A Swift Return

At some point the patter of the rain had lulled me to sleep. I was in the middle of a strange dream of color and temperature when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes, blinking several times to clear the tiredness from them. Looking back at me was Tiaria.

“How are you feeling?” I asked. I felt very sluggish.

“Surprisingly fine. What about you? You healed me, right? That must have taken a ton of magic.” Tiaria patted the stained area with the hole in her dress where her wound once was.

“I’m pretty tired, but otherwise fine. I wasn’t sure I could get out of this forest without you guiding me, do you think you can stand and walk?” I asked.

“Hmm, if you let go of me I probably could.” Tiaria covered her mouth as she laughed.

I was suddenly a bit embarrassed, realizing that I was still embracing Tiaria in my lap. I let go of her and she pushed off of my shoulders with both of her hands in order to stand up. She was short enough that she could walk out from the wooden cavern that we were staying in without bending her head down. She left one hand on the entrance and looked back at me as she exited.

“Coming?” She asked teasingly.

I pushed off the ground almost stumbling over, I was absolutely exhausted. Tiaria noticed and reached out with her hand to support me as I moved out of the tree.

“Are you sure you are okay?” Tiaria asked, still holding one hand behind my back to stabilize me.

“Yeah, I will be fine.” I responded. “Do you know how to get back to the town?” I asked.

Tiaria gave an expression as if she was holding back a laugh.

“Do you know how I am? Of course I can get back to the town. Although…” Tiaria looked down at the hole in her dress. “People in town seeing me in this state would be kind of embarrassing.”

The hole in Tiaria’s dress went from the bottom of her right rib cage all the way across to her left hip, it was quite revealing.

“Ah, sorry I would give you my robe, but you would probably like that even less.” I was imagining walking into town naked next to Tiaria and gave a laugh.

“We totally forgot to get you more clothes.” Tiaria sighed.

Tiaira and I looked at each other before laughing together. Despite the terrifying night prior we couldn’t help but enjoy each other's company. I stumbled a bit as Tiaria helped me walk forward. It was a long walk back to the city, but Tiaria helped make it bearable. As we arrived back at the gates to the city I noticed far more guards than usual. As soon as we were out of the forest and within visual range of the guards, several of them started running towards us. As the first guard reached us he immediately looked us over before giving a respectful nod to Tiaria.

“Lord Apprentice, are you wounded?” The soldier was clearly looking at the hole in Tiaria’s dress.

“I’m fine.” Tiaria said emphatically. “Yu, my partner, healed me. He needs to rest though, he nearly exhausted his magic to do so.”

The soldier looked towards me. “Thank you for giving your all for the Lord Apprentice.”

I waved off the soldier tiredly. Tiaria looked at me and back to the guards.

“I want to get Yu to his Inn and let him rest.” Tiaria said authoritatively.

“Understood Lord Apprentice, we will escort you to the Inn and then back to the Tabernacle, the high-father has called for you.”

Tiaria shook her head in agreement and started walking forward again, still supporting me. Two other guards made it to us. One of those guards was digging through a satchel on his side until he pulled out some clothe.

“Lord Apprentice, if I may.” The soldier said while holding the clothe out towards Tiaria.

“You may.” Tiaria said before stopping.

The guard wrapped the clothe around Tiaria, shielding the area of her dress which had been torn.

“Thank you.” Tiaria said.

“Of course ma’am.” The soldier answered.

We reached the gate where the soldiers waved off another guard who seemed like he was about to ask to see our trinkets. We walked through the gates before Tiaria stopped again and held up a hand to the guards who were still following.

“I will be fine escorting Yu to his Inn.” Tiaria said.

“I think it would be wise for us to escort you.” The soldier argued.

“No.” Tiaria simply stated.

The guards looked at each other before coming to an agreement. The guards wished us well and reminded Tiaria to head to the Tabernacle after she dropped me off. Tiaria agreed and we walked away from them, towards the town. Tiaria and I walked through the pastel town until we reached the Inn. As we entered the Inn Carie saw us and ran up to greet us.

“Yu, Lord Apprentice, are you okay?” Carie was looking at a spot of blood that was visible on Tiaria from under the clothe wrapped around her dress.

“We are fine.” Tiaria said with a smile. “I am going to help Yu up to his room.”

Clarie nodded her head and ran back to the kitchen area of the Inn. Tiaria helped me up the stairs of the Inn, one step at a time. We eventually reached the hallway that connected to my room.

“Which one are you in? Tiaria asked.

I pointed to one of the rooms towards the end of the hallway. Tiaria helped me walk over to it. She opened the door and led me inside.

“Here we go.” Tiaria said as she helped me get into bed.

I laid down, instantly closing my eyes. I was so tired that I thought I might immediately fall asleep. I opened my eyes again and looked up at Tiaria. She was smiling at me and reached out to touch my hand.

“Thank you again for not abandoning me.” Tiaria said.

“Of course I wouldn’t abandon you, what are you even saying?” I said with exhaustion.

Tiaria gripped my hand.

“I really mean it, thank you.” Tiaria placed her other hand on my forehead and smiled at me again.

“See you tomorrow.” Tiaria said with a happy tone. She then turned around and walked out of my room, closing the door behind her.

I closed my eyes and almost immediately fell into a dream. A dream of war and pain.