Chapter 62: A Silly Accusation

Chapter 62: A Silly Accusation

As Tala and Rane sat atop the front wagons roof, Rane finally asked a question that caused Tala to hesitate.

So, are you from Bandfast, then? I dont think you ever really answered that.

I could lie but what would be the point? She sighed, sitting back down. No Im not.

Where, then?

Marliweather.

Will you be heading home after we arrive in Bandfast, then?

Bandfast is my home, now.

Ahh He looked like he wanted to ask but didnt press. Instead, he shifted to a different, if related topic. So, youngest?

Oldest. You?

Middle. Dead middle. Five above and five below.

Ahhh. Got lost, there?

A bit, until Master Grediv picked me. He gained a bit of a mischievous smile. My eldest brother had been campaigning for months to get Master Grediv to come to our home and evaluate him. He was basically ready to be certified as a full Mage. Even so, he hoped to be a mageling under Master Grediv. His smile widened. After testing my brother, Grediv said, and Ill never forget his words, Why would I want to paint on a used canvas? He rejected him on the spot. My brother was so startled that he never actually responded. Rane let out a small laugh. That knocked him from his high horse. It mortified mother and father, too. Then, Grediv looked around, muttering about a wasted trip before seeing me. He pointed me out and said, and Im not joking, You! Blank canvas. Get over here. Were leaving. And that was that.

Hes a colorful one, isnt he?

Oh, youve no idea. So, what about you? Eldests usually have a lot of responsibility.

She huffed a mirthless laugh. You could say that. I wasnt born the eldest, but I was when I left. Eldest of twelve. My elder brother, may his soul be gilt in gold, was really a half-brother. His mother died in childbirth, as did mine. I guess my father got better at picking a woman after that, because the other rascals all came from his third wife.

Not kind to you?

Oh, she was fine. Treated me like her own, then helped give me the family debts and send me off to repay them. She froze. Shed not told anyone that. Why are you blathering, Tala?

Rane smiled consolingly. Ahh, indentured into the craft, theneven more than most. Im sorry to hear it. Ive heard of such, but cant say Ive met any, what with not going to the academy.

She hesitated, then sighed. Already talking about it, I suppose. Not many at the academy, either. It takes a union of large debts and magical aptitude for such to happen, usually.

Well, Im sorry. Thats a pretty bad hand to be dealt.

Ill admit, I considered just dying, and leaving the rusting people with nothing, but I think Im mainly over that. She snorted a laugh. I honestly think I tilted so far towards defense as a reaction to that way of thinking. She found herself smiling, just a bit, despite the topic. Many have it worse, and things are looking up. She shrugged. Ill pay off my debt, and then be better off than I ever hoped.

Good way to look at it, I suppose. Glad you took countermeasures, I suppose. You do seem a bit carefree about danger.

Yeah, Im working on that. She glanced away.

There was a short lull, before Rane refocused the conversation. So, how did they justify it? Sending you off to a better life?

Dont know. Refused to talk to them, after I heard, and havent spoken to them since I left.

He seemed stunned by the revelation. TalaI He closed his mouth, frowning. After a long moment, he nodded then spoke. Losing your family like that Im sorry, Mistress Tala.

She gave a sad smile. I appreciate that. And, strangely, she found that she actually did.

Do youdo you think youll ever see them again?

She snorted. I used to have these grand plans: Pay off the debt, get a mountain of gold and go throw a handful at their feet. How do you like that? Im just gold to you, right? But it seems really childish, now.

He gave her a half-grin. Just a bit. Would probably be cathartic, though.

She grinned in return. It would at that. She sighed. Lets talk about something else, yeah? She scratched the side of her neck. Well be in Bandfast tomorrow, right? The days had flown by on this return trip.

Tomorrow evening, thats right.

It will be good to be home. And, it seems we have a place to train, right?

Yeah, Guardsman Adam seemed quite interested in seeing you hurt me again.

She rolled her eyes. I dont think that was it.

Fair, fair. But it should be fun.

She just smiled in response. Yeah. It should be.

The morning passed amicably, and Brand brought lunch for Tala and Terry almost perfectly at high noon.

When he saw Rane, he gave Tala an odd look, but didnt otherwise comment. Shortly after the cook left, however, the servant for Ranes wagon clumsily climbed up the ladder, bearing Ranes lunch.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via Ñøv€l-B!n.

Oh! Thank you, Manth.

The servant nodded. Will you be needing anything else, good Master?

No, thank you.

The servant gave a slight bow and left, climbing back down and hopping free of the still moving wagon.

Rane seemed a bit embarrassed. I forgot to let him know where I was going to be for lunchIll apologize to him this evening.

Tala shrugged, not feeling the need to comment.

They ate, chatting about various small things. When Terry vanished after finishing what Brand had brought, Rane paused, mid-sentence, and gave Tala a flat look.

Hes fine. He wont hurt anyone from the caravan, and were the only people out here.

Rane didnt press further.

After lunch, Tala continued her note-taking review of anatomy, and Rane read, while their stomachs settled. At nearly the exact right time, Adam arrived. In lieu of sparring, he first worked with Tala on her basic techniques.

After that, it was decided that Adam should see Rane move through his own attack and defensive patterns.

His sword was two handed and as tall as he was, a true greatsword.

The cross-guard, it seemed was sequestered within Ranes dimensional storage, along with half the handle, thus only a single hands worth of the hilt was exposed for easy drawing of the weapon.

As he pulled it free, Tala had found herself gawking.

It was entirely wood in appearance. Its grain was tight, but clear, and the red tone of the material made it look almost dipped in blood then left to dry. The color had not been at all clear from the small portion of the hilt that had been poking out, though that didnt make much sense to Tala.

The power flowing through the weapon was two-fold: First, the obviously required strength and sharpness magics were readily apparent. Second, there were hints of kinetic energy redirection that seemed similar to her hammer, but more refined and tailored to the martial applications of a sword.

When Rane pulled the blade free, a little clumsy because of his still bandaged hand, Tala got a good look at the magics. She shook her head. No.

Adam gave her a puzzled look, and Rane cocked his head. What?

You heard me. No. That looks like an item, perfectly inscribed for your needs, but its an artifact. There is no way thats a coincidence.

Rane gave a sheepish half smile. Im really lucky?

She sighed. Youll tell me later.

He sighed in turn. Maybe

Tang shook his head. That is a silly accusation. Maybe, hes right It doesnt seem likely to have worked

Trent cocked an eyebrow. Then, how about we end this in good faith. She pays you four gold ounces, and everyone walks away.

Tang began to object, but Trent gave him a hard look. That is plenty of profit for you, Master Tang. You know that it is.

The older Mage closed his mouth, clearly still unhappy. Fine. He pulled out a small stone tablet and made a few alterations before pricking his finger and confirming his side of the transaction. Here.

He held it out to Tala, and she saw that it was for a transfer from a buyers account to his, in the amount of four ounces, gold.

Tala let out a defeated sigh. Fine. Then, she confirmed the transaction. The tablet flickered green, then went blank.

Tang grumbled at her for a moment after taking the stone slate back, then stalked off.

Trent was shaking his head. Well, at least I know, now, why he was being so out of character.

Tala was afraid to ask, but she did anyways. How much should this have cost? She lightly touched the collar.

Hmmm? Oh, three or four gold is a reasonable, if higher-end, price. He was hoping for five, clearly. I dont know if he was actually going to try to extort more if your hatchling had bonded the collar before the sale, but I wouldnt put it past him.

Thats he didnt seem like that much of

Trent shrugged. Then, maybe not. From what I know of him, he is genuinely fascinated by arcane creatures, so that wasnt an act, but he is also obsessed with building his fortune. Hes given up studying or improving magically, and simply plays the trader.

Is it working?

Dont know, dont really care.

She smiled. Fair enough. Thank you, Master Trent.

Happy to help, Mistress Tala.

She hesitated a moment, then smiled, giving Trent a nod. Goodnight.

Goodnight.

Without another word, they each turned towards their respective beds.

* * *

Tala woke, late in the night, suppressing her own screams.

Shed learned to scream silently through her years at the academy. Most people were sympathetic the first time you woke from a nightmare, screaming, but after a few weeks of near-nightly wails?

No one had patience for that.

Why are you back She couldnt even muster the strength to be properly irritated. The nightmare was always the same, always stupid and childish.

Her parents pushing her under a falling ledger.

That was it.

Oh, there was usually variation in the buildup. Sometimes, the family, now faceless with years to forget details, would go to a park for a picnic before the falling ledger would appear. She would try to escape with her family, and her father would trip her, leaving her behind.

Or, theyd be climbing a tower, and hed push her out a window as the ledger swept past.

Or, shed be watching her younger siblings, and her mother would rush in to snatch the young ones from her arms before scurrying away just in time for the wall to shatter, the book coming through to crush Tala.

Its the most ridiculous thing Ive ever heard of But she still woke screaming, silent or not.

She wiped a stray strand of hair from her face. I thought I escaped these Perhaps, it was the contemplations of her debt that had returned the dream. Idiot. I cant plan a way out from under the debt, if I cant think about it

With a groan, she stood and moved off the roof, leaving Terry asleep atop her bedroll.

She checked the sky, verifying that it was sometime after midnight. Good enough.

She charged the twenty cargo-slots with ease, her work and practice obviously paying off, even given her tired mind.

After the short bit of work, she still wasnt quite far enough removed from the dream to ensure she wouldnt return to it if she fell back asleep. Returning to the dream was worse, by far.

She would be trapped, unable to move, barely able to breathe under the suffocating weight of the ledger book.

Even so, she would hear her family going about their lives, out of sight, ignoring her whimpers, her pleas, for help.

She never woke from this part screaming. She felt lucky to wake at all. The dream would continue uninterrupted, forcing her to live every minute of it, crushed by the weight of their indifference, until dawn woke her.

I hate them. She drew her knife and strained against her gate, rage and hate and hope and desperation fueling her.

The blade of the knife liquified, slowly flowing outward to form the hair thin outline of a sword blade. AlmostThere!

But that was as far as she could push it. There was no satisfying click as she passed the threshold to ignite the aura within the blade, though she suspected it would still cut.

In anger, she strode towards a nearby rock formation and swung an enraged horizontal slash.

The sword passed the rock, and nothing happened. She felt no resistance; she felt nothing at all.

Her anger sputtered, and her gate closed marginally, removing the flow-rate required. The knife shrank back into its resting form.

Useless.

She sheathed the knife and kicked the base of the stone. Nothing happened.

Well, there goes that hope. Some part of her had imagined the rock sliding apart, her cut having been so perfect that the stone didnt move until disturbed. Thats what you get from hoping

Still, she was focused on the rock, causing her mage-sight to activate.

As it did, she blinked in shock. What?

She could see power flowing through the stone, as it did in all things in the wilds.

That flow was broken.

In the rock, where she had cut, the flows of magic no longer connected. The tendrils of power had been routed around the line, stretching deep within the stone, and new patterns had developed.

It cut the magic? That made no sense. If you actually broke a flow of magic, power would burst forth, doing who knows what. So, what then?

She looked closer and saw a hair thin line in the rock, only visible to her enhanced senses because her mage-sight told her precisely where to look. It did cut the rock? No, no material had been removed

Her eyes widened. A blade with no appreciable width. Her blade hadnt been long enough to cut all the way through the rock formation, so there was no way for the stone to move, but she had cut it perfectly. The upper piece was now resting on the lower.

Well, rust me through. She looked at the knife at her hip and smiled. Nicely done. She patted the handle. I think well get good use out of you, soon enough.

She pulled herself back to the present and looked around at the night landscape. But not nowNow, I need to rest.

It had been long enough.

She crawled back into her bedroll and gazed at the stars through the light cloud cover, overhead.

Her last thoughts werent promising, as she drifted off to sleep, I feel like Im forgetting something important

Even so, blessedly, the dream did not return.