Time seemed slow around Ingrid as the last syllable left Berith’s mouth. She was hyper aware of every sensation around her. The cramped feeling of the cuffs and the folds of the fabric within that restricted even the slightest finger movements. The dryness on her tongue and mouth. The smell of sweat and dirt from the camp outside mixed with the scent of gardenias that inexplicably came from Berith. She hadn’t noticed that before, why had she only noticed it now?
She knew why, but it didn’t stop the questions from being asked. In fact the answer was probably why her brain spat out the inane question; anxiety. The idea of seeing her brother again was one that popped into her head involuntarily almost every waking moment of her little adventure, but hearing it here was almost enough to make her break down all over again. Hearing it from Berith specifically was almost enough, because it posed more questions than it answered. The first and foremost in her mind; why did he know where Mattias was?
Despite wanting to direct her confusion towards the man in front of her, she could only direct it at herself. There was no reason for her to be this calm. The sarcastic portion of her brain that had spent too much time around Alice wondered where the hell this kind of self restraint was the million other occasions she had had panic attacks at inopportune times. The questions towards herself could be asked later. Now was not the time to take this clarity for granted.
“How do you know where my brother is?” She asked. There was a small waver to her voice, but it was a far cry from the complete breakdown that she was expecting. Maybe her previous breakdown had sapped all of her energy.
Berith gave her a wide grin. “Let’s just say he’s staying with a friend of mine and leave it at that. But, do something for me, and I can have him right here and back together with you the day after tomorrow,” He spread his hands like a showman expecting applause. “I think it’s a pretty good deal! No bias in that at all.”
Ingrid gritted her teeth. Her fingers strained against her bindings, feeling the need to fidget and release even a tiny bit of that pent up stress. The inability to do so made her feel so helpless. She could feel her legs tensing as she had to mentally scream at herself not to strain so hard she’d break her digits.
“You haven’t even told me what I’d be doing. You’re a terrible businessman,” She said, annoyed.
Berith chuckled, wagging his finger. “Tut tut, my dear. Not a businessman! But sometimes this whole game does feel like a business. Sometimes it feels like I’m the only one actually committed. That’s beside the point though!” He shot up in his chair, excited. “The reason I make my humble request from you is because it simply has to be you! I’m sure you’re familiar with Twilight? Nasty stuff to deal with, so sorry you had to go through that,” He said without a hint of honest remorse.
She felt her blood run cold. Back in Lhanbryde, Twilight had almost killed her. If it weren’t for Malori, she would have succumbed to its effects and left Mattias without both of his sisters. There was also that nightmare she had had while under its effects. She couldn’t remember a single detail of it, and she’d been too busy focusing on Alice’s confession that she hadn’t been able to take any notes on what she had seen.
One thing was clear about the nightmare, and it was the sense of fear it had inspired her. The fact that it had caused that much fear only served to cause even more. How else could she process the idea of being terrified of something without even knowing what it was she was terrified of? Her thoughts were interrupted by Berith continuing.
“Anyway, it’s awfully hard to make. It requires a special kind of flower that for whatever reason, only even grows in these stupid mountains. I’m trying to pull as much as I can together but I’m at my limit,” His playful smile contradicted his words. “Buuuut if I had a druid, I could get production through the nonexistent roof and maybe get some actual funding! Especially if that druid is you.”
Ingrid stopped. Furrowing her brow. “I–Me? Why me specifically?” She couldn’t help but be confused. She was barely halfway through her training. Why wouldn’t he want an actual accomplished Druidkeeper? One who fully knew what they were doing and not an anxious elven girl only a decade or so into her adult years.
“Now that is a wonderful question my dear druid,” He chuckled, tilting his head. He leaned back again, taking a throwing knife from his desk and spinning it around his finger. “You ever heard the phrase ‘Know Your Enemy?’ Of course it doesn’t apply here because we’re the best of friends, but I took it upon myself to find out a few things about you and retrace a couple steps.”
He leaned in much closer, still spinning the knife. “I’m going to say something honest. It’s a great honor really, I don’t do it often. Isn’t that right Alviss?”
The other dark elf said nothing. Simply staring at Ingrid with harsh, seemingly emotionless eyes.
“See? They agree. Anyway, the thing is that I think you have some legitimate talent for magic. You’re ahead of the curve! It’s generally the eighth or ninth year of training that people start getting a knack for large scale magic. You’ve demonstrated far more than that.”
The playfulness that Berith spoke with had always been uncanny and unsettling. Ingrid was caught off guard not only by his words, but the fact that he seemed to be serious for once. There were no jokes, no quips or jabs. He was telling the truth, and making sure that she knew that. The lack of them was far more unsettling than their presence.
Ingrid let the silence permeate between them for a moment as she tried to gather her thoughts. That calmness that filled her before was beginning to fade, and she was already feeling herself sink back into the sense of anxiety that had taken hold of her before.
“If you want me as a part of this, then I want to ask my own questions,” She demanded, once again failing to sound confident.
Berith’s constant smirk returned. “You know what? I’m having fun with this. Everything around here is boring as all hell otherwise, so ask your questions. No promises on any answers,” He mused, “By the way, don’t even think about using those mind links with your little esper friend. Of course, I don’t have a way to stop you, but!” He stood up, a childishly excited grin on his face. “Use them, and I’ll find out. I have several tests I’d like to run on her. If you’re all misbehaving, I might pick some… Unsavory ones.”
A chill ran down Ingrid’s spine. He spoke with the cadence of someone who knew they had won. She desperately searched his eyes for some hint of a lie, that this was just some comment to try and scare her into compliance. There was none. She was beginning to realize that even outside of that brief moment of seriousness, there was no hint of dishonesty. Throughout her life she had always thought people telling the truth was an important virtue for them to have. To see that twisted and perverted into something… She couldn’t find a word to describe it aside from evil. It was beyond simply unsettling. It was terrifying.
“Oh dear, I hope I didn’t upset you. Look at you, you’re shaking!” He laughed, “Well come on now, you said you had questions! Go ahead and ask them!”
Ingrid looked down at herself. He was right, she was shaking. She hadn’t even realized it. She gulped, trying to ignore how pitifully dry her mouth and throat felt. “Who do you work for? You mentioned there being others, and funding. J-Just how big is all of this?” She wanted to kick herself for how pathetic she sounded.
“Hmmm,” He seemed to think about it for a moment, then held his hands out. “Sorry friend, you’re on a need to know basis. You need to know things, and I actively don’t want to tell you them. I did say you could ask though!” He explained cheerfully, “Use your magic to up my production though, then we can talk answers. After all, you’d be involved with us then,” His smile turned devilish as he said the last part.
He looked Ingrid up and down, taking note of her deteriorating confidence. “You know what? I’ve presented my offer. You supercharge my operation, I get you your brother back. Again, good deal. I’m sure you need some time to think on it though, so I won’t keep you. Make sure to think long and hard about your decision!”
Ingrid tried to speak up and ask more questions, but she was quickly ushered out of the room by Alviss before she could even get a word out. This was all too much. If he was really part of something greater, she desperately needed to know how big it was. She wasn’t even given the luxury of knowing whether or not this was an isolated issue of Berith and his group, but he had implied that he was looked down upon by the rest of his ‘operation’ as he put it. Was he at the bottom of the hierarchy? If he was, what resources were at his disposal? What would the higher ups be able to do? He had already been able to learn pretty much everything about her within potentially a few days, what about extended research? The questions overwhelmed her to the point where she wanted to just lay down and give herself a break.
A break. Something she hadn’t properly gotten in a decade. She really was pitiful for wanting one when there was so much she needed to do. That was just the cycle. Get overwhelmed by everything in front of her, take a break because she needed one before dealing with all of it. Then get angry at herself for wasting that time when there was a mountain of tasks to be done.
She just wanted to close her eyes and disappear for a little while.
Alice slammed her cuffs against the bars as Ingrid was taken out of the makeshift prison by Berith and Alviss. “Piece of shit!” She hissed, glaring at the now closed door. She stood there seething for another few seconds before taking a breath. She needed to focus. This could be a good thing. Ingrid wasn’t here, that meant she had more leeway. Of course, she was gone because she was taken by a homicidal bandit who acted like this was all a game. Ingrid told her to look for silver linings, but this wasn’t even close. This was a brass lining at best.
She looked over at Natalia, who was still sitting in her obnoxiously serene position. Didn’t her joints get tired? Didn’t her ass hurt from sitting like that constantly? Her brain searched for any question that she could ask to hopefully ruin the silence that the woman apparently cared so much about. She cast a glance over to the one guard that was glaring daggers at her and rolled her eyes. Now was as good a time as any.
“Adiáforos,” She said flatly. As she said it, a small rune in the guard’s left eye glowed a dull pink. In an instant, the guard’s pointed expression dulled to a neutral one. They looked away from Alice and leaned against the wall, staring off into nothingness. Even as an insect landed directly on their cheek, there was no response.
Alice breathed a sigh of relief. At the very least now she could be more open. She looked back at Natalia. “Oy, Feathers, you wanna get the hell out of here or are you good sitting like that until it wears down the bones in your ass?” She huffed.
Natalia opened one eye, a hint of what may have been surprise on her face. She looked at the guard, then back at Alice. “Why isn’t the guard doing anything? I’m fairly certain you’re supposed to receive twenty lashes or something for discussing escape.”
“Don’t worry about them, not important. Look, do you want to get out or not? Because Ingrid and I are your best shot at that. Make a decision,” She spat, annoyed.
Her one open eye squinted. “You’re not exactly hard to read right now, so I’m going to ask why. You don’t seem the type to make this offer out of the goodness of your heart.”
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Alice smirked. “Well, Princess wants you out of here, and I’m helping her. There’s gonna be a small price though if you want out.”
Natalia was quiet for a moment. She opened her other eye, both staring directly at the dark elf. Alice was fairly sure she was searching for signs of deceit, but it was tough to tell if she was right when she couldn’t actually tell if her eyes were moving or not.
The woman let out a small grunt. “What’s the price? If you’re hoping for gold or blessings you’re going to be very disappointed.”
“Oh nothing like that. Pretty sure if an actual angel tried to bless me I’d burst into flames or some shit. Anyway, price is simple,” She jerked her head toward the unresponsive guard. “I’m gonna be pulling some shit like this, and I want you to not tell Princess. Capiche?”
She raised an eyebrow. “And you’re telling me this, why? You don’t seem like you’re one who easily gives out your trust to any random stranger,” She turned her head to the door. “Or those close to you, for that matter.”
Alice ignored the jab. “Because you have a vibe. You’re angry, and you don’t like to take shit. Lemme make an educated guess, you have some form of objective you wanna get done once all this blows over?”
Natalia took a breath. “You are correct. What it is is none of your concern at the current time, but there’s no harm in confirming your suspicion.”
“Well, I have one too. I don’t trust you in the slightest. What I do trust is that you wanna get the fuck outta here, and I don’t think this is a deal that doesn’t work in your favor,” She explained, leaning against the wall. “So, you in or not? I got no issues leaving you to rot here.”
A confident smile began to form on Natalia’s face. She closed her eyes again and leaned back against the wall. “A fair observation. I don’t trust you in the slightest either, but your desire to leave, there’s no mistaking that. It seems that this isn’t the only agreement we’ve come to, is it?”
“Hm, guess not. I don’t know when Princess is gonna be back, so no clue on how much time we have. I’ll get this outta the way now. By the way, you don’t keep up your end of the bargain, Feathers, and I’ll slice off your wings and deep fry ‘em,” She threatened, before looking back at the dazed guard. Natalia only let out a small huff of amusement at her threat. Rolling her eyes once again, she opened her mouth. “Elefthérios.”
Malori yelped as she was placed back on the ground of the cave. Well, ‘placed’ was a strong word. She was tossed. She was certain that Kallen hadn’t meant for it to be so rough, but it was nonetheless. The tall human slumped down next to her, panting for the first time that Malori had seen.
It took a lot for Malori to swallow the terror she felt from looking at Kallen. From her fight with the traffickers, she knew the woman had incredible strength, but apparently that included taking hits as well. Medically speaking, it was amazing that she had even continued to move, let alone at a full sprint while carrying another person like a sack of potatoes.
Whimpering, she picked herself up and tried to assess the damage. Kallen was on her side, eyes closed and breathing hard. In her back scattered around were three crossbow bolts and two arrows. The broken off heads of two spears had found homes in her right forearm and left thigh, the one in her leg dangerously close to a major artery. Numerous slashes and lacerations that Malori couldn’t even count were also present on her legs, arms, and torso. Malori was fairly certain that any average soldier would have been killed about three times over. That thought was both relieving and utterly horrifying.
She took a deep breath. Most pressing were definitely the arrows. The barbed heads had most certainly done extra damage with all of the jostling around, and they had the potential of being poisoned as well. Then again, the same could be said about the crossbow bolts. Or any of the other weapons.
Shaking off those thoughts, she leaned down. “Um, I-I’m going to need to take these out! Will you be o-okay with the pain?” She felt horrible as she asked the question. Someone she considered a friend was bleeding out in front of her and she couldn’t even ease the pain as she healed.
Kallen opened her eyes and gave a mix of a grimace and a smile. “Yeah! G-Go for it. I’m sure they hurt more going in than they will coming out, right?” She laughed weakly. She then cringed and coughed, blood spattering the ground in front of her face. “Oh that’s not supposed to happen.”
The anxiety was already enough to drive Malori nearly insane. Seeing her patient cough up blood did nothing to soothe her nerves. She gulped and examined the first arrow. It was near her right shoulder blade, definitely lodged in her lung. It was likely the reason for the previous coughing up blood.
Tightly gripping it at the base of the wound, she began the slow and painful process of easing the shaft out. Kallen tensed as she began to move it, gritting her teeth with every small motion until finally, the arrow was out. The human coughed up more blood, far more violently than before. The same moment the arrow was removed, Malori already had both hands against the wound and applied as much healing magic as she could. It was a slow process for a wound like this. An area like a limb would be quick, but trying to heal internal organs always required a much more delicate and precise touch with her magic. Blood oozed past her fingers, coating her hands in it until she finally felt the incessant flow stop. Her hands felt heavier, her entire body feeling as though it was having the energy sucked out of it and into the subject before her as she focused it into the wound even more.
After about thirty seconds that felt like ten minutes, she took a breath and pulled her hands away. Aside from the not yet dry blood that still coated the area, there was no sign of the injury left. It was like it had never happened in the first place. There was no time to critique her work, even if it was a rush job. She quickly moved to the next crossbow bolt and repeated the process. Gradually, she poured more and more of her energy into the individual wounds that covered her friend until all but the superficial ones were no more.
Once the last of the pressing wounds was dealt with and she had done a quick examination to make sure Kallen wouldn’t be bleeding out, Malori collapsed onto the ground next to her, panting. This was the first time she had ever had to do so much in depth healing on one person, let alone in a quick time frame and without the assistance of other healers and energy supplements to keep her going.
Useless. You couldn’t even fully heal her. All you managed to do was take her off death’s door.
She grimaced, opening her eyes to stare up at the ceiling. Looking around briefly, the cave was nothing special. It was a simple hideaway gouged into the rocky side of the mountain, and not particularly deep. They had only managed to get this far thanks to Kallen fighting off two patrols that had found them.
While you did absolutely nothing, right?
Malori let out a small whimper as she turned to her side. The hard stone floor would have been hellish in any other scenario, but while she was this exhausted? It felt like heaven. She felt like she could close her eyes and sleep for a week. Not that she’d want to. She doubted she could handle the nightmares for that long.
As much as she knew they couldn’t stay there for long, she didn’t make any move to jostle Kallen up from her position. Once the bolts and arrows had been removed from her back, she flopped off of her side and started laying on her back like a starfish. It was hard to say if she was asleep, but her eyes were closed and she was breathing heavily. At the very least she was exhausted. Even like this she looked beautiful.
A small blush crept up on Malori’s face. She knew that now was far from the time to be having these thoughts. It’s not like she could help it though. The way Kallen’s chest rhythmically rose and fell, the way loose strands of hair were blown out of the way with every breath, it was amazing. It might have been a little unhealthy to think that while there was still plenty of blood on her, both hers and others.
This is all you ever think about, isn’t it? The only solace you can get are daydreams that will never amount to anything. How pathetic.
Hard as it was to look away, she squeezed her eyes shut in some desperate attempt to make her thoughts quiet down for once. They didn’t. It’s not like it would have worked on a person either. At least with a person she could plug her ears. Hiding from thoughts wasn’t exactly a possibility.
She wanted to say something. In part to distract her from those constant thoughts, but also to check if Kallen was awake. Or if she was feeling alright. If there were any wounds in particular that were still bothering her, if she needed extra energy to keep going, or even just if she thought the healing was okay. Plenty of things went through her mind to ask, to start some sort of conversation as her own pathetic and selfish attempt to hear Kallen’s voice more. When she opened her mouth to speak though, all that came out were pitiful whimpers and weak rasping noises.
It was fine. Hearing the woman before her speak would have been a form of solace. She didn’t deserve that. Besides, asking if she was okay wouldn’t make anything better, and she was far too tired to attempt more healing. The thought crossed her mind like her own health would actually stop her from focusing on someone else’s.
After all, any life is more valuable than yours.
She whimpered again as the cacophony of internal thoughts continued to make their presence known. Rather than focusing on avoiding them, she tried to focus on the mental link with Ingrid. Mainly, focusing on keeping her own thoughts to herself.
Ingrid’s ability to keep thoughts and feelings to herself was mediocre at best, but it was her first time doing it, it was to be expected. At least the emotions sent were dignified.
Malori winced as she remembered when she used to try communicating telepathically at the orphanage. The time where the bullying had gotten particularly bad, and a priestess had asked her how she was feeling. She knew now that it was an empty platitude. The clergy there never cared about her in the slightest, not that that surprised her. At the time though, she thought that it was coming from a place of legitimate care. The delusions of a ten year old.
The way the woman had started screaming as Malori linked their minds, the tears in her eyes as she fell to the ground, clutching at her own head. The convulsing of her body with every sob. It still haunted Malori. She never did see that priestess again after that day. The only time after that event was before bed, when she saw the woman in the infirmary, giving her a look of sheer terror.
She shuddered. Just the thought of accidentally letting Ingrid too far into her emotions like she had to that poor priestess was a horrifying thought. She had just barely gained a couple of friends, she didn’t want to chase them away after only two or so weeks.
You know it’s only a matter of time before they abandon you anyway.
Malori held her head. Why now? Why did she feel like she was about to cry? Kallen was going to be alright, so why was she still so torn up? Tears began to well up in her eyes even as she squeezed them as hard as she could to prevent them. A small, silent sob wracked her body.
Ingrid and Alice were captured. Kallen was horribly injured. She was fine. She was the only one who wasn’t pulling her weight, and it had been like that from the beginning. All her presence did was add another burden for Ingrid and Alice to think about, and that just pissed Alice off to no end. As much as she hated the teasing, she preferred it to this. At least the teasing came from a place of friendship. Ever since Kallen had started traveling with them, a switch seemed to flip in her. Everything Malori did would seemingly draw her ire. What was she doing wrong? She just wanted Kallen to like her, was that really such a crime?
Of course it was, it led to more stupid decisions. It led to her and Ingrid getting captured. Malori wanted to scream. This was all her fault.
She gripped her hair, hoping that the completely random action would somehow miraculously make her feel better about herself. Another sob, and the tears began to fall harder.
Useless. Pitiful. Burden. Disgra–
The thoughts were cut off by two hands gently taking hold of her wrists. Malori gasped as she opened her eyes. Past the blurriness of her tears, she saw Kallen. A soft smile was on the woman’s face, like there wasn’t a care in the world.
“Hey, there’s no need to cry,” she said in a quiet, cheerful voice. “We just have to find a place to lay low for a little bit. Trust those two. Even if we’re in a bad situation, it’ll all work out.”
Malori felt another sob get caught in her throat before she coughed it out. How could Kallen be so nonchalant about this whole thing? Didn’t she know it was Malori’s fault? Plus, she hadn’t even known Ingrid or Alice for very long. Then again, neither did Malori. As much as the esper tried to put her faith in her friends, she couldn’t shake the sheer terror that something was going to happen that would get them hurt. Or worse. How did Kallen manage to trust them both so wholeheartedly without a single doubt in her mind? Her lower lip quivered as she squeezed her eyes shut again. Despite her best attempts, she couldn’t get a word out without it turning into another sob. It was disgusting and pathetic. She could practically hear Alice sneering at her.
“Oh, come on. I said don’t cry,” Kallen giggled, scooting closer to the tiny girl. She put one hand on Malori’s head, tousling her hair. “We just need to wait. I think I might need to take a bit of a nap, but we can go find a safe place to do that, right?”
Malori sniffed, but gave a small nod. “Y-You got hurt for me…” She murmured. She wasn’t entirely sure what the purpose of saying it was. There were fifty other things she wished she had the strength to say instead of that nonsense. Yet that stupid statement was all that she could force out.
Kallen smiled. “I get hurt a lot. That’s okay though. Everyone has a different tolerance for being hurt. I have a lot of it. I’m happy to use that to help the people that I meet,” She said fondly, “That’s not to say I like getting hurt, but if something that might hurt you really bad would only be kind of a nuisance to me, doesn’t it make more sense for me to take the hit?”
Malori frowned. It did make sense, but she wished it didn’t. She had fantasized so many times about being saved. About a strong, regal woman coming to sweep her off her feet and make her feel safe and loved. She still wanted that. She wanted it more than anything. After seeing people she cared about getting hurt though, she wished she could keep them from getting hurt at all. Maybe she could do that if she wasn’t so utterly useless.
She looked into Kallen’s eyes. Even through the tears, she could still make out the deep sapphire blue of her irises. They looked beautiful. She wanted to look into them all day long. Maybe then she could forget at least for a little bit the way she felt about herself.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice that wasn’t her own internal thoughts. Granted, that meant that by process of elimination she was about to hear something less horrible than she was used to.
Malori, are you there? Said Ingrid’s voice telepathically.
Um, y-yes! What is it?
Get Kallen ready. The plan is still on.