The group acts quickly, packing up the remainders of Sanora and Mari’s camp before heading on. Mari agreed to Sanora’s request without much protest and is carrying her on her back.
As Sanora nozzles into Mari’s neck, she feels something odd. She looks around and her eyes meet with the ones of the brown-haired woman who is looking at them.
“Something the matter?” Sanora asks.
“It’s nothing.” The woman shakes her head with a smile. “I just thought that you two are pretty close. You must be good friends huh?”
“Oh uh, thanks.” Mari says with an awkward smile. “Yeah we’re really good-“
“We’re a couple.” Sanora says dryly, cutting Mari off. The young mage turns her quickly blushing face away as the woman looks at them with wide eyes. But after a second her smile returns.
“Why, that’s even cuter!” She exclaims. “You’re quite bold, being this open about it.”
“Maybe I am. But I will never hide my feelings for Mari. I don’t care what anyone has to say about that. I love her. And anyone who can’t accept that can just go fuck themselves.” Sanora shrugs and rests her head on Mari’s shoulder again.
“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” The woman laughs. “I have a feeling we’ll get along pretty damn well. My name is Torkastra, Tor for short. And this here is my partner, Flux.” She says and the elven woman turns to smile at them and waves her hand. “She can’t speak but I can interpret for her.” Torkastra adds.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Sanora.” She smiles at them.
“Mari.” The girl lowers her head a bit.
“Sanora and Mari. I’ll try to remember.” Torkastra nods. “So, what brings you two out here?”
“We’re on our way to Rel’unkoir. Deepvalley was getting a bit… uncomfortable.”
“Those guys chase you out of the city?”
“More or less.” Sanora nods. “There’s also something I’m searching for, and I hope to find some clues in the mountain city because so far, I turned up with nothing.”
“Whatcha looking for? Maybe we can help.”
“Maybe. You don’t happen to know anything about the moon, do you?”
“The ‘moon’? Sorry, can’t say I know anything, though I feel I’ve heard the word before.” Torkastra looks at flux who just shrugs.
“Would have been too easy.” Sanora sighs. “But thanks for offering.”
“Don’t mention it.” Tor shakes her head. “Alright, I think we should be far enough now.” She stops walking. “What do you say, wanna call it day?”
“Nothing I’d rather do.” Sanora nods.
“I second that.” Mari says, her voice tired.
“Alright then. You two get some rest, we’ll take the guard.”
“Ah no, we can-“
“You literally died.” Tor cuts Sanora off, pointing at her. “And you-“ She points at Mari. “-you almost lost your girlfriend today. You both deserve to get some shuteye. Just leave it to us, alright?”
“Thanks. It’s much appreciated.” Mari nods, too tired to argue and sets Sanora down before plopping onto the ground as well. “The tent is a little crisp but it’s still usable.” Mari says, but as she looks at Sanora she finds her already soundly asleep in the dirt. “Or that.” She sighs before throwing a blanket over Sanora and crawling under there as well.
“We’ll leave the rest to you.” She says with a yawn and in a moment she’s out like a light as well.
Flux stands next to Torkastra who is looking at the sleeping girls.
“What?” She says as Flux looks at her. She just tilts her head. “Mhh I don’t think they’re too trusting. I think they’re just too tired to think about these things. At least I hope so.”
Flux tilts her head onto the other side with a smirk on her lips.
“Wha-? No we won’t ask them that!” Torkastra rolls her eyes before looking at the two girls again. “…yet. Now you get some sleep as well. I’ll make you wake up in a few hours.”
Flux pets Torkastra’s head with a smile before stretching her arms. She flicks her hand and the earth rises, forming a small makeshift tent in which she lies down. She looks at Torkastra one more time with a smile.
“Good night, me too.” Torkastra smiles back at her, and Flux closes her eyes. A few minutes later her breathing has grown slow and steady.
Torkastra sits down, her gaze fixed to the starry sky above.
“The moon… the moon…” She mumbles to herself, digging through her memories. “I feel like I’ve heard that word before, but where? Well, I guess I have some time to think about it.” She mumbles to herself.
============================================
Sanora groans as she opens her eyes. If it wasn’t for the immense exhaustion, the pain she is still feeling would have kept her up all night. She looks around. They are still in the plains. The glowing remains of a small fire are next to her and Mari. Torkastra is sleeping on the opposite side in a small stone tent with Flux sitting in front of it. She is busy drawing something in a small leather-bound book.
Sanora yawns and rubs her eye.
“What?” She mumbles as she looks at her hand. “Where’s the other one.”
She pulls the blanket off her to check on her other arm.
“Oh.” She gulps as she looks at it. It’s completely numb, the coloration a sickly yellow and black is spreading outward from her darkened veins. A good third of her hand seems to have succumbed to necrosis already.
“Mari, wake up. We might have a problem.” She shakes Mari’s shoulder, and the girl stirs awake.
“Huh? What, what’s going on?” She mumbles as she looks at Sanora with sleepy eyes.
“Just… take a look.” Sanora lifts her right arm with the still good one. Mari blinks a few more times before finally waking up.
“Gods, your arm…” Mari whispers as she takes Sanora’s arm into her hands. “It’s ice cold.”
“It is? I don’t feel a thing in it.”
“We can’t keep going like this. We have to get back to Deepvalley and get you to Virelia now.”
“Wont it be faster to just go to way’s crossing?” Sanora shifts around nervously at the thought of seeing Virelia again. Their last meeting was more than just a bit awkward and the thought of going back to her makes Sanora uneasy.
“We aren’t even halfway there yet. And they don’t have any high-ranking flesh mages there either as far as I know. I’m sorry but we’ll have to get back. Virelia needs to-”
“I-! ...don’t want to.” Sanora exclaims suddenly.
“Sanora?” Mari looks at her, but she just averts her eyes. “You still didn’t tell me what happened between you back then. I’m really worried about you. If you don’t get treated you’ll lose your arm!”
“I’m sorry.” Sanora sighs. “I should have told you sooner, but I didn’t think we’d need to see Virelia again. At least not so soon. The thing is, Virelia kind of has a thing for me. When I saw her last time, she did some sort of brain scan thing to find out what was wrong with me and I took a look into her thoughts because I started getting suspicious of her. That’s when she told me, and things got weird.”
“She has a thing for you?” Mari frowns.
“That’s the first thing you ask?” Sanora chuckles wryly.
“Well duh, the girl loves you. She’s jealous.”
Sanora and Mari turn to look at Torkastra lying in the tent on her stomach, head resting on her hands. Flux looks at her as well before facepalming.
“Is it a habit of yours to listen in on other people’s conversations?” Sanora raises an eyebrow at the woman.
“Not really. You just had the conversation next to us so it kinda happened.” Torkastra shrugs.
“Whatever.” Mari sighs. “Fact is, you need help, and fast or you will lose your arm if you didn’t already.”
“Your girl is right.” Torkastra gets out of the tent. “I give it a few hours tops until its beyond saving even for mages. If we’re talking conventional medicine, it’s already gone.”
“Ah come on, it’s not that bad. See?” Sanora lifts her arm a bit higher, but the flesh tears and her arm drops. She looks at the chunk of flesh in her fingers, then at her arm which now has a bleeding hole in it.
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Everyone stares at it.
“Ok uh, a few hours sound about right.” Sanora mumbles.
“Yep. You need some damn good help damn fast.” Torkastra nods. “But don’t worry, I have an idea.” She grins at the two. “You see, Flux and I came out here because we are tracking a group of trerchers. Nasty fucks somehow managed to tame some prowlers and they’re using them as mounts. And as a cherry on top, they kidnapped the daughter of some rich guy who was travelling through here. You help us hunt them down and get the girl back and I help you with your arm. Sound good?”
“You’re a flesh mage?” Mari asks, looking Torkastra up and down. “Of weaver rank?”
“Your friend shot a tier 4 spell.”
“Fair.” Mari nods.
“So, what do you say?” Torkastra asks.
Mari looks at Sanora.
“Not like I have anything to lose.” She sighs. “Sure, we’ll help you. If you can help me that is.”
“Great.” Torkastra grins and walks over before taking Sanora’s arm in her hands. “Mhh yeah, you’re royally fucked.” She nods.
“Yeah, I knew as much already, thanks.” Sanora snorts. “So, you can’t help.”
“I didn’t say that.” She smiles at Sanora and she can feel the magic starting to flow. Goosebumps rise on her skin as she feels the magnitudes of power behind it. Even Virelia’s magic pales in comparison. The black in her arm starts to recede and the hole grows shut. A moment later her arm looks as good as new. Even the severe burning didn’t leave any scars behind. Only the black veins still shine through the skin. By now they are visible all the way up to the right half of her face.
But neither Sanora or Mari even care about the veins anymore as they stare at the arm wide eyed.
“How in the world…” Mari mumbles, looking at Torkastra and Flux, the latter just gives her a smug grin.
“Do me a favour and keep that a secret.” Torkastra winks at them.
“Just who are you?” Mari asks but Torkastra holds a finger over her lips.
“That’s a secret. Now let’s get hunting!” She cheers before starting to walk off followed by Flux, leaving the two sitting on the ground flabbergasted.
“What in the gods name… You think we can trust her? Because I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t terrifying.” Mari whispers. Sanora looks after Torkastra and after a moment she laughs.
“I think it’ll be fine. She kinda reminds me of Bawarag. And if they wanted to harm us, they would have had plenty of opportunities already. I can’t say I’m not suspicious… but I’m also curious now.”
“If you say so.” Mari mumbles as she looks after Torkastra and flux with furrowed eyebrows. “Just so you know, a flesh mage of that level could melt us with her thoughts.”
“Way to lighten the mood.” Sanora rolls her eyes.
“They seem like nice girls.” Torkastra says as she walks. But Flux gives her a worried look. “Eh don’t worry. It was just a little bit of magic, I’ll be fine.” Torkastra waves her off. Flux doesn’t seem convinced though. “And they needed some help. You know I can’t help it when it comes to pretty girls.”
At this Flux pouts at Torkastra.
“Naw don’t gimme that. It’s how we met after all.” The woman grins at her. Flux just keeps pouting and turns away.
“Hah, I love you too.” Torkastra laughs.
============================================
“They came through there.” Torkastra says, crouched down as she runs her hand over some canine-like footprints on the ground. “Seems like they turned around and are going back eastwards. Seems like that little detour actually got us closer to them.” She dusts of her hand as she gets up. “We’re close. If we hurry, we might be able to get that girl back in one piece. Let’s hurry.” She starts to make her way into the tall grass.
“Why did those things even kidnap that girl? I doubt trerchers are smart enough to ask for ransom money.” Sanora asks.
“They aren’t. They often steal humans and use them as food. Or if you’re unlucky they keep you around to have some fun with you.” Torkastra spits.
“Why would they do that?” Sanora asks as a shiver runs down her spine. “They’re monsters.”
“They are. And probably the most vile and disgusting ones there are. Those little fucks don’t need a reason, they just do whatever they feel like doing. Its why people pay relatively well to have them killed even though they are weak. As for why they do what they do with women, no one really knows. Some say it’s because they are kind of similar to humans. Others say they are too stupid to understand they can’t reproduce with another species.”
“Makes sense.” Sanora nods thinking back to the time they found a bag filled with a chopped-up human. On her quests with Bullwind she has grown to hate trerchers quite a lot herself. Luckily, they never had any cases of kidnapped girls though. She’s not sure she could stomach that sight. But it seems she might have to now, whether she wants it or not as Torkastra comes to a stop and holds up her hand. Sanora can already hear the weird grumbles and noises of the monsters.
“Up ahead.” Torkastra continues in a whisper. “It’s them. Small group, all riding prowlers. I see our target as well, but we have to hurry, seems like they’re taking a rest.”
“So, what do we do?” Sanora asks after crouching down next to Torkastra to get a look at the monsters as well. It’s a small group in a patch of trampled grass. Three trerchers along with three prowlers. The trerchers alone are no threat. The prowlers are more dangerous, but Sanora is in top shape again for once so she’s confident she could win this with nothing but a few scratches.
The most complicated thing however is the girl they have with them. Her mouth is gagged with some dirty piece of cloth, her arms and legs are tied up and she has some bruises and scratches but nothing major. Her fearful eyes are darting around as she wriggles her hands, but the rope is holding tight. It seems their time is running out as one of the trerchers is pulling the struggling girl off the prowler with a nasty laugh, causing her to struggle even more violently.
“We need to hurry.” Torkastra mumbles as she scans the group.
“Surround them to cut them off and take them by surprise?”
Torkastra grins at Sanora’s suggestion.
“Like you’re reading my mind. I’ll take the left, you go right. Flux, you stay here with Mari. Go.” Without waiting for a response Torkastra hurriedly sneaks off to the left. Sanora follows suit and makes her way around the right using the still standing grass as cover. Killing trerchers is something she has done more times than she can count by now. In her time with Bullwind she must have killed hundreds of the small, green creatures. But despite this hear heart is pumping hard, because never before has there been a hostage involved. There is no room for slipups, no room for hesitation or mistakes or the girl might die.
Sanora quickly rounds the group and draws her sword once she is in position. She looks across the patch and finds Torkastra peer through the grass on the opposite side. By now the trercher has dragged the girl into the middle of the area where it’s starting to tear off the torn remains of her clothes. With no more time Sanora and Torkastra nod at each other before darting out from their cover.
They are fast, and two of the lurchers are dead in the blink of an eye, one decapitated by Sanora, the other one’s neck snapped in a swift move by Torkastra. A thin pike of stone impales the prowler’s head from below without making a sound while Sanora and Torkastra take care of the trerchers. But whether through bad luck of because they were a smidge too slow, the one closest to the girl manages to react in time. Sanora and Torkastra freeze in place as the monster presses its claws onto the girl’s throat as it makes some gurgled sounds which, with a lot of fantasy, might sound like a crude form of talking.
‘Shit.’ Sanora curses mentally and glances at Torkastra for help. But the woman just shrugs and raises her hands in defeat. Sanora looks at her bewildered.
‘We’re just giving up?’ She thinks as she looks back at the monster. But Torkastra is right. Even from this distance they might not be faster than the monster’s claws.
‘But there’s got to be something we can do.’ Sanora grits her teeth and shoots Torkastra another glance. But she just smiles at her and slightly nods in the direction where Flux and Mari are hiding. At this Sanora finally understands. She nods before dropping her weapon and raising her arms as well. The bound girl is sweating and looking at the two with wide eyes, not daring to move with the sharp claws right at her throat. At this the trercher sneers and lets out a triumphant laugh. Sanora can’t help but chuckle along as she can feel the slightest hint of magic crawling along the ground right towards the monster. It’s faint and she can barely feel it, but the source is without a doubt Flux.
Once it reaches the trercher Sanora can finally see what’s going on. Thin lines of water are crawling up its legs. If it wasn’t for her exceptional eyesight there is no way Sanora would have even seen it. As the trercher continues it’s rambling the water spreads over its whole body without it even noticing. And then once the threads have fully ensnared the monster’s body, the creature freezes solid in the blink of an eye.
“Woah.” Sanora says as she stares at the frozen monster for a moment before breaking from her stupor and rushing over to free the girl from the frozen grasp. She takes the trerchers hand and breaks it clean off.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe now.” She says as she takes the gag off and cuts the rope. The girl coughs and spits a few times.
“That cloth was so filthy!” She shivers and tears up.
“I can imagine.” Sanora smiles, relieved that the girl seems mostly fine otherwise. “How are you? Did they hurt you?” She asks, looking the girl up and down. Her once fine clothes are reduced to a few scraps, her chest is exposed, her hips barely covered. They found her just in time. Had they been even a minute later… Sanora shivers at the thought.
“N-no, I’m… fine. Thanks to you.” She says as she covers herself with her hands. But Sanora isn’t buying it. The girl’s voice is shaky, her smile forced and her eyes teary.
“We’re alone out here.” Torkastra chimes in as she walks over. “No need to keep face.” She smiles. The girl looks at her, then Sanora before her smile wavers and her lips start to quiver. tears rolling down her cheeks.
============================================
“Truly, I cannot thank you enough.” The man furiously shakes Torkastra’s hand. After saving the girl they made their way back to her father who has been waiting for them at the spot where he met Torkastra and Flux. To Sanora its quite the mystery how the trerchers even managed to take off with the girl. These nobles are travelling with two carriages, one of them full of crates and barrels, the other one for people to ride in. And with no shortage of guards, so they must have had some incredibly bad luck.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s only natural to help someone in need.” Torkastra says with a grin.
“You’re a fine young woman. Not many people think like that these days. This hardly feels adequate but please, take this.” He hands Torkastra a very ample pouch. She gulps at the sigh and quickly takes it. “I don’t even want to imagine what would have happened to my daughter if we hadn’t met you. If there is anything else I can do for you, please do tell me.” The man smiles at the group.
“Oh no, this is-“
“Excuse me, are you by any chance on your way to Way’s Crossing?” Mari says, interrupting Torkastra.
“Yes, we are on our way to Southvalley and will make a stop in Way’s Crossing.” The man nods.
“Then, if it isn’t too much trouble, would it be alright for us to ride along on your second carriage? We wouldn’t mind sitting one the crates.”
“Of course! It’s the very least I can do for you.” The man nods with a smile.
Mari clasps her hands. “Thank you very much, that’s a great help. We’re ready whenever you are.”
“Very well. Then we shall leave in a minute. Feel free to make yourself comfortable, though I wish I had something more better to offer than our haul carriage.”
“Don’t worry, it is more than enough.” Mari lowers her head at the man as he heads back into his own ride where his daughter is waiting.
“I have to admit, I wouldn’t have thought of that. Great idea.” Sanora says impressed by Mari’s quick wit.
“I’m just done with tackling this journey on foot. You dying once is enough.” Mari’s shoulders slack as she lets out a sigh.
“Ah right, sorry about that.” Sanora scratches her head as she says this, and Mari shoots her a glare.
“You know, this isn’t a ‘oh woops, sorry’ kind of thing. I don’t think my body has really realized what happened yet.” The girl grips her chest.
“I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to, you know, die.”
“I sure hope you didn’t. If you ever do that again, I’ll kill you.” She scowls at Sanora who raises her hands.
“Hey easy, I’m not planning to.”
“Coming from you that’s hardly convincing.” Mari shakes her head. “But I guess that’s the best I can expect from you.” She shoots Sanora a resigned smirk.
“Sorry. I’ll be more careful at least.” Sanora scratches her head. “So, what about you two? Coming along?” Sanora turns to Torkastra and Flux.
“No way we’ll pass up a free ride.” Torkastra says with a grin before climbing into the carriage, pulling Nyx along.
“It won’t get boring with those two around.” Sanora stretches her hand out to Mari. “Alright then, shall we?”
“Let’s go.” Mari smiles as she takes Sanora’s hand, and they climb in the carriage. The coachman gives the reins a gentle whip and as the horses start pulling they finally roll out, continuing their way towards Way’s Crossing after their brief holdups.
“Let’s hope the worst is behind us.” Sanora says as she sits down and leans on one of the crates.