Shassala

Making my way up the mountain as quickly as possible I knew that I would be missed eventually, but no one would suspect that I would be heading up to the top of this peak. Even Renther and Kallix wouldn’t expect me to come here. My anger at having been abandoned by them and the following excuse as to why I wasn’t right behind them when they had fled down the mountain should make them think I just wanted to be away from them.

For the next day or two at least I should be able to have some privacy with only one person being any the wiser as to where I really was.

Talass was the one person I trusted to keep this secret. I didn’t really want to tell her, she was a dear friend but also a worry wort and even complained about how dangerous it was to come back here two days in a row, not any animals or monsters or course, but rather being caught by the elders. When I had told her about the outlander she had been even more worried. However, in the event something did go wrong I needed someone to know where I was.

It wasn't that I didn't think the outlander would be dangerous exactly, but, well I didn't exactly make the best first impression when we had met. Which was also why I made sure to bring a second larger knife along with my usual bow and arrows.

Finally cresting the top of the mountain, I took a few moments to rest and get my bearings. One of the first things I noticed were the tracks. It seems the outlander had been moving around this area, maybe he had wanted to see where I had come from? Following the tracks I saw that he had been walking around the overgrown center of the mountaintop, and he looked to have been collecting or at least investigating various plants.

When I reached the largest building, I noticed something else. Another set of tracks, this one was dragging across the ground. Probably a small group of slimes or some other monster without legs.

I had never seen a slime before but everyone was taught about different types of monsters from a young age, what they looked like, how they moved and what to do if you met one.

Slimes while an excellent ambush predator, were only dangerous if you didn't see them coming or didn't have a weapon with any reach. Even throwing rocks at them could be effective if you had enough or so Renther had told me once.

Taking my bow off of my back I held an arrow in my other hand. Mindful of what had happened yesterday I didn't nock it.

So long as I took my time and checked around corners carefully I should have more than enough time to nock the arrow, aim and fire without being in any real danger.

As I slowly made my way towards the sacred pool I noticed that it looked like several plants and trees had been disturbed since I had been here last. If he really had gathered all of these ingredients I hoped that he actually knew how to use them. Some of them were rare and it would be a shame for them to be ruined in failed potions.

Making my way up the steps I listened as closely as I could for the sounds of the outlander. Far away I thought I heard the sounds of a struggle and I increased my pace a little worrying that I would find him dead or injured, or even get ambushed by something myself. Although I hurried I still checked the corners of every room and made certain nothing was waiting for me. I couldn’t help anyone if I was dead after all.

As I made my way down the small corridor I saw a small camp made in one of the small rooms. Inside was some kind of a tent made of a material I had never seen before. It was a bright orange color that would be useless in the forest, anyone could spot this from miles away, and while I thought the entrance was facing me I couldn’t see how to actually get in no matter how much I looked. The tent itself was also tiny, there was no way I would even fit into it unless I curled my tail underneath myself, and even then it would be tight. Even the outlander wouldn't fit in very easily.

Aside from that there was a small fire pit that was still smoldering, several small piles of wood, and a bag made of another material I didn't recognize. It would have been the finest thing I had ever seen, if not for the holes in the front of it, which most likely came from a slime.

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Wanting to take a closer look but still hearing sounds of struggle I turned my back on the camp and continued towards the sounds.

Using my height to look over the walls I tried to spot the outlander or any trouble but heard and saw nothing, I did however have an idea of where he would be. Pausing I heard the unmistakable sounds of something hitting the ground. Making sure I was ready to nock and fire my arrow, I approached the jagged path up to the pool and slowly slithered my way up.

There I finally found the outlander. In a bizarre recreation of our first meeting he was laying on the ground leaning against the pool and pointing a knife at me while I had my bow pointed safely at the ground.

There was a cup made of metal near him along with an even stranger bag on the ground with Moon Berries, Creeping Vine Flowers, and Telerath Grass scattered along the ground near him. Even without his gray clammy skin, sunken eyes and exhaustion etched into his very features it was easy to guess what had happened here.

He had gotten into a fight with a few slimes or something else and was injured fairly badly. He used a few healing potions to help himself and then continued to fight, after that he probably used another healing potion and then collapsed on the ground in Magic Shock.

Really, why did all people think that magic never had a price? The body needed food and fuel, and while a healing potion could produce some of that, and better made healing potions could even provide most of it, a toll was always taken on the body and the soul. Using more than one potion in a day was bad enough, but he had used one yesterday, and at least two more today.

We looked at each other for a few moments, this likely would have been tense if the outlander was capable of standing. Placing my bow and arrows down on the ground I regarded him patiently and a moment later he dropped his arm that held his knife. Possibly because he saw I wasn’t going to attack him but more likely because he simply couldn’t hold his arm up anymore.

Slowly making my way towards him he watched me with eyes that struggled to stay open. I picked up his strange metal bowl and filled it with water from the pool and held it to his lips. Slowly he drank the water as some of it ran down his chin.

With his clothes on I really noticed how similar our faces and bodies were. Upon stopping and thinking about that I am really glad I didn’t say anything like this to Talass. Still, once when I was very young I had seen an outlander when a Lamia from another tribe came to us with some outlanders to listen to our stories. Most of the outlanders were very strange looking with ears on top of their head, fur all over them and small useless tails above their legs.

This one could have almost been a Lamia if it weren’t for the lack of the tail.

When he finished the water I took some dried Kocha meat from a bag on my hip, tore it into small pieces and held it up to his mouth. Even more exhausted than just a moment ago he bit into it slowly, chewed it a few times and then swallowed it. Patiently I kept at it tearing off small piece after small piece and gave them to him until he had eaten the entire piece of meat. I would have loved to have kept feeding him but by this time he had fallen asleep in front of me.

Struggling I picked him up in my arms, he was far lighter than a Lamia but even still I had to struggle with him. Making my way back to his camp I laid him on the ground in front of his tent, still not able to find the entrance. Maybe it was sealed with some kind of magic?

Putting my hand on his neck I felt a pulse that was slow and steady. He would likely rest for at least the rest of the day and the night and then eat double his normal amount of food the next day, but I didn’t see any of the worst signs of magic shock so he should probably be fine if he didn’t have any more healing potions or herbs for the next few days.

Adding fuel to the fire and blowing on the embers I stoked the ashes until the fire started burning merrily in the small circle of stones he had made. While it was warm the nights could still be a little chilly and if he didn’t have any other clothes or blankets he might get cold later. Cleaning the spilled Moon Berries off of the ground along with the rest of the healing ingredients I was incredulous. Did he want monsters to come here? Everyone knows you don’t leave magic, even just ingredients laying around unless you wanted monsters or even animals investigating them. Taking them out of the camp I piled them near the growth of trees well away from where he slept.

Basic housekeeping done I was starting to feel a little bit resentful of the outlander. Here I had come on some grand adventure to meet an exotic stranger, eat strange food, listen to tales of far off places if I was lucky, and here he was unconscious in need of a mother.

“You’re being a very poor host you know. Eat my food, sleep in front of me.” Moving my face closer to his I looked at him even closer than before. He didn’t just look like a Lamia he looked like a handsome Lamia. “When you wake up you better make this up to me.” I said touching his oddly colored hair, brown like the earth.

With nothing else to do I decided to take a closer look at the outlanders things, of course I asked him first, I wouldn’t want to be rude after all. Fortunately, if he didn’t want me looking he was nice enough to keep quiet about it.

On the edge of the fire pit were the last few things that I noticed. Cookware made of a metal I had never seen the like of before, much like the bowl I had found near him and the pond. It looked like they had been made as a set. It was strong and light in a way that I found impossible, could it be steel? No, it was far too light. The final thing of note that I saw was the knife.

I was familiar with steel, the outlanders that had visited us long ago had had steel weapons and tools that they had given the tribe as gifts in return for the stories. This however was of a quality that even those didn't approach. It was longer than my hand, the blade shone with reflected light and it was so clear that I could see myself in it like looking into a pool of clear water. Looking closer at it I could also see that it was far sharper than anything I had ever seen before. Who was this person? Some noble on a quest to see the pool? How did he even get here? and if he was a noble where were the rest of his people?

Although I wanted to keep the knife, I placed it back down gently, I was no thief.

Settling in and trying to get comfortable I started eyeing the tent shortly after.

Well I didn’t have much else to do to pass the time.