Chương 42: Answers

Anger fills me and I struggle to control it. Usually, it's one of my tools. Find the anger, harness it, control it, use it. But this? Lareny has been so much more than a teacher to me. She's the closest I've had to a mother in the decade since my parents died. Pushing down on this anger does her a disservice. I take a deep breath, knowing I'm alone here. The others are busy, and I must put on my big assassin pants and deal with this.

Her hair has come out of her no-nonsense ponytail and is fluffy and static, and I know she'd hate it with a passion. Smoothing it down as I grip a potion in my hands is almost involuntary. I'd want someone to do the same for me. I pour the liquid into her dry, cracked lips. Just a little at first. Just to help with her breathing. I bet it's fully possible for me to heal her using my own air manipulation abilities. But the last time I tried to stop someone's breath, we all got showered in a bloody rainfall.

That's not something I want happening to someone I actually care about. Her breathing evens out, becoming stronger, and I can hear her pulse through the water in her veins, ricocheting off all of the elements in her body. She's stable. Searching through her body gently, I follow her blood stream. Veins traverse everything in the human body, like the underlying rope that holds everything together. It's a beautiful and vivid pattern.

Now that her heart has calmed down and her blood is pumping with a better rhythm, I work on clearing the other appendages and bodies, bloody earth and broken roots and rocks away from her. Finally, I clear off her face and roll her to the side. A gasp escapes my lips and anger follows shortly after. There's a root lodged directly in her side, partially attaching her to one of the attackers. I can't let the skin heal around that, so I need to remove it before I can give her more of this potion.

Taking in a deep breath, I settle my nerves. Fatigue is starting to set in. I might not have swallowed everyone whole, but I spent a lot of time working on healing and replenishing the earth around us. Even now, while we're getting our things together, healing our comrades, and gathering ourselves up, I'm still feeding the earth around me. I have to. It's starving of everything it actually needs. Like washing the bad taste of blood magic out of its mouth.

"It's okay, Lareny." I say the words like a mantra as I slowly maneuver the root stabbing her in the side.

"It's going to be okay." The murmured words keep my own spirits up too. Inside her, the organs respond to the removal with relief, and little by little as I inch that sharp root out, I can feel the healing potion kicking in like it should. She'll need more, but for now this will help keep her whole. Beneath me, the ground shudders. Sorry. It was messy. There were so many. So close. I know, I answer, trying to convey that I'm not angry in the slightest.

That I know it did its best, even recovering from pain like it had been. Relief floods through me, but it's not my own, and I smile, bending over to administer the last of the potion to Lareny now that she's finally free from the roots impaling her. Surveying the ground as I hold her, making sure the health potion is being carried where it needs to go within her body, I realize I'm being watched. Looking up, I see pure fear shooting through the eyes of one of our attackers.

They're awake and aware, and terrified of me. I think I like that feeling. What a sight I must be. Dried blood and viscera in my hair and on my face, yanking a root out of my friend before healing her. I grin at the captive.

"Are you scared?" Their eyes widen with fear, but they shake their head almost imperceptibly. Lying their little toes off.

"Liar," I mouth at them. I wonder if Aarron will let me have a crack at some of these guys. And if not me, perhaps he'd be willing to let Lennick do so. After all, I can't imagine my mentor letting them off the hook easily. Not after this.

"Taria." Lareny pulls me out of my thoughts. Her face is pale, but there's strength and awareness returning fast.

"Let me up," she says, with more conviction now.

"Don't overdo it," I whisper as I help her stand upright. She shoots me a glare that speaks volumes as to how much she is not going to do what I tell her. Maybe I got my stubbornness from her instead. I don't remember my own parents being particularly stubborn. Finally, she's upright, and we both turn our attention back to the others who've been cleaning up. Well, "cleaning up" might be being a little generous. This whole area is a travesty. And the caravan wagon—it's done for.

Two of the wheels are gone, and one of the guards is dead. As far as I can see from here two more of them are heavily injured, but Mithris is administering healing potions. I don't think they're ones I've made. Their health is only slowly recovering. Lareny already looks better than the bulk of them, and while I think a couple of the injured have broken bones, none of them appear to be sporting a hole in the side courtesy of a root. Sorry. It's okay, I almost snap it back at the earth and barely avoid doing so.

I'm tired, and therefore quicker to irritate. Which, considering it's me, is quite amazing. At least I know my own shortcomings. Mithris sees me and beckons me over.

"Go." Lareny breathes the word out, and then coughs.

"I'm going to be fine. You patched me right up." The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. I glare at her briefly, because she's not telling me the entire truth. But I'll get to that later. From my magic, I can tell that her injuries are no longer lethal, and frankly, that's all I need to know.

"What?" I stand in front of Mithris frowning at the state of the caravan. From peeking inside, I realize that Dendrak is somehow still sleeping soundly. Although, I guess I did drug him pretty well. I'll even be surprised if he's awake before we reach the main Enclave. If we make it there without another ambush. Tapping into this very friendly stretch of earth around us, I double check that we're not about to be overwhelmed again.

While ascertainable through all of the chatter it feeds me, gratefulness has become loud. Shhh. Sorry. No danger. Safe. Thank you. I sigh and tap Mithris on the forearm lightly.

"What did you want?"

"Sorry." He turns back to Sevrin and ties the splint around his arm.

"There." Then Mithris turns to me.

"Need you to heal them all up as well as possible. We need to make it back to Aarron as soon as we can. One stop at an inn to get us all rested and healed up properly. Maybe." Lareny has made it over by now.

"I don't know about that." Mithris shrugs.

"Right now, we just look like a poor trade group that was robbed and left for dead. That we're limping into town. No one will believe us if we say 'you should see the other guys.'" This time I laugh. That's true.

"For all they know, he was injured during this attack. Can we get the wagon there in one piece at all?" Sevrin cringes, and I notice how pale he is. I pull out a vial of healing potion, hand it to his good arm, and place my hands gently on his shoulders.

"Drink that and stay still while I work." Truth is, I can't remember what I did when I healed Xan. But I do remember some of the sensations. The desperation not to lose them, the need to keep my best friend alive. While I don't have any of that right now, I do want to finish this mission, and I still have residual anger over the trap laid out for us. Please little potion, work your magic, become stronger, more potent. Do what you need to do but do it ten thousand times better. It's strange.

I would never ask people themselves for the aid. But the plants around me, the nature I channel? Sure, that I have no problem practically begging to do things. I can sense the change in tension in Sevrin's shoulders almost immediately. This should help the potion work just that more potently. Bone should heal up pretty quickly.

"That should heal up faster than usual. Just make sure not to use it unduly for the next few days." I step away, and almost fall on my ass. Xan catches me under the elbow, preventing me from planting myself on the ground.

"Careful. Overdoing it is your specialty, after all."

"Thanks," I say, but they're right. I'm extremely tired. And it looks like I have a few more healing spells to perform before I can rest.

"We have to get ourselves to safety." Lareny looks much more like herself, even if there's an edge of something I know she's not telling me.

"Can we get those wheels repaired enough to limp to the closest town and grab a room or three at an inn?"

"Family traveling troupe should do it," Xan agrees, flexing their muscles and that's when I know they've already taken one of the potions I gave them at the start of the trip. Maximum healing activated. I'm pretty proud of myself.

"Don't try and get too cleaned up then," Mithris quips.

"Wouldn't want to make our story unbelievable."

"I'll send a message to Aarron," I mutter, pulling out one of the small scrying bowls from my pack. Jax did amazingly well, leading the other horses to safety. I love my horse. I pull myself back into the shade of the trees, thankful for the peace and quiet, strengthening my bond with Recovery Acclimation, drinking in the power I've hastily expended. The bowl is pretty and small, much more compact than the ones in the scrying room back at the Enclave. For obvious reasons.

Upending the datura concoction into the bowl, I swish it around until the tiniest bubbles appear, clinging to the side of it. It's perfect and primed for me to use. It feels different this time. To me, for me. There's an air about it I haven't felt before. More definitive, less seeking. It's directed, going precisely where I want it to without me having to guide it so much. The murmuring around me rises up.

I can't discern it all, but the earth and water and trees and air are speaking around me, including me, but not directly to me. That's when I realize what this is. I'm actually channeling air. It's probably why I've always been so good at scrying. Just unconsciously channeling my thoughts through and across the air. Traveling with ease where others require focus and drugs. But me? No—I wonder if I even need a damn bowl. Focus. Sorry, I say, pushing the thought out there and trying to clamp down on my excitement.

Caravan interrupted. Stopping overnight. Injuries sustained. Loss of one. Searching for those responsible. Taria. That should do it. But I sit and wait for a little while, expecting that I'll get an answer. Sure enough, it doesn't take long. Perhaps twenty minutes. I guess Aarron has the whole scrying battalion looking out for missives from us. Sending reinforcements. Meet at inn seventeen unless otherwise informed. Keep the wind at your backs. Aarron. Well, that was cryptic.

I hope Lareny will know what that means. I stand up and empty the scrying water onto the earth. I know it has datura in it, but it's not dangerous to other plants as far as I know, just people and animals. Murmuring encouragement, I watch as the ground slurps it up, bringing it into the fold. Lareny is standing nearby, waiting patiently. I relay the message as soon as I step out from my tree, and she sighs.

"Why on earth is he sending reinforcements?" Like I'd know, but I don't say that.

"I'm not sure. Maybe he's worried." Lareny raises an eyebrow at me.

"You really think that?" I laugh and shake my head.

"No. No, I don't. At least not in a normal human way."

"So," she says as we make our way back to the injured and the caravan reparations, "that thing you did—that exploded that guy?" This time I cringe because that's not a memory I want to recall. It all happened in slow motion right in front of my eyes, yet I know it was but seconds for everyone else. My brain can see every single detail, minutely, intimately. I can still taste the blood on my tongue, too.

"That was air. So. That's probably the element I need to practice with most." She raises an eyebrow at me.

"You blew him up?" I shrug.

"That's just it. I was trying to simply suck all the air out of his lungs, but it didn't quite work as intended and then that happened. It's not like that's something I can practice much. You know?"

"And it could also be that you've only known you had that specific element in your arsenal for what? A week? Don't be so hard on yourself. Lennick will have words." We're back with the others by now, and even though it was partially a lecture, I truly appreciate what Lareny said to me.

"Thanks." I say it softly, but I know it's loud enough for her to hear. Mithris nods at us both as he and Xan leverage one of the wheels back onto the cart. I can see the strain in the way the veins stand out in their necks, but also the way air shimmers around them. There's an air of desperation to their movements. Is there something they're not telling me?

"Inn seventeen" is all Lareny says. Mithris's eyes narrow in acknowledgement. She continues as if she's holding a one-sided conversation.

"Not my ideal spot either." Ah, it's something about the location Aarron gave us. Must be an inn we frequent a lot. Obviously on the shadier side or less comfortable. Maybe I've already been spoiled by our most recent inn experiences. It doesn't take long for us to get the wagon back up and running, if rickety. It's more of a limp than a proper mode of transportation, but given our current passenger, we don't have much of a choice.

To my surprise, both Lareny and Sevrin help Mithris get our two corpses into the wagon. Then I realize that maybe we'll want to examine them, or even give them a halfway decent burial. With everything that went on after the fight with Dendrak, I have no idea what happened to Ellir and Parr. I can only guess that Sorrishen took care of them and buried them with their dead. While my comrades take care of the few prisoners we spared, I coax the earth to help me hide the bodies of our attackers.

It's almost resentful until I show it how decomposing bodies enrich the soil and help things grow and flourish. It's like it forgot that fact in all its indignation at being used for Blood Magic. We're ready to head to the inn of dubious reception, as far as I can tell. Off in the distance, I hear thunder crack in the sky and notice for the first time that it's overcast and dreary above us. It seems fitting that this day is being shadowed. Those people who attacked us didn't have Nightshade training.

Which means that not only was Dendrak not the mastermind, but there are people out there willing to kill him to prevent us getting any further information. People who don't belong to our Order, but somewhere else. This is widespread and not confined in any one place. I wouldn't be surprised to discover that we have some of the sect in Korrien. Perhaps even in our own Enclave. Does Aarron know this and that's why he's been so odd lately?

So many questions bombard me as we move out toward our newly minted destination. We'll have to let Sorrishen know what happened to their guards. But I've healed the two injured ones up as best I can. Rain begins to fall in a cold light drizzle, just enough to make itself felt. We'll be soaked through by the time we make it to the inn. Perhaps it'll wash off some of the blood. I can't get the Blood Sect out of my mind. Nor can I let go of the words I heard just a few days ago. The Blood Sect is everywhere.

It would seem that Minx was right.