Magic Resistance

Liam regretted so much at the moment. Why couldn’t he just have kept his mouth shut? The protagonist had saved him and what did he get in return? “Pervert” shouted in his face.

He covered his face, unable to see how the other man reacted, he stuttered out:

“I… I didn’t mean that… sorry.”

Too afraid to even peek for a response in the form of an expression, Liam didn’t dare move in the arms of the man. Is this it? I already messed it up! He thought. It was upsetting enough to let a tear dramatically fall from his eye.

Pfth. He unexpectedly wasn’t thrown off the horse, nor was there a knife to his throat, instead, he heard laughter?

“Aren’t you an amusing one! What’s your name?”

Liam slowly raised his head, the masked man’s mouth was turned upwards, he was actually smiling. Liam found the smile was quite entrancing, if he wasn’t careful, he might be the one falling for this guy.

“Liam,” He carefully whispered.

“Liam, I am Karthremith.” The man proudly said.

“...”

Can I even pronounce that? Liam started to feel more comfortable, and decided to ask where they were heading.

“Where are we heading, Karth?” He asked.

Karthremith gave him a glance, his reaction definitely came from the newfound nickname he’d received, but after some thinking, the black-clad man seemed to have accepted it.

“The camp, you’re still quite weak,”

“Aha, thank you,”

Karth’s response sounded a bit like an insult, he wasn’t that weak, right? Not just anyone could’ve survived an attack from a monster hound! Even though he probably only survived by cheer luck… and then he did end up nearly dying from eating fruit. Perhaps his luck wasn’t very desired after all.

His mind wandered back to the mention of magic resistance. This was a world of magic, being unable to handle it sounded like an issue, but Karth seemed knowledgeable.

"What does it mean to have a low resistance to magic?" Liam finally inquired.

Karth took a moment to think, he switched up their position so as to let Liam sit on his own in front of him. When Liam realised he'd completely forgotten about being in Karth's arms, his cheeks began feeling hot, he quickly adjusted and waited for an answer.

Karth held his arms around Liam, to make sure he didn't fall, and simply said, "It’s as it sounds.”

“...”

A blank expression washed over Liam, “Care to elaborate?”

Karth was a man of few words unless asked for more. Now that his arms were free from carrying a person, he lifted his hand to support his head in a thinking pose.

“To say it in simple terms,” Was Karth implying something? Liam thought, as he intently listened. “Your body is weak to magic, it's unusual to see in humans, lower creatures tend to have low tolerance, hence they live underground where the magic in the air is sparser. But since humans have lived alongside it for so long, most aren’t affected by it.”

Liam took it all in while trying to balance on horseback; it was his first time riding. From what Karth had said, he shouldn’t be rejecting magic yet that was exactly what was happening. Liam couldn’t help but wonder if it was the apple, it had been the only thing he’d consumed so far.

“I can stabilise you, however you’ll start to get sick if I don’t do it for a longer period of time,”

“Huh?”

“It’s a skill from my ancestors, one passed down through family, but we haven’t used it for long.”

Karth was getting more comfortable, both visibly and the fact that he now used longer sentences. Looking up at the sky, it was now turning a burning orange, nightfall was creeping in. From afar, small grey tents stood pitched on a hill surrounded by shrubbery. Liam had to squint in order to even tell there were people walking around.

“How come you don’t use it anymore?” He asked.

The man’s face turned grim, Karth acted hesitant but answered nonetheless, “We used to be close to the Strigoi and they used to be weak to magic, my family assisted them in receiving resistance until they no longer needed it and then the entire race betrayed us…”

It turned quiet, Liam was unsure of how to respond. Whether Karth needed someone to talk to or just someone listening, he couldn’t tell. They were strangers after all, meddling might lead to unwanted situations. He glanced at the man, his black hair flowed with the light wind. They were nearing the camp.

“What-” Just as Liam wanted to ask about the Strigoi, as he was uncertain but believed it was creatures close to vampires, a dark blanket fell over him. He could faintly see through it and before he could question it, Karth’s voice spoke up.

“Don’t make noise, wait until I take it off.” He whispered.

Was he getting smuggled into the camp? He listened to the bustling noise around them, from what he could see, silhouettes moved around them. He heard the people gathering, like a family at dinner; voices came from every turn.

“Lord Karthremith! You’ve returned so early, is something wrong?”

“My lord! My lord! Look! I’ve made you another mask to wear, but with a beautiful pattern fitting for social events!”

Liam tried to peek, he also wanted to see the new mask. He also wanted to explore, but he felt a hand stroking his left arm, reaching for the corner to remove the cloth.

“What’s under the cloth? Looks like a body.”

A slight panic rose within him, Liam scouted around him for an answer. Then he was reminded that he was unable to see clearly because of the coverage.

“Don’t touch.” He heard Karth saying, followed by the sound of a slap. The curious bystander retrieved their hand, rubbing it with the other.

Karth’s dark tone continued, “I’m going to my tent, no one will interrupt nor disturb.”

“Yes, yes, of course!” The people around shouted in unison.

As his pulse still felt high, Liam let out a breath he’d been holding in. Being smuggled in was clearly no problem for the prince. Though he found it slightly odd when the crowd referred to Karth as lord, he’d assumed it would be ‘his majesty’ or ‘his grace’. Personally he thought ‘grace’ would fit Karth’s profile more.

The horse neighed and continued forward, soon enough he felt a pair of strong arms lift him up with the blanket still hiding him. His faint view turned completely dark as they entered the large tent. Karth laid him down on something soft like a bed, he removed the cloth and took a second to look at Liam’s hair, which pointed in all directions.

Noticing the attention, Liam quickly fixed his locks as he sat up on the bed. He glanced around the tents inside. Several boxes were scattered around, a table covered in maps and documents took up the middle of the room and an oil lamp hung from the roof.

“Why was I hiding?” Liam confusedly asked.

“The group isn’t… fond of other people,” Karth responded.

Oh, the royals seem a bit self-centred. Not even open to meet others…

“Since you’re camping outside… Are you on an expedition or heading to the castle?” He inquired.

Karth whipped his head back, as he launched for Liam, “How did you know we’re heading for the castle?” He asked, eyes dark and arm pressing the other down.

The startling motion scared the clearly weaker human, Liam motioned his hands as if someone was pointing a gun to his face. He tried to speak, but the stuttering made it difficult to understand.

“I-I w-was just,” He tried to take a breath, “Guessing,”

Karth glared at him with suspicion, it took a while but he eventually let his guest go. He backed away and grabbed a bottle of unknown substance to give as an apology.

Liam held his own chest, slowly regaining his breath and calming his heart. Karth was scary, even though he was still handsome up close, those eyes harboured true hatred for a second. The author should have gone for a more gentle prince! Such a rough character was quite frightening in real life.

“Why did you suddenly attack me?” He tried to yell in a hoarse voice, though as it trailed off it practically looked as if he’d mouthed the last part.

“Spies…” Karth said, handing over the bottle.

Liam received it, “Then why bring me in before making sure, doesn’t seem very safe.” He said, as he took the cork out and held the flask to his lips.

After clunking down a good amount of what he thought was water, the human spouted a fountain of red onto his saviour.

“Eugh?!” He coughed several times to get the taste out, a while sooner his coughing turned harsher. It was no longer because of the terrible liquid; his heart felt hot, he clenched the fabric over his chest. His vision gradually got blurry as he panted with difficulty.

“What’s wrong?!” A panicked voice asked him. Liam couldn’t answer as he tried to look up.

Karth approached rapidly, holding a hand on the other man’s back. He glanced around and the bottle caught his interest, he picked it up, sniffed the contents and frowned.

“Damn it! This isn’t water. Alcohol contains too much magic for your body to handle,”

As he laid in pain, Liam couldn’t understand what Karth was saying. Wanting to say it’s fine, his arm raised until it was grabbed by a warm hand. Before Liam could react to anything, the entirety of his body was pulled into the other’s arms.

Karth grabbed his chin to make him look up while Liam tried to push him away, confused at what was happening. Suddenly a pair of soft lips touched him. Liam’s eyes widened and he tried even more desperately to push the other away until he felt the pain drain away.