Once inside the room, it opened up to become a large one-open space house, the middle of the floor and roof damaged by the tree that grew right through it. “I can’t see anyone,” Lacey said, sweeping across the right side of the room. “Clear this side” Minet called back. “So we are good then” Lizz replied, walking over to the fireplace, throwing some of the soggy wood that was piled up next to it inside, adding in one of the fireballs she was holding, then extinguishing the other. “I didn’t know you could hold fireballs in your hands,” Lacey said sheathing her sword onto her belt and walking over to stand next to Lizz in front of the fireplace. “I never used to be able to, Rowena helped me to fine-tune a few of my spells while I was working with her” Lizz replied proudly while rubbing her palms, “It is still very warm, but I have built up quite a nice tolerance to it.” “Definitely quite neat,” Minet said, “So first question, how long are we waiting before we go looking for them?”
“Typical hero boy entrance” Minet sighed, her voice full of relief, “you didn’t have to make such a mess though.” “I was short on time so it seemed like the best option,” Rex said limping forward carrying Raz. “Holy shit!” Minet gasped seeing the large bleeding wound on Raz’s scalp. “Yeah, I’ve done my best to stop as much bleeding as I can, but I’ll need your help Lizz, I cannot create fire on command to cauterize it,” Rex said, helping place Raz down who groaned. “I’ll help Lizz with this, Lacey will need your help, her shoulder was dislocated and has been for a while and none of us have the strength needed to get it back in place,” Minet said pointing to Lizz who was still huddled in the corner pale as a ghost. “No worries, I’ll go sort that out now,” Rex said with a weak smile. “Hey, are you ok?” Minet asked quickly scanning Rex up and down for visible signs of injury. “I’ll be fine, Raz has it worse than me, most of mine are mostly healed already.” “Hmpf, yeah ok, we can t
“That IS strange, where do you suppose it all went?” Lizz said, leaning over Murgan’s now whitened corpse. “Hm, I would think under the floorboards, but it would still leave blood up here though,” Minet said walking around the body, “There is none at all.” “Let’s see if it went down here,” Rex said leaning down and prying his fingers under one of the floorboards, easily tearing it off, sending little shards of wood flying. “The ground doesn’t have any either, it's like it soaked into the dirt, which shouldn’t happen, the water in his blood would soak in, but leave the solids behind, but THAT is all gone,” Lizz said after looking. “I’m going to have to be the one to say it, but that is totally f**ked up that you know all of that Lizz, I reckon we should go, this place gives me the creeps,” Lacey said after checking through the hole Rex had made and not seeing anything but dirt and raised tree roots. “This is strange, I had what I think was a memory dream type deal again, and there
“Ugh, where am I?” Rex asked, his grogginess taking a while to wear off. “You’re in my home of course,” said the woman’s voice. “I really need to stop waking up in strange places” Rex replied, trying his best to take in his surroundings, his vision still taking a while to clear. “I wouldn’t think waking up in a stranger’s home constantly suits royalty,” said the voice with a slightly amused tone. “You seem way too calm to be an enemy, either that or my enemies have finally taken to making me feel better before trying to kill me,” Rex said in a sarcastic tone. “If we wanted you dead, you would have been dead days ago” the woman replied in a stern tone, clearly not amused by Rex’s words. “Hang on, days ago? How long have I been out?” Rex said, a little shocked by the remark, trying his best to sit up, his head pounding when he did. “You had best try and get some rest before doing that, Ipes nearly had you,” the woman’s voice said, putting a hand gently on his chest. Not having th
“If Nessa had been here she could have told us…” Rex began to say, his mind racing. “She would have done what she was told and eaten her food” Al’ik insisted, her voice becoming stern, “I am not usually in the habit of repeating myself.” “Um Rex, I think you had better do what she says, she doesn’t seem like the kind of woman you want to cross,” Lacey said, turning Rex’s head back to his plate. “Smart woman, she will make a good match for you broken one” came Azulthaël’s voice from past the light of the campfire. “Again with the ‘broken one’ shit, I have a name Gizzard” Rex retorted with a scowl. “Rex, please eat” Lizz and Minet begged. “Fine, look, I’m eating now,” Rex said in an exasperated tone, picking up a piece of the fruit and placing it into his mouth with a scowl, quickly changing tune, “Holy shit, it IS good.” “Like I have been saying, now I am going to go and prepare for our chat, you need energy, so please eat the whole thing,” Al’ik said, her tone changing back and
“So, you run the risk of killing us both, but you can still maybe pull it off without that happening?” Rex asked, worried about the whole procedure now, he thought it would be a long shot to have it removed and thought it would be painful, he had not thought of dying if it went wrong though. “Yes, there is a slim chance to undo what has been done to you, like I said, your people have twisted our magic from helping people to being harmful, I for one, am not used to having to untwine weave magic not intended to heal, so it poses a danger to anyone involved,” Azulthael said, interlocking his fingers. “After all these years, you still fear death” Al’ik chuckled quietly. “I do not fear death itself, I fear the loss of my race,” Azulthaël said with a scowl, darting his eyes over the Al’ik when she spoke. “Can you not breed with other races?” Lizz asked, opening a little book from her pocket, and taking notes. “No, our bloodline can not mix with any other races, over the years we have tr
After a few hours of talking and enjoying themselves, Rex and his companions felt the familiar feeling of weariness washing over them, “I think it’s time I get some sleep, I get the feeling it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.” “Long, and successful day,” Lacey said with a smile. Once everyone agreed on what Lacey said, they all stood and bid Rex goodnight, before making their way over to the tent and closing the door, the lantern that illuminated the inside was soon snuffed out. ‘Hmpf, I don’t know where I’m supposed to sleep’ Rex thought, ‘Maybe back in there?’ turning his head to face the cave entrance. Standing up from the campfire, Rex decided he would just sleep on the table he was on before, quietly making his way into the cave, not wanting to disturb Al’ik or Azulthaël had they fallen asleep, finding the bed he awoke on earlier, he was surprised, ‘The bed has been moved, damn, the blanket is gone too, guess I’m roughing it tonight,’ after a few seconds of not being able to
‘Wow it has been a long time since I have seen you’ Rex said, dashing around to Fafnir’s head and placing his hand on his snout with a smile. ‘Yes youngling, it has felt forever, I have lost track of time while being imprisoned in here after the necklace malfunctioned, how long has it been?’ Fafnir replied, smiling weakly back. ‘Only a few months since I was cursed’ Rex replied, ‘But it has felt like forever.’ ‘That’s good, you feel and smell different, stronger perhaps’ Fafnir replied, breathing in a deep breath through his nose, taking in Rex’s scent. ‘I’ve learned how to cope without magic in ways, I have sort of kept a few things from you though, like my speed, strength, and hearing, my night vision comes and goes, usually when I need it most, I don’t have it’ Rex said with a shrug, getting a deep chuckle from Fafnir. ‘It will take some time to heal from this ordeal, your body is already on the mend and I can feel our bond growing stronger by the minute, should not be long unt