Chương 56

True Aberrants are opportunists. It is one of the many things they hold in common with Talented. Harker blinked again. This time the world didn't change on him, but the ruddy light gave everything a long, wild shadow. Off to their side, the fire was close to guttering out.

"I had only started looking," he said, staring into the flames.

"It felt so quick."

"I held up as long as I could." Adhira tucked her curls back only for them to leap free of her ears. She huffed in annoyance.

"I fear I may not have given my father his due. Submergence is far trickier than he let on." Harker pulled the pieces of his attention back together. Overdrawing his reservoir was a toothache for every part of him and it fuzzed his concentration like little else.

"I appreciate what you did. Truly." He finally noticed her own flushed, sweaty face.

"What was the cost?" Her smile was a cut of moonlight in the long shadows.

"Soul and Water. Both feel just about wrung dry." The soul was a tricky thing. According to the Keepers, souls were immortal and could not be truly harmed. Yet common sense knew that the soul could be strained or even broken by misuse, the Sea, or worse, the denizens within. A memory of teeth and maddened will stole across his spine. Harker couldn't quite suppress his shudder.

The connection to the Infinite Sea depended entirely on their soul and the Lock at its center, but that Lock was a conduit much like any of the others in their bodies. It was susceptible to damage… and invasion. Adhira chewed on the remains of their dinner, her silver eyes never leaving his face.

"You saw them. Below the Surface."

"... I did."

"Nasty things. Weak, but eager. I can usually keep them farther away but with you there…" She swallowed a piece of cheese.

"I think they smelled an opportunity."

"I doubted they were there to chat." Harker's smile was thin.

"Their hunger was hard to mistake."

"You felt that? I'm surprised. Took me a long time to identify the madness in them." Harker silently cursed. Separating what his Talent pulled into his awareness versus what others normally noticed was getting harder. It was too late to deny it now.

"I did. It was…uncomfortable."

"I don't doubt it. Sitting on my Scope, firmed by my claim, but unable to feel the solidity of it…I'd just about go raving. Still, feeling them through all that…you might be sensitive, Harker."

"Sensitive."

"Yeah. You know…Keen. It's a good thing." Adhira drummed her fingers on the table.

"Keen folks are good at finding Aberrants. Has nothing to do with Talent, though. I knew a keen that could spot an Aberrant—a real one, straight from the Sea—quick as a blink. And he was practically a Knack." The muscles around Harker's mouth tightened. He couldn't help it.

"That seems incredibly useful."

"It is. Prized for scouts and vanguards alike. But…you'll experience more of what you did in the Sea." A catch. Of course.

"Keens aren't hunted any more than a normal Talent…but it'll be harder to ignore. Something to keep in mind when you Descend." She clapped her hands.

"But! If you pass the testing, then you'll get all sorts of perks."

"Perks," he said slowly.

"It'll draw attention?"

"You want that. If you're not noticed, you don't get resources to advance yourself. Stay invisible and you stay weak while everyone else Descends." That could be a path through the Academy. Harker wouldn't say no to free resources. But testing? He wasn't sensitive or keen or whatever—it was Sovereign Sight doing the heavy lifting. Everything spun out from the golden curse bound to his soul, and if a magister got a whiff that he had a Vestige… Even Adhira would line up to cut him down.

Getting noticed was a dangerous thing. He shrugged, as casually as he could.

"Keen or not, it didn't help me figure out a Current."

"It takes time," Adhira said.

"When my father taught me, it was the better part of a month before I had it sorted. Maybe in a day or two, once I've recovered a bit, we can do this again." She stood up, or tried to—she clutched at her hip.

"Abyss." With a stiff motion, she swung her right leg out from under the table.

"This salted wound…" Harker frowned.

"The poultice isn't helping?"

"It is. My hip's just tight." She took a few tentative steps.

"I'll be fine."

"No." He stood up.

"I have an ointment for that." You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"I'm perfectly—and you're already doing it." He was. Harker had crossed to his pack in a few aching steps. Retrieving the right supplies took longer than producing the salve. He'd already prepared a base—a mash of root, Water, and sap that had been congealing in one of his jars since that morning. It was as universal as such things went, though specifics could be added to increase efficacy.

He scooped out a measure and folded in the petals of a crocus along with the stigma, which swiftly dyed the entire mixture a vivid red. Two more additions—both Sea-touched—gave it a boost of Water along with low-grade pain relief and anti-inflammation. Soon, the paste thickened between his fingers and Harker soon had a putty-like ball of nearly glowing crimson.

"Come here and pull your trousers down." He hesitated.

"Let me rephrase that…" Adhira rolled her eyes but hobbled over to stand at his side. Carefully, she lowered the side of her trousers, exposing the bandage. It was dark, as if a shadow had stained half of it.

"It's still absorbing venom but it's slowed down. You should be clear of it in a day or so. This," he held up the glowing putty-ball.

"Doesn't go directly on the wound. It'll cause problems if it does. Can I touch you?"

"No, I'd prefer it if you'd just stare at my naked hip for several more minutes."

"Seeing as I don't have healing eyes, that wouldn't be very effective—""Oh, just do it already!" Adhira jolted as his fingers touched her.

"That…feels strange. What is this ointment?"

"Muscle relaxant. It should tingle slightly at first, but these muscles should start to feel heavy before long. Don't worry. That's supposed to happen." He massaged the red paste into her skin, careful to avoid the edges of the bandage. He also tried his best not to think about how soft her skin felt or how she smelled like honeysuckle and juniper berries for some reason. The crimson faded soon after it was massaged into her skin, but the glowing remained for a while longer.

Soon her thigh and hip looked as if it had been painted with light.

"It's starting to feel heavy," she said after a while.

"And a little numb. Is that normal?"

"It is. The venom has caused some inflammation in your joint and the muscle is straining as it compensates." Harker sat back, checking the coverage.

"It would have been much worse if you weren't refined."

"Most injuries are."

"No, I mean that the presence of Water itself helped ward off some of the venom."

"How? I do not have a poison-repellent body or even a Current that specializes in such things."

"Aberrant strangeness, if I had to guess. I've seen it before though never with venom. Usually it's a bestial power that can't stand against a true Talent. My mother theorized that it was the presence of refined Water that caused the interference." Adhira groaned, shifting her weight from leg to leg.

"Oh, that…that makes a great deal of sense, now that you say it. One of the reasons we're so good at dealing with Aberrants is our Talents are a perfect counter to their own wild powers."

"She didn't mean Talents. Her theory was about refined Water all on its own."

"That is…unlikely. If it were true, surely the magisters would have devised it for themselves, and they aren't shy about sharing their discoveries." Harker shrugged.

"Like I said, it's a theory." Adhira looked thoughtful.

"Refined Water alone… Did she test it?"

"Probably." His mother had been a very methodical woman with enough dedication to choke a bullhound.

"You look like you want answers. Sadly, I'm fresh out."

"Even so, your mother was a clever woman."

"She was." The firelight played across them both, too bright and too dark by turns, but Harker could make out plenty under the glow of his ointment. It was all used up now, and things looked to be coming along just fine.

"You said she was a healer?" Adhira asked. Harker nodded, eyes checking over the bandage now.

"It had nothing to do with her Talent, but she said it was her calling."

"And you?"

"What about me?"

"Is healing your calling?"

"I'm not sure. I enjoy learning and the process involved. I could do without the patients." She clucked her tongue.

"I see."

"What can I say? I'd rather you remain uninjured." Adhira smiled around her grimace.

"How sappy." Harker leaned back.

"It saves me from doing more work and you get to walk without the benefit of my phenomenal skills. How does it feel now?" Tentatively, Adhira put weight onto her right leg. Her grimace turned into a moue of surprise. She took a few steps, and while her gait was still slightly wobbly, it was a loose sort of movement that indicated everything was as it should be.

"The pain's gone. Tightness too." She considered him for a long moment.

"Your mother would be proud."

"... I appreciate that." Her compliment was unearned, of course. He'd accidentally made the ointment a touch too weak, otherwise she'd have felt the difference well before he'd finished coverage. He had to make sure she made it to the bed before the drowsy effect hit. Harker cleared his throat." Just about done. Looks like your poultice needs adjusting though." He washed his hands with his canteen and fiddled with the bandage.

It wasn't seated correctly, and misaligned it might fail to absorb the last bits of venom. Adhira watched him, her face relaxed.

"You've done this before."

"Yes, dozens of times." He tightened the bandage at her hip making her yelp.

"Livestock, mostly." Adhira grunted.

"Don't you know women deserve a delicate touch? I'm no sheep, farmboy."

"The lack of hooves was confusing." She caught his gaze in those silver eyes. It flicked about his face as if she were memorizing his features.

"Surely you've worked on women before." Harker's smile froze in his face.

"One or two."

"Anyone special?" Unbidden, an image of Mari replaced her. Sickly and swollen with infection. Eyes clouded and flat. Dead. Harker straightened.

"Keep that bandage dry and it will relieve any joint pain until tomorrow."

"Harker—If I offended you—" He stepped over to his pack again, fetching the bedroll from the top.

"You haven't. We just all need our sleep. Submergence, this ointment…you might need it more than me."

"I'm not very tired at all." Her knees gave out and Adhira fell onto her scavenged mattress.

"Oh. I spoke too soon." Harker unfurled his bedroll as drowsiness finally overtook her.

"Good night."