Fantasy Primacy [Closed]

[cleopat]

Tamsin hardly believed she knew anyone that could help her. She may have met a few mages along the road, and she hardly recalled meeting any fae, but she didn’t know any by name, or where to find them. It was hopeless.

This friend of Varick’s may be her only hope of finding an answer.

At least he seemed willing to travel with her to Tresse. That was a long journey. Tamsin hadn’t traveled that long or far without staying in another town for a few days along the way. Could she ask if they could visit Antalya along the way? It had been a long time…and maybe one of her parents’ old friends, if they were still around, could answer some questions about her heritage.

“Tomorrow?” Tamsin repeated, a bit flabbergasted. She had expected to stay for at least a few more days. She hardly had the coin she wanted before traveling again, and admittedly, she was still a bit exhausted from traveling.

But she couldn’t complain. Not when Varick was willing to escort her to Tresse and introduce her to a friend that may have some answers.

So she nodded. “Alright, I’ll be ready.” It was too late to get cleaned and perform again that night. She may be lucky to even get some dinner in before she fell asleep, now that the adrenaline was wearing off.

~~~

Drazhan remembered in his time of grief that he had wanted to destroy everything around him. The town, the people, the Council of Light, everything. But there had been too many guards. And despite being a Primal, he was still only one against many. It would have been a losing battle.

He didn’t destroy anything. He mourned, though. They had at least let him have the body, and he buried her in an idyllic flower patch right outside the town. A marker still stood there the last time Drazhan found himself in the town, about a year ago.

At least he had that one thing.

“She was amazing,” he whispered. To Drazhan, Sophia had been his whole world, and a soul who could do no wrong.

Too bad others didn’t quite see the same thing he did.

Drazhan hummed when Kirsikka agreed to take the watch. He rolled over, his back now facing her, as he attempted to fall asleep. “Good night,” he whispered.

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick arched a brow at Tamsin’s confusion. She did want help sooner than later, right? Thankfully, she drew herself back from that, and seemed to agree that tomorrow would be fine. “Don’t worry. We’ll have to stop along the way. This won’t be enough gold to carry us endlessly.” They’d both have to be on the lookout for jobs.

Sure, Varick could hunt down enough to survive, but they’d both prefer the comforts of towns now and then, and not having to look for clean water constantly. That was the struggle, really. Varick could do with a bit of not-so-clean water, but he didn’t want to subject Tamsin to that if it could be avoided.

Sure, she was magical, but he didn’t know if that translated to a stronger gut or not.

He’d rather they not find out.

“I’ll meet you at your inn when everything’s tidied up on my side,” Varick said.

He didn’t get to say more. Most of the townspeople gave them odd looks, or sympathetic ones for Tamsin. Varick did not get the sympathy. But one individual had to come and address it, “Tamsin?” Erik, of course, “Are things so bad you have to resort to, ugh, cleaning the sewers to get gold?” his nose wrinkled in disgust as the smell really hit him.

Varick just stared at Erik and stated bluntly, “The monster tried to attack her.”

Erik’s expression shifted. Well, at least he wasn’t heartless, “Oh—Tamsin, I’m sorry,” perhaps more embarrassed than sincere, but it was something, Varick supposed. “Do you need anything?”

~***~

Drazhan slept, and Kirsikka didn’t bother him until the morning, when it was time to move on. They’d get into a normal shift pattern the next day, where Drazhan would take the first shift because creating food was still difficult when she couldn’t grow it from the ground but had to keep using their dried vegetation.

They came to dead forests eventually, and that helped with the problem of growing kindling. The trees existing at all seemed strange to Kirsikka, given how dried out the land was elsewhere, and it proved to be a sign of monsters in the area. At least monsters were something they could deal with.

They could see the ruins of towns along the way, as well – but they were careful to avoid them, and the ghosts that no doubt lurked with in. That didn’t stop the dreams Kirsikka had, of an icy hellscape and a singing woman – and a bright, bright light, that seemed to dim with the singing. It was a strange dream.

Kirsikka knew enough to understand the prophetic aspects of it, but she didn’t understand it, and didn’t really think Drazhan would, either.

No, the problem came in the form of a drekavac pack, strange humanoid-canines with a terribly poisonous bite. Kirsikka dealt with the poison in both of them, the potions she made with the elves proved fortuitous, but it lingered in a way the antidote couldn’t heal – for her. She felt it nipping away at her inside, in a way that fire of Malina had constantly frayed away the channel of fire for her.

‘Which channel?’

The answer came soon enough when she tried to produce the vining food that night for the horses. The plants sprouted from the fruits – but it was hard, and the growth sputtered and withered before Kirsikka forced more of herself into it, cursing under her breath until enough was grown for the horses.

 

[cleopat]

Varick seemed to understand some of Tamsin’s worries. She nodded, “Okay.” She could sing at whatever tavern that they happened upon, and Varick could find small jobs along the way. They would get their rest, and their gold.

Tamsin was still a little disappointed that she wouldn’t get to spend as much time in Ritherhithe as she wanted.

She tried to ignore the looks the townspeople gave them, a mix of pity and odd. She certainly understood that, as they both were dirtied, smelly, and even bloodied from the corpse of the frog. Her dress would have to be thrown out, and another one would need to be picked up eventually.

A familiar grating voice cut through her thoughts, and Tamsin groaned. She really wasn’t in the mood for Erik’s taunts, but fortunately, Varick was to her rescue, which shut Erik up fast. She even raised a brow at the concern he seemed to have for her. That’s a new one.

“A bath,” she stated obviously, “followed by a large pint and some food.” Dealing with a monster was exhausting work, and she would like to enjoy all three things at once. Maybe even a set of warm arms to crawl into, but that wasn’t happening.

~~~

Drazhan didn’t have a dreamless sleep. That would simply be too fortunate for him. After an evening of recounting the story of Sophia, he dreamt of the very woman, of being back with her in their shared little home, with her carefully tended garden, and the sounds of the creek that wasn’t too far away.

Eventually the dreams shifted Sophia’s blonde hair into red, and that was when Drazhan woke up.

They moved on and established a normal routine for shifts. Drazhan always took the first shift, and Kirsikka took over when she woke from her magic-induced slumber. The barren landscape shifted into dead forests, and gathering kindling for fire became so much easier. Once in the dead forest, Drazhan became much more alert for the presence of monsters.

He had a feeling things weren’t as dead as they would like to appear to be.

Ruins of towns were avoided, and their first problem came from a drekavac pack. Drazhan hadn’t dealt with those before, but he knew enough of them to tell Kirsikka about the poison in their bite. She dealt with the poison in them, and Drazhan finished them off with several slashes. Bad dogs.

Drazhan noticed nothing wrong with Kirsikka until that night, when she tried to produce the vining food for their horses like every other night. But this night, she seemed to have more difficulty than usual, cursing under her breath. “Is everything okay?” he asked, a bit concerned. “Are you beginning to wear your magic out too much?”

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Reasonable requests.’ Varick thought. He intended to take care of those matters as well when he got back to his own inn. Well – after visiting the governor. Odds of good pay were better if he came in reeking and bloodied. He wasn’t sure why that worked out so well, but it did. Apparently, they liked to see the proof truly smeared upon the hunter.

Erik seemed to think the request reasonable enough to take a silver coin from a pocket, and toss it to Tamsin, “Well, get those things done, then.” The coin was likely a balm to his own embarrassment as much as an apology; it was one thing to mock Tamsin for her singing, another to torment her after she’d just dealt with a murderous monster. “Maybe swing by for a song or two where I’m at.”

He recovered just as well, of course, smile flicking back up on his lips, “Doubt it,” Varick said, but would move on as Erik did, rolling his eyes a bit at the weird rivalry between them, but at least it hadn’t amounted to anything terrible.

Hells, Tamsin got a coin out of it!

If only his rivalries could be so kind.

He would take Tamsin to the door of her inn, but wouldn’t follow her in. The last thing the inn needed was his dirty boots on their floor, as well, “Try to rest, Tamsin. Don’t think too much about this. It won’t help.” Though he knew how likely it was she’d spend many hours obsessing over it, he really hoped she’d just sleep.

~***~

‘That’s not a thing.’ That was what she wanted to tell Drazhan, and it wasn’t technically wrong. One didn’t wear magic out. Sure, one could exhaust themselves, like one could exhaust themselves by running, but it wasn’t like wearing them out. Just a bit of rest, and everything would be fine.

Magic didn’t sprain like an ankle.

“No,” she muttered, “but we might have to start going to the elves in a day or two for food, or scavenge one of the ruins,” at least this didn’t feel like it had a complementary physical component. Her leg wasn’t rotting off from the poisoned bite, and the potion had healed it well, though she had the sinking suspicion potions were the only thing healing her anymore.

She wasn’t sure how long it would take even a bruise to heal, but she had an idea month was more likely than a week or two.

“I don’t know if that poison, or the dogs themselves, had a magic component, or if it’s some remnant from Malina’s attack, or hells, if I’m being drained in my sleep,” she knew fuck-all, honestly, “but I’m losing this channel of magic and I don’t know how to fix it. Just like I couldn’t fix the fire channel.”

But it didn’t matter, in the end.

“That’s not as important as dealing with whatever’s done this to Pomachion, though. So long as we have the two mirrors, I can always make portals back and forth.” So it was fine. Everything was fine.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin was flummoxed at the offer of a silver coin from Erik. She expected further mockery, or just a shrug of his shoulders before telling her to go get those things done derisively. But he didn’t. “Oh, um, thank you,” she said before he left. She wouldn’t swing by for a song of two, though. She’s heard enough of his performances in the past.

She’ll survive without one more.

She and Varick walked back to her inn, and Tamsin hated the way the sewer water began to feel caked onto her skin. “I can’t make any promises about not thinking about this situation too much,” she responded honestly with a shake of her head. No doubt she would be up late with all sorts of thoughts running through her head.

But she could promise one thing, “I’ll relax, get that bath and some food, though. Maybe that will help calm me down.” A warm bath always did wonders, as well as a full belly with some mead. She wished she could even sing a song or two, but it was best that she didn’t. Not tonight. That may just even rile her up some more.

“Thank you, Varick, for everything.” She leaned up and gave him a kiss on his dirty cheek, not caring in the least about the sewer water or the frog blood.

~~~

Drazhan frowned as Kirsikka admitted that they may have to go back to the elves very soon. The ruins most likely didn’t have any food that wasn’t rotten, so if Kirsikka was indeed feeling weaker by the day because of her magic, then they would have to rely on the generosity of the elves for food.

Maybe he would even try to convince her to take a day or two to rest some more.

And then she admitted to something more going on. “Maybe you should go back to that Healing House to see what was going on,” he softly suggested. “If you’re losing another channel of magic that you can’t fix, it sounds like we need to take a break and get you seen, or else you won’t be in any shape to face whatever it is we’re hunting down.”

Drazhan won’t be able to fight this thing alone, he was certain of that. An exhausted Kirsikka who was losing more of her magic? She would be useless, maybe even a liability. Drazhan couldn’t fight and protect her at the same time.

“Obviously I can’t force you to go back, seeing as I don’t have any magic, but I think it’s time we take a break for a day and go back to the elves for a little help.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick was surprised, to say the least, by Tamsin leaning in and kissing him. He would not have kissed himself in this situation. Especially not on the cheek. He was pretty sure that was dirty. Still, he couldn’t take that back or tell her that was a bad idea. So, a bit of an amused huff parted his lips instead.

Ridiculous.

Cute.

But mostly ridiculous.

“That’ll be enough,” he would not kiss her in turn. This kiss was enough for now. He still wasn’t sure where this whole…thing was going between them. With them. Whatever it was. That was a problem for the road. Not for tonight when Tamsin had a lot to think about, and should be doing that on her own.

“Good night, Tamsin,” he bid her that, before he would, indeed, go by the governor’s place and get his gold, before heading to his own inn to get cleaned up and eat a bit. The night would be only too short – he’d be up early enough, and packed up all too soon, but he still felt tired by the time he arrived outside of Tamsin’s inn to see if she was up and ready.

What he wouldn’t give for another hour.

~***~

Kirsikka sighed as Drazhan suggested the healing house, “This isn’t something they can help with, Drazhan. Not in a way that matters,” temporary fixes were suggested, with the hint it could make things worse. Drazhan didn’t understand magic, though. And quite frankly, Kirsikka didn’t really understand this, either.

“They…okay,” she sighed, “they operate on the idea that magic has underlying emotions that power it. It’s a popular theory, I got into several debates about it, because the bullshit that love is the most powerful force in the world was posited several times, and long story short, I proved everyone wrong on Mont Pellinor,” okay, some could argue that was love given the motive, but Kirsikka was pretty fucking sure it was hatred.

Love didn’t feel empty.

“Truth is, I don’t know what powers magic. I’ve wondered for a very long time, and it’s obvious it isn’t just emotion, or else you’d be able to use magic, but it may have some influence,” she said, “all the elves are going to be able to do is tell me what part of me is fucked beyond repair, Drazhan. That’s all they could do about the fire channel.”

There was the obvious part that by knowing, she could have done something to improve herself, but she obviously wasn’t doing any of that, because she didn’t have time for the extensive therapy it would take to unfuck herself. “They can’t fix it, and I don’t care enough to fix myself. I’ll have what matters.” Ice.

That whole losing fire thing was at least a boon. The things she cared about had really gone down in number, and there hadn’t been much to begin with. Drazhan had ended up with a slot, and then, well…this mission.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin nodded, “Goodnight, Varick.” She headed inside the inn, where she asked the innkeeper for a hot bath, a hot meal, and a large pint. She ate her food ravenously while the bath was being set up, and as soon as she finished the last drop of her mead, she headed upstairs to soak in the bath until it turned lukewarm.

She would get out before it turned cold.

As predicted, once she was dressed for sleep, she couldn’t actually relax well enough to immediately fall asleep. Her mind spun with possible scenarios of what was going on with her, if she was a danger to herself and others, and why hadn’t the power manifested before now? Or had they to some extent, but she just never noticed before now?

Tamsin sighed, and closed her eyes. She did manage to get a few hours of rest, at least, before the morning sun shone through the window. It was still early, but it would be futile to try and get a little more sleep. It wouldn’t be happening.

So with a sigh, Tamsin got out of bed and gathered her things, hands full as she returned the room key to the innkeeper and exited the inn. Varick was outside, waiting for her. “Good morning!” she greeted, walking towards the stable to mount everything to Luna.

It had been a few days since she'd seen her horse. Tamsin felt a little bad about leaving her horse alone, even if the stablehand was taking good care of her.

~~~

Magic confused the hell out of Drazhan. Kirsikka tried to explain more of it to him, and he only shook his head in further confusion. It seemed that even she was confused by some aspects of it, such as what powers it. And here he thought that emotions did play in it in some way.

He would never need to use magic, so it wasn’t something he was going to try to understand.

“I’m going to trust that you know what you’re talking about, and that the elves won’t be able to help you get better,” he said with a shake of his head. Drazhan still felt like Kirsikka needed some rest, but if she were to remain stubborn, he would just keep an eye out for any passing out.

He would be there to catch her, then tease her upon waking up about swooning in his arms.

Like that wouldn’t get him a quick slap on the cheek.

“But if I feel like you need to go back to the elves to rest more than just because of magic, would you go? Or would you continue on until you’ve exhausted every last ounce of your body?” Drazhan was fortunate his stamina was better than most. He wouldn’t tire physically as easily as Kirsikka. He could go on, even with a major wound.

He didn’t wish to tempt those limits though.

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick nodded in greeting, “Good morning,” he would let her go tend to tacking Luna up, he followed so far as the door the stable and leaned against it, watching her. If she needed help, he certainly would assist, but if not, well, she had this. She tacked up her horse regularly enough, he just knew she might be in a bit of a state after the revelations of last night.

She didn’t look like she’d slept much.

He didn’t make that comment, though, and once Tamsin was ready, he led them out of the town, following the path south so they could get towards Tresse. It was, indeed, going to be a long journey.

And he knew what had been on his own mind through the night, and so he broke their somewhat companionable, and also somewhat awkward, early silence with a sigh when they were at last free of the town. “So. Remember how I mentioned dealing with a monster back in your hometown?”

He would wait for a brief acknowledgment. “It was kidnapping babies. Looking for one with power. I think it was looking for you. I don’t know how it knew. Never asked. Never followed up. Monsters have…weird ideas about power sometimes.” For all he knew, it meant the baby had red hair. Why people associated red hair with power, he’d never really figured out, unless violent tempers were powerful.

Which, point conceded.

“I don’t know what they intended, either. When it became clear they wouldn’t stop, I didn’t have much more reason to ask questions. I’m sorry. I should have.”

~***~

It was a stupid idea to trust that Kirsikka knew what she was talking about, when she had said she didn’t fully understand it. She wasn’t going to call Drazhan on that, of course. She wanted him to trust her, but she acknowledged it was stupid to do so. Of course, she was operating on a single desire, a single vision, right now. Everything else didn’t really matter.

His next query caused her to frown as she went to take a seat on her bedroll, “What, is the journey getting to you, Drazhan?” she asked, a bit rhetorical, but not entirely. “We’ve been resting daily, that’s more than you can say for how I’ve traveled in the past with you.” Considering she was too paranoid to rest before, and even after that, she was still difficult.

Right now, they were resting each evening, and splitting the shifts fairly evenly. The use of magic wasn’t causing her to faint dead away. That wasn’t answering his question, of course. She was just trying to understand the question, because he could make up any bullshit, and if she readily agreed to this, she’d have to keep her word.

She didn’t want to go back to the fae until they got to that point with the White Sun.

“Why do you think I need so much more rest, Drazhan? Just because of this little issue?” it wasn’t little by a longshot, but if she treated it that way, she’d be fine. So long as she remembered all she needed was ice, everything was fine.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin moved through the motions of tacking her horse up. It was routine enough, that she didn’t have to think about it, which that morning was a good thing, as her thoughts were indeed still on the revelations of the previous night.

She had woken up that morning, hoping everything to be a dream, but with how vivid she recalled the moment her powers first manifested as a barrier, she knew it was no dream. It had all been too real.

They left town with few words exchanged between them. The first one to speak was Varick, mentioning the monster in Antalya from when Tamsin was just an infant. She nodded, not quite knowing what to expect from this conversation.

She didn’t expect that the monster may have been looking for her.

Tamsin paused in her steps for a moment, looking down at the ground. “So this power had been with me all this time, and I never knew? Yet monsters knew?” That didn’t make her feel great. What if another one of those creatures tried coming after her again? And she had been traveling alone all this time?

“It’s okay, how would you have known?” She was more angry with her parents, if anything. Did they hide something from her that would have answered her questions? “I suppose finding another one of those monsters and asking them questions would not be the way to go,” she chuckled.

~~~

Drazhan frowned. Of course the journey wasn’t getting to him. His endurance was made to last him a while. He could easily travel through the night without getting too exhausted. It was her he worried about. Yes, they were still resting daily, but in the past, Kirsikka hadn’t been using her magic as consistently as she had been now.

And passing out from using magic wasn’t exactly a good rest to have.

“It doesn’t seem like a little issue,” he fired back. “It just seems like there’s a new problem every day, and your use of magic is getting worse. I’m just,” he hesitated a moment, “I’m just a little worried for you.” It was hard to admit it. To admit to himself that he had gotten to use to Kirsikka’s presence, that anything that seemed out of the norm worried him.

When exactly did that happen?

“And I’m worried that you’re not going to be up to your full potential whenever we encounter this thing.” That her magic would grow weaker and weaker until she couldn't summon anything. Already, he saw a limitation in her magic. What more could be taken away from her in this desolate place?

 

[Lucyfer]

“It’s possible,” Varick allowed as Tamsin spoke her conclusions, conclusions he’d come to, as well. It was also possible he was wrong. He didn’t know, which was the frustrating part. He just knew he had these few threads – and now the question of if that snake attack when he first met her, had been a mere coincidence.

Had the snake sensed it? Had the frog sensed it, even without fully realizing it? It had attacked in the day, after all. That had been off enough. These things, however, he did not vocalize. There were no answers in them. Not yet. The frog had only been aware of wanting to break the curse, after all.

“No, probably not – although ironically, Calliope would be the one to know other creatures like that,” well, may as well say it, right? “She’s a Siren. A literal siren.” Which had to seem odd to Tamsin, but Varick knew he’d expressed some thoughts about dragons before. He didn’t hunt monsters just to hunt them.

He could discern when they were, and weren’t, good.

“She doesn’t go out on mad sprees of hunting down others. She manages on meat, just like the rest of us. Cows and whatnot. Also why she’s not a famous bard – too much attention for her would be bad.” Considering her voice was her literal power, anyone could decide to condemn her at any moment for doing the same sort of thing Tamsin did, even though it was harming no one.

Just, making them feel relaxed. The same as any other musician, just with that extra magic.

~***~

Well! Drazhan felt snippy today. Apparently, he really was worried about her. ‘Damn it, Drazhan.’ It was exasperating. Exhausting. Frustrating. Only because Kirsikka knew she was likely to keep making him worry, and she didn’t want him to worry. Which meant she really ought to stop making him worry, but then, they wouldn’t get very far, would they?

Not timely, at any rate.

“Well, no. I’m blind in one eye and I can’t use fire,” Kirsikka extended a hand and tilted it, “we both knew I wasn’t going to be at my full potential from the moment we left the elves. I wasn’t healed.” Which should have been sign enough to Drazhan that they couldn’t help her, really, but he’d still asked.

He still wanted to believe they could. “Losing fire doesn’t hinder my ability to use other magic. This…issue with the plant thing is separate, but not connected to the fire.” At least, she didn’t think so. Then again, there were other theories that were more holistic about magic, and how every element was in balance, and so when one faltered….

Well, so did the rest.

There were too many theories.

“I suppose that’s not every encouraging.” She could at least admit it sounded bad.

 

[cleopat]

“A siren?” Tamsin repeated in slight awe. Growing up by the sea, she heard stories of sirens from drunken sailors, but she had never met one before. Honestly, she had thought they were a part of myth, but with other monsters that prowl the land, why not sirens? “That’s neat,” she said rather lamely.

She couldn’t wait to meet Calliope, especially if she was a friend of Varick’s.

Once clear out of town, Tamsin mounted her horse, exhaustion from lack of sleep finally catching up to her. She would make it through the day, but that night, she hardly believed that the cold air would keep her up like it normally does.

“Is this normal for sirens? Subsisting on meat like the rest of us, or are the stories of sirens more of the norm?” Her curiosity got the best of her, and Tamsin wanted to know more about them. They were on their way to meet one, after all. She didn’t want to embarrass herself by assuming something that wasn’t true.

She still had to wrap her head around the fact that not all creatures were monsters. Just further proof of the lies of humans.

~~~

Drazhan sighed, running a hand through his hair. Nothing sounded promising right then. If one of them wasn’t at their full potential, then how would they possibly expect to destroy this thing they were after?

“No, it’s not exactly encouraging,” he sighed. If the plant thing is separate, then what else was going on? Having her weakened in two areas of magic was most certainly not encouraging for the future of their mission.

Drazha poked at the fire with a stick, moving the kindling and allowing the flames to grow larger. The nights felt like they grew colder with every passing day, and he had no doubt it was because they journeyed closer to the heart of Pomachion. Closer to the source of the derelict lands.

“I won’t question you anymore about it,” he said, finally defeated. If Kirsikka wanted to be stubborn and continue on, he’ll allow her without further protest. What did he know anyways? Just an ex-Primal whose specialty was monsters and mercenary work, not magic. Not mages.

 

[Lucyfer]

Tamsin didn’t seem upset with the thought of a siren, and Varick hadn’t expected her to. Still, he felt some relief at how easily she took to it, not making a fuss over it. It was just ‘neat’ – and then came the clarifying questions. “Most sirens don’t live among humans,” Varick said, “and most prefer human flesh to anything else.”

He wouldn’t add that Calliope also preferred it.

She could just control those urges, far better than plenty of people. Probably the vast majority of people, if he were honest. Not that people often gave into terrible urges, but when a craving hit, most people would satisfy it. Calliope didn’t. She simply ate what she had and moved on with her life.

Food wasn’t a pleasure for her as much as it was for others.

“As I understand it, she was raised human. Figured out later what she was, and was taken to her kind. She didn’t get along with them, then. Too humanized,” perhaps that was for the best, though. “She came back. The people don’t know what she is. There are still people who would kill her just for existing. Not any Primal.”

He tried to make that very clear, since he owed her a favor for her help. “But we’re not the only ones who hunt monsters.” They were just the best at it.

~***~

‘It’s the same, every time.’

A rut.

Kirsikka didn’t worry, and Drazhan did. Kirsikka wanted Drazhan to leave, and he wouldn’t. He cared, and she didn’t want to. The latter got easier. Even then, his giving up almost felt like a relief, as she watched him from over the fire. A fire that was increasingly too hot for her, and not hot enough for Drazhan. She recognized that easily enough by how much larger it was built each night.

She didn’t really feel the chill anymore.

There was a strange epiphany in watching the sparks of the flame as Drazhan disturbed them, and recognizing the heat she felt was an inhuman level of heat. Recognizing, her lack of care, and being unable to do anything about it. Was this how someone cursed felt before it took over them? That moment of lucidity before the world broke apart?

Probably not.

Still, she treated it as such, and asked: “You’ll kill me if I become a monster, won’t you?” A terrible thing to ask, yet the thing on her mind from those nightmares of an icy hellscape. Was she heading to that? The dreams hadn’t changed. They’d intensified, really. “You won’t become some foolish thrall enraptured by a past memory of someone who couldn’t care enough for you.”

A statement. One she wanted to be true, but it dangled on the edge of a question. Confirmation was still needed.

 

[cleopat]

Okay, so the stories about sirens were mostly true. Varick’s friend was just the exception to them, which intrigued Tamsin. She was raised human, and just stuck with how she was raised.

Is that what happened to Tamsin? Was she something else, but raised humans? No, that couldn’t be. The monster came looking for her days after she was born. And she had looked too damn much like her mother to not be her real daughter.

Unless one of her parents were born something else, and became humanized. But Varick said he didn’t know what she was. If there was a creature in her lineage, would he know that?

“If I accidentally used this magic in front of others, do you think they’ll try and kill me?” she asked, her voice small. But then again, people knew of mages. They didn’t try to kill mages. But she was no mage. She was…something else. Something unknown.

And the unknown was always scary to humans. Tamsin knew that she was scared.

~~~

Kirsikka’s question startled Drazhan. He looked over at her, brows raised as he considered his answer. “I suppose that depends,” he started, putting down the stick and folding his hands under his chin in thought.

“Not every monster is deserving of being killed. Some can be redeemed, such as cursed creatures.” And some were only deemed monsters by humans, who had no idea what they were talking about. “I suppose if I am able to find a way to help you change back to your normal self, then I won’t kill you.” How he would do that, he did not know. It was situational, on what was going on.

“If it is clear you are an immediate danger to yourself and everyone else, then yes, I would.” A blunt answer. The truth. He wouldn’t let his emotions get in the way of what was best for the world. This wasn’t some fantasy world where true love would save this day. This was reality, and reality was much harsher.

“What brought this question up?” he asked, curious as to where her mind went.

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick shook his head, frowned, then corrected, “Not most,” he said, “most will just assume you’re a mage. How mages operate isn’t common knowledge. Even amongst themselves. They’ll give you a headache trying to explain it. Trust me.”

He’d listened to plenty of theories in his time.

“But that’s not important. Those who recognize you can use it without a sort of catalyst are either mages themselves, or well-connected to mages. Then, they might think you have fae blood,” something he’d suggested, “or…be something else. I’m not sure. Just as I’m not sure if they’ll kill you.”

There were a lot of uncertainties.

“The Council of Light doesn’t allow practitioners outside of its Order, but they’d recognize you don’t cast like them. Not sure what sort of rules that falls under. Probably nothing good,” they weren’t a fan of Primals. Or monsters of any kind. They’d probably kill Calliope just for existing, but he couldn’t say he understood every nuance of the religion.

“I doubt we’ll really run into any of them, though.”

~***~

Drazhan agreed to kill her – on conditions. Fair ones, she supposed. She wouldn’t expect him to really try to redeem her. Or rather, wouldn’t want him to waste the effort if she was a danger…yet he would. Of course he would. He was so far gone in his own emotions, so very human, really.

Human enough to know her thoughts stemmed from something disturbing. What was the point in hiding it? In hiding anything, anymore? She’d come to that conclusion a while ago, but it didn’t stop her when she wasn’t asked. So, she sighed.

Answered.

“Well, I’m losing bits and pieces of myself. Even my ability to withstand heat,” she chuckled, though it wasn’t funny, “but I’m not just a human. I’m a mage. When a human snaps, it’s not that deadly, but when I snap,” she shrugged. That answer was obvious. Armies died. Nature died. She was beyond deadly. She took thousands of life in a heartbeat, and her ability to care was waning. She had logic enough to know it was bad.

“It’s not that much of a hypothetical. It’s not just ego, either. I know what happens when someone feels like they’ve just lost everything and have nothing left to lose.” Mont Pellinor. “Besides which, I keep having…dreams. But they’re not dreams. I know the difference between vaguely prophetic and dreams.” She shut her eyes, “I keep dreaming of turning the world into an icy hellscape. I don’t know why I would, but isn’t that always the bitch of prophecy? No one ever intends to fulfill the terrible ones.”

But they did.

 

[cleopat]

It seemed that Tamsin was in a tight spot. Normal humans would just think she’s a mage, but mages themselves would recognize the differences in how she casted magic, which could end up in nothing good.

She would rather not deal with the punishment of simply existing by the Council of Light.

Tamsin sighed, “Well, it took nearly thirty years for the powers to manifest.” Unless they manifested in other means she didn’t recognize at the time. “What are the odds something will happen in front of a crowd of people?” At least, she hoped nothing would happen. She wouldn’t know what to do if she accidentally hurt a bystander.

“I was supposed to be normal,” Tamsin bemoaned, earning a snort from Luna. “Just a cute little traveling minstrel who dreams of performing for nobility one day.” And now she had to figure out what the fuck was going on and deal with that.

Would her life ever return to normalcy again?

~~~

Kirsikka answered honestly. Drazhan didn’t know what to make of her words, of her admittance of losing herself. If he didn’t know any better, it sounded like she was close to a psychotic break, which was bad enough in a human for many reasons, but for a mage?

Well, she already described what would happen if she snapped.

Drazhan got up and moved to where Kirsikka sat, sitting right beside her. “This started at Mont Pellinor, didn’t it?” he asked. It’s where she lost Dravon. It’s where she destroyed everything in the area, from armies to nature, to apparently herself. “It almost sounds like your own ice magic is wrapping itself around your heart.”

But he understood that. He felt a familiar sensation after Sophia died. Like he had nothing else to lose. His heart hardened for a long time, until time eventually thawed it. He still mourned, of course, but he learned to move on, just as she would have wanted.

Drazhan wrapped an arm around Kirsikka’s shoulder in a half-hug. Some semblance of comfort, if she needed it. “Maybe we need to find out why you would turn the world into an icy hellscape, and together make sure that doesn’t happen.” It was false optimism, as if he could actually do anything to help. “Do these dreams have anything else?”

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Pretty good, if I know my luck.’ Varick just snorted at Tamsin’s question rather than answer. He knew it was going to manifest again, now that it was awake. Again, and again. Tamsin probably knew that, deep down, too. There was little point in saying it. They’d both find out, in the end. He hoped he was wrong, though.

He hoped it was rare.

Controllable.

“You’re still that,” Varick said, “and you can be it again. You’ll figure this out,” he had to be calm about it for Tamsin’s sake. So she could be calm about it. So she could believe it. “You’ll go back to traveling. And if anyone ever gives you hell, you can use that energy and get rid of them faster than all the self-defense I taught you.”

Which was good!

Except when someone wanted to persecute her for it. That part wasn’t great. “For now, we’ll just have to be careful. If we run into any dangerous situation, you run. Just run.” That should keep things from activating. She wouldn’t be directly involved in the situation, and she wouldn’t see him in danger.

Perfect plan!

He knew it was going to fail miserably.

~***~

Drazhan had no idea how well his theory would have held up amongst the elves. They would have agreed wholeheartedly. Kirsikka couldn’t even say they were wrong. She gave herself over, bit by bit, to the ice. To its pleasantly cold embrace. It was easier than…anything else, really. And it was still hard. Doing anything else sounded impossible.

Just keep going forward, step by step, to find the evil at the heart of it all, and kill it. No matter the cost. Except – what if the cost was the world? That was too high a price to pay to be right, and she knew it.

She still flinched at his touch, but she didn’t remove his arm. He was too warm and not warm enough. She stared into the fire, rather than at him, “There’s a woman singing. The voice is at the edge of memory. I’ve heard her before, I even have a bit of a face in my head, but I don’t know who she is.”

And maybe she just imagined seeing her. Maybe it was a part of the dream that just didn’t quite flow with the rest of it. “And the light…the White Sun, or what I think is the White Sun. It’s so bright, reflecting off the snow, but it dims when she sings,” whoever she was. “She’s tied to this, whoever she is. I don’t know how, why, or anything. I don’t even know if it’s a trick caused by when it latched onto me. Some sort of mental poison.”

Gods, she really was losing it, wasn’t she?

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin smiled at Varick’s attempt to calm her down. To try and make her see the reality behind everything. She looked over at him with fondness as he spoke. She will figure this out, and Varick will be there by her side to help her through everything.

At least, until they arrived at Tresse and met his friend. What about after that?

“I guess I now have my own methods of self-defense,” she chuckled, but Tamsin hoped she wouldn’t ever have to actually use them. Not while she didn’t know how to control her powers. What if she accidentally killed someone? Even if they were attacking her first, she didn’t want to kill anyone!

“Just run. I can do that,” she said with a nod. Running was a good backup plan if they ran into any real danger. That way, she could avoid accidentally setting off her powers and hurting someone. Like herself, or Varick. Or even the attacker.

Then why did she have the feeling something was going to go terribly wrong?

~~~

Drazhan felt the flinch, but since Kirsikka didn’t move away or remove his arm, his kept his arm around her. She was warm. Soft. And he bet she needed the touch more than she thought she did.

“A woman singing,” he repeated in a murmur, staring into the fire. That was interesting. A singing woman who apparently had something to do with the White Sun. Maybe even tied to the mission?

“Sounds like we may need to find us a bard to entertain us,” he said with a smile, hoping to garner some semblance of a chuckle from Kirsikka. Though, he really hoped they didn’t have to find this singing bard from her dreams. How would they even begin to locate her? The continents had many bards, and it could even be someone who didn’t sing for a living, but as a pastime.

But they had gotten this far without the mysterious singing woman from Kirsikka’s dreams. “Do you think this woman is actually real, or perhaps some sort of metaphor in your dreams?”

 

[Lucyfer]

Running was easier said than done, Varick knew that, Tamsin knew that, but ideally it would still work out. Tamsin at least agreed to it, which was good. It’d be more difficult to go about it if she disagreed, after all. Then she’d get herself in danger, and then the powers would definitely go out of control.

Powers neither of them understood.

“What did it feel like?” Varick asked, both for curiosity’s sake, and to see if it jogged any memories. He’d known a lot of things in his life, after all, and forgotten far more than he knew now. “When you used that power? Inside, outside – anything,” it was always possible she felt something on her hands, or over her body, as the power expelled itself.

He wasn’t an expert on these things, of course. Just trying to draw something out of it all and put it into something sensible for them both. Something they could hold onto, besides ‘fae blood’ to tide them over until they arrived at Calliope’s doorstep to beg her assistance, at any rate.

~***~

Kirsikka did not smile, just groaned and lowered her head to the knees she’d pulled up to her chest. They weren’t going to find a bard here. Of course, she’d already considered that when they found the White Sun, they’d need to do something more. Just finding it and being able to kill it was too convenient. That didn’t mean she couldn’t hope it would be easy. Why couldn’t something in her life be easy for once?

Still, she lifted her head back up as Drazhan asked his next question, “I don’t know. I do have a song,” though the Boreal Wind song wasn’t what she heard being sung. “But there’s no discernible words. Not in any language I know. Just sounds. The melody’s unfamiliar.” All of that, to Kirsikka, suggested someone real.

If it was meant as a metaphor, it should have given her more to follow. A meaningful melody, or meaningful words, at the very least. Yet, it gave her nothing. Just a voice capable of dimming that glorious light. “I think she’s real. I think she’s a bard, too,” if only because she was still certain she’d heard the voice before.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin hummed as she considered Varick’s question. What did it feel like? She didn’t really pay much attention to that aspect in the moment, given the unexpectedness of it all, but looking back, she tried to remember more.

“Before the powers, I remember when I felt afraid, it felt like something was trying to bubble up inside me. Like maybe I was going to throw up, but not quite that sensation.” Tamsin didn’t know how else to describe it. It was so foreign.

“On the outside…I don’t really recall much.” Maybe that was an answer in itself. She shrugged. “It wasn’t something memorable, that’s for certain.” There had been no pain with using the powers, no tingling sensation, no burning sensation, nothing she could recall.

Tamsin groaned at the uselessness of her own memories. They didn’t recall anything helpful. “I suppose none of that was helpful.”

~~~

Drazhan squeezed Kirsikka’s shoulder at the groan. Of course nothing could just be easy and straightforward. There had to be the chaos of magic and prophetic dreams that neither one could understand.

All this, plus a powerful creature they somehow hoped to kill, with just the two of them.

“Do you think we’re meant to find this bard before we find the White Sun?” he wondered, looking down at Kirsikka. Of course that would mean abandoning the mission, returning to the land of the elves, and then somehow finding this bard somewhere in this world. She could be anywhere, from Trifflehem to across the seas.

Nothing could ever be simple.

Drazhan didn’t know what to do, or if they should try and follow this woman of Kirsikka’s dreams. Maybe some additional help would be necessary. Despite her insistence, Kirsikka didn’t seem like she was up to her full strength to take on whatever they faced, and Drazhan was only good with a sword. He doubted this White Sun could be taken down with only a sword.

“I’ll support whichever decision you choose.”

 

[Lucyfer]

A nauseous sensation somehow didn’t seem too strange to Varick. Perhaps because of his own awakening to his powers. Nothing quite like Tamsin’s, but going from normal human to this was still sickening in a way. Moving – that had been the hardest part to get down. Moving quickly had been nauseating. His eyes didn’t adjust as quickly as his legs. ‘No, not the same.’ But not weird.

He didn’t think it was something typical of fae-blooded, though. Not that he held that one too seriously. This was different, even if he didn’t know how, he was fairly certain of that, and shook his head as Tamsin suggested it wasn’t helpful.

“It narrows things down,” he said, “it nixes some ideas. That’s helpful, in a way. I can’t say I know any better what you are, but I can say I know some things you’re not,” he noted, added, “dragon isn’t out of the question yet,” that might not make Tamsin feel better.

But it was at least a thought she might have fun with, before panicking about becoming a dragon. “Some are shapeshifters. Heard tale that some act like changelings and leave their kids behind. Usually, they leave them behind in a fire since they have to hatch them in fire, and unsuspecting humans find the orphans. So that’s probably not you, but I’m not sure that’s a hard and fast rule about dragons, either.”

He was half-serious about the dragon thing.

~***~

There was the option to leave. It was the option Kirsikka knew Drazhan wanted her to pick. To go off and find this bard, or musician, or random humming girl, wherever she was. And Kirsikka could – she’d done harder things than that. She knew how to look through mirrors. ‘If you knew what she looked like.’ That would make it easier.

Although her mind nagged at her that she still knew, even if it wasn’t coming to mind.

There was too much on her mind. “For all I know, the bard is the ruin of everything,” Kirsikka pointed out, “Well, after I ruin everything, of course,” it wasn’t like the bard was freezing the world, “Maybe the bard pisses me off.”

She leaned into him, in spite of the words, in spite of that duality of not wanting to, and wanting to. For now, she just wouldn’t think about that. There were other things to think about. “The White Sun is sealed, or inert, in some way. Nothing says when we find it, we’ll have to fight it. Or that I can’t portal us out of there. That’s still an option. We haven’t traveled this far not to find it.”

And once she found it, once she knew…well, she could track it, too.

Leave a mirror behind, and come back. Or at least a shard of reflective glass. “The bard will wait.”

 

[cleopat]

At least Tamsin was able to help Varick narrow some potential options down. That was good, right? Though, what Varick mentioned was not helpful at all. If anything, it down right baffled Tamsin.

A dragon?

“A dragon?” she repeated, mouth opening and closing as she was flabbergasted. No, there was no way, right? “That can’t be right. I think I would know if I was a dragon, right?” Surely she would after nearly thirty years.

“I get cold way too easily. I am a very small person. Surely there’s no way I’m a dragon.” Dragons were born of fire, as Varick mentioned. That meant they were hot-blooded creatures, right? And her size! Dragons were large, that meant their human forms were large too, right?

Tamsin groaned and buried her face into one hand. Why couldn’t things be simple? Why couldn’t she have just been her normal, human self?

~~~

Drazhan chuckled, shaking his head. “A bard being the ruin of everything,” he repeated. “That I would like to see.” Though, the reality of the bard pissing off Kirsikka made a lot more sense. Some bards he’d met were on the more ostentatious side, and while their performance had been enjoyable, their personalities were nothing short of annoying.

May the gods help them all if this bard did indeed piss off Kirsikka.

As she leaned into him, Drazhan withheld a smile. Instead, he tightened his arm around her, only slightly, and breathed in the scent that was uniquely hers.

He knew not to ruin this delicate moment.

“Alright, the bard will wait,” he echoed, not wanting to disagree with Kirsikka at the moment. He would’ve preferred to find this mysterious bard, if she could help in any way, but if the White Sun was indeed inert in some way, and they didn’t have to fight it, then that just made their job a whole lot easier.

“How much longer until we find it, do you think?” he thought to ask, just to hear Kirsikka’s thoughts on the matter.

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick didn’t think dragon was the way this would turn, although it wasn’t the worst consequence. He was somewhat amused by Tamsin’s reaction to the possibility, though. He hadn’t expected her to get quite that caught up in the thought, but she was taking it far more seriously than he expected. Even if it was a serious consideration.

Varick shrugged.

“Not sure. Never really had a lengthy talk with a dragon about their childhood before,” Varick said, “maybe you’ll be my first,” it was a bit of a tease, but better some tease and playfulness than getting bogged down in all the fears of the unknown. Some of it could be a bit light-hearted. They’d get answers. “For all I know, dragons felt cold often before they learned they could produce fire.”

Maybe he would have a bit of fun with it until they got answers and offer up increasingly unlikely possibilities on the journey to Tresse. It was going to be a long journey, after all, and he knew plenty of creatures.

For now, Varick would just guide them on their way towards Tresse, and hope the journey didn’t have too many surprises in store for either of them. At least staying on main roads, it shouldn’t – and they had no reason to get off main roads for quite a while.

~***~

Kirsikka would not like to see it, although the thought held some humor, even if she was aware how likely it was. Her temper had seen better days. Everything about her, had seen better days, really. ‘An understatement.’ She missed who she used to be, but knew it could never be returned to her.

Time magic, if it was a thing, was elusive. Perhaps one day she’d throw herself into it…if she fucked everything up, maybe.

“I’m not sure,” she wouldn’t address the bard again. “I wasn’t given a map. I’m not sure precisely, but the mountains are a lot closer, and they’re the end of Pomachion I was aiming for. Of course, they stretch on a while,” still, she intended to follow them, and see if the answer was there…or if she’d have to try climbing the mountain.

First, she’d look around the base, though. Climbing a mountain was not an idea situation. She’d sooner go find a griffin to tame and fly her up the damn mountain. It’d be significantly less work.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin groaned again. The more they discussed the potential of her being a dragon, the more anxiety she developed over the whole matter. She couldn’t be a dragon! She just couldn’t! Humans would want to kill her. Her performing career would be over, if she couldn’t learn to control her powers.

And where were they going to find another shapeshifting dragon to help her? Especially since it sounded like Varick didn’t know too many dragons.

“I suppose there’s no way to bottle this up and pretend there’s nothing magical about me, like I’ve done for nearly thirty years?” It was a rhetorical question. Tamsin knew the answer to it before she even asked it. What if there was some…magical buildup in her body due to ignoring this? Was magical buildup even a thing?

Oh this journey to Tresse was going to be entirely too long. Tamsin wanted to talk to someone now about what was going on, about what she was.

And with the magic now…active, would she attract even more monsters? Maybe I should keep a Primal by my side for the rest of my life, if that’s the case.

~~~

Ah, the mountains. If he knew anything about searching for something impossible, is that if it involved mountains, it would be located in the area hardest to get to. The area surrounded by impossible crevices and peaks and treacherous terrains.

Drazhan was not looking forward to that.

“Sounds like we have quite the adventure ahead of us,” he commented, taking his arm off of Kirsikka. His side felt noticeable cold as he moved away to lay down on his bedroll. It was getting late, and he needed to sleep before they continued their journey in the morning.

And he needed to sleep for his strength, if there was indeed something wrong with Kirsikka’s magic.

“With that, I bid you goodnight,” he said, turning on his side so his front faced the warmth of the fire. Drazhan would prefer if he could have his arm wrapped around a certain mage while he slept, but he would be content with what he had. A warm fire.

 

[Lucyfer]

No, Varick would not recommend bottling it up.

Thankfully, the journey was relatively peaceful as they made their way through Trifflehem, finding the few odd jobs. Well, mostly, Tamsin did that and Varick was the hanger-on. A job didn’t really show up for him until they were within the territory once known as Philignos, near Mont Pellinor. The energy of the area was already off, though they weren’t close enough to see the ruins of Mont Pellinor itself.

Varick wasn’t that stupid.

He just knew there was passage along the nearby river that would take him onto the same landmass as Tresse easier than trying to go through Sanarkes. What he didn’t expect was to run into a town with a contingent of Trifflehem soldiers, though perhaps that shouldn’t be surprising considering Philignos remained the most rebellious territory.

He intended to slip by and ignore them as he and Tamsin entered the town near evening to find a place to rest. “Hey! You!” One of the soldiers called to them, and he sighed, prepared to let Tamsin handle the talking, before he was called out directly, “You’re a Primal, right?”

“No.” he denied bluntly, which caused the soldier to do a double-take.

“But…your eyes…I thought….”

Varick sighed again. “What do you want?”

“There’s some kind of monster here, we can’t figure out what it is. We need help or we’re going to have to evacuate the town.”

“How much are you paying?”

The soldier looked taken aback. “Paying?”

“You’re asking me for mercenary work.”

“Oh. Um. Let me go talk to the captain.” And off the soldier went to do just that, as Varick considered turning his horse around and walking away. They didn’t need an issue with Tamsin and Trifflehem – but then again, there probably wasn’t a mage with them if they were planning to evacuate.

~***~

Kirsikka noticed the coldness that came with Drazhan left her side, but she wouldn’t ask that he return. No, she’d ignore it and focus on the heat from the flames instead, even if they were too hot. It was a hot she wanted, because as soon as she drifted too far, she’d be too cold. There wasn’t going to be a comfortable middle.

Temperature regulation was fucked.

Or perhaps it was just her mentality. Who knew?

“Good night, Drazhan,” Kirsikka echoed, and would let him sleep, keeping watch for her time, before their journey resumed, drawing them closer to the mountains. Her ability to manipulate nature did suffer, bit by bit, but it wasn’t quite so bad as the flame. It wasn’t extinguishing in the same way, but it was still a struggle to keep it going.

Whatever it was tied to, apparently it wasn’t severed. Just broken. Kirsikka could deal with that; so long as they could keep feeding the horses, it was fine. Not to mention, they were able to reach the base of the mountains, which provided some new sources of water, no doubt from the melting snows higher up, but it was useful.

It also brought more towns, as civilizations apparently liked being built around mountains because of the natural protection they offered, and Kirsikka couldn’t deny the vibe she got from one as evening neared and she found herself staring at it from atop Zephyr, knowing what she had to say and hating it, because there was going to be problems in the town.

But there was a huge church that was still standing and looked well-tended. No broken roof tiles, the stained glass at the top of it looked intact…and the symbol in so many of the stories emblazoned in that stained glass, the fiery white sun. For a moment, she almost mistook it for the symbol of the Council of Light, but it was…different. Different enough, at any rate, “We have to go into the town.” Kirsikka said with a sigh. “We can wait until morning. I’ll let that be your call.” She’d trust his Primal knowledge. If wraiths and ghosts mostly bothered at night, they could go a bit aways and come back later.

 

[cleopat]

Varick and Tamsin managed their way through Trifflehem without any incidents, without any monster encounters, and with a few performances from Tamsin’s end. She supposed she felt grateful that they hadn't encountered anything dangerous, but that also meant Varick hadn’t had the opportunity to earn any coin.

That luck changed upon entrance to a town in Philignos.

A soldier called out to Varick, wanting his services to help kill a monster in the town, or else they would have to evacuate.

“Evacuate?” Tamsin murmured, watching the soldier slip away to ask his captain about Varick’s services. “That sounds pretty serious.” And of course they were looking to evacuate right as the two weary travelers came looking for an inn to sleep at for the night.

Tamsin couldn’t explain it, but something did feel preternatural about the village.

The soldier soon came back, this time with the captain in tow. “Primal,” he greeted with a nod of his head, not unkind. “I’ll be willing to pay you a handsome sum, if it means you can find and destroy this monster before we have to evacuate the town.” He sighed. “And honestly, we don’t even know what we’re dealing with here. All we know is that it comes out at night.”

Tamsin frowned. Great, that means they may be seeing the monster very soon.

~~~

They traveled further into Pomachion, drawing ever closer to the mountains, the impressive mountain range that somehow looked alive while everything else around them was dead. Rivers trickled down from the top, providing them with snow-melted water. It was crisp, a far difference from the stagnant waters they’ve encountered along the way.

They happened upon a town at the base of the mountain, and immediately Drazhan didn’t care for the vibes he felt. He couldn’t quite explain it, but he knew they wouldn’t go into the town that night. Call it his Primal sense warning him about potential danger.

So Drazhan shook his head at Kirsikka. “Not tonight,” he said. “We’ll do it in the morning.” At any rate, if there were monsters there that prowled during the day, he would be well rested enough to fight them.

He turned his horse away from the town, intending to put some distance between them and the area. Just because they weren’t directly inside the town, doesn’t mean trouble won’t find them for being near. “We need to find a safe spot to camp for the night, and then we’ll see what the deal is with this town in the morning.”

The fact that the church looked well-tended was suspicious to him. Something wasn’t right, but he wouldn’t find out that evening what it was.