Sara led Raul and Emma over rock and brush and stream, weaving through the Callarm Forest, pointing out multi-colored plants that had four colors of leaves and wild peppers called “locks” that she greedily snatched up. They spent the first night near a stream and bathed in the river as Emma snuck glances toward the camp, half embarrassed that Raul would see her naked body, half yearning for it. That night, when they looked human, they ate game that Sara caught and seasoned and served with cutlery that no one knew she had. From the river, she drew water as clear and cool as ice and mixed mashed berries and roots to create a cocktail to go with it. Emma squealed in delight. Raul just stared at it with an ugly mug for a minute before turning to Sara and complaining that she never pointed out the berries—which he had seen countless times while he lived like a caveman. She shrugged and said, “Then start doing research,” and time went on.
2
Daniel took five steps with Renti’s help.
3
Sara and the group woke up with insects crawling all over them. Emma screamed, and Raul said, “Fuck this! There’s no way in hell I’m traveling again.” Sara shrugged and said, “I’ve heard you say that five times about drinking.” Raul grumbled in defeat, and they slowly started their trek again.
4
Renti gave Daniel a wry smile when she walked in the next day. “The guards tattled on us. It seems a week of daily visits gave us away.”
Daniel grunted as usual, but his heart ached.
“Yeah, me too,” Renti said absentmindedly, not even addressing him. “But this is good. Someone special’s here to see you. Hopefully, they’ll help you remember.”
Daniel’s stomach sank as Edico came into the room.
5
Sara walked over a marsh on a bridge of raw mana. Emma followed behind on barriers, walking over raw mana over dry passages. Raul expressed deep frustration as he created barriers as quickly as possible, but Sara said, “Sink or swim,” and continued. He said, “Those are both bad in this case!” Emma giggled and circled back, grabbing him by the arm and giving him private lessons. He lost all grievances.
6
Edico looked at Daniel. The kid’s face was remarkably gaunt, but he had blood in his cheeks and a little meat on his bones. He was hoping that Daniel would recognize him on sight, but Daniel’s eyes seemed distant and vacant despite looking at him. “Do you remember me?” Edico asked.
Daniel stared at him for a while, and then his eyes glided forward again.
“I see….” Edico thought he could handle the truth of Daniel’s condition. He was frustrated that Renti went against Lady Reece’s orders and didn’t inform him immediately. Now, he wished he had waited.
Lord Winters had become a hero figure in his mind—a legendary person revered by Lady Reece (in a strange way he couldn’t understand) and loved by Emma. Lord Winters had sacrificed everything to save his life and then fell asleep, creating this myth that he’d one day wake up a legend that would lead regiments in the Thousand-Year War. Yet that’s not what happened. He showed up and saw Daniel the way that Renti had long warned—
—as a vegetable.
“Well…” Edico said. “I remember you.” He recounted how Daniel saved him, and Lord Winters looked at him from time to time, but his eyes were emotionless—something Edico knew he couldn’t fake.
7
Sara hadn’t even reached Galsk Trading post in the center of the Callarm Frest when she got a letter from Andy that made her muscles lock up.
-
Daniel woke up a week ago. Guard said he’s a vegetable. I’m investigating today. Details soon.
-
Sara stopped. “Let’s make camp.”
Raul and Emma turned to her with shocked eyes. It was 9:37 a.m.
8
Daniel’s first challenge to fooling people of his condition came from someone unexpected: Andy. The uncontroversial teen had shown no interest in Sara in this life or the last (in fact, he was dating someone who didn’t like Sara) but now came in with sharp eyes that were as honest as they were bloodthirsty and suspicious.
She told people.
Daniel could tell. Edico and Renti were both convinced that Sara was pro-Daniel, going so far as to protect him with around-the-clock guards—never considering they were meant to keep him imprisoned. Yet Andy knew, and his face said everything. Daniel didn’t despair despite the dull throb in his head and boom of his heart. He just treated him the same as always.
“Hey Daniel,” Andy said gently.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Daniel glided his eyes to him. “I….”
Andy raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“I….” Daniel’s eyes glided to the bed, and his face turned away.
“Wait… can he understand me?” Andy asked Renti.
“There’s nothing wrong with his throat or ears….” Renti shrugged and sighed. “It’ll just take time.”
“And once he heals?”
“I think he’ll recognize you. More than that…?” Renti shook her head.
Andy looked at Daniel suspiciously, studying Daniel’s expressions, burning the way his eyes moved into his memory. Yet Daniel didn’t move, blink, or act. Andy nodded, lied—wishing Daniel a swift recovery—and said goodbye.
9
The camp was tense for the rest of the afternoon as Sara repeatedly opened her spatial ring and pulled out an empty hand. Yet, as the sun was falling over the horizon, she pulled out a letter with disappointment and frustration welling in her heart. It wasn’t from Andy—it was from Edico.
Now you’ll tell me, she thought, opening the envelope.
-
“Dear Lady Reece,
I write this letter with a heavy heart. Last week, Lady Toro found Lord Winters awake. She kept this secret, as she was disheartened by his waking, and hoped his condition would improve.
That has not been the case.
He’s attempting to talk and is responsive, yet… I’m not sure how to say this…. I don’t think he’s coming back. Lord Grollis, three other apothecaries, and a dozen healing mages have been in and out of the room today, and they have all said the same thing. He’ll probably learn to speak a few words, but the Lord Winters we know and love… is gone.
I will continue to monitor him and let you know his condition.
General Sullsburg
-
Paranoia hit her like a freight train, and all Sara could think of after reading the words “Lady Toro kept this secret” was: Renti made a deal with him.
Yet that wasn’t the case. Unless Edico and Tyran betrayed her, as well as there being a grand conspiracy, they were telling the truth. Fake letter? Self-hypnosis. Mind control? No. If it were one person, it could be any of those things. But Sara was grasping for straws.
I’ll wait for Andy, Sara thought.
“What did it say?” Raul asked.
“Only that Daniel’s awake,” she replied. “We’re awaiting a prognosis. That’ll come tonight.”
“Sara….” Raul looked her in the eye. “That’s not all it said.”
“I said the prognosis is coming tonight,” she said coldly. “It’s not like I’m just denying anything outright.”
“Yo, chill,” Raul said.
“No, you fucking ‘chill,’” Sara snapped. “I’m not sure how you guys don’t get this: Daniel’s fucked around with forbidden magic. Do either of you know what types of things you can do with forbidden magic? I’ll give you a hint: if there’s a record of your healthy body—there’s a record of your damaged body. You can heal people to restore wounds.”
Raul’s face initially flared up at her tone, but it quickly crumbled when he considered her words.
“If a person has a core,” Sara continued, “A person can remove it, shape it, twist it, break it, in horrible and destructive ways you can’t imagine. Look at your fucking axe Raul—do you know what that axe does?”
Raul looked at the axe at his side and swallowed.
“It eats life force. It fucking eats it. Do you know who made that?”
He shook his head.
“A necromancer.”
Raul furrowed his brow, but when Emma looked away, his eyes widened. “Wait, what?” he said, looking at her.
“What’s the first law of healing magic, Emma?” Sara asked.
Emma bit her lip. “Don’t restore the brain, but—“
“Why?”
“Because….”
Raul looked at Emma in confusion. “Wait, you’re telling me anyone can be a necromancer?”
“No!” Emma said. “It’s just… the body… it starts working. It just has no mind. It causes terrifying things to happen. Just imagine waking people up to a life of seizures. It’s like that…. But you can’t animate….”
“Yeah, you can,” Sara said. “It’s called soul magic. It’s when you connect your core directly to spell to the core of others. Most people don’t do it because you’re literally linking your lives together, but people with sick desires or nothing to lose use it to enslave people, copy their records, and even cultivate someone else’s body as a constitution. You guys seem to think that Daniel Winters is some type of saint because he saved your life, but those were life force runes on Agronus’s ballroom floor. I thought it was Sayon’s seal because she sacrificed her life to lock him inside—it wasn’t. That meant that he was practicing magic that’s only further by killing fresh mages on the spot—and there’s no way you can create an array that reverses fucking time without a lotta fucking testing. For all we know, Daniel’s a hundred-year-old sociopath. I didn’t want Emma to feel guilty for the cost of her revival, but Daniel’s awake now, and I’m not going to fucking ‘chill out’ about it.” Sara ran her fingers through her hair and then stood up, stomping on a tree and punching it. The wood exploded into splinters, sending the tree crashing down.
“Hey!” Raul yelled, grabbing Emma. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”
Sara looked at him and then stormed into the forest.
10
Daniel did bicycle kicks slowly, incrementally building up muscle.
He knows. Andy’s eyes flashed across his mind. She knows…. I need to leave…. He continued working. Suddenly, his leg popped, and he pulled a muscle. Daniel gasped and groaned as he straightened his leg. Then, he silently chanted and healed his leg to the place it was thirty seconds before. I’ll take a break. Things were moving too slowly. If necessary, he’d have to….
11
Sara finally got the letter from Andy around 9 p.m.
-
Sorry. Your advice to keep this a secret is really inconvenient. Took a while to write this. Anyway, here’s the scoop…. If Daniel’s faking it, he’s doing a damn good job. He had me convinced, and I tried everything short of threatening him to get him to break, but he didn’t. I don’t know. I think it’s legit, but I’m happy to give the order. Just lemme know.
-
Sara nodded a few times and then penned her reply.
-
Give the order. It’ll take three days to get to Tollin. Try to have it done by then.
-
She heated the wax and sealed it, sending it through the ring she had set up with him specifically. Then she returned to camp and ignored the love birds as they bonded over their annoyance with her. But when it came to Daniel—she simply didn’t fucking care.
12
Andy got the message and nodded. He put on a cloak, kissed Helen on the cheek as she slept, and walked out of his house in Lemora into the blood-red sky. He had someone to visit.
13
Daniel felt something was off when Renti came into the room. She was smiling, followed by two guards and a wheelchair.
“You’re finally getting discharged today,” Renti said. “We’re moving you to the bottom floor so a caretaker can show you around.”
Fuck. Daniel felt icy dread that ate at him like frostbite, and paranoia took root. She’s leading me to die. There was a massive jump in logic there. If Daniel didn’t have enemies, then he wouldn’t feel so stressed. He was also helpless in public, unable to walk or move. I need to stitch my body and get the fuck out. Paranoia or not, danger signals were popping up in Daniel’s mind. No matter how dark the method was, he needed to mend his broken body and leave—it was a matter of survival.