"There they are!", Philippa cried with her bright voice and began to wave with both hands. Instantly, Ben and Aletta had also righted themselves and stood beside her at the entrance to the cave in which they had sought shelter. Cale, however, seemed to have noticed them long ago, as he sprinted toward the group with long strides. Bens face turned pale when he realized that William was being carried by Cale, so he instantly exited the cave to meet Cale, but stopped directly in front of the rain.
"What happened?", he questioned in horror as Cale came to a stop beside him. Gratefully, Ben picked up his friends body and took him deeper into the cave. Carefully, he laid William down on a previously prepared bed and looked at his friend in near panic. William himself seemed to have no strength at all. He only gave Ben a weak smile before he began to cough. They had been running through the wind and weather for a good hour and William noticed with each passing minute how he was getting worse and worse. He tried desperately to stay awake and had even tried to keep up the conversation with Cale so as not to fall victim to fatigue.
"Too much. The storm caught us earlier than we planned..."
Cales words were clear, but William noticed the anxious tone that accompanied his sentence.
"...and I think he has a fever."
William wanted to grab his forehead, but didn't manage to lift his hand at all. His body resisted the movement with all its might. Aletta had already rushed to his side and was caringly examining him with her eyes and hands. Philippa had also come to Bens side and placed her hand on his shoulder as she looked down at William.
"Undress him, dry him off and give him fresh clothes. Let Aletta heal his injuries", she spoke quietly. Ben only nodded in agreement and relieved his friend of his wet clothes. They had been apart for barely an hour, how had it gotten so bad so quickly?
"I think he's been in danger of hypothermia for a while", Aletta interjected as she carefully felt Williams pulse and looked at his abrasion with tears in her eyes. The comment only made Ben feel more guilty than he already did. "The weather must have pushed him over the edge."
Philippa had pulled a heat crystal out of her pocket and activated it before setting it down next to William and taking a step back. Her eyes wandered to Cale, who was standing at the entrance, also carefully ridding himself of his wet clothes. He looked terrible, littered by dirt and obviously exhausted from the running. She watched as he looked at his shaking hands before he began to remove several layers of clothing and opened his bag.
Whatever he was thinking about at the moment, he seemed scared.
At that moment, Philippa felt Aletta begin to use her abilities, so she returned her attention to William. For a brief moment, he contorted his face before relaxing and letting Aletta heal his wounds. This action surprised both Ben and William, but it surprised Philippa the most. She knew perfectly well that Aletta was trying to hide her abilities. But just now she dropped all precautions towards Cale and worriedly took care of the injured man.
When the archer looked back at Cale, he was putting on dry pants before he started rubbing his dripping hair dry. Meanwhile, he caught a glimpse of Aletta, which is why he inevitably noticed Philippas gaze and smiled. It was as if to tell her that he knew long ago.
"Can you cure his fever as well?"
Bens question filled the room after a few moments of silence and William opened his eyes as well. The pain in his limbs was gone, but his body was hot and cold at the same time. He noticed how he had difficulty focusing his sight, as everything was blurry before his eyes. The only thing he could still barely make out were the voices of the others.
"I don't know. I haven't cured diseases in a long time and fever is the worst when it comes to healing. I can't estimate how much mana I'm going to need", she gave out worriedly, cursing herself. Williams gaze wandered from her blonde hair to the person sitting next to her. It was Cale, who was now wearing different clothes and looking at him with a friendly smile. A moment later, William felt Cale put his cold hand on his forehead and gratefully closed his eyes.
"I'll help you, don't worry. Take as much mana as you require", the black-haired mage finally spoke up. William could detect Cales voice, followed by a surprised clearing of Alettas throat, but decided to simply trust his companions. Cale had held out his hand to Aletta before continuing to speak. "You can use mana transfer, right?"
Aletta looked at him in wonder before nodding in confirmation and resting her delicate hand on his. Afterwards, she could feel an invisible barrier loosening around Cale and stared at him for a moment, stunned. She could sense mana, quite a bit actually.
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"What the..."
"Is that enough?"
Cale interrupted Aletta before she could continue. She herself was silent for a moment before closing her eyes and focusing on Cales mana. She was no longer mentally present at all, having been completely absorbed into his world. A vast sea of mana spread out before her, pushed back by three great invisible walls. And this sea was silent, completely silent. Aletta took a step toward the clear mana and felt it begin to slide in her direction.
This mana was enormous, but what horrified Aletta even more was when she realized that this was not all. This feeling, the second mana, that Cale was carrying, she recognised it.
Igrikum.
She opened her eyes and noticed Cales gentle smile, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. Aletta nodded before running her hand over Williams face and starting to work her magic. Carefully, she absorbed Cales mana and mixed it with her own to purify and use it. She then focused on working her healing abilities on William, who was no longer responding to outside stimuli.
High-Mages are the strongest people to exist in this world. The sheer mass of mana they possess can keep entire cities alive with mana for years. They are almost as valuable as pure mana crystals, which is why they are so rare. Aletta knew very well that there were only 12 High-Magicians on the entire continent, and all of them lived in Altona. But what made them so famous was not just their sheer mass of mana, but their Igrikum. Each of the 12 and even the Eldest possessed it, even though they generally try to keep their abilities hidden from the public.
One would think that the High-Mages would not have to fear for their lives, but even though they were so powerful, they could not compete with the dragons in a test of strength. None of them could, not even the Eldest himself. They all were equally powerless against the threat of the dragons, and that was exactly what made Altona so desirable. The country had its focus on training mages. The Magistrat had his own school and whoever was accepted into it had a glorious future in sight.
Philippa and Ben both distanced themselves from them as they had no way to help. Ben remained standing at the entrance of the cave while Philippa tried to put things in order and clean and dry the wet clothes.
It took quite a while for the highly concentrating mages to heal William. The whole time, Cale had his hand on Williams forehead, watching him slowly drift off to sleep.
Cale was angry and wanted to scream, even though he couldn't allow himself to. All along, he knew full well that William wasn't doing particularly well physically, which was why he hated himself for not taking action much sooner. Inwardly, he sighed as he concentrated on giving Aletta every opportunity to heal his old friend. He couldn't risk anyone paying for his failure.
At least, they had arrived in the mountains of Sylve and managed to find shelter from the storm in a cave. The room was small, so the heating crystal floating in the middle was enought to keep them from freezing. Philippa had covered the entrance with a blanket, so that the cold air could not enter unhindered, and a few steps away hung all their wet clothes. For once, Philippa began to take care of supper today, so as not to be a further burden to Cale.
Alettas magic dissipated, so all three of them silently paid attention to her. She let go of Cales hand and sat back for a moment before taking a deep breath.
"I'm afraid that's the best I can do", she admitted, exhausted. Ben had gotten up and quietly stepped to her side. He crouched down carefully beside the two mages before glancing at William and continuing with his question.
"What about him?"
"He's asleep", Cale explained calmly before standing up to make room for Ben. He watched the worry on his face turn to relief and turned away from them. "We should all get some food and sleep, then tomorrow we'll figure out what to do next."
He sought approval from Philippa before beginning to help her prepare. Aletta, on the other hand, flopped down on her couch while Ben merely sat down next to William, leaning against the wall and somehow resting his head on his bent knee. You could sense that everyone was pretty exhausted. Therefore, Philippa and Cale were talking quietly as they prepared a small, hot meal together. Not wanting to disturb the others, they did so later as they brought the quick meal to those almost asleep. During the meal, hardly any words were exchanged, everyone seemed to have their own thoughts about the days events. And after they were all full, Philippa lay down next to Aletta and together they tried to sleep.
Cale, however, stepped out of the den to get some fresh air before using his magic to conjure up a wide, thick blanket and drape it around his shoulders. He hadn't intended to show his companions how strong his magical powers were, but since Aletta was obviously massively impressed by his mana pool, he couldn't really hide it anymore. It had been inevitable. For everyones protection, Cale would love to offer any sacrifice, as hardly anything had similar value to the four people sleeping behind him.
Cale sat down on the ground at the entrance of the cave, so that he would get a cold breeze in his face occasionally, but not be exposed to the strong storm. Leaning his back against the sloping wall, he looked out over the horizon stretching before him. At least as much as the storm made him see. There was nothing left of the otherwise wonderful forest, it looked as if a war was raging. Far and wide, only chaos.
People who were still outside were in mortal danger. Luckily for Cale, he is able to protect himself with the help of his magic, otherwise the whole thing probably would have ended in a tragedy. But with the cold, Cale couldn't help but recall negative memories. He had to recall the icy winds in Frignez while sitting hidden in a hollow with a group of people, waiting for the total destruction to come. The same feeling he felt then was creeping up on him again.
It was fear. Fear for his life, fear for the lives of others, and fear that the same fate would catch up with him again.