Blane raced through the halls yelling “Physician! I need a physician!”
He looked around the stone walls as a few people came out and stared at him before Kana appeared in one doorway looking confused and scared. “What is wrong?”
“It’s Grace, she collapsed and said she needed a physician.” He was nearly breathless as he stood in front of her trying to catch his breath.
“Oh no,” she said closing her door behind her. “This way, there is a physician that rooms a little ways down.” She led him down the corridor and turned left as she took him past three closed doors before stopping before one that had a sign carved into it saying KNOCK BEFORE ENTERING. Kana knocked and waited a few moments before the door was thrown open by an elderly woman who looked to Blane as if she was one foot in the grave and the other in a banana peel. “Physician Emery we need your assistance.”
“Let me get my kit young one. What seems to be the trouble?” She spoke as she went back into her room and searched for her kit leaving the door open so she could hear them.
“My— Grace collapsed in my room. She said to get a physician so here I am.” He was a little uncomfortable at first, telling this elderly woman that she collapsed after some exciting sex was a little too forward for his tastes.
“Was there anything extraneous going on before she passed out? Any working out or sex, anything like that?”
“Well...we had just finished and she dropped.”
The woman held her kit in her hand, a large black bag that held any number of things Blane would rather not think about. “We will need to get moving then, depending on what is wrong with her time could be of the essence.”
Physician Emery blew past Blane saying “Take me to your room quickly.”
Kana led the way with Blane trying to keep up as the older woman practically ran down the corridor.
They got to the room and Emery looked at Grace laying on the bed, she rushed to her and began feeling her forehead and wrist. As Blane looked at her he saw a fine sheen of sweat cover Grace’s whole body, her face beet red as she wheezed.
“What is wrong with her Physician Emery?” Kana asked her as she stepped into the room and looked down at the bed.
“Give me time to work young one and I will tell you.” The physician took great care with Grace as she checked her forehead and eyes, feeling her throat and asking her to speak as she did so. From the kit she pulled a timepiece and pressed a pair of fingers to Grace’s wrist for a few seconds before saying “Your body seems to be in some sort of imbalance. It’s as if you’re trying to be here and somewhere else.”
“Wait, the first time when I summoned you, you had to return to your home after a short while but you’ve been here for days. How did you manage that?”
“She was summoned?” Physician Emery asked him.
“Yes, I cast the spell Stalwart Sentinel and it brought her to defend three of us against the thralls. But then not long after the battle she told me she needed to return home and dissipated in a bright light.” he looked back at Grace and knelt beside her placing a hand on her cheek. “I’m so sorry I didn’t think to ask you if you needed help returning.”
She looked up at him and smiled weakly. “It is not your fault. I did keep your mind busy, but yes I think that would help me.” she took a deep breath, pain etched onto her face as she willed herself to move. “I need something to still my body as the transition happens.” she said to the physician then turned back to Blain saying “You’ll need to be the one to banish me there. Just tell me to return and the magic should return me.”
“Will I still be able to summon you after you’ve healed?” he stared into her eyes willing her to see that he actually enjoyed her company and that he wanted her around for more than just sex.
She smiled and nodded, “Just give me a few days and you can summon me or come visit me. You know my homeland’s name don’t you?”
“Cardend, do you know how to get there?” he asked Kana, she nodded quickly. “Then we will meet you there soon, I promise.”
“Thank you my King.” her face was screwed up in pain as she winced at her words. “Physician, please I need something.”
Emery pulled a jar from her back and opened it, pulling out a long root looking thing that smelled like tea leaves. “Chew on this, it will calm you, it’s tehan root, great for calming teas.”
Grace took the root between her teeth and chewed, slowly at first, almost dropping it only to have Blane save it with his quick reflexes. Swallowing some of the root she began to settle and her face showed the signs of her relief. “Please send me home now, please.”
He kissed her forehead gently and whispered, “Return.”
Her body glowed from within, lit by a bright light as she dissipated and the light went with her. They were left in the room alone.
Blane stood in the room and stared at the now empty bed beneath him. Kana stood beside him talking, but her voice was muffled to his ears. Finally she reached out and touched his arm pulling him from his reverie. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I said this isn’t your fault. You could not have known.”
“But I should have. When I first summoned her here she had an issue staying longer than the battle, then the second time she stayed a couple days. That was much longer than before which meant she needed to get home sooner than that.”
“So you are the one doing magic around here.” Emery said quietly.
Blane nodded and she smiled at him. “I should have known something was going to happen to her.”
“Have you ever used this type of magic before in your life child?” She spoke with the calmness and care of a grandmother as she sat close to him.
“Not back home, but I watched a lot of anime, read a bunch of manga, I should have figured it out from those alone. I mean hell this is like a dream come true and I dropped the ball.”
“I think what you need,” she placed a hand on his shoulder reassuringly “is to take some ‘bacco and chew it until you’ve calmed down then go see her. You’ll do no one any good in this state.”
“Bacco? Let me guess you can chew it or smoke it?” He asked. When she nodded he said “It sounds like the same thing we have back home, does it really relax you or does it make you feel uplifted and like you’re flying in the clouds.”
“I guess both.”
“Then yeah it’s like what we have back home. We should get to Grace as quickly as possible though. I don’t want to waste any time here when she could be in serious pain.”
Kana stared at him a second before nodding “Then let us go and find her.” She looked to the physician and said “Thank you Physician Emery, you have done a great amount of good here today.”
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“You are welcome but I must caution you that if you take this ‘bacco and try to cast any spells it may cause them to fizzle out or worse. Just be careful.”
He nodded. Kana stood in front of him and held out her hand, as he took it and stood she said “We are ready.”
They left the room, taking their knapsacks with them and went to find Regalia. Blane felt bad for noticing her outfit when they’d just had to watch Grace travel back to her land. But the way the red cloth hugged her curves and the way her armor wrapped sensually around her breasts made him want her even more, and she seemed oblivious to it. I should not be noticing her right now! He yelled at himself as they turned corners and his eyes went to her ass, her leggings looked like they were painted on and he could see she wore no panties, even more of a turn on. Seriously, stop!
It took them a few minutes to navigate the corridor but when they finally got to her room she was all packed and ready to leave. The trio headed for the courtyard and stopped by the fountain at the center.
“So how do you expect us to make it to Cardend?” Regalia asked him. “It’s at least five weeks of journey by foot and we don’t really have that amount of time.”
“Well, I’m hoping that when I use this card it’s magic will take us there.” He said showing her the Portal to Another World card that had brought him to Tesvala. “I don’t know if this will work, but I’m hoping that if we use it while imagining where we want to go that it will let us travel to that place.”
Kana nodded “That seems logical.” She pushed a strand of hair out of her face as they talked.
“I need you to picture the city as you’ve seen it, I’ll try to channel the spell through you.” She nodded and Regalia spoke.
“Do you really think this is going to work?”
“We don’t really have any other option now do we?”
“Well, we could go by horse….that would take us about half of the time as by foot.” Kana suggested.
“That’s not quick enough. Just imagine the place we need to go and nod when you have it in your mind.” He waited as she focused her thoughts and nodded finally. “Good, let’s all hold hands and I’ll try to cast the spell.” He pulled the spellcard from his deck and held it up in front of himself. Kana took his right hand while Regalia wrapped her arm around his left arm. “Portal to Another World!”
In front of them a portal opened up, blue and purple energy manifesting from thin air as it swirled together to create an oblong disc of energy that was just over six foot high and three feet wide. The trio looked at the portal and then at one another.
“Let’s hope this works.” He said.
They stepped into the portal and he could feel himself being pulled into it, swallowed up by it like it had it’s own gravitational pull. As they were swept up into the maelstrom Blane felt himself relax, knowing he would soon be in the beautiful city of Cardend. It felt to him like he was wading through a pool of lukewarm water. There was a pulling feeling as if he were caught in something’s gravitational field and then seconds later they were standing on a dirt road with trees around them.
“Get outta the way!”
A voice yelled at them and as Blane turned he saw a horse drawn wagon barreling right at them. They each jumped out of the way and landed hard on the dirt, the wagon zipped passed them. Blane looked at the girls as he offered them each a hand up and shifted his pack. “Are we near Cardend?”
“I am not sure. This looked like the old trade route which was always the quickest route. But it does not look like we are by the city itself.” Kana said looking around. “There, I see a building over there.” She pointed and everyone followed her line of sight.
The building that they saw was a bigger building than a farm, but it had a lot of land out back. “Let’s hope they have something there that can help us then. Let’s go.”
They walked to the building, as they got closer Blane could read the sign hanging on a pole just off of the wrap around porch. It read Horned Boar Inn and they walked closer. The building was in decent shape and the sound of laughter and conversation wafted on the air as we got closer telling the group that they were safe there.
Walking up to the swinging half double doors Blane walked in first and took in the scene before him. A dozen people filled the tables on the first floor, two scantily clad women walked between tables with pitchers of what he could only assume was beer began pouring for folks. A man behind the bar was cleaning a glass with an actual clean rag which surprised Blane since they weren’t in modern times where washing machines would do so much for them. Then there were the three people by the slightly raised stage near the steps, they were playing drums and some form of guitar that produced an annoying tone.
Turning his attention to the bar he walked up and eyed the barkeep. “What can I get you strangers?” He asked as he set the glass down and slapped the towel over his left shoulder.
“Any chance you have Coke?” The man looked confused over the question and Blane waived it away, “Never mind, it’s a drink from where I come from. We’ve lost our map and need to know where we are. Can you tell us?”
He cocked an eyebrow and said “You three are about two hours outside of Hamor.”
Regalia’s ears perked up and she stepped up to the bar asking the man “Does a Desmona still work here?”
The man chuckled. “She comes and goes. But she’s supposed to be here later today. How’d you meet her?”
“She’s my half sister.”
“Shit, you’re Regalia then.”
She nodded.
“Well, she’s one of my best workers so you all can stay half price if you need to. Just one night mind you, I gotta make a living here.”
“Thank you, which room can we take?”
“All of you here together?” They nodded and his smile widened “Damn you’re one lucky man. Head upstairs and it’s the fourth door on your right.”
“Thank you. What is your name?”
“Nic.”
“This is Kana, and this is Blane.”
He inclined his head saying “Nice to meet you. Dinner is in four hours, it’s going to be stew with potatoes and carrots. There’s day old bread and beer included, it’ll be twelve coppers added to your total if you want it.”
This time Blane spoke up. “What will our total be?”
“Forty-two coppers for all of you. And mind you that’s at the discount.”
Blane wasn’t sure if that was a fair price for them or not, but the look on the two women’s faces made him think they were being jipped. He nodded and they went in search of a room, he grabbed both women’s hands and dragged them along with him. Once they were up the stairs and in front of the door he took a breath, expecting to see a flea infested rathole that they were expected to sleep in.
So when he opened the door and saw a decent sized room with what he could only assume was a full bed he let his breath out. It wasn’t as bad as he had expected. There was a sconce light above each side of the bed and a bigger oil lamp on the trunk at the foot of the bed. The bed itself looked comfortable and didn’t appear to have just straw filling, he thought he could feel feathers of some kind.
“Okay for this room that might be a discounted price.”
Regalia looked at him. “It might be, but it’s not half price that’s for sure. And twelve coppers for dinner is expensive.”
“He probably figures he can charge us whatever he wants since we have so much gear, he probably assumes we have the money.” Kana interjected.
“Well technically we can.” Blane said as he set his pack down on the bed.
“How exactly do you figure that?” Regalia asked.
“Because of the cards or spells or whatever I have. There’s one in my deck called Charity of the Bountiful. Ideally it’s supposed to heal you when you take damage in the game. But the artwork is of a guy with a big basket full of gold coins. So I’m wondering if I cast the spell if it’ll heal something here, or if it’ll grant us some coins.”
Both women stared at him deep in thought for a few minutes before Regalia asked. “Are you sure you can cast it successfully?”
“We won’t know till we try.”
Kana nodded. “It might be our only shot. I only brought a handful of coins because we haven’t been using them for so long. But here they must still have good trade going.”
Blane pulled the card from his deckbox and took a deep breath. “Here goes. I cast Charity of the Bountiful!” There was a bright flash and then right on the middle of the floor was a basket overflowing with gold coins. “Well I guess we know it works.”
Regalia leaned close and started counting before whistling. “I’m not even done and there’s over three dozen. With what’s left there’s no doubt we have it to travel in style the whole way to Cardend.” Her eyes widened as she talked about the coins.
“We can’t just show up with so much money, it’ll be suspicious.”
She sighed and said, “Yeah, I know that, I was just hoping.” She touched one of the coins and flipped it over her knuckles. “If anything we can hide as much as we can in our packs and then just dump the rest. I’m sure someone will find it and put it to good use.”
“Let’s just do it quietly okay?” Blane suggested. “If that Nic finds out we have this he will kill us. I don’t doubt that.”
“You really think he’s a killer?” Kana asked him.
“I do. Or at least I think so. There’s something off about him and I can’t place my finger on it. Maybe it’s just how he reacted to you two, but I don’t think we can trust him to do the right thing by us.” They stared at him as he thought hard about the barkeep. Nic had appeared as normal as anyone else, so what was it that made him feel that Nic was not who he appeared to be? Maybe it was just Blane overthinking things. He hadn’t been quite the same since he’d arrived here and there was no telling what that toll was having on his psyche. Maybe he was just making it up. Looking up he saw how the women were looking at him and he sighed. “I’m just trying to puzzle this thing out and I’m having a hard time of it. Any suggestions?”
“Only that we wait for my sister and see if she can tell us anything about him. He said she would be here soon right? So let’s get cleaned up for dinner and relax a little until she gets here.”