Chương 36: Grenda

"Cuthbert's here?!" They'd only just freed the bird from capture in the last town. He couldn't imagine why any animal would travel through the scar. Surely if there were corrupted creatures on the ground, there must have been predators in the air as well. Although Aaron had felt a connection with the bird since restarting his heart, he suspected that the crow was drawn to him.

"Yes, the blasted thing is flying around the farm, and Giddeon is swearing that he wants to kill it. I came here to hurry you back." Paige was red in the face. She must have run quickly.

"I told him you would come and sort it out. Tim has managed to talk him down from hurting the bird, but I don't think he will wait long."

"You did this for me?" Aaron teased.

"What, no? If he hurt your bird, you guys would fight and you would definitely lose. That wouldn't be good for the quest. I need you in shape to keep summoning corpses for me to practise on." Paige stammered. Aaron suspected she was blushing, but it was impossible to tell under the redness from running.

"By the way, good idea getting the Altheon boonstone. The life magic contrasts with your necromancy and might mask it from seers. And if you're lucky, mana hounds too."

"Oh, thanks," Aaron said. That's definitely why he got it.

"Are you going to wear it, or absorb it into your soul?" she asked.

"What's the difference?" Paige chuckled as if it was a joke.

"Oh, you're serious? I forgot you grew up in a bubble." Sometimes, Aaron just nodded along and tried to piece things together as he went along, to avoid being heckled by Paige too much, but he was keen to find out more about Boonstones.

"Yes," Aaron grumbled.

"If you wear them, you can freely take them off, but the spells are limited. If you absorb the stone into your soul, the magic permanently becomes part of you. You can access your mana to make it more powerful, and you might even be able to make it stronger over time or evolve it. Sometimes the magic changes based on your soul and type of magic, your Necromancy could potentially make it into an entirely new spell. I don't really know how it works with the Gifted."

There was a hint of venom in her voice when she said the word 'Gifted.' It was ironic how she had a thing against them, because from Aaron's perspective, he was in awe of the dedication it took for her to learn how to control light spirits with such precision without the help of a tome.

"I'm not sure if I'll absorb it. I'm a novice, so I'll only be able to use one, right?"

"Yeah, probably. But you'll be able to take on more as you get stronger," she said.

"I would absorb it if I were you. The Altheon powers will make your mana more difficult to recognise." Paige was probably right. Either way, he was curious about how his necromancy powers would interact with it.

"How do I do it?" He asked.

"I'll show you later. We need to get back."

"One more stop before we go. I want to find a clinic to see if we can get Tim something to help him recover." Aaron said. Paige groaned, "We don't have time. Didn't you hear me? He wants to kill your stupid bird."

"Tim's smart, he will figure out a way to hold him back for a bit. Besides, we won't be long now you're here to show me the way." Aaron grinned at her and winked.

"Eugh, fine," she said, rolling her eyes again. Although Aaron swore he saw a little smile slip out, which she quickly stifled.

The infirmary in the town was nothing like Master Addison's. It had a much more humble atmosphere. All sorts of patients were waiting to be seen. Farmers, merchants and even more finely dressed people Aaron suspected were lesser nobles. Back in the city, the rich got preferential treatment, whereas here, he suspected it was more even. They sat in a small room waiting to be seen.

A nurse came round to each person as they came in to take a few basic details, presumably to work out who needed to be seen the most urgently. Some people were there with awful-looking bite marks with what looked like black worms under the skin. This must have been the corruption Paige was worried about when Aaron got scratched. A woman came by and used a device to fire a fine beam of white light into the wounds.

It looked agonising and made the room smell of burning flesh, but the black marks in the wound vanished. It was suitable for a small wound, but Aaron felt it would be impossible to heal a large area of corruption like that without causing serious disfiguring scars or risking life-threatening burn injuries. Singing came in from the next room along. It was high-pitched and melodic for a man's voice.

He was singing about good fortune and health and playing a lute, although the lyrics barely rhymed and were slightly suspect and provocative at times. Paige frowned, clearly displeased by the music. It was the same face the nobles in the city pulled when they had to wait a couple of minutes to be treated at the infirmary. She'd been acting like a noble for so long, it looked second nature. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

The music got louder and the bard came into their room. Aaron and Paige both looked at their feet, trying to avoid eye contact, but to their displeasure, the room had cleared out and they were the last ones left.

"Hello m'lady. Sir." The bard curtsied, flared the arm not holding the lute out and bowed forwards majestically.

"Do you care to spare a coin for a poor bard?"

"Get out of here, Alex!" A voice boomed from the next room. A broad woman walked in. She was old but well kept. Her age made her look like she was experienced enough to beat someone up rather than a sign of frailty. The brightly dressed bard scattered off out of the hospital, singing happily on his way.

"Beggars!" She scoffed.

"What can I do for you?" Aaron took a moment to reorient himself. He strangely felt compelled to give the bard a coin.

"My brother is sick. We crossed the scar and the corruption has affected him badly. We need something to help him recover."

"Does he have any vomiting? Any black patches on his skin? Any bleeding gums?"

"... No? Why would he?" Aaron replied. The woman ignored him.

"Any change in mood, sudden violent urges?"

"NO," Aaron said, "should he?" The woman grunted as if Aaron's questions were an inconvenience.

"No, but he could if he was bitten or overexposed." Aaron glanced across at Paige, but she looked completely unfazed and didn't offer Aaron any kind of validation for his outrage. She must have known the corruption could do this, of course she did! The woman grumbled on, "he needs rest, lots of sunlight. He'll be fine." Aaron felt a little disappointed about the clinic here. He had hoped to enjoy observing new kinds of healing magic, and instead he got a dispassionate, miserable healer telling them to go and rest.

"Anything to speed up the recovery or help with his fatigue?" Aaron wanted to say curse, but felt like it probably wasn't a good idea. He had no idea how they reacted to curses out of the city. They treated them with a lot of suspicion and stigma in the city, so it felt unwise to overshare yet. The bard's music could be heard again just outside the door, pausing between lyrics to greet people in a sickeningly happy voice. The woman shuddered.

Aaron didn't think her face could look more miserable, but the bard was truly talented!

"You're travellers, right?"

"Yes…" Aaron said, slowly. Paige stamped on his foot as if to tell him off. Aaron's acting was transparent, so it was pointless to pretend anyways.

"We don't charge for healing here. It's paid for by the baron. He also pays that blasted bard to play for the patients. He thinks it raises their spirits, except all he does is beg for money." The woman's face reddened talking about Alex, as if she was ready to walk out and throw a punch.

"He's been blabbering on about being bored of this town and lost his muse. It won't take much to persuade him to move on," she said extremely sarcastically, "Take him with you to the next town. Take him to the scar. I don't care. If you promise me you will take him out of here, I'll give you a potion from our supplies. Paige screwed up her brow as if she hated the idea, but didn't protest. The woman sensed their hesitation.

"Look, you're not going to be able to buy healing potions anywhere else in the town. They are rationed to the clinics. If you want it, this is your deal."

"Fine," Paige finally spoke up, "We'll take the fool. If he wants to go." She looked across Aaron with folded arms. The look that said "you owe me" and also "I'm going to murder you" at the same time. A half-smile slipped through the miserable woman's scowl as she rummaged through a cupboard and brought out a tightly sealed metal container with a wax-sealed lid. Aaron shook hands, took the potion and walked out of the clinic.

The bard was still singing outside, jumping in the way of passers by, who mostly ignored him, but surprisingly many parted with a few coppers. Alex seemed delighted and grinned childishly at the sound of copper falling into his hat, which he placed on the floor in the most inconvenient place possible in the middle of the path.

"You. bard." Paige said, impatiently.

"Hello, madam. Do you care to tip a couple of coppers for my song?" Paige ignored him.

"Do you want to travel out of the city? The woman inside said you wanted to leave. We will provide you with transport east."

"I bet it was Grenda, that cow. Although I do feel I have outgrown this small place. Seeing the ocean would do so wonderfully for my inspiration."

"Great, follow us." Paige drawled.

"Whoa, hang on a minute, miss. I don't know who you are or what you want with me. For all I know, you could be trying to steal my music, or my lute!" Paige scoffed, "I'd rather sleep in a tent full of mana hounds!" She clearly wasn't a fan of the musical arts.

"Come on, Aaron, I said I'd only take him if he wanted to go. We've got the potion." Paige started walking away, more briskly than usual. There was something about this place that irked her the wrong way.

"Wait, wait! I'll go. This place is no place for a bard of my talents. I should be telling songs of triumph and legend, but I am reduced to begging." Alex burst into song. The lyrics contained obnoxiously long words and flowery descriptions of a journey to the oceans in the east.

"Please, no singing," Paige said, holding her palm onto her forehead as if it hurt. She really wasn't in a good mood. Aaron dared not ask why. It was odd that the bard agreed to travel with them so easily, although he didn't come across as the smartest. Besides, he wasn't exactly a threat to them so it wasn't worth the worry. Before the dragon strikes, it was normal to pick up travellers from town to town. They quickly shot through a herb shop a couple of streets down.

Well, it wasn't really a herb shop, more like a food shop which sold some herbs, but Paige seemed to think they were adequate. They were back at the farmhouse before long, although the journey felt like a lifetime with the bard sharing his life story and trying to argue with Paige, who refused to let him sing at the threat of violence. Apparently he used to be a noble or a nephew of a noble. Aaron didn't really care to listen too much. Weirdly, he found himself liking the bard.

There was something about his charming naivety. As they arrived back, Gideon was pacing up and down outside as if his legs were crawling with ants. Tim stood near him, looking exhausted. He must have come outside to help keep him at bay. On top of the roof of the house was Cuthbert. He loomed over the farm with various bits of bare bone and muscle exposed along his chest and wing. He hadn't changed much since he was in the city, but had a blank look in his eyes which reminded Aaron of the undead deer.

The sight of Aaron seemed to make Giddeon even more mad, which made Aaron feel nervous about the crow. He hadn't seemed to notice the bard yet, however.

"Get that damn monstrosity out of here, or I will scorch it off the face of the Northern Expanse!" Aaron called him down from the roof, his chest going icy cold as the words flew from his mouth, "Here Cuthbert!"