Mind Your Step, Draft 1, CH 19

Heather rolled her shoulder, looking like she couldn’t believe it worked. “Why was it painful? I’ve been healed before, and it wasn’t.”

“That was a purity cleric. I used Fever.”

She glanced at him. “Just how many elements do you have?”

“Twelve.”

She stared. “How is that possible?”

“I…don’t know. Not really. When I had my first audience, with Water, who appeared to me as a woman, I saw something within her.” He searched for the right word to describe it, then gave up and fell back to his usual approximation. “A shadow of her element. I chose that instead of her. And she set me on getting an audience with Earth, Air, and Fire—”

“That’s impossible. You can’t get an audience with other elements.”

He chuckled. “And yet, I had them and got the shadow of their elements. After that, she set me on Corruption, Purity, Light and Darkness. I thought I was done, but then someone tried to murder me by planting a sword in my chest, and I had an audience with Metal.”

She stared again, and he shrugged

“I’m a thief. I’d made enemies.” He didn’t feel like going into details about how that had happened, and it wasn’t relevant to his elements. “I went to Water for an explanation. Yes, I’ve had more than one audience with Water. And found out she hadn’t ‘set me’ on anything. This was all my choice. I could get as many elements as I wanted, or as few. I’d just interpreted her advice when she said to go talk with Corruption as a task to get the four next ones.”

“So, you’re just going around having as many audience as you can so you can become powerful and….”

“Take down the guild.” He rubbed his left wrist.

“Why?”

“They aren’t good people.”

“People are people,” she countered. “You can’t blame all of them for something a few of them did.”

“I can when they keep letting it happen,” he snapped, and forced himself to breathe. “My teacher thought he could change it from the inside, and they turned him into someone more interested in maintaining the guild’s agenda and making things better. If it wasn’t there. People could be who they want to be, instead of being turned into its tools. Would your father have remained if he’d had a choice? You said he doesn’t like the guild. So why work with them? What did they do to him to make him consider it a worthwhile place to be?”

She was quiet. “You think they used magic to change how he thinks about them?”

He shook his head. “Magic isn’t needed to change people. Even people who want to do good can end up corrupted by a system until they no longer see that what they’re doing is bad.” He looked at his hands. “Or forget who else gets hurt when they give into their anger.”

“If you have Purity, why did you use Fever to heal me?”

“It’s more effective. Fever knows what needs to be fixed in a way purity doesn’t. I don’t know the etchings that make Purity good at healing. I also don’t like how painless healing with Purity is. I don’t want to grow careless in getting hurt just because of how easy healing myself is. Fever reminds me there’s a cost to my carelessness.”

“Getting hurt isn’t enough?” she asked with a chuckle.

Thinking back on how quick he used to be with suffusing himself with Purity anytime he was injured, he shook his head.

“And I’m not really trying to get all the audiences, like you said. I tried that for a while, but the set of circumstances that make each possible is so specific I couldn’t manage it. Metal, Lightning, Fever and Wood happened by accident, a bit like your audience.”

“And that’s why your eyes did that thing while you fought those deer?”

“It’s related, although it took me a while to realize I could do that. When I had my fourth audience, I discovered I could hear the dungeon speak. I didn’t think much of it. I was too busy surviving, but we became friends.”

She smiled. “That must have made things easier.”

“Was your run easier because I’m friends with Karliak? Dungeons have rules. I have gotten them bent here and there, I am a thief. But I didn’t ask him to break them for me. Sometime after my eighth audience, I found I could put a lot more essence into one element at a time than before. I’d been relying on reserves until then. Still am,” he added, and she glanced at his bracers. “Again, I didn’t make the connection. We were fighting for our lives, and after that I had to deal with how each element affected me when I did it. Then I…left the guild and traveled. I made a few attempts at audience, but they failed. I couldn’t put myself through what was needed.”

“Dying.”

“That’s actually not part of it. It’s the fear, the terror that comes before, as you realize you’re about to die.” He laughed as he realized something. “That’s why you got Force and not Earth. You didn’t feel the fear once you hit the stone, but while you were flying toward it. You were moving so fast there was more Force than Air.”

“I don’t remember hitting anything.”

He nodded. “You were already in your audience. So I got Wood when the first wild dungeon tried to kill me out of their own terror at what I might be. Lightning, I got channeling Metal during a storm to take on a bunch of guards. Fever was because of another attempt to kill me. They used it as a poison, and I didn’t realize what it was until too late.”

“And that gave you the eye thing. Every four audience.”

“I hadn’t worked that out then. I went months without realizing I could channel two elements at the same time. I was in a fight for my life, again. I was desperate for a way to escape and tried an old trick that hurts, but was effective at getting my attacker off my back then. It works, but not in the same way.”

“The destruction in Jisteisteon. That was always the one element I couldn’t make fit. You’re not usually that destructive. You stole from the University. I’m guessing they had an adventurer there to send after you, and you have to pull that to escape them.”

Tibs stared at her. She had the details wrong, but the overall of it close enough to right not to matter.

“I used my time on the smuggler’s trail to figure out what happened. Then spent months learning how to use it.”

“That gave me the time to catch up to you. If you hadn’t, you would have reached Esteskarest well ahead of me, and I might never have caught up to you after that.”

“If I hadn’t taken the time, I’d have been a threat to everyone.”

“And that’s how you know so much about the elements,” she stated.

He snorted. “Reading is how I know the little I do. Why I’ve been able to help you is almost entirely based on how my training went. And some of what I learned experimenting and surviving without the guild or a team.”

He stopped and frowned. The village had entered his range, and something felt odd.

“What’s wrong?” Heather looked around, hand on her sword.

“It’s not here. Something else I gained is a stronger ability to sense the essence around me. There’s something with the village, but I don’t get details from this far.”

“How far away is it?”

“I don’t know. Still far.” He looked at the sun. “But we should reach it before dark.”

“I hope so, because I don’t want to spend a night sleeping without someone to keep me warm.”

“If we have to camp, you won’t be cold. No. I’m not sleeping with you. But Fire is one element. I’ll make sure the camp is comfortable.”

“You could have done that every night, couldn’t you?”

“I wasn’t ready for you to ask questions then.”

The rest of the trek was spent with Heather asking for demonstrations of what he could do, what using two elements let him do and asking for details on some of the things he’d said.

For as uninterested in things as she was on the whole, Tibs realized that when it came to details she felt were important, she couldn’t stop asking questions. She reminded him of Carina and Don.

As they approached, Tibs brought his sense in to gain details. The oddity was in how clustered Life essence was there. Instead of the usual thin spread in the streets and building, there were places where it was dense enough he thought there had to be dozens of people so close together they seemed to be one person to his sense.

He also realized that a stone wall was in the process of being constructed away from the wooden palisade. So the village had grown into a town. He remembers the start of it, to accommodate the refugees.

He wondered how the growth would impact their ability to remain unnoticed by Torleris, which had been something they wanted.

When the partially constructed wall came into view, he led Heather around until they reached the path, now wide enough to be a road, and with the snow sufficiently muddied to indicate heavy traffic.

“Ruppert,” he called, and the squirrel came running. Tibs opened his vest. “In, and remain silent until I figure out what’s going on.”

“I can help,” he replied, slipping into the large pocket Tibs had added. “I can sneak around and be a better rogue than you.”

“I don’t think sneaking is going to help work this out.” One of the clusters of Life essence was by the opening in the stone wall, and he couldn’t think of a reason for people to gather there with the sun touching the treetop, so this was something else.

“We’re travelers,” he told Heather, and she snorted.

“Yeah, that is what we are.”

“I’ve been here before, and if they recognize me, they’ll call me Tylian.”

“Another of the names you use. You should go for something different. All those ‘ty’ give you away, Tyrone.”

He stared at her. He hadn’t considered the names he’d used were part of how she’d tracked him.

“I left on good terms, but that was more than a year ago, and things have changed. The stone wall is new. The village was packed with refugees when I left.”

“Why did you start the rebellion in Torleris? That’s out of character for you.”

“I didn’t start it. I just helped them.”

“What caused you to change how you did things?”

He glanced at her. “That meeting where you were buying fabric. You mentioned enough I realized bringing my characters to the city where I did my research was how you’d worked that out.”

In the distance, he made out the two guards on each side opening, and the one on the left’s essence was the dense cluster he’d felt. What he’d thought had to be a group of people.

He first wondered what could have happened in Rokania to cause some of the people here to gain denser essence, then remembered Karliak and some of their comments now took on new meanings. Like why there were hardly any pavers in the pit room small animals could break.

If every cluster of essence in the town was one person, an Omega Runner, he was sensing almost five team’s worth of them. How many had died in Karliak for there to be this many Runners ready for their audience?

Was that what had happened to the refugees?

Tibs cursed quietly. What was he supposed to do about this?

Heather glanced at him. “Problem?”

“A possible complication. I won’t know until…. Until I know. I wasn’t expecting this. I had Karliak move to avoid this.” He shook his head at her questioning expression. He didn’t know how to explain it.

The guard’s eyes were fixed on them as they approached, and the expressions weren’t welcoming.

“Stop!” the woman with the denser essence ordered, her eyes going to Heather, when they were ten paces away. “Who are you and what do you want?”

“I’m Tylian.”

“I’m Heather.”

“I’d tell them I’m Ruppert,” Ruppert grumbled in Tibs’s mind, “but you won’t let me.”

“We’re travelers seeking shelter for the night.” He could sense the packed earth all the way back to the main road, so he added. “We saw the path and figured there would be shelter.”

She continued to look at Heather. “You from the city?” she demanded.

“No. We traveled from Chasitian,” he replied. “The guards at the city didn’t look inviting, so we walked around it.”

“And we do?” the man on the other side of the gate asked.

Heather chuckled. “Compared to them. They looked like they were ready for a rebellion or something.”

He was going to need to have a talk with her about how to lie.

“The night,” the woman said, considering them. “I want you gone by the time the sun’s up.”

“We will,” he promised. So long as one of the persons he’d met during his previous stay was still alive, he’d be able to explain their extended stay. If they’d all died during their runs…. He’d deal with that then.

“Second building on the left is where you’re staying,” she said, then motioned them in.

A few steps past the stone wall, Tibs opened his vest slightly. “Ruppert, peek over my shoulder and tell me when she stops looking at us.” The squirrel crawled up until his head was over the shoulder, and Tibs headed for the building she’d instructed.

“What was up with the staring at me?” Heather asked, glancing at him, and he cursed himself for not realizing it could be a problem.

“Your eyes. They mark you as an adventurer. I don’t like that she didn’t bring it up.”

The building was a recent addition, a stone foundation, with fresh boards and beams for the two story structure. Posts to tie horses, with a trough for them to drink at. A trodden path led around, and he sensed a barn with animals there. They were getting enough visitors to warrant stalls and someone tending the horses.

“She’s no longer looking,” Ruppert said, as Tibs reached the door. “The man still is,” he added. “No, not anymore.”

“Thank you.” He returned to the street. “Back in the pocket, please.”

“Where are we going?”

“The people I knew have a tavern deeper in the town. I’m hoping one of them is still around and can vouch for me to the guards. It’ll make things simpler than having to come up with a reason we decided to remain.”

“We can stay by the dungeon, since you can make the camp comfortable.”

“That’s not going to work. People here have found Karliak and been doing runs.”

“How can you tell?”

“I can sense how dense people’s essence is.” He thought back. “Have you even seen the crystal Omegas get handed after each run? The one that gets them sent to have their audience if it glows?”

“Yes. I’ve seen it.”

“I can do that with my sense. No one here has had an audience, but a number of them are ready.”

“Can’t they just have had a harsh life and toughened up that way?”

“Not in the time I was away. No one was more than an ordinary person when I left. This kind of essence takes decades of a life that nearly kills someone every day.”

“Or access to a dungeon,” she said. “Is that why she didn’t talk about my eyes? She isn’t worried I have an element?”

“I don’t know.” Bards didn’t sing about how adventurers got their element. It was always just something that happened. “Maybe she thinks there’s enough of them here to handle you if you cause trouble, but if that’s the case, she hasn’t heard the right songs.”

The tavern was no longer a tavern. It had a second floor of fresh wood, and a third was under construction. There was nowhere to tie horses, but he sensed eleven people ready for an audience in the dining room. He was hopeful this meant one of them was alive. The archer was the most likely one to have kept searching after he had Karliak move. She’d been trained to seek out the chest, and wouldn’t have left it at that. It didn’t mean she’d survive the runs, but she had been used to surviving the wild.

The dining room was hot after the cold of the growing darkness outside, and crowded. The conversation didn’t stop immediately. One person glanced in their direction, tapped their companion, who brought them to someone else’s attention, and the silence spread. No one called out Heather for her eyes. It was possible they thought they were gray, but that wouldn’t last.

Tibs headed to the bar, where a man prepared drinks. The conversation restarted, but hushed. The people in this room were even less welcoming to strangers than he remembered them. They might have something to hide now, instead of simply wanting to keep the fleeing cityfolks out.

The barman eyed them suspiciously before moving, then he stared at Heather’s eyes. “No room.” He considered something. “Ale’s a copper per tankard. You argue—” he locked eyes with Heather “—I kick you out.” Maybe he thought he was strong enough? Like many in the room, his essence was dense.

“How about food?” Heather asked, expression darkening. “Or does this town let travelers starve?”

“Is….” Tibs cursed himself for not remembering her name, he wanted to keep this from escalating. “The owner here?”

“I’m the—”

“Ty?” a man exclaimed, and Tibs turned in time for someone to collide with him, hug and lift him. “You came back.”

Tibs was released, and he smiled. “Lian, I’m glad you’re well.” His essence was dense.

“It’s okay, bro. I know him. Who’s your friend?” Lian smiled. “Your very attractive friend, with really nice eyes.”

“Lian, this is Heather. Heather, this is Lian. If you want someone to warm your bed, he’s willing.”

“Oh, much more than willing.” He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “Let me make you the most special woman in Rokania.”

“Pretty high impression of yourself,” she replied, but smiled.

“From what I’ve been told,” Tibs said. “It’s deserved. Everyone in the village has spent time with him.”

She eyed Tibs.

“Not him,” Lian said. “I offered, but he declined.”

“Where’s your sister?” he asked before Heather could speak.

“Darna’s in her office, dealing with the accounts. I told her that making her tavern larger was going to be more work than she thought, but she didn’t listen to me, as usual. She felt we needed a place to….” He looked worried, glancing at Heather, so Tibs acted like he hadn’t worked out she’d made her place Runner Central. At least, he knew where to go once he figured out what to do.

Lian put an arm around both their shoulders. “Come on, let me reintroduce you. Korl, Rachel, look who came back, and brought a friend. You two remember Tylian, and this is Heather. How long are you two staying?”

“The woman at the gate wants us out by morning,” Tibs said.

“That’s Arana,” Lian said, interrupting Rachel’s comment. “I’ll talk with her. She’s not as nasty as she appears.” The archer wasn’t pleased.

Korl snorted. “She’s worse. It’s good to see you again, Tylian. Did they like all the stuff you wrote about the forest?” His and Rachel’s essence was dense.

Heather glanced at Tibs.

“I documented the vegetation for the university when I stayed.”

“And helped with the food,” Lian said. “Gave me a rest from all that meat I had to shove down my throat.”

“Then why are you still putting every guy’s c—”

Korl elbowed Rachel hard enough, her chair tipped over. “Language, we have company.”

She glared, righting her chair and sitting. “What brings you back here, Tylian?” She looked at Heather again.

“More research,” he said, and felt the look Heather gave him. Definitely was going to need to talk. Especially with how Rachel now looked from her to him. She no longer believed him.

At least she didn’t call him out on the lie.

“Tell me you don’t have a place to stay yet,” Lian said. “We have a few rooms you’re welcome to.”

“Liam,” Korl said. “You know how Darna feels about the rooms.”

“Come on, these are friends of ours.”

“You just met me,” Heather said.

“You’re a friend of Ty, so you’re a friend,” Lian replied like it was obvious.

“We’ll pay for a room,” Tibs said. “A reasonable amount,” he added. There was a possibility Darna would price them out of staying.

“None sense,” Lian said. “We don’t charge for friends. You two sit. I’ll tell Darna.” He left them there.

“He’s…something,” Heather said in the stretching silence.

“Very friendly,” Korl said. “That’s Lian.”

“Too friendly,” Rachel added, tone dark. “It’s going to cause us trouble one day.”

“But not today, Rachel,” Korl said. “We know Tylian.”

She looked at Heather again. “Do we?”

Tibs sighed and dropped into a seat. “Can I get an ale before you interrogate me?” he’d have to hope Heather could keep her reactions to himself as he lied. Or, he realized as Lian returned, grinning. He could see to it that she was distracted.