft forms submerging into steaming waters as the dawning sunlight chased the stars away.
Tsarra blissfully daydreamed of living in Virigo as their resident healer while Envy quietly immersed herself in the relaxing waters. She had remained silent after hearing the Witchdoctor’s shocking proclamation and simply returned to her room.
Lately, her mind was a jumbled mess, and it was growing difficult to ignore the change gnawing at her heart. Although Exill was a bad liar, it would have been easy for him to lie that she would eventually be free. Contrary to expectations, his admission enhanced her trust in him, and the misery over his distancing only grew further.
The duo reluctantly climbed out when Exill announced they were leaving shortly. Tsarra paused in front of the placid waters, promising herself that one day, she would return here to admire the breathtaking view. Soon after that, they checked out of the Inn.
Dyna stood with her parents at the entryway, pouting while she clutched the ends of her midnight hair draped over one shoulder. Councilman Coran held a reassuring hand on her shoulder, as if to say there would be many more eligible bachelors who would pass through the resort town, failing to understand the freedom his precious daughter desired.
“I’ve had a talk with the other council members and considering the vast service you have done for the residents of Virigo, all of them agreed they are amenable to a partial rebate on your taxes.” Coran clasped Exill’s shoulders in firm gratitude, “You should receive a promissory note by mail in a few weeks upon finalisation.”
“Thank you Councilman, I appreciate it.” Exill would have vastly preferred to have the funds now, rather than later, but it was welcome news nevertheless. Waving a final farewell, they left the courtyard of the famed Inn.
They ambled down the eastern slope of the dormant volcano, admiring the wide vista of the town and surrounding hills. From here, they could see their destination, a large dusty yard on the outskirts, filled with carts, coaches and beasts of burden.
They greeted familiar faces on the street, patients and their relatives who were eager to share their goodbyes and morning groceries with the trio. By the time they had reached the coach yard, Exill was laden with multiple slices of pie, freshly picked vegetables and loaves of baked bread.
A familiar hunched man with stringy hair could be seen near the loading area, directing the workers to carefully load his cart. Exill waved at Koopra the Navigator, glad to be reacquainted with the larger-than-life man.
“Ah, If it ain’t Witchdoctor! Come to find services of Great Koopra?”
“Yes, the three of us will be returning to Ark. 40 Denars for the extra passengers correct?” Exill asked, withdrawing four large copper coins from his pouch.
“Nonono… 60 Denars for you all. Guild didn’t pay for return fee.” Koopra shook his head vigorously, beads of sweat flung from the ends of his damp hair. Tsarra cringed as a droplet landed on her green dress.
‘Makes sense… they didn’t know I will return on Koopra’s cart.’ Exill thought while withdrawing two more large copper coins. In retrospect, he was glad the penny-pinching Guild had arranged transport by cart instead of fast coach because the latter cost 60 Denars per passenger – meaning he would have had to pay 120 Denars for the extra passengers.
Once the loading of cargo was finished, Tsarra held down the skirt of her dress as Exill helped her up into the end of the cart. He sat next to her, opposite Envy and waited for the Navigator to set off. It looked like they would be the only passengers for this return trip.
Sometime later, Koopra returned from the latrines while chewing on a hard biscuit. He pulled himself up into the driver’s seat, then cracked the whip with a shout, making the cart jerk as the feathered brel began to pick up speed. And so, they left behind the resort town of Virigo, making a brief stop at midday.
During their break, Exill took Tsarra aside to coach her on wind barrier. She was having difficulty creating a circular vortex as opposed to strong winds that flew in a straight line. Aside from that, her aim with ice bolt was acceptable where she was able to hit the trunk of trees with a finger sized shard of ice from twenty meters (22 yards) away most of the time.
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“You’re doing well.” Exill patted her head fondly, while they waited for the cart to set off again.
The remainder of the afternoon was uneventful and Tsarra eventually dozed off against his shoulder, tired from waking up early to enjoy the hot spring one last time. He moved the cargo around a bit to give the petite woman some room to rest her head on his lap.
That night, they set up camp in a clearing different from the one Exill had faced the Aberration with Father Jonas. A small stream of freshwater flowed close to their campfire, and the Witchdoctor took this opportunity to practice blessing the water in his flask.
However, no matter which way he approached it, the stubborn water refused to be blessed and Exill abandoned the endeavour. As Father Jonas put it, even if blessed water was available, he wouldn’t be able to bless the ground or weapon without faith. Lacking the means to defend against abominations, or the people to stand watch throughout the night, he took a fatalistic view of their situation.
With Tsarra’s assistance, they did what they could by channelling earth magic to set up a semi-circular wall around the fire. Laying the mats close to each other, Exill was envious of Koopra who had relaxed and already fallen asleep.
The Navigator appeared to be in his early thirties, and he wondered about the unknown dangers of the road and the average life expectancy of a caravaner. Exill had been on the road for a cumulative total of ten days and during that time had encountered two attacks from beasts as well as three encounters with an Aberration. Doing the math, it suggested a 50% encounter rate with some sort of life-threatening danger.
When travel was that dangerous, intercity commerce would plummet and any form of travel would be a coin toss between life and death, greatly deterring the migration of people. However, in reality, trade flourished, and people moved between towns all the time.
‘No, the math doesn’t lie. The Aberrations are… attracted to me.’ A sick realisation in the pit of his stomach formed. If that was true… he would be partially, if not wholly responsible for the deaths of the refugees in their flight to Ark.
Faces flashed past his eyes, the elderly man who sat next to him when the Mist struck, or the mother and child who were consumed by the Lone Tower. He had condemned these people simply through proximity.
And now, there were other people in his vicinity. People he cared for.
Exill propped himself up by his elbow to look down at Tsarra and Envy, both sleeping peacefully. He softly sighed while reaching for the canteen of water above him, fervently hoping that this time… he would be able to bless it.
***
Gasping in surprise, Exill woke from his nightmare a few hours later to find Tsarra nestled into the crook of his arm. In the dim morning light, he could see her soft auburn hair covering much of her face, including the softly parted lips through which she breathed softly.
In the nightmare, he had watched Tsarra torn apart by the tentacled Aberration, all because of his failure to bless the canteen to sanctify their surroundings. The offending container of water was still gripped in one hand, persistently stubborn in its wateriness. A deep sigh of relief left his lips, thankful that it was just a dream.
‘What is Tsarra to me?’ he wondered, staring up at the vast starry expanse, slowly receding under the morning rays. The devastation he had felt in his nightmares held something more than the loss of an acquaintance.
Purchased on a whim, he had invested countless Denars and hours into the woman. Healing her injuries and developing her knowledge as a budding apprentice. ‘Why go to such lengths for her?’ he found himself echoing the same question asked of Verill in the Infested Edifice.
Hearing the birds begin to chirp around them, he rose to his feet and stoked the fire, drawing water from the stream to prepare a simple breakfast. One by one, the members of the caravan woke up and gathered around the gently steaming cauldron.
Soon after breakfast, they set off again.
“The cart is heavy laden but we making good time! I reckon we be there by the third bell.” Koopra smiled back at them.
“Excuse me Navigator, may I ask how long you have been driving carts and this route specifically?” Exill asked, trying to test his theory from the night before.
“Ah! Finally taken interest in me, yeah? Well the Great Koopra has been travelling around Kingdom since he was a little lad. Aye, and I bought this route from Guild seven years ago, cost me arm and a leg that.” Koopra curled his wiry biceps to emphasize this point, turning back to wink at Tsarra.
“And how often do you encounter Aberrations on this route?”
“Shhh! It be bad luck to speak of them on road, very bad luck.” The Navigator rebuked him, cutting the conversation short. However, the larger than life man was unable to keep silent once engaged and cautiously spoke up after some time, “Well… I would say we encounter once or twice a year. This road very safe, that’s why expensive.”
“It appears you made a wise investment.” Exill agreed with him, inwardly troubled by the confirmation of his theory. “Just out of curiosity, how much would such a route cost?”
“Different every time! When old navigator dies, route go up for blind auction. Highest bid wins and money goes to old navigator family. I paid 5400 Denars for this route.” Koopra puffed out his chest in pride.
The Navigator was about to add something else when an arrow whistled into the seat next to him and pandemonium broke loose.