Traveling for several more hours on the same road. The sun had begun to set, leaving us with very little light left in the day. Gale raised his hand and ordered us to set up camp. With no inn or place to stay for the night, I volunteered for the first shift. Ivian was staying awake with me while the others quietly went to sleep.

With nothing to do but keep ourselves away, I asked Ivian about the lockpicking lessons if he was still inclined. With his still swollen face, he pulled out his toolkit and revealed his various tools and skeleton keys.

With a glint in his eye, he takes two picks and presents them. "These are a rogue's bread and butter. The only thing we will forever be in love with till the day we die or they break. A standard set of lockpicks can be used on anything with a locking mechanism. So, tonight, I have spare locks I tend to practice on in my bag. They will be good practice and show you how it's done."

Sparkles float across his eyes as he rambles about how wonderful the tools are. Taking a lock from his back, he demonstrated how to use the picks when messing with a lot and taught me all sorts of tips and methods on dealing with any set of locks.

"Time sometimes isn't on your side for such a delicate job. I don't expect you to do anything under pressure as fast as me, but you'll get there. Just know that rushing unnecessarily will lead to wear on the picks and might even break them, which means you are screwed. I always carry a couple of spares, but each one lost is a horrific act. So don't you dare break them in my sight!"

He hands me the tools and relocks the lock so I can work on it. I look at it intently and look for the chambers to fiddle with the picks. When I spot them, I gently push the pins with the picks, feeling out the lock; Ivian stares at me intently.

"Be gentle!" He screams into my ear. If he was any louder, he could make me deaf.

Ignoring his constant complaints, I slip under the pins, twist the pick to the side, lifting them up, and then turn the other pick to undo the lock, slowly clicking into place as it opens. A sense of weight leaves my shoulders, and I finally take a deep breath. My fingers were aching from holding the picks for so long while trying to do everything right.

Snatching the picks from my hands, Ivian grumbles. "Not bad for a first time, but you spent quite some time trying to figure it out. Taking your time is important, but don't rush ahead when you progress; otherwise, you'll do everything I told you not to."

"You made it a lot easier than it looks." Rubbing my sore fingers as I sit up, I watch as he cleans the picks with a rag before placing them into his bag. "What are you doing?" I ask.

"It's about time we switch to the second group."

"What do you mean we only just-" I stop speaking when my mind finally catches up. The entire time I spent with Ivian figuring out how to lockpick had already been a couple of hours. Ivian talked so much that my attempt on my first lock took much longer than I thought.

"Come on, stop yapping and get Lukia awake. I'll grab Yann." He stretches before softly, shaking the big warrior awake. His snore cut short, causing him to clear his throat before he got up to his feet.

I walked around the nearby tree and spotted Lukia covered with a blanket as she lay still. "M-Mmm..." I stop at the sudden mumbling coming from her lips. "M-Mother..." Ah, that is what it was. She was dreaming about better times before they were ripped away. A sigh escapes my lips. I understand when you have these kinds of dreams. They are unpleasant, and when you wake up, you are in a mass of confusion and hysteria, feeling like trash.

"Lukia, time to wake up. Your shift is now-" Her slender hand wraps around my forearm as she clutches it closely. A single tear falls across her nose and onto my sleeve. "Please...don't go..." Talking in her sleep, I gently press my fingers along her cheek before reaching her shoulder. With a gentle shake, I say her name to rouse her awake. "Come on, get up."

"W-what. I..." Her eyes slowly opened up. Looking exhausted and drained, I feel a little bad, but I need to sleep. With her in such a state, she needs all the rest she can...

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you. Just, you were stirring in your sleep." Her eyes close and open briefly. The soft flutter of the eyelashes is soaked from tears. She must have been crying for a while as she slept. I move my arm away and place it on her head, gently rubbing to calm her. "Go back to sleep, don't worry about anything else."

"Okay..." Without a word, she let out soft breaths and fell back asleep like a child. As I look at her closely like this, I can see her arms are thinner than usual. The outline of her skeleton is visible through the skin.

"Lukia..." She barely eats these days. In the last few weeks, she has drastically lost weight, and her mental state has only degraded since. I plan on speaking to Gale and the others about it as soon as we reach the nearest town or inn. Bringing her along in such a state will get her or one of us killed. I would instead not think about leaving a companion behind, no less a valuable member like Lukia.

"Caleb? Aren't you going to-" Yann speaks out but I cut him off by pressing my finger to my lip. He nods and sits on a rock. I cover Lukia and make sure she is comfortable before joining Yann.

He handed me a piece of apple that he had taken out of his bag, and I bit into it. Yann has a big heart since he looks after an orphanage in his spare time back in Saiana. Despite him trying to kill me a long time ago, he regrets his actions to this very day. I kept telling him I forgave everyone and their actions and that it was past us. But he took it very hard and has been looking out for me as atoning. He's like another big brother, just maybe a little reckless.

"Get some rest; I can handle the rest of the night alone." Yann cuts another piece of the apple and hands it to me before eating his piece. I take another bite before rubbing my eyes. "For our party size, two watchers are the ideal option for shifts."

"Spare me the numbers crap. I know I am probably not the brightest in this group, but I can at least stay up for a couple of hours without issue." His large hand pats my back, nearly knocking me over with his strength. I chuckle a bit before patting him back. "I need to look after Lukia. She isn't doing so well."

"It sucks." I turn to him. He lets out a sigh before continuing. "I don't know how I would react or be if I saw my mother, who I believed died but was actually suffering a fate much worse than any other fate imaginable. Seeing her drained of her life and displayed as a husk of her former self would probably do me in. However, my parents died when I was still pretty young. Growing up, I didn't have a place to go until Ivian's mother found me half dead lying in a ditch."

"Ivian's mother?"

"Yeah. I grew up with Ivian, and we have remained together for most of our lives. He's my brother through and through. His mother was just another parent for me, taking care of me like her own. She ran the orphanage in Saiana with a couple of other people. But not too long ago, about ten years ago, a plague or disease had snuck its way to the orphanage. Some lost child carried it, and one of the helpers held the decaying boy in his arms. The boy died before he could reach the village, and gave him a proper burial. However, a few days later, he showed signs of the disease, but it was too late as most of the helpers for the orphanage were already sick, including Ivian's mother."

"What happened to the others? Why weren't any of the children infected?"

"Supposedly, the disease came from a curse. One of which was summoned by a sorcerer who drank the blood of the dead to conjure a spell that would bring death itself to its victims. The boy had probably gotten it and gave it to the helper. But a curse like that only has so much power after so long. Ivian's mother was the last one to be cursed. By then, the curse had all but vanished since the limit of the spell lasted for a couple of weeks, killing as many as it could. His mother locked the kids away until the curse ended, but it was too late; the curse had weakened her entire body and soul. For the last ten years, Ivian has stayed to help his mother by purchasing medicine and any healers to restore any vitality she has left to keep her alive. And I have taken some responsibility in looking after the orphanage."

"I didn't hear anything about that when I asked the mayor and townspeople." Clutching my knees, Yann looks to the stars.

"I wonder how it came to be, but Ivian is looking for a cure for his mother. He told me he had researched some leads, but all seemed farfetched or too dangerous. Even the most powerful healing spells are far too expensive, and they would likely fail."

"You mean-"

"Yes, Ivian is looking to murder the sorcerer who placed the curse on his mother. The only way to remove the damage done to her is to kill the caster and end his connection to that power. Will it work? I don't fully know. However, it is a chance that we both are willing to take if it presents itself."

"So, that is why Ivian asked me about hearing some odd rumors of a spellcaster where I am from. I said that spellcasters are rare in Heistorm in general. He likely is near the Empire's border or further south where magic of any kind is more accepted."

Yann places his hand on my head and rubs it gently. "Then all we can do is hope we find any clues on this job. It's a bit much to ask, but can you keep this from Gale and the others? We don't want to drag anyone into our business."

"My lips are sealed. But I think Gale would understand; you two might not be enough when you find this man. He could be more powerful than previously stated.

"Even so, we both want to help the woman who raised us with all the love and care in the world." A small tear falls down his cheek. He quickly wipes it away before turning away. Yann barely spoke for the rest of the night...