Our “great adventure” wasn’t off to a very happy start, but the tension did eventually ease up a bit. The roads were narrow, and the other horses were large, so in the end we had to ride double file. Airsidh and Zu seemed to hit it off just fine, but as for me and my father… Well, let's just say we didn’t speak a word… The ride was 8 hours long, counting our lunch break. It wasn’t exactly unpleasant, but I was mind-numbingly board.
By the time we finally arrived at the campsite, I was so eager to get done with the trip that Fritz raced ahead. My legs were so stiff and cramped though that I nearly fell off “Agh! Finally…” I groaned, coming to a stop and laying back on my saddle. ‘I’d get down… But I’m not sure if my legs will catch me.’
“You doing alright siya!” Airsidh yelled from behind.
“My butt hurts!” I yelled back, wanting to just fall off and go to sleep. And I would have done just that if the ground wasn’t quite so far away.
The other horses got closer, Zu riding up to me first. “I could give you a massage if you want.”
Before I could respond Keigan road right past him, glaring at him as he let out a low growl. Even before that, I wasn’t exactly sure how I was supposed to respond, but afterward, it felt even more awkward. “Uhm… I think I'm gonna pass.”
Airsidh came by looking carefree as ever, just behind the others. “He WILL kill you. I’m not kidding either.”
Zu quickly looked back and forth, not seeming to understand what he had done wrong as he followed my brother to a line where they could tie their horses.
The soreness stretched from my hips all the way to my ankle and I was hardly even able to swing one leg over the saddle, taking a moment to rest before dismounting. I had ridden horses before… but never for that long, it felt horrible. “Hey girl… I don’t suppose you can fix this with magic can you?”
Fritz just neighed at me, staying steady as a rock, which admittedly in itself was already helping plenty.
‘Right… your healing power seems to be connected to you licking things…’
As I waited, I overheard Airsidh continue talking with Zu. Since I had nothing better to do, eavesdropping became a bit of a habit during the long ride.
“Just a tip, but if you don’t want girls to hate you, you probably shouldn’t say things like that. Oh, and definitely not to my sister. Even if it’s a misunderstanding, Keigan might still kill you. He isn’t the nicest person.”
It was hard to take him seriously with how carefree and indifferent he sounded when he talked. Knowing my family though, it was an all too real threat.
“What did I say!” He yelled out, still not seeming to understand. “When someone is sore or tired a massage helps them relax right? It’s a common practice in human culture too right?”
Airsidh hung his head, shaking it. “It’s not what you said so much as the timing…” He let out a sigh. “I guess this wouldn’t be a problem in your native language.”
My brother looked over at me awkwardly before lowering his voice and explaining. Of course, with manna I could still hear every word, making it a bit awkward for me too… Especially when Zu finally understood and turned beat red.
‘Really, you're reacting like that? After all the teasing you put me and Finlo through last night?’
“You can’t let him off the hook that easy. Aren’t you going to get him back?” Rafi’s voice echoed in my head
“Oh, now you show up? Where were you the past 8 hours? Not to mention your advice makes you sound like the devil on my shoulder.”
She giggled like a little girl. “You could have always called. For the record, I’ve killed 84 demons in the past 8 hours. So, are you going to go tease him or not?”
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“I really don’t think it’s a good idea. Wait, 84? How many demons are there around here…” I slowly lifted a hand to my mouth, realizing I wasn’t speaking out loud. ‘At least I won’t look like I’m crazy.’
“I’ll tell you if you go tease him for me. I haven’t seen him in a long time but he has the best reactions.”
“I’m starting to think you’re the reason people’s character degrades when they use dark magic.” A deafening silence echoed through my mind and I quickly started to regret what I had said. Especially if I made her cry again. “Ok, I’ll do it, but you owe me ok? You better come kill the demon hunting me if I end up being too weak.”
I heard a soft snort. “Deal…” She mumbled.
I slowly slid off my saddle. My legs nearly gave out from under me, but still managed to keep me on my feet. They hurt for sure, but felt better with every step as I walked over to the two of them.
“Whatcha guys talking about?” I asked with a grin.
My brother crossed his arms. Staying calm as ever, deciding to let Zu answer the question. It would have been fun if I could have flustered both of them… But there was no way my brother would be so easy, so I wasn’t that disappointed.
“We were… Uhm…” His eyes looked to Airsidh for help but found none. “Airsidh was helping me with my grammar.” He finally said confidently.
I looked back at my big brother as he uncrossed his arms. “We were discussing whether or not he wanted to give you a butt message.”
Zu’s jaw dropped at how bluntly it was stated. Honestly, it made it hard for me to keep going too, suddenly feeling embarrassed myself, losing some of my motivation to tease him. Still, I felt like I had an opportunity. It always felt like my brother was putting on one of his many acts, but just once I wanted to see him truly surprised and even if I couldn’t, I could at least have some fun getting revenge on Zu for the night before.
“Oh?” I said slowly, trying to stay as serious as Air. “And what was the verdict?”
He crossed his arms again, raising an eyebrow towards Zu. “That wasn’t a part of the conversation.”
Had it been Finlo, I would have had no doubt that I was probably walking into a trap somehow, but with Zu, it was obvious to me that in his mind there was no right answer. ESPECIALLY not with my brother standing right next to me. I almost felt sorry for him.
“I… uh…”
We both stared at him as he fumbled over his words, starting to panic so much he even switched back to his native tongue, only starting to feel even more embarrassed until Airsidh stepped in to put him out of his misery.
“It doesn’t matter. Either way, you would regret trying something like that.”
“Bonus points if you can shock both of them,” Rafi said. I felt my grin widen and become even more mischievous. Admittedly, I had always wondered what it would be like to see Air without his calm collected expression.
“What if I wanted him too though?”
Zu’s jaws dropped as he turned bright red again. Airsidh’s arms fell to his side, which was unexpected. His face was absolutely priceless. His mouth hung ever so slightly open as his eyebrows raised, creating small wrinkles in his forehead that I had never before seen.
‘I can’t believe I actually got him.’
They were both frozen stiff for so long I almost started to worry I broke their brains. Seeing how extreme their reaction was… All I had left to do was think about my own words… And what they actually meant.
Before long I started turning red alongside Zu, feeling heat rush to my face. “SORRY!” I yelled out. Despite my shouting though, my next words were quiet as a mouse. “Even for a joke, that was a bit… I… I shouldn’t have said that…”
‘Why am I like this… Maybe I can blame it on the dark magic? But I’ve always been awkward, has it ever been this bad though? Am I starting down the wrong path–’
I felt my brother’s hand firmly clamp down on my shoulder, sending a shiver through my spine. “I guess you think you’re pretty funny… At least you realize when you’ve gone too far.” Somehow his voice still sounded carefree, and his expression felt like it hadn’t changed either… But I could tell he was mad from his grip alone. “Just be more careful from now on… Alright?”
‘He’s worried about me now too?’ Another chill went through me as I started to lean toward his hand and his fingers dug into my muscles. “S-sure thing… But… Can you let go now? It’s just that… That’s the shoulder Bhaltair dislocated… So it’s kind of still sensitive…”
Before I could even finish he quickly snapped his grip away from me. “Sorry. Are you ok?”
I timidly reached my hand over to it, wrapping my fingers over the quickly fading red marks left by his hand. “It’s fine, it's not hurt or anything… The joint is just a bit loose after healing, so I guess I’m still a bit protective of it…”
It was almost funny how fast the mood shifted after that. I didn’t want to have to explain the incident to Zu, so Airsidh took care of it for me. In the end, things never truly went back to normal, and I got the feeling everyone was a bit anxious when they went to sleep.
‘I should listen to what Airsidh said before we left. Just stay focused and not side-track my mind to help distract myself… This time I ended up messing with all their heads, not just my own… From now on, no more unnecessary talking, that will help me avoid saying anything stupid at least.’
When it all finally calmed down I started to hear muffled laughter turn more erratic. “That was the best!” Rafi cheered in my ear. “Not only did you get both of them, but you got yourself too! You really the greatest.”
It was hard to stay anxious and worried after that, odd as it was. “Well, It’s nice someone thinks so,” I muttered.
If nothing else, I was glad she was happy. Part of me just liked to hear her childish laugh, there was something almost innocent about it, while at the same time, it felt like it was reminding me that there was still joy in her heart, despite whatever she must have gone through. Of course, the other part of me just figured she would be more likely to help if she liked me. I tried not to focus on that though, because it made me feel a bit cold inside. ‘I wonder if–’
“I wish you were around back in the day, we would have been great friends.”
‘I guess that answers that…’ “And how about now?”
She started to giggle again. “Well two of me already likes you, but you’ll have to kill that ghoul on your own if you want to get all three of me on board.”
“I knew it! I knew you were all the same person.”
“Fireflies. I gotta go. I’m meeting with the war demon that owns the territory that overlaps with that dungeon. He’s a nice guy but he always makes me kill a lot of demons before he’ll talk to me, so negotiations take a while.”
‘Oh… yeah… He sounds lovely…’ It was at that moment I realized how little I actually knew about her, or even demons for that matter. It wasn’t worth thinking about though. There was only one I was concerned with.