El got back to Alice's bed, set next to her, watched her sleep, her chest rising up and down. After a long moment, a thought occurred to him to place his hand on her wounded foot, pushing some of his energy and warmth into her, making her blood circulate better, hoping that way her wound would heal faster. He figured now that her wound had been closed up and would not bleed anymore, that might be the only way to help her.

Two rooms away, the girl with the hurt hand seemed to have a hell of a hard time, shrieking in pain from time to time, and that got Alice’s eyes to finally open.

El smiled at her and asked, “How are you feeling now?”

“Better.”

El nodded his head. “That’s good. I see your face is very red. You may have a fever.”

“I think I do.”

“But your leg… does it hurt when you move it?”

“Not so much,” she said and wiggled it. “It was you who were warming my leg, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. I hope that will help you.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you think you could get up? You think you could walk soon?” El asked.

“Probably,” Alice said and then grew suspicious seeing something on El’s face she did not understand. “Why are you asking me that?”

“Well… we need to leave. There is nothing here for us.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just found out that Verman could not be the one behind the attack of those beasts.”

“So…?”

“We need to track him. And if he is not here, we should not be here either.”

Alice got up to her elbows, frowning, and asked him, half upset, “Are you serious?”

“Very. And if you can't walk, I probably could buy a horse and a cart someplace. Although I have not seen any horses here. Maybe Holgar would know. He said he has a horse that is delivering firewood right now. Maybe for a good coin, I could buy that one,” El continued to talk, not noticing Alice's face growing darker, her eyes fixated on him in disbelief. “But, anyway, our days here are done. It was a short stay. We did what we could. And now, down the river, we need to go.”

Alice set up and raised her hand, trying to find the right word to say it, and when she could not, she just let it all out. “You’re supposed to be my tutor, my elder, my guide, my teacher. But, if this is what you want to teach me, to abandon people who are in dire need just so you could chase your vengeance, then… I don’t think- ”

“You do not understand,” El interrupted her, not ready to hear her say anything else.

“I actually do. You know those beasts will be back. And they might just come back in bigger numbers. And who will be here then to protect these people?”

“But-”

“And you know there is no way they can defend themselves against those creatures. But, you are deciding to leave and search for your vengeance, let your anger dictate your decision. Maybe that is why you failed last time. Did you ever stop to think about that?”

El felt as if a bucket full of ice had been thrown on top of his head. “Where is this coming from? How can you say that?”

“Am I supposed to be blind just because you’re? I’m not even sure I want to follow you. I mean, I know I’m helpless. I know I can’t do shit. But… to run away? Just like that?? Did you see that girl with the hurt hand? Don’t you hear her cries?”

“But I, I... saved her.”

“Yeah, for what? So she can be eaten tomorrow?”

“But...”

“No buts. It does not matter what is the reason you give. Doesn’t matter the excuse your brain can come up with. Nothing of that matters. The only thing that does is if you stay and fight,” she said in a single breath, then dropped down her body and pressed her head against the pillow. “Or find an excuse and run. But don’t kid yourself. If you do not help, these people will die. Such a shit thing to do. And, after I met you, I never suspected I would be ever saying that to you. Really.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Ed did not know how to answer her and looked at her dumbfounded.

She is probably suffering from a fever. That’s why she talks like that, he thought, but all he could utter was, “We’ll talk about this later. There is something I have to do first.”

Shaken, he ran downstairs and stormed out of the tavern. Trim was outside with a few people around him and wanted to ask him something, but El was just fuming with anger as he walked by, and Trim, seeing his face, had changed his mind and decided not to bother him.

El walked to the east, passed a few homes he had not seen yet, then walked into the forest and started following a small goat trail up.

His head hurt and he felt as if he was six years old with his hand caught in a cookie jar. Even worse, as if he was six years old and was scorned, lectured, and made feel awful for something that was not even his fault.

From all the things he thought might happen, that was certainly not on the list.

I was trying to heal her, and that's how she repays me? I guess people forget very fast. And what about the last night? If it was not for me, by now, she would be in the stomach of one of those things. What a brat!! Forget about her. I can just leave. Leave and let them all be. Why should I not? They don't respect me anyway.

He fumed as he started to walk through the snow, some places a knee deep, going up. He walked so fast and heedlessly that a few times, his leg went in a hole and he stumbled. Even more upset, he headed up faster.

El was looking for a particular tree, but none seemed right. One was too old, one was a hardwood that would be too heavy, one that was too soft.

There was a nice birch tree, but it was way too small, and if he chopped the piece he needed, he would have killed it.

So, up he went, with the end to foaming and fuming not in sight.

“I'm almost forty years old, and I got lectured by some spoiled eighteen years old! What the hell is wrong with me? I should have just told her to shut up, and... Why not? How dare she talk to me like that? What the hell does she know? Certainly nothing of hell?!?”

He looked left and right, up and down, and started to doubt he'd find any tree that would be suitable.

The wood was a great material for making the warden's staff. It was easy to manipulate and was a great resource to store Mana energy inside. Metals could be used as well, all sorts of metals. But, not for storing Mana for a prolonged period of time since Mana Energy is not very comfortable with metals. It fights it, corrodes it, and wants to leave it as soon as it enters it. That's why it is always best to combine the two materials. One for storing it, the other to conduct it for a quick release, just like Trim's sword served last night.

El knew that one day he might not even need a staff. Wardens who reached advanced levels were rumored to be able to store enough Mana in themselves to produce a hailstorm, and have the power to release them so fast straight out of their bodies that they could shoot bolts of lighting out of the palms of their hands or even their eyes. But, El could not fathom how long it would take to raise to that level, especially since he was stuck at 20 for the last two years.

It was not the first staff that he was making.

In the ancient forest of Lera, where trees lived in symbiosis with Elves and Zoyan, El made his first staff. Walking among the trees that were over a millennium years old, he placed his hand on their large trunks and felt their energy.

Some of those trees could cultivate Mana themselves, a bit of it, and all he had to do was connect with them, feel their slow breathing, their energy flow, and let them give him their precious gifts.

It might have been the best day of his life when he felt so young, so invincible, so full of enthusiasm and hope. To think that all of that magical forest was now left defenseless and was most likely to be burned down to the ground.

So, up he went, and steaming with anger, he was looking and feeling some trees, trying to find the right one.

But there was no such a tree there. Too young, too reckless. Too scared. Too cold.

He walked on, and at one point even doubted he may not find any tree worth making a staff out of.

It was a good half an hour before the sweat broke over his forehead and he ended up gasping for more air. He was on top of the ridge and turning around, he could see a few snow-covered rooftops down the valley. It was a pretty site if he could only enjoy it.

Finally on the ridge, taking in a few relaxing breaths, he spotted a lonely old cherry tree.

Standing so proudly there next to the edge and drop, defying wind and snow, yet it stood so tall. So strong.

“I bet it has the sweetest cherries of the valley,” he said looking at its branches, walking to it, and feeling its bark. “Yes, this will do. This is perfect,” he said, looking at one long low branch.

He took a few deep breaths, leaned his head against it, and wondered,

“What the hell was wrong with me earlier? Allow something like that to happen to me? Maybe it's because... Nobody ever talked down to me that way. I was always the best at everything. Every teacher, every trainer, every adult. My parents. Nobody. Ever talked down to me like that. And then...? To get so upset over her silly remarks? Maybe, maybe it's just that I did not expect that,” he talked to himself as he walked to the tree, feeling its bark, looking closer at its branches.

“Yeah, that's what it was. It was just the shock of how she reacted that got me,” he muttered while shaking his head, but finally feeling positive energy and a whole lot better. “I will not behave like a spoiled child, will not lose my temper again.”

If he only knew, that was not going to be the worst shocker of that day.