Journey

Jin

Considering we only had half a day to travel on the first day, we made great progress. According to Erinara, we were already bordering the edge of the land of warlock’s territory. The sun was slowly disappearing over the horizon. We made camp in a tranquil grove of a forest, enormous light red colored trees stretched into the sky around us. I set up a campfire to cook some of the rations Kayon prepared for us. In the meantime, Erinara was slowly walking around the outer border of the camp.

She returned by the time the food was ready. I handed her the first portion.
“What were you doing just now?”, I asked, roasting another piece of meat over the fire.
“I used some reagents to cast a spell that will alarm the both of us if anything gets close to our camp during the night. Only we can hear its effect.”
I looked over the location she walked by, unable to spot the mechanism she had set up. It appeared to be magically concealed as well.
“That’s very handy. And here I was, wanting to offer to take the first watch”, I laughed.
“Welcome to the world of magic, mister knight”, she joked back.
“It gets better too”, she added, “I can retrieve the reagents before we move on.”
“It’s crazy how different I see magic now compared to just two weeks ago. Before, I saw the only use of magic as being a threat to the kingdom. But there is so much you are able to create almost out of thin air, the sheer utility is baffling”, I said.
“Well, it’s not like you’re wrong on the first thing either. Magic encompasses everything. Some rise to power in the land of warlocks through unmatched destructive force, some through effective combinations or innovation with different types of spells, some have such a grasp of defensive spells that they are nigh invulnerable. And then there’s those who rise above them still, warlocks who combine singular specialties like that to truly become pinnacles of sorcery”, Erinara explained.
“Which one would you count yourself toward?”, I asked.
She pondered my question, silently taking bites out of the flame grilled meat. The campfire crackling softly was the only sound in the meantime.
“As a disciple of an executive, I would be considered a warlock scratching at the apex of magic powers”, she said calmly, “People used to be particularly terrified at the prospect of talking to me, unless they considered themselves more powerful than me.”
“Is that normal for the land of warlocks? To fear the strong?”
“Not necessarily, the general rule is that people with more power are respected. Though it is reasonable to fear the strong.” She trailed off to silence.
“I don’t understand what reason there could be to be afraid of you”, I said in between mouthfuls of food.
Erinara remained quiet. Instead of saying anything, she stretched her right hand forward. Shadowy tendrils conjured from her fingers and shot toward me, coming to a halt mere inches away from my body.
“Yeah, you are far from ordinary”, she burst into loud laughter this time, “you know that anyone else would have panicked in that situation, don’t you think so?”
“There was no harmful intention in your motions, that much was obvious”, I explained, while calmly flipping another piece of meat, “I can’t imagine you’d try to harm me, that idea is an impossibility. Do you want another portion?”
The tendrils dissipated, leaving only the campfire’s dancing flame in the growing darkness.
“Your combat intuition is very refined, I’ll give you that. But not even reacting is incredibly unusual, you know that right? And yes, that would be great, thank you.”
I handed her the cooked steak.
“Maybe you just aren’t as scary as you think you are?”, I teased.
Erinara chuckled softly. “Guess not.”
We ate the rest of our meal in comfortable silence.

The night passed without any interference. Thanks to Erinara’s magic, we were both able to fully rest without any breaks. I woke up slightly before dawn, making sure to not look in her direction. I was not going to risk taking a glance at her face when she wasn’t awake. Erinara woke up as the sun rose. Sunlight shimmered through the crown of leaves in tight beams, wherever the yellow leaves didn’t obstruct it. While she retrieved the spellcasting components she used yesterday evening, I quickly packed up everything around the camp.

She uncovered the rune encased feather by lifting the piece of cloth she put over it before going to sleep, instantly revealing the guiding light for today’s trip.

“It looks like we’re going to leave the land of warlocks today. Do you know where this could be pointing us to?”, Erinara asked me.
The green lightly softly flowed northwest again. The kingdom of crests laid southwest of our location.
I reflected about our situation.
“It shouldn’t be part of the kingdom as far as I know. Then again, for twenty years of my life I was but a farmhand, I am not exactly scholarly”, I admitted.
“Then we will have to wait and see”, Erinara said. She empowered us with her magic once again. “We have a lot of ground to cover.”
“Yes, let’s move”, I agreed.

During our journey, we talked about my past, before being chosen as a hero.
“You… need to use up hours of the day to tend to and harvest crops?”, Erinara asked finally, sounding absolutely shellshocked.
“Yeah! It is very physical labor, especially in the harvesting season. Not to mention having to keep all the animals in check all the time. There is always something to do, from dawn till dusk.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
I shrugged. “It was the role I was born into in the kingdom. Just kind of had to accept that, you know? If I hadn’t been chosen as the next hero, I would still be tending to the farms right now, without a thought in the world”, I paused briefly, “Instead I’m on a mission with one of the most powerful warlocks in existence to look for a wartime legend of the kingdom of crests”, I added, trying to keep the conversation light.

Erinara walked in front of me, halting our movement. She placed her hand on my cheek slowly, as if she wasn’t fully sure of her own action.
“I don’t, actually. I act the exact opposite. It is my refusal of accepting what I was ‘born’ into that made me who I am now. I hardly would be me now otherwise. I most certainly would not have the powers and privileges I do now. Clearly, you have many more skills than being ‘just a farmhand’, Eaglecrest.”
Even though she said it so casually, I realized what she was telling me was something extremely profound and close to her soul.
Pulling her hand away, she added: “What you want to be is only for yourself to decide.”

Despite the land being filled with an enveloping warmth that only increased as the sun climbed higher, her hand had been frigidly cold. And yet her touch felt comfortable, as if she understood my thoughts exactly. Before I could even comment on it, she already turned around and kept following the dim green light of the feather.