The Eye of Elicion: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol 1 (55 page)

“Not as good as a hot bath, but better than any other options,” said Joss, but he smiled as he said it. “Can you dry us off as well?”

Lucy was tired, but she nodded and directed the wind to blow harder and directly at them while at the same time sucking some of the heat out of the ground.

The guys nodded their thanks. Maya came over with water skins and passed them around. Joss would have preferred something stronger, but after a fight like that even he knew it was a good idea to replenish some of the water sweated out of his body.

“Do you have any energy left?” Gavin asked Justin hopefully, while Joss raised an eyebrow.

“Enough for you I think. If Lucy wants to try her hand at healing she can do me, or we’ll have to use old fashioned methods.”

Joss still looked confused as Justin stepped up to Gavin and put a hand over the cut on his face. Both eyebrows rose in surprise when Justin moved his hand away and Gavin’s face was healed except for a light scar.

“Scar?” asked Justin confused. He had healed lots of things and none of them had ever left scars before.

Joss shrugged and pointed to a scar on his arm, “As far as I know, an erdette’s claws aren’t poisonous, but for some reason any cut they make, no matter how shallow, leaves a scar.”

“Women love scars,” said Gavin with a grin.

Maya and Lucy simultaneously rolled their eyes, and Maya went to calm down the horses who were still thoroughly overexcited by the whole affair. Justin moved on to Gavin’s other wounds. Once healed, Gavin went in to help Maya with the horses. Justin turned to Joss.

“What about you?” asked Joss.

“I can’t heal myself very well. It’s a hard thing to do because of the energy it takes. I can make things stop bleeding, but I’ll let Lucy help me. I can help you.”

Joss nodded and let Justin close his wounds.

“Amazing,” he muttered, looking at the light scars that had been bleeding only moments before.

Maya came out of the cavern bearing food, and they sat down to eat. It wasn’t a hot meal. Everyone was too tired to cook and too hungry to wait, but it was a filling a meal, and that was enough. Lucy gulped down some bread and turned her attention to Justin’s wounds while he ate a piece of jerky.

“Do you want me to try to do this magically?” asked Lucy.

“You look tired, too. You’ve used a lot of magic recently; bandages and stitches will suffice,” replied Justin.

Lucy wetted a cloth and dabbed at the wound to clean off any dried blood and leftover dirt that her impromptu shower hadn’t managed to wash away. She knew she wasn’t very good at healing, but the idea of stitching together someone’s flesh still made her skin crawl. She settled for magically attaching the skin together. It wasn’t healing, since it could rip open just like stitches if Justin wasn’t careful, but it was a lot less mentally scarring than repeatedly pulling a needle through flesh. She took some of Maya’s herbs, made a poultice, and tied it to his arm. It wasn’t much, but it was the best she could do at the moment. Justin nodded his thanks when she finished, and she turned her attention to food.

Gavin look around them, “Well, I say we camp here tonight. We can sleep in the cavern. Lucy’s defense system will protect us from most things, and anything it can’t protect us from would be a danger no matter where we camped.”

The others agreed. Mostly because they were too exhausted to think about trying to ride and then set up camp somewhere else. They dowsed the fire and filed into the cavern. There they set up bedrolls and fell asleep.

The next morning they woke up stiff and sore, but they were alive and no longer being followed by an erdette so they were in good spirits as they saddled the horses and prepared to ride. Lucy had to ungrow her vegetation. Justin filled in his holes, and Gavin set off his snares. They didn’t mind killing animals to eat, but letting something fall into a large hole that it couldn’t climb out of was cruel. Joss couldn’t wait to get to the next town. Justin, however, felt it might be better to avoid the towns. They didn’t need any more notoriety or notice. All they needed to do was get back to Taran’s alive and get out of here with the Eye.

“Feather beds are so much more comfortable,” argued Joss.

“Bedrolls can be safer,” argued Gavin.

“We can listen to rumors,” reminded Joss.

“We can scan far enough to see if we are being followed,” countered Justin.

“Hot food,” Joss suggested even though he knew he was losing this argument.

“You don’t have to stay with us,” said Maya. “You can leave and go on to the next town any time you want.”

“Perhaps, but I’ve gotten comfortable with you people. One more to your group can only help, I’ve proven myself as a competent warrior in battle, and I have to stay until I’m sure you find me irresistible.”

“Careful, if you’re waiting for that, it’s going to be an awfully long wait.”

“The longer I get to enjoy your company,” replied Joss with a wink.

Maya sighed and rode forward setting them on course to skirt to the south of the next town. They traveled without incident that day, and Gavin had the presence of mind to shoot a few birds for dinner when they startled out of some rushes. Maya stuffed the birds with herbs and wild mushrooms she started collecting as soon as Gavin killed them and roasted them over the fire. They weren’t enough to fill everyone’s bellies, but they were succulent, and supplemented with bread and dried fruit from their packs, it was a feast.

Joss looked dubiously at their small tent but followed them in with his bedroll, prepared to be cramped. He was pleasantly surprised when he saw how it had been expanded, although he was disappointed when he realized that the tent was segmented off to give the women some privacy.

“Some people don’t like magic, don’t trust magic, and therefore keep a fair distance from magic users. I think I could get used to traveling like this,” Joss said as he pulled off his boots and wiggled his toes.

“You’re a magic user,” said Justin.

“I think the better way to phrase it would be to say that I know a little magic. I don’t know how to do this,” he waved at the tent. “Most of what I know is for survival rather than comfort.”

“Would you like to learn more?” asked Justin, sensing that there was unused potential there.

“Perhaps next time we meet,” said Joss with a shrug.

“Next time?” asked Gavin.

“You may be leaving, but I’m sure you intend to come back. If I’m bored enough, I might track you down. You seem like the type of people who attract interesting scenarios.”

Gavin grinned at him. They lay down and went to sleep.

The rest of their journey was relatively easy. Joss and Maya bantered, while Maya led. Justin worked with Lucy on healing. Unfortunately the best way he knew how to do this was to give himself small cuts and talk her through mending them back together. It gave them something to do in between scanning the area surrounding them. Lucy would never be as good as Justin when it came to healing, but she could do enough minor things to help them get by. Gavin always brought up the rear, watchful and alert, running through weapon drills when he needed something else to do.

They were tired, dirty, and in the mood for a hot meal when they rode up to Taran’s cabin. Taran was repairing his roof but climbed down excitedly when they arrived. He hugged everyone, including Joss. Apparently they had met before. Taran directed them to a bath house and went inside to work on dinner. He had been making a stew for himself so he added a lot more meat, potatoes, carrots, herbs, and broth for his sudden guests. Unfortunately, they could only bathe one at a time so Maya and Lucy went first while Gavin and Justin rubbed down the horses, fed and watered them, and loosed them in Taran’s paddock.

After dinner, they sat outside Taran’s cabin and told him all about their adventures. He was eager for details and asked a lot of questions. He also had questions for Joss about events happening elsewhere. When they started to yawn, Taran sent them off to bed. It felt good to sleep in beds again, and everyone fell asleep quickly, except Lucy. After awhile she gave up and went back outside again. Taran was still where they had left him.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked Lucy with a smile.

“Physically tired, but mentally awake.”

“Ahhh, yes, I’ve been there.”

Lucy sat down next to Taran. “I don’t mean to sound rude or overly bold, but I think you know more about all this than you are telling us.”

“That in itself is not a bold or rude statement. Have you anything specific you’d like to address?” Taran seemed more curious than anything else.

“Certainly,” replied Lucy. She held up her left wrist. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”

Taran smiled and pulled off the gauntlet she’d never seen him without. He held up his left wrist and there, like a tattoo, was the same pattern that was on Lucy’s.

“When did you figure it out?”

“At dinner, when we were telling our tale, your hand went to your wrist when we got to that part. It made me wonder. Also, Joss has the same tattoo, and you know Joss from somewhere. It occurred to me that perhaps you searched together.”

“Very astute,” acknowledged Taran. “Have you told Justin?”

“No, I wanted to be sure, and it’s not my place to tell. The better question is why haven’t you told Justin?”

“The Lady told me that anything I did to help Justin find his way to Kleth would hinder him with the chance of being fatal. She said that Justin would have people with him who would help him and it was not my fate to be on that journey. By choosing to take that journey without him years ago, it meant I couldn’t take the journey with him later. I could only wait and hope.”

“Will you tell him now?”

“I’m not sure, but sometime I will. He needs to get the Eye to the school and my telling him would involve a long conversation that he doesn’t need to have right now.”

“I’ll let you tell him in your own time.”

“Thank you.”

“I would like to hear about your adventure sometime.”

“Sometime I’d love to tell you, but not tonight.”

“Does this mean that you might be able to go on other journeys with us?” asked Lucy hopefully.

“I might; we’ll have to see. I honestly do like my life here. Why go looking for things when I have what I want right here?”

Lucy nodded, partly in acknowledgement and partially in agreement.

“Think you can sleep now?” asked Taran.

“I think I can try. I’ll have more chances to talk to you.”

“Count on it. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Lucy went back up to the loft and fell asleep.

Lucy awoke the next morning ready to get back to the school. She had had a series of interesting adventures, but it was time for a rest in a safe place. Also, it would be pleasant to be properly clean for an extended period of time. Her clothes could use a decent washing, and some of them needed mending. She’d worn through a pair of boots. She wasn’t sure how long it would take her to brush all the tangles out of her hair, which now hung a little past her waist. She dressed quickly and made sure she had all her belongings. Then, she joined the others for breakfast.

It was wonderful to have a hot breakfast. So often, they didn’t have the time or the ingredients. Taran had made pancakes. That along with homemade syrup, fresh sizzling bacon, corn muffins, and fresh (rather than dried) apple slices made it the best breakfast they had had in days. Lucy sat down and quickly grabbed some pancakes. Gavin, with a smile on his face, was eating with wild abandon and Lucy wanted to make sure she got some of the hot food before it was gone. Eventually everyone sat back, full and happy, but each debating if they should eat that last piece of bacon or the final muffin.

They quickly discussed Joss’s plan to spread the word that the Eye had been taken out of the land. A potentially dangerous truth for him to spread, but he assured them he would be fine. Lucy also worried about Taran. Would people show up and try to get through the doorway to go after the Eye? That might put him in danger. Taran assured them that there was adequate protection in place for that sort of possibility though he did not go into detail.

Having nothing more important to discuss, they thanked Taran for the wonderful breakfast. It was time to say goodbye. Lucy didn’t know Taran particularly well, nor had they spend a lot of time together, but she still found it hard to say goodbye. It was pleasant here at his cabin, and she wanted to get to know him better. She hugged him warmly.

“Sure you don’t want to come with us?” she asked, knowing the answer.

“Some other time perhaps. I like it here better, and you’re not the only travelers from the school that I provide brief lodgings and food for,” he smiled.

She nodded to show she understood then arched an eyebrow at him and let her eyes roll in Justin’s direction, hoping he would understand her unspoken question.

He nodded and answered, “Soon.”

She smiled, hugged him again, and moved on down to say goodbye to Joss. He was jovial, gave her a hug, and promised to see her next time they were in the area. She realized she knew Joss as a person pretty well, but almost nothing about him. How did they travel with him for so long and not even learn what town he was from? Questions for next time. Then she waited by the place in the rock that would take them back to school. She watched as Gavin clasped hands with Joss and Taran. Thanking Joss for his help with the erdette and promising Taran a sparring rematch. Justin and Taran hugged, and Justin promised to come back soon for a longer visit. Then he shook hands with Joss as well. Maya hugged Taran, thanked him for his hospitality, and turned to Joss. Whatever quick goodbye Maya had in mind, Joss’s roguish smile told Lucy she’d better watch out. Before Maya could make a move, Joss grabbed her, dipped her backwards, and kissed her soundly on the lips. He smiled as he put her back on her feet.

“Something to remember me by,” he said with a smile.

Maya stood there at a loss for words. Then she smiled, mumbled something, and joined the rest of the group by the door.