Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Strangers but Potential Friends

Leir stood in the doorway and watched awkwardly while Melisende gave her father a hug that seemed to stretch on forever. He didn’t want her to come along with them and refused to feel bad for her. This wasn’t his fault, even if the churning feeling in his gut told him that he should have just stayed in the house instead of getting involved in the theft to begin with.

“Stay safe, Melisende,” Eudes said, pulling out the hug before adding, “You too, Leir. I know that you can get a little impatient and overconfident, and I hope that this experience helps you grow a little bit. Both of you, listen to Baldovin and follow his lead.”

“Yes, Father,” Melisende mumbled; Leir simply nodded in agreement.

They picked up their bags and stepped outside into the heavy morning fog and dew. Leir led the way to the edge of the village, Melisende trudging after him without so much as a word. Occasionally, Leir would glance back at her to see her hanging her head and dragging her feet.

Leir heard the group before he saw them, but before long the fog parted to reveal a covered wagon and several horses along with a group of fantasy creatures loading supplies. Baldovin was there, along with a plant person, a pixie, and a young man with rabbit ears and a tail, who was the only one besides Leir to be wearing sandals and not boots, save for the pixie, who was barefoot.

“Leir! Melisende!” Baldovin cried, approaching with open arms. “Welcome! Let me introduce you to everyone. The florelle with the flowery hair is Lotus Dust; they’ll patch you up if you need it. Whisper here is a mischievous little sprite, but he’s good natured. Burrow is the only other animal spirit here, though they’re a witch and not a magus; I’m sure you’ll get along with them alright.”

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Leir declared, standing up straight and nodding his head respectfully.

Melisende said nothing and refused to look directly at the group.

“It’s a pleasure to have more company,” Lotus Dust said in a soft, feminine voice. “Rest assured, we’ll keep you safe and out of harm’s way.”

Burrow, who was pushing a small chest into the wagon, grunted and said, “Extra help is definitely welcome.”

The sprite, Whisper, sat on the edge of the cart and only gave Leir and Melisende the briefest of glances before returning his attention to the forest around them.

“I’ll start getting the horses ready,” Baldovin declared, stepping away from Leir and Melisende. “You two can ride in the wagon. It will be a little bumpy but easier than sharing horses.”

Leir climbed up into the back of the covered cart and asked Lotus Dust, “There’s something about Baldovin: he’s not an ordinary orc, is he?”

“No, he’s not,” Lotus Dust replied. “He’s a spirit, too.”

“How does that work?”

Both Lotus Dust and Melisende gave Leir a long stare before the plant person explained, “I’m surprised you don’t know. When a mortal, a magus at least, trains for long enough to become a master at their domain of magic, they can transcend that mortality and become a spirit like the rest of us. He founded the troupe, actually, though we used to be adventurers rather than vigilantes.” While Leir stewed in that information, Lotus Dust continued, “He told me what happened to you; it was brave of you to try and help, and it’s unfortunate that you lost something precious to you in the process. Baldovin believes that you would be a good student of magic, and I’d like to pursue that with you, but I believe that it would be best if you didn’t get involved with combat if it happens.”

“What?!” Leir cried. “Why not?! I deserve the chance to fight!”

“It’s simply too dangerous,” Lotus Dust replied.

“Listen to them,” Burrow added, leaning up against the cart as well. “You’re untrained and untested in combat. It’s a miracle you weren’t hurt more when Shadow Fang attacked you.”

“I’m competent!” Leir protested.

“Even if you were,” Melisende said, folding her arms, “you’re not a fighter and they’re supposed to be keeping us safe, Leir.”

Leir growled, but at that moment Baldovin turned the corner and said, “Let’s save questions about who will be fighting for later, after we’ve seen how Leir is able to handle himself. I would prefer not to let our guests get into danger, but the time may come when he needs to step up, for his own protection if nothing else.” To Melisende, he added, “I’m happy to train you, as well.”

Melisende simply whined a little in response.

Burrow said, “I think we’re ready to go.”

“Then let’s take off,” Baldovin declared, clasping his hands together. “Melisende, let me help you into the wagon.”

Baldovin and Whisper climbed into the driver’s seat on the wagon while Lotus Dust and Burrow got onto their own horses. The wagon took off with a start, and Melisende grunted in surprise. The pair had been given pillows to sit on, but it was still uncomfortable being squeezed in with supplies. Leir opened the flap at the back of the wagon to watch Silverleaf recede in the distance, and caught Melisende watching as well. If Leir was already starting to feel homesick for the village, he couldn’t imagine what she was going through.

It was a rickety journey through the foothills deeper into the mountains. Hours of small bumps in the road added up and made it into a tedious experience for Leir, and not being able to stand up to stretch his legs made him fidgety. He could hear the other members of the troupe talking to each other outside the wagon but couldn’t make out any words. Melisende was deep in her thoughts and didn’t seem interested in talking to Leir. Sometimes he’d catch her casting a dark glance his way, but most of the time, she just looked unhappy.

Sometimes the wind would start to howl and Leir would get a little jumpy. The last time that he was this far away from town, he’d been attacked by a mountain lion and was more than a little afraid of it happening again, despite how unlikely that was. Every burst of wind convinced him, just for a moment, that something was attacking the group.

After a few hours of sitting still, Leir stood up the best he could and made his way to the front of the wagon, pushing through the flap so that he was right behind the driver’s seat.

“Something wrong, Leir?” Baldovin asked.

“No, nothing wrong,” he replied. “I was just wondering: what exactly is our goal?”

Lotus Dust, off to the left, replied, “We want to apprehend Shadow Fang and her cohorts. They’ve been passing through the different territories robbing people for a while now. There isn’t actually any kind of organized law enforcement that covers all the discrete territories, so we’re hoping that we can succeed independently where official means have failed.

“Shadow Fang’s little group of outlaws is made up of several high profile thieves and con artists, but Shadow Fang herself is probably the most notorious. Before she became a bandit, she spent many years as a mercenary leader and even took part in the Brackish War.”

“Brackish War?” Leir asked.

Baldovin clarified, “It was a conflict between goblins and elves over territory, a long time ago. Both sides hired mercenaries of every ancestry, not simply spirits. Things have been more peaceful in recent decades and mercenary groups are less common, but some old spirits haven’t been able to find other ways to survive. Now that nobody is paying her to target anyone in particular, Shadow Fang seems to be going after whomever she wants.”

Burrow, on the right, added, “She’s not just targeting villages. Usually, when she does, people typically get out unharmed. But sometimes she targets individual homes on the outskirts of civilization or even out in the wilderness and those people often aren’t so fortunate.”

Melisende poked her head out of the wagon and asked, “Why did you think it was a good idea to bring us along if she’s really that dangerous?”

“No need to worry,” Baldovin said, flashing Melisende a warm grin. “I vowed to your father that I would keep you safe and I intend to. There’s no need for either of you to worry.”

Melisende just grumbled and retreated back into the wagon.

“Why are we heading deeper into the mountains to look for them?” Leir asked.

“Dwarfs revere spirits,” Whisper said dully. “A lot of outlaws run there to lay low until the pressure is off of them.”

Baldovin added, “The locals aren’t as likely to sell them out, even if they know that the crew are criminals, unless they specifically do something to break etiquette. That means we won’t be able to rely on the locals for our investigation. However, it also means that we aren’t likely to be impeded by authority as we would be if we were still in elf territory.”

“You know about Shadow Fang,” Lotus Dust said. “Do you know any of the others that she’s running with at the moment?”

“I do not.”

“Three of them are animal spirits as well. River Lily is an anura. To no surprise, they use water magic, but they also have access to the disease domain; if they can hit you with that, you might be in real trouble. Silken is an arana who specializes in heat and cold magic while Razor Wing is a tengu who uses speed and wind domains. Shale is the odd one out: he’s an oread with strength and stone magic.”

“I look forward to the opportunity to test my strength against him,” Baldovin declared, puffing his chest out.

Leir nodded, pretending that he actually understood what any of those terms meant. What was an arana and how was that different from an anura? If an oread wasn’t a type of animal spirit, what type of spirit was it? He struggled to remember what the other bandits who were with Shadow Fang actually looked like, but was drawing a blank.

Eventually, Leir pulled himself back into the wagon and sat down and closing his eyes in an attempt to simply will the time to pass faster. His hand found its way to his chest, where the energy crystal was supposed to be. All of this could have been avoided if he hadn’t been so stupid; Leir would already be on his way home instead of having to wait a few extra days to track down the thieves.

It felt like forever before the wagon finally came to a stop and Leir emerged, sore, while Burrow helped Melisende down. Baldovin and Lotus Dust started pulling things out of the wagon while Whisper brushed one horse’s mane. They were in the middle of a small clearing far from any hint of civilization and the shadows were stretching pretty far.

Baldovin said, “Leir, Melisende, you two start collecting firewood.”

“There’s wood in there,” Leir whined.

“We still need kindling,” Baldovin explained.

Both Melisende and Leir groaned and started scanning the ground for sticks that they could use. Leir heard Melisende grumble, but she wasn’t close enough for him to make out what she was saying. He did his best to focus on collecting as much wood as quickly as possible so that he could just be done with it already.

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“Don’t worry,” Leir told Melisende. “We’ll be back in Silverleaf within a week and everything will go back to normal.”

She didn’t respond.

Once the fire pit had been dug and all the kindling placed inside, Melisende sat down on a log and slouched over. Leir sat down across from her and watched Baldovin place a large pot of water in the fire. Whisper sat on Baldovin’s shoulder, whispering into his ear and getting him to chuckle occasionally, while Burrow and Lotus Dust continued to retrieve things from the wagon.

Lotus Dust approached Leir with an armful of fabric and rope before asking, “Do you know how to put a tent together, Leir?”

“I… Of course!” How hard could it be? “Let me take care of it.”

“I’ll help,” Melisende said, beginning to stand.

Leir shook his head and took the materials from Lotus Dust, insisting, “I’ve got this.”

He had no idea what he was doing, but there was no way that Leir was going to admit that in front of everyone. It was just a tent! Leir had no right to refer to himself as a scientist if he couldn’t figure this out through simple observation!

Several wooden poles were included in the supplies, which Leir struggled to stick into the ground. The cloth tarp was bulky and oddly shaped while the ropes were old and frayed and tangled up in knots. He wrestled with the supplies for a while, creating something that he thought mostly resembled a tent, but while pulling one of the ropes taut so he could pin it to the ground, the whole mess came tumbling down on top of him.

“Agh!” he cried. “Help! I’m stuck!”

It took both Melisende and Burrow to free him from the wreck while Lotus Dust started untangling the ropes. Leir sat off to the side to watch Lotus Dust set up the frame of the tent while the little sprite Whisper ran sections of rope through holes in the fabric. His face was burning, but he was grinding his teeth in frustration; how did anyone expect him to know such a useless skill!?

“If you don’t know how to do something,” Melisende said, folding her arms, “just ask for help instead of wasting our time.”

Lotus Dust said, “There’s no need to be antagonistic about it. That being said, Leir, we’d prefer you ask for help if you need it rather than struggle on your own.”

“I can take care of myself!” Leir snapped, slouching over further.

Baldovin walked over; sitting down, Leir only came up to his knee.

“That’s not the point, lad,” he said. “We need to work together; none of us are going to make it very far on our own.”

Leir grumbled, “Fine. If I need help, I’ll ask for it.”

“Atta-boy!” Baldovin cried, patting him on the head and making Leir groan in embarrassment.

Finally, the tents were done and everyone gathered around the fire to receive their bowls of stew. It was fine, but nowhere near as good as Melisende’s cooking and incredibly bland compared to what Leir had been eating just a few weeks ago. He missed his penthouse condo more than anything in the world, but even the spare closet in Eudes’ home was starting to feel like a luxury.

Leir glanced over at Melisende, who gave him a stern glare before facing away from him. He couldn’t help but sigh. The rest of these people were still strangers to him and he wanted to talk to someone he knew. Earnestly, he didn’t know what he’d done to her to make her so angry at him.

That night, Leir and Melisende retired to their tent, but she refused to speak to him before wrapping herself in a thin blanket and curling up on her bedroll. Leir closed his eyes but his thoughts wouldn’t stop roiling. What he wouldn’t give for a sleeping pill right about now. Every sound outside the tent startled him, and a few times during the night he was certain that a mountain lion was near. It was a good several hours before Leir drifted off to sleep.

In the morning, Melisende broke down the tent while the rest of the troupe started packing up and preparing breakfast. Leir sat a short distance away from them to practice generating fire in his hands. His mana didn’t feel any stronger than it had just a few days ago, and he blamed the uncertainty caused by everything that had happened. Still, he poured energy into his palms and growled when the flames didn’t get any bigger.

“Brute force isn’t going to help you,” Melisende chided him as she picked up the tent supplies.

“Tell me what I’m doing wrong, then!” he snapped.

Lotus Dust wandered over with Whisper in her hair vines and said, “If you’re struggling with developing your mana any further, it might mean that you need to do some more spiritual introspection. What drives you to learn magic?”

“It’s private,” Leir grumbled.

Whisper said, “They only ask because magic gets stronger the more you know yourself and what you stand for. Your sense of self is incredibly important, especially as a magus.”

“That doesn’t really help,” Leir admitted.

He was used to technical problems, situations that required a clever but straightforward approach. Learning magic so far had been a lot closer to picking up a musical instrument or making art and Leir was not used to having to practice at something to get good at it. Now they were telling him that there was more to it, but being really obtuse and unhelpful with their descriptions.

“Leir, what do you think you stand for?” Lotus Dust asked, sitting down next to him.

Leir’s shoulders slumped and he admitted, “I don’t know what that means. I’m just trying to get my crystal back so I can go home.”

“But beyond that,” they continued. “You have to have some values or virtues that you dedicate your life to if you want to be able to master the domains you know.”

Ears flicking with annoyance, Leir admitted, “I just want to be the best at what I do.”

“What are you doing?” Whisper asked. “Are you an entertainer? A pilgrim? You look a little young to be a mercenary. What do you use your magic for?”

This felt like being back in school, when Leir would have teachers looking over his shoulder and offering suggestions. He’d always read ahead in the textbooks, so he didn’t need their advice, and it was always devastating when he slipped up and they corrected him. Leir wanted to just hammer his way through this problem on his own. Unfortunately, an audience meant that any mistakes he made while experimenting would be on display for everyone to mock.

Baldovin walked up and placed his hands on his hips, asking, “How about we start with where you came from, lad? Maybe that will give us some insight into how you learned to use magic and what your relationship to it is.”

At this point, everyone was gathered around Leir and making him the center of attention. He normally thrived in the spotlight, so it was unfair that they only focused on him when he was struggling with something! Leir could prove that he wasn’t some kind of scrub if they’d only put a circuit board in his hands!

“You don’t really want to know where I come from,” he insisted, standing up.

“Why is it a secret?” Burrow asked, raising an ear. “Are you running from something?”

“I’m not!” Leir insisted; he could feel Melisende’s gaze on him.

“It’s alright if you are, lad,” Baldovin said. “We have no intention of selling you out, but if you’re in danger, it would be easier for us to help you if you’re honest with us.”

Leir’s tail squirmed and he said, “You’ll think I’m lying.”

Burrow assured him, “We have no reason not to trust you.”

With a groan, Leir mumbled, “Fine. I’m not from this world; I come from a world where we have much more advanced technology. Anything you can think of is something that can be done by machines where I’m from, and I was the one who invented all those machines. While studying the energy crystal—the one that Shadow Fang stole—it activated by accident and brought me here. I don’t have the technology to activate the crystal again, so I’m trying to substitute magical energy instead to make it take me home. That’s the purpose of my magic.”

He saw Melisende roll her eyes while Burrow pinched their eyebrows and frowned. Lotus Dust was looking expectantly at Baldovin. For a moment, nobody said anything.

“That is quite a lot for such a young man to go through,” Baldovin said.

“You can’t be serious!” Lotus Dust cried, climbing to their feet. “What about that sounded the least bit plausible?”

Whisper answered, “It’s weird, but we don’t know what the limits of magic really are. If we live long enough, we’re sure to run into some things we thought were impossible, right?”

Baldovin asked Lotus Dust, “Do you think he’s lying, then?”

Burrow answered, “It seems like he thinks he’s telling the truth.”

“None of us are versed in knowledge magic,” Lotus Dust admitted, “but I don’t think we need to be in order to see that he’s hiding the truth for some reason.”

Leir growled and mumbled, “I’m going to get some breakfast,” before pushing past them. He had not wanted to start the day with everyone calling him a liar, and now that was going to be hanging over his head for the rest of the trip. If he were more desperate, he would have sincerely considered praying to something to make this adventure as short as possible.