The night was cold and dark, yet the forest was plenty alive with its nocturnal residents. Insects continued to buzz and flutter, small animals skittered through the brush, and predators tuned for night hunting lurked just beyond sight. Many glows of yellow eyes pierced the night, reflecting the brief rays of moonlight that trickled through the dense canopy. A small crowd of Owls moved silently through said canopy, following behind their priestess as she and the Apostle navigated the forest floor. Her, graceful. Him, brutish.
“Your eyes may be capable of seeing the flows of mana, but you should learn how to see the flows of nature.” The Priestess said, pausing atop a fallen log. A log that was already quite rotted and looked like it shouldn’t be holding her weight. Yet somehow she balanced atop its moss covered carcass with ease.
Jake grunted, his labor evident as he forced his way through another bush. “I didn’t exactly grow up in a place with a lot of trees, lady.”
The Priestess smirked, watching as he tried to put some weight down onto the log. The moment he did, the wood crackled and flexed, a hole emerging beneath his palm. Jake looked up at her, annoyance evident through his expression. She hopped down onto the other side and continued to lead him forward. Jake stepped over the log.
“This world is covered in life, Mr. Furrow. A vast amount of it and you’ll find it advantageous if you learn to embrace it instead of fighting against it,” she said with a slight giggle. The laugh only adding to Jake’s misery.
Her cloak seemed to never hitch on anything that grabbed for it. Her feet pattered almost silently across the rough and uneven ground, her toes barely wiggling as they regularly sank into dirt and grass. Her hands moved slowly, gently, nudging aside branches, brush, and shrubbery. While Jake, mere paces behind her, continued to trudge along.
However, as the sun began to rise and Jake’s vision cleared, he found it easier to see how she was walking. How she was weaving through the green and sort of planning her path through the forest. Though they were traversing south, confirmed by his compass and the direction of the rising sun, Jake realized they weren’t moving in a straight line. Rather, the Priestess was utilizing trails through the green. Moving side to side, pathing forward in a gentle flow rather than cutting and forcing her way forward directly in the direction she wanted to go. He had thought her initially to be mocking him in a way, dancing around in front of him like some kind of majestic fairy. Yet at the forest floor began to illuminate, his eyes took notice of the reality.
The change came slow but, just as she suggested, Jake began to look for those pathways through. He looked ahead of himself, utilizing the trees as sort of benchmarks and walking points. He kept his direction of travel general and rather than stomp straight forward, he began taking slight detours around the obstacles he may have once cut through. While she was still much quicker, much smoother, Jake began finding his life to be a little bit easier. Gaps between the brush came into his view. Spaces through trees widened. Small saplings and vines that once snatched his legs became turnstiles as he stepped around them.
After several hours, the Priestess increased their pace. With the upped pace, Jake once again began to struggle. She pieced together her movements over large distances, swaying through the green like a ghost. While Jake found himself having to stop and look, surveying only mere meters ahead of himself.
“Look ahead of yourself. Stop looking down.” She’d said, calling out to him from almost twenty meters along. With the gap only increasing the longer time went on.
Eventually she came to a stop, turning around at the crest of a hill to watch Jake lumber along. When he’d caught up, she turned and circled around the hill, maintaining her height on its side as she followed the contour around. Jake, huffing and a bit tired, funneled mana into his legs to keep them alive. His muscles burned and ached. His feet were wet due to soaked socks and his calves were cramping from all the effort. Not resting overnight was going to take its toll soon.
They traveled for several more hours, with the Priestess only increasing her pace more and more as Jake gradually got the hang of forest walking. However, when they did stop, she left him for a brief amount of time. Jake changed his socks, aired out and dried his boots, and ate a hearty lunch. Consuming a full set of rations along with half of another. Though he figured it might bite him later, he’d prepared plenty extra just in case. He ate some extra Dunebeast jerky he’d brought along and hydrated plenty. After eating, with the Priestess still not back, Jake cultivated his mana and used his recovery magic to soothe the aches in his body.
The Priestess returned a short while later, with a hawk now perched on her shoulder. “We’ve crossed plenty of distance but we are behind schedule. Can you travel more quickly?”
Jake furrowed his brow. “I can try.”
“Good. We must hurry. The Witch’s deviance is beginning to bleed into the forest around her tower. I wish to stop her before she poisons the area beyond what can be restored.”
As she spoke, Jake tied his boots and hefted his ruck onto his back. The Weight Reduction rune illuminated on its base, erasing the burden on his shoulders. “What kind of magic is she using?”
“Dark Magic,” the Priestess said.
However, she’d already said that. “I know. What kind of Dark Magic? What spells is she using that are so dangerous?”
The Priestess held out her hand, allowing the hawk to hope onto her forearm. After whispering into its ear, she extended the arm and pushed upwards, assisting the hawk as it spread its wings and escaped into the canopy. “She is attempting to bring forth a Dark Fae from their Nether Realm.”
Jake blinked. “What is that?”
“A creature that survives by feeding on this world’s life essence. Much like the Maedra you fought but in a much more vile manner. Its magical capabilities are very dangerous as well and should it be summoned, we may need assistance killing it.” The Priestess turned and stepped off, dragging Jake along behind her.
“Sounds like a pain. I assume it needs a catalyst to be summoned?” Jake asked, already struggling to keep her pace after just a few steps.
The Priestess nodded. “It requires a large amount of mana, typically collected into dozens of crystals or sapped directly from a leyline. No mage of this era has the capacity to summon a Dark Fae without such assistance.” The Priestess paused, glancing over at Jake for a moment. “Hm… Almost no mage.”
Jake didn’t miss that. “I won’t be summoning anything that dangerous. Trust me.”
She laughed. “We can only hope. I fear with the mana you hold, you may try to bring forth something much worse.”
“Worse? There’s more?” Jake spat.
“The Nether Realm is home to many dark beings and creatures, Apostle. The Dark Fae is simply one of the easier ones to call forth from it. They are notorious for their trickery and nefarious activities. Their small stature, weak physical compositions, and lower mana capacity make them easy to be turned into servants, minions, and familiars. But, their vile knowledge is not to be taken lightly. Many who summon Dark Fae do so with the intent of causing chaos and sowing the seeds of a kingdom’s very collapse.” The Priestess explained, her voice volume increasing as she and Jake began to drift apart.
Jake opened his stride and applied Physical Enhancement runes to his legs and lower back, helping with his pace. Yet his eyes were still adjusting to finding the natural lines of passage. The trails were getting difficult to see at such a quick clip. “So what kind of magic do these Dark Fae know then? Poison?”
“That is one. Many of their spells are of psychological nature. Again, they are tricksters and thieves. They will use your mind, memories, emotions, and even your personal desires against you. They may also negotiate and try to sway you, using alchemy to bring forth items you may be interested in.” She sighed and paused, turning to look at Jake. “Do not fall for it though. They lean into Humanity’s greed but everything they make is typically fake, fragile, or hollow. They cannot actually make holy weapons.”
Jake huffed, a little peeved by her assumption that he might fall for something like that. “Do I look like a monkey to you?”
She didn’t answer. Jake found that to be worse than an actual response.
“Do they know any regular attack magic?” He asked, piecing together the image of this creature he might end up fighting.
“They do. Lightning magic is their preference but they do handle minor curses and black spells.”
“Such as?”
“Oh nothing special. Poisonous miasma, bloodletting, muscle and organ failure, respiratory constriction, rot, sensory suppression, heat stealing. All fun spells that can cause you to die rather quickly or incapacitate you.”
Jake grimaced at the thought of some of those spells and wondered just how he might deal with some of them. He really didn’t want to think about it, though. “Great,” he muttered.
“So long as I am with you, we will be fine. I’ve asked for help from a friend. Just in case.” The Priestess gently nudged her way past a brush and then weaved around a tree, glancing back to see where Jake was.
He wasn’t far behind. “You really aren’t enough to deal with this thing?”
“A lower Fae I will be fine with. But should we be unlucky and if she summons a Dark Fae of a higher ranking, then no. I will not be enough on my own.” She frowned, stopping and turning to look at him. “And you are not yet capable of dealing with one of them either.”
Jake’s grimace deepened, his frown worsening as he stepped up beside the Priestess. “How exciting.” He grumbled, stepping past her.
“Apostle, I will warn you. Do not attempt to barter with the Fae.” The Priestess walked beside him, her eyes and tone serious. “You cannot make it your friend nor will it bend to your will.”
“You think I’d try?” Jake grunted, stepping over a log.
“No,” she answered quickly. “But when cornered, it will seek out the favor of the weakest individual in the area. It will try to get you to enter a contract with it and it will overpower you.”
“You’re quite confident in that outcome,” Jake placed a hand on a tree as he moved around it. He glanced over at the Priestess. “If it's weak and wounded, wouldn’t that be a great time to make it submit?”
She shook her head. “It is not its physical composition but its mana that will kill you. When you enter a contract with a creature from the Nether Realm, your mana source will be flooded with its Dark mana. If your mana source cannot sustain the new mana and control it, the Fae will steal your source from you.”
In doing so, Jake would lose his magic. Everything he’d learned. Everything he’d fought for. His blessing from Lady Ferynith. The one thing that allowed him to exist in this sort of world and live the life he desired--it would all be gone. Stolen away in a moment with no chance of getting it back. But, that made Jake curious. He did not share his thoughts with the Priestess but a thought in the back of his mind began to tick. His mana source. It was not the one given to him by Lady Ferynith.
“What if I win though? Will the Fae become my familiar or something? That’s what the Witch is trying to do, right?” He asked.
The Priestess stopped. “Do not attempt to make a contract with the Fae, Apostle. If you do, I will kill you on the spot.” Her tone was serious. Her eyes bristled with power--those golden orbs concealed beneath the droop of her hood suddenly were very, very visible.
Jake met that harsh, imposing glare with nothing more than a huff. “Answer the question, Guardian.”
The two stood still for a moment. The Priestess searched the Apostle’s expression, peering into his stoic eyes, attempting to find some semblance of understanding in his gaze. She felt the hairs tickle the back of her neck, rising and warning her that something was amiss. However, while she did feel unnerved by his stare, he had yet to prove himself a threat to her or the forest. His mana was vile, gross, and a nasty aroma radiated from his body, but he wasn’t a walking corpse. It was merely the adaptation of the mana source within him. Lady Ferynith’s gift to him was truly astounding in strength. If only it was more refined, he would make a fine Guardian.
After releasing a tense breath in the form of a sigh, the Priestess turned first, leading them forward. “Should the contact binding be completed in the favor of the Caster, then yes. The Fae will become bound to them as a servant. Their magic will be locked away and their mana will add to the Caster’s pool. Their spell knowledge will be shared to the Caster as well as control over their very existence. Much like if the Fae were to succeed in overpowering the Caster, the Fae will lose their freedom to exist. They will be at the mercy of the Caster.”
“Can the Dark Fae exist on its own here in the Overworld?” Jake asked, curious as to why a contract was so important.
“No. They are creatures of the Nether Realm. Their mana does not exist naturally here and requires a native source to be replenished. Thus, they require a Host to acquire a source from or a Master to serve.”
So, the Witch was attempting to summon the Fae and would then try to bind them with a contract. It seemed the expectation was that the summoning would be successful but the binding would fail, allowing the Fae to roam freely through the Overworld. Along with that freedom, the Fae would also take the Witch’s magic, knowledge, and her mana source, all of which would give the Fae all it needed to exist for the long term within the world. The problem was that the current level of magic ability within the average Mage these days wasn’t exactly up to par with what was required to properly bind the Fae. Hence the expectation of failure.
The pieces aligned and Jake found himself more understanding of the situation. He sighed, opened his stride again, and fell in line behind the Priestess. “Why not just bind the Fae yourself? Couldn’t you override the contract or make it submit to you, then kill it that way?”
“A fine thought,” she said, then shook her head. “However, a contract requires both participants to agree. I cannot force such a binding onto a Nether Realm creature. As a Guardian, the Fae would never attempt such a foolish act.”
An answer that then spurred confusion in Jake. His expression twisted to reflect the strange tidbit of information. “Why… Why would you think it would try to enter a contract with me then? I’m an Apostle.”
“You are,” she answered flatly. “But it does not know who your Patron is or how large of a mana capacity you have.” A finger pointed to his waist. “You carry swords, Mr. Furrow. So long as you do not use any exotic or overwhelming magic abilities, the Fae will likely think you to be nothing more than a warrior I’ve brought along for assistance.”
Jake’s lips pressed together. “So don’t use magic. You sound like you’re trying to bait it into a contract with me.”
“In a way, I am,” the Priestess answered, raising that finger to pause his response. “Because when it asks, I know it is cornered and I will be able to seal it away. Dark Fae are cocky and overwhelmingly confident in themselves. However, they are sore losers and will immediately look for an escape if they are stuck or if victory is slipping away from them. When that happens, they tend to flee.”
“...Or use the weak as shields,” Jake added.
“Correct.” She nodded. “If a Dark Fae can turn the weakest member of a group into a Host, they can use the individual as either a bartering chip or a meatshield in order to give themselves a window to escape.”
“Great,” Jake grumbled.
“Which is why you must not attempt to barter with the Fae, Mr. Furrow, or try to enter into a contract with it. Because if you do and fa--”
“--I get it. You’ll kill me. I know.” Jake interjected, grumbling as he waved her off. “Do you have a plan to beat it, then?”
“Killing a Dark Fae is just as tricky as the creature itself. Instead, I will attempt to seal it away and return it to the Nether Realm,” she said. “Doing so would be far less of a headache, especially if we can kill the Witch.”
“Why is that? Won’t it run?” Jake asked, confused as to why the initial goal would be to kill the Witch right away.
“It may but that is also unlikely. If the Witch is killed, the Fae will have nothing to contract with. If you do not accept its offer and I can properly contain it to the area we fight it in, the Fae may give up and accept returning to the Nether Realm rather than continue to fight. It’ll just be a little noisy about it.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Have you fought one of these things before?” Jake quipped, curious as to why she was so knowledgeable about the creature. Her words almost seemed to come from experience.
“I have,” she admitted briskly. “They sometimes appear in some of the caves near here. An aftereffect of many leylines crossing beneath the forest. When they appear, they typically try to seek out Hosts immediately or throw tantrums because of an inability to return to their home. Movement from the Nether Realm to here is generally a one way trip, of course, as the Dark Fae do not have the capacity to return on their own.”
“Then we’ll be just fine,” Jake said with a smirk.
The Priestess turned her head and looked back at him. “If you think my experience will prove to be advantageous, Apostle, I must remind you that this Fae will likely be far stronger than the more common creatures that appear by happenstance.”
Jake chuffed. “Because of the Witch?”
“Yes,” she sighed.
“We’ll see.” Jake curled his hands into fists and narrowed his eyes, taking in a sharp breath as he fended off the exhaustion of his walking.
If the Witch was going to be an issue, then he would just need to eliminate her before that happened. Judging by the information given by the Priestess, the Witch was still in the process of conducting the summoning, or she was still setting up for it. The Priestess likely had been monitoring the Witch’s tower and was now moving to get ahead of the summoning. If they arrived in time, they could intervene beforehand. However, Jake was betting that they wouldn’t. They’d likely arrive prior to the contract being formed but after the Dark Fae had already been brought out. That was the best scenario based on their speed and Jake slowing them down, which was likely weighing on the Priestess’s mind.
Time was short and their window to intervene would be even shorter. Jake wouldn’t have much time to prepare when it came to evaluating their surroundings and surveying the tower itself. He likely wouldn’t get much time to scout out the Witch herself either and would probably have to jump in and attack her right away, which would put him at a massive disadvantage.
“And I’m burning mana as we walk,” he thought, gnawing on the inside of his cheek as he looked down at his hands and thumping feet. They were in a hurry and Jake was burning through his mana capacity just to keep up with the Priestess. He’d likely be unable to recover much of what he was using now once they arrived.
“When is our expected arrival time?” Jake asked, upping his pace even further as the Priestess hopped over a ditch rather than clamber through it. Jake jumped over after her, snatching a low branch to keep himself from tumbling backwards into it.
“It will take two days from now to reach the barrier she’s erected. Three if you require rest, but we can only stop for a short time if you must.” The Priestess offered him the option for a break.
Learning that they wouldn’t have much leeway to work with and that there was still quite a distance to cover, Jake considered the option to pause for a short while. However, he knew it would likely set them back in terms of their attack window. “We’ll reach the tower first then decide if I have a chance for one. When will she try to start to summon the Fae?”
Jake was hoping for a beneficial answer. One that would relieve them of some stress by giving them at least some slack to work with. It sounded as though they would arrive plenty early, with at least half a day to prepare for their intervention.
However…
“She’s already begun,” the Priestess said flatly.
“What?” Jake spat, almost tripping over himself. “Why are we just now going then?!”
The Priestess’s lips pressed together as her eyes narrowed, the creases on her face contouring with aggravation. “My own ineptitude and failure as a Guardian. I did not perceive the signs in time of her mischievous activities and allowed her antics to slip through my detection. The barrier she’s formed around her tower certainly didn’t help. I did not realize what she was up to until she was already nearly complete.” The Priestess paused and turned to look at Jake. “This is why we must hurry, Apostle. As the summoning progresses, she will further damage the land with residual mana leaking from the Nether Realm.”
“I can go faster, but your forest will pay the price,” Jake grunted, forcing his way through a bush as he fought to keep at her heels.
“I would prefer to not cause unnecessary damage to the wildlife,” she sighed as she placed a hand on a tree. She stopped beside it, her eyes gazing into the distance ahead of them. “Are you capable of flight magic?”
Jake stepped up beside her. “Are you?” He retorted.
She shook her head. “I am not. My magic will distort the forest should I try to use it in such an extravagant manner. However, if you are able to. I can send an Owl to guide you.” The Priestess held out a hand, her eyes lifting to the canopy. “If you go ahead, you may be able to make it in ti--”
Suddenly, her feet became very light.
“I’d rather us get there at the same time.” Jake scooped one hand behind her knees and held onto her shoulder, cradling the Priestess’s dainty frame firmly in his arms. Mana funneled into his feet and the wind gathered beneath his heels.
“You--!” The Priestess yelped, her hand suddenly grabbing at his chest as the forest accelerated around them. She had no time to argue or dispute his action before the wind tugged at her dress and hood. Purple hair spilled out from beneath the veil, fluttering behind them as her hood threatened to fall off her face. She grabbed it with a free hand, yanking it down to conceal her expression.
Jake’s eyes widened, mana pulsing through his irises as he overloaded the sensory organ. The sea of trees in front of him, once rows of yardsticks that he had been using to guide himself south, now became pedestals to push and kick off. He lunged from thick branch to tree trunk, his boots tapping and pounding as he zipped in a southward direction.
“I need directions, Priestess,” Jake snipped, not wanting to go so fast that he wound up lost.
Clinging to him and shaking like a terrified leaf in his arms, the Priestess’s voice lost its usual calm and stoic sound. Rather, it came out frantic and at a much higher pitch. She sounded like a young girl more than a powerful Guardian. “South! Just go south until the river!”
“The river it is.” Jake curled his arms, pulling her in tight to him to reinforce his grip, then accelerated. He raced against the clock, using the mountains to his left to guide him further and further south. The more he moved, the easier weaving through the trees became. His eyes adapted to their semi-random layout and the forest turned from a maze to a navigable terrain. Once he set a rhythm, his stride opened and he lunged further, extending his leaps and bounds to cover more ground.
The Owls, the Priestess’s herd of familiars, struggled to keep pace with the Apostle. Their wings opened wide and they dodged and weaved through the canopy, trailing behind his fluttering cloak and her purple hair. The creatures were adept flyers and once Jake settled into his pace, they too aligned themselves with his movements. While he didn’t intend to shake them off or out run them, he certainly didn’t waste time on waiting for them. They were birds of prey and though Jake was moving quickly, he was aware that they wouldn’t dare let their Priestess out of their sight. They weren’t normal Owls either, he presumed. Their bright yellow eyes and the faint glows radiating from the tips of their wings were enough evidence of that.
Regardless, Jake moved at a quick clip, racing the clock. The Priestess in his arms fussed every so often, flinching or yelling at him to carry her more gently but there was little he could do. The canopy was thick, too thick to cut over or through directly. Jake was forced to change levels often, moving from up high to lower on the trees, even to the forest floor itself for a bound or two before he was able to elevate himself again. There was the option of cutting through and utilizing strictly wind magic but without his hands to stabilize himself, he didn’t want to risk injuring the Priestess. He’d never hear the end of it if he did.
“Are you always such a brute when handling a lady?” She fussed, her voice low as she tugged on his shirt.
Jake grumbled and jolted her for a moment, fixing his grip. “You wiggling around doesn’t help, Priestess.”
The Priestess glared up at him, her nails flexing as she threatened to claw at him. “Only because you’re such a ruffian! Hold me proper!”
His eyes rolled before he could catch them and Jake landed hard on the ground for a moment. “I’ll throw you over my shoulder if you don’t quit.”
Her eyes widened. “But your pack is there!”
“I’ll lay you over it. Now stop moving so much.” Jake adjusted his hand on her legs, moving them up higher to ensure a tight hold of her thigh. The other arm around her back wrapped more around, turning her into him more as he scooped her closer to him. In doing so, the Priestess fidgeted a little.
“Too close!” She yelped, practically falling into him as he jumped.
Jake sneered and chuckled. “You’re more of a brat than I took you for.”
“How dare you patronize me!” She hissed.
Her complaints only continued off and on for the remainder of the trip. She clutched onto his shirt tighter and tighter as time went on but while her words continued, her wiggling eventually ceased. After Jake found his rhythm, he stopped jiggling and bouncing her around in his arms as much and the ride became more comfortable. The thick forest began to lose its density, allowing for a much smoother navigation of its floor. By the time the sun began to dip beneath the horizon, Jake’s boots landed firmly on the edge of a river.
The mountains to his left had given way but the Priestess told him to continue forward. After losing the mountains and his one directional landmark, the forest thinned quite a bit and a sort of lowlands region stretched around in front of him. The hilly terrain flattened, the bushes gave way to tall grass and the trees spread out significantly. Sightlines widened, giving Jake plenty of room to work. The river he was looking for came into view rather quickly once the area in front of him cleared up, allowing him to hone in on it rather fast.
Once there, the Priestess requested to be put down. However, Jake kept her cradled and asked for their next direction. She argued that they no longer needed to rush and that they would make it in time but Jake disputed that if time was an issue, keeping their pace would be more beneficial. Plus, arriving sooner may allow them to intervene before the summoning was complete or allow Jake to take a momentary break to recover some mana before their inevitable fight. Preparations would need to be done before their attack on the tower regardless. The more time they had to make those preparations, the better off they would be.
The Priestess continued her arguing but eventually gave in, directing Jake to follow the river east and then to the north. At some point, he would need to cross it but there was a low point near the base of the mountains that was best for it.
Jake followed her directions, shifting his movements eastward and rushed along the riverside, following the flow as it eventually curved to the north. The moon rose up high into the air by the time the mountains returned to his side and after several more hours of running and rushing along, the Priestess called for him to stop. The river flow had slowed, weakened, and Jake could see the bottom in some places. Several large patches of ground rose up from beneath the surface, creating mini-islands throughout the river’s expanse. Rocks peeked out here and there as well, further showing that the water level was rather low in the area.
At the Priestess’s instruction, Jake waited for the Owls to fly overhead and watched as they landed on several of the rocks and raised islands between the river’s edges. Acting as markers, they provided him with a safe path across, showing him the safest route that he could bound through. Once across, Jake finally set the Priestess down. They weren’t far from the Tower now and the area was void of any trees and debris that would drastically hinder his movement. Leaving the forest behind. a rolling meadow of knee high grass greeted them.
The Priestess huffed several times, muttering plenty of complaints under her breath. Her fingers smoothed out her dress and adjusted her cloak, smoothing out the creases and folds to retake her composed outlook. Her hair, assaulted by the wind during the ordeal, had frayed and lost its shape. She turned away from Jake and ran her fingers through it multiple times, fixing the mess it had become.
Jake took the opportunity to drop his pack. He pulled some dirt from the ground to make a seat and elected to rest for a moment as the Priestess fidgeted. As he sat there, he pulled out a wrapping of rations and began to eat. His eyes stared at the Priestess’s back, watching her as she revealed the less calm and collected side of her personality.
After longer than he expected, she finally huffed and turned around to face him. When she spotted him sitting there, munching on half of a sandwich, her arms fell to her sides. “What are you doing?”
He swallowed the mouthful of bread, meat, and cheese, then drank some water to cleanse his palate. “Eating.”
“Now? We have to hurry.” The Priestess spat.
Jake furrowed his brow then gestured behind her, pointing at the open space leading in the direction they were headed. “The Tower is over there. I can see it. I can see the barrier too. You planned on that walk taking two days. I got us here in a night. I think I have some time to eat a sandwich.”
“We do not have time for this, Apostle,” she argued. “Yes, you are correct that I estimated our travel time to take much longer but that does not change the fact that we must hurry to intervene. The longer we wait, the closer she gets to completing the ritual for summoning.”
“How long does the summoning take?” Jake asked before taking another bite.
“At least two days with the proper materials. Shorter if she has higher quality crystals and excess mana at her disposal,” the Priestess pressed her lips together and glared down at the Apostle in front of her.
Jake finished chewing before speaking again. “And? How much time has passed since she started?”
“At least a day and a quarter. It is expected she will summon the Fae this afternoon.”
Jake nodded. “Then I have time.” He swallowed another mouthful of water and continued to eat his meal.
The Priestess stared at him, hesitating between leaving him there, dragging him with her, and arguing further to express the gravity of their situation. However, she found the last choice to be a losing endeavor. His nonchalance and lack of haste was proving to be far more of a hurdle than she was willing to overcome. The way he stared at her, how he acted as though it wasn’t a serious issue, and the way he seemed to stare towards the tower. It made her question his competence as an Apostle.
Yet, she couldn’t find herself willing to argue with him. The calmness in his eyes was baffling, yes, but she found that trait of his to be a reflection of something else. Even with the pressure of time, he found the opportunity to sit down and eat. He’d hurried enough so that now he was able to buy himself a minor respite before their difficult task that was lying ahead of them.
“Hungry?” Jake asked, offering her a wrapping of his rations.
The Priestess frowned and turned towards the Tower, her eyes gazing towards the large stone and wooden spire loitering in the distance. From where she stood, she could conceal its entire silhouette with her pinky finger. Her Hawk had not returned with any news of a sudden change nor was the barrier fluctuating at all around the tower. She could not see any leaking of miasma out from within its structure nor did the air smell or taste any different. The Witch might be conducting her ritual but there was no danger just yet of the Fae’s presence.
A sigh fell from her lips as she turned back to Jake. The wrapping was still extended towards her and she mumbled her thanks as she took it from him. She formed a seat of her own, pulling up a mound of dirt to act as a support for her butt. In front of them both, Jake made a hole in the ground and filled it with several heating runes. The warmth quickly tickled at her bare feet, fighting off the brisk cold loitering in the night air.
She unfolded the white cloth, revealing the sandwich within. The slices of meat, cheese, and pieces of vegetables mixed in made for a daunting fixation of a meal. But, her stomach yearned for something so she indulged in the treat. The bread was a bit stiff but a faint taste of sweetness filled her tongue as she tore into it. Jake pulled out a cup from his pack and filled it with water formed with magic, offering it to her for a drink.
“Your methods of adventuring are strange, Apostle,” the Priestess muttered in between bites.
“What do you mean?” Though he’d asked, Jake stared off towards the tower, his eyes alight with mana. A detail that the Priestess realized she’d missed in her fit of irritation.
Was he evaluating the tower, from this distance?
“Your questions about the Fae. Your speed and rush to get here. All for you to stop and sit here, right outside of the very destination, and choose to eat rather than go any further. Our goal is right there. Why must we wait?”
Jake found her confusion with his actions difficult to understand at first, but then he remembered that she wasn’t quite a normal person. She was a Guardian. Her life was unique with her tasks and purpose being quite the burden. She was a servant of the Gods, even more so than him. She existed within this forest, this region, for the strict purpose of defending it from Crux’s forces and any entities that might try to upend its peace and the balance of life within it. With her goal right before her, she likely felt every fiber of her being urging her to complete the task asked of her. To sit down and stare at it, forcing herself to wait and be patient, was likely something entirely against what she was used to.
“I’m hungry and I need to replenish my mana,” Jake answered. “If I don’t eat, I’ll be slow in the fight. If I don’t go in with the most mana possible, I might run out. I don’t know the Fae like you do and I don’t know who this Witch is. I’d rather be prepared than not.”
“Though you are not wrong,” the Priestess sighed, staring down at the sandwich in her hands. “I feel your lack of understanding only makes you underestimate the potential trouble we may face.”
For a long, long second, Jake just stared at the Priestess. When he didn’t respond to her and she realized how quiet it suddenly had become, she looked up at him.
“Why do you talk like that?” He asked.
“Like what?”
“You all seem to do that. Can’t you explain something without making it sound exotic?” Jake finished his sandwich and cleaned the cloth wrapping before tucking it into his ruck. He retrieved a jar of fruit and pulled out a skewer to fish the pieces out with.
“Well, pardon me for being intelligent,” the Priestess scoffed, rolling her eyes before muttering to herself again. “Small words for small minds, I suppose.”
Jake didn’t prod her further, simply electing to avoid poking at her manner of speech more than that. He poked instead at the collection of fruit and sated his sweet tooth for the evening. He emptied the jar, then drank the mix of fruit juice that remained. He rinsed it with water to cleanse the leftover syrup then also returned it to his pack. With his meal complete, Jake set to checking his weapons and equipment, ensuring his gear was fit for the fight they would soon find themselves in.
Satisfied, Jake elected to rest. Having sat down, relaxed, and now ate, Jake was feeling the weariness of the last few days tug on his eyes. “I’m going to sleep for a little while. Wake me up when the sun is midway through the sky.”
“Sleep? Here? Now?” The Priestess spat, looking over as Jake fished out his sleeping bag.
“Yes, yes, and yes.” Using magic, Jake pulled a mound of dirt out of the ground and formed a small dome. He hardened the dirt, packed it tightly to ensure it would keep its shape, then created a small entrance he could slide through. Inside, he placed a cooling rune that would keep its temperature consistent then tossed in both his pack and sleeping bag. “Feel free to go check the tower but don’t do anything stupid.”
The Priestess watched in awe as the Apostle left her, the man crawling into his quickly formed shelter and almost immediately falling asleep inside of that bag of his. He’d stripped out of everything aside from undergarments and seemed entirely vulnerable inside of it. However, she noticed a faint netting of mana seemed to stretch out all around them. Runes she hadn’t noticed were embedded in the ground all around, linked to a faint sigil on the ground next to Jake inside of his shelter.
“What a strange man…” she mumbled, staring at the entrance to the shelter for a few moments before sighing and looking towards the Tower.
“I would have thought an Apostle of Lady Ferynith would be more refined. What kind of Apostle did you make, madam?”