Red's Writing Nook

A hurried glance over my shoulder revealed the amorphous shadow racing towards our party, which was moving pitifully slowly in comparison. I growled, then pulled my reigns up to slow my mount and grab for the book, inwardly cursing the last few days and their happenings for forcing me to rely so heavily and readily on the damn thing. As soon as I had dropped back to be even with Tor, who was bringing up the rear, I issued my order.
“Book-Trench-Deep-Behind”
As the last syllable tore from my lip the earth behind my steed’s rear hooves was rent in half, the chasm rapidly deepening and widening as I gained distance from it. I did not wait to see how, if at all, the shroud would react to my delaying effort, instead once again urging my horse back to the head of the group and settling in beside Jessa and Eve’s shared mount. Jessa glanced at me, then looked back over her own shoulder, then looked back to me.
“How many more times can you do that? If we can stall it long enough, Eve and I might be able to figure something out…”
I shook my head, cutting her off.
“I can stall the shroud for perpetuity. That will not, however, resolve our issue of firepower. Yourself and the girl simply do not possess the strength, even if you were to combine your castings-”
I paused as a vague, half-formed memory floated through my mind. Or perhaps it was a misremembered dream. In either case, I seemed to recall once drawing on the powers of other casters directly, rather than simply taking control of their already-made casting. That would drastically reduce the power usually lost in the process of controlling another’s casting, and could conceivably allow me to craft and use a casting powerful enough to destroy the shroud. The odds of that being the case with most pairs of casters would have been painfully low, which was likely one of the reasons my hazy mind hadn’t regurgitated the method earlier, but the child glaring at me even now was playing host to the fragment of a goddess- Essentially a battery, full of the power I needed to rend the shroud from existence.
“I have a solution.”
Both Jessa and Eve quickly turned their heads to focus on me, the question unspoken but obvious. Instead of explaining immediately however, I slowed my pace slightly to drop back between Radd and Leric.
“Well, this is a right mess, ain’t it!?”
The small man seemed almost on the edge of hysterics, shouting wildly even as he continued to glance rapidly over his shoulder at the ravine I had caused, and the shadow even now surging over its lip. I ignored him, instead focusing on the red-haired huntress.
“The lot of you that can’t cast need to stall the shroud. Buy as much time as possible, then when I give the word, get as far from it as possible.”
Leric stared at me silently for a moment, watching, then nodded once and wheeled her mount around.
“What!? Leric!”
I ignored Radd’s startled cry, instead bringing my own horse to a standstill and dismounting, turning to face the onrushing shroud as I did so. Behind me, I heard Jessa’s horse wheel around and begin to return to where I stood, even as the remainder of the party followed Leric’s lead and swung around to meet the shroud. I knew that even with their best efforts they would only be able to buy me a few moments at most, and so I immediately began crafting the most powerful flame casting I knew, using my own heart as the nucleus and epicenter of what would eventually become an all-consuming ball of fire. Normally, this casting would be far beyond my capabilities, and even as it was I could barely muster the power to begin forming the structure of the spell.
“Evren! What are they doing!?”
I heard Jessa from beside and above me, and I broke my concentration momentarily to reach up and grab her wrist. As soon as my skin made contact with her, I cast out my senses and began searching for power in my surroundings, greedily binding whatever I could find into my casting. My own meager reserves vanished almost instantly, but in comparison Jessa’s power was like a lake, damned and ready to be released. I sacrificed a small amount of my own power to crack the damn, jolting Jessa and breaking her subconscious control over her powers momentarily. But that moment was all I needed to take control, and I began channeling her own power into my reservoir, and then into my casting.
I heard Jessa gasp as I began to take her power, and then I heard Eve’s worried voice.
“Jessa? Jessa! What are you doing!?”
I was not watching the girl on the horse, but I did feel her hands latch onto my own wrist in an attempt to pry it off of Jessa’s. I took the opportunity to reach out for Eve’s power as well, then felt my body stagger back as the sheer strength of her washed over me.
If Jessa had been a lake, and if I was a puddle, than Eve was an ocean. I had felt the residual power in Etheel’s corpse, so I was not surprised at the child’s obscene strength, but even then I could not help but marvel at the reality. Once, long ago, I had ruled over legions of casters and their creations, but even then I could not recall a caster with the strength and potential that the girl possessed. If I could train her, teach her, I might yet get to see something new…
I was stirred from my musings by a surge in Eve’s power- Something in the depths was stirring. I grimaced; I was more or less certain about the cause of the stirring, but I simply didn’t have the time to deal with that irritating spirit at the moment. I used a portion of Jessa’s power to jolt Eve as well, and as soon as I could feel both the casters’ energy flowing into me I withdrew my consciousness fully back into my own body. A glance towards the horse beside me revealed both Eve and Jessa frozen, their faces a rictus of confusion and fear, while I could feel my own chest rapidly warming as the casting that encircled my heart gained strength.
A deafening, childlike scream drew my attention towards the melee that was inching ever closer to where I stood. As I watched, Leric rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a downward swinging appendage from the shroud that pulverized the earth where it struck. Almost immediately, Daniel lunged forward and swung his sword with both hands into the appendage, severing it cleanly and leaving it flopping on the ground like a fish removed from its stream. Radd followed up by bringing his warhammer down on the severed appendage, obliterating it and sending gobs of black shroud flying through the air to paint the ground and the party. Behind the three, Tor stood at a distance, sending arrow after arrow to land with expert precision in the rapidly appearing and disappearing mouths that covered the shroud.
But for all their efforts, the four were barely able to slow the shroud, let alone stall it. The thing seemed hellbent on reaching either myself or one of the casters, confirming my suspicion that the impetus of its creation had included a clause stipulating it had to destroy a certain individual.
The only issue was, such an impetus should no longer exist.
I sighed, then returned my focus to my casting, wringing as much energy from the two females beside me as possible and wrapping it in ever more detailed circles around my heart, channeling my intentions into the spell all the while. Suddenly, I felt Jessa begin to sway, and I cut off the flow of power from her, now drawing solely from Eve and her seemingly bottomless reserves. Another scream warned me of the shroud’s imminent arrival, and I decided that I would have to make due with what I had manged to fold into the casting. Releasing Eve from the power meld as well, I slowly began to walk forward in a straight line, focusing all the while on keeping the casting controlled- No easy feat, considering it was now multiple orders of magnitude more powerful than anything I could have naturally created on my own.
“Get…”
I spoke slowly as well, forcing the words out with each step.
“…Back…”
Tor heard me first, and shouted towards the others to retreat. He turned in his saddle to face me, and his face paled, whatever he was about to say dying unspoken on his lips. Instead, he urged his horse around and rode hard for Jessa and Eve, presumably to lead them and their mount to safety. However, I no longer had the freedom to pay attention, or even to care, as the shroud was now upon me.
In the last moments before it washed over me, I was struck with the certain realization that this shroud had been created, and sent, with the purpose of attacking me.[If the shroud was sent to kill him, it means that someone knows he exists and what he is. That also means that the shroud was sent to bind him for eternity, since anybody who knows how to make a shroud had to know both part of Evren’s past, and his nature.] I frowned.
Someone was going to pay for this inconvenience.
As the shroud’s many mouths began to tear and gouge at me yet again, I smirked.
“No need to be greedy. There’s plenty to go around.”
Then I unleashed my casting.

---

There is a curious quality to destruction. I have seen uncountable scenes of devastation over the course of my existence, and been responsible for more than my fair share as well. But nonetheless, I do not consider destruction to be inherently reprehensible, or even something to be avoided in general. Destruction clears out the old, allowing for new growth and evolution, allowing for change. Perhaps that is why I am so curiously unopposed to destruction- It shows me an analogy of what might happen, should I eventually be destroyed. Perhaps that is what compelled me to create the shrouds, and their ravenous nature.
Oh yes, that was me, though I no longer recall the exact details, the how or the why. Not that it matters- I have left many indelible marks on this world, the shrouds being the least of them.

---

“And to think, I was worried about firepower.”
My smirk survived the apocalyptic explosion that tore from my body, though little else did. I stood in a thigh-deep crater, the ground scorched hard and black for a good distance around me. Ash danced on the breeze, and the smell of smoke was all-pervading. The trees nearest to me had been stripped of leaves, bark, and branches, and even now some smoldered and burned. Farther away, the crowns of trees were engulfed in flames as the late summer leaves served as kindling.
Of the shroud, there was no sign, save a single blackened lump embedded in the wall of the crater. I approached it and pried it free, realizing as I did so that it was an ash-covered orb, about the size of my fist.
“Book”
With a bark I summoned the book from wherever it had been thrown by the explosion, then promptly ordered it to create another black robe, because the last had fared as well as the shroud had in the explosion. Using the hem of my new robe, I brushed the worst of the ash from the orb. As the blackened detritus fell away, it revealed an incredibly smooth tan and white orb with a marbled appearance, and what seemed like the occasional black scribble on it.
I knew better, of course- the orb was the result of an impetus fusing with the skull of whomever had the misfortune to be carrying the impetus at the time of their death. What I held in my hands was the nucleus of the now-destroyed shroud, and a fairly potent artefact as well. Slipping the book into my robe, I climbed out of the crater while absentmindedly tossing the nucleus from hand to hand. Up until now, this journey had mostly been a way for me to kill both some time, and hopefully myself. Honestly, I had held little real hope of being released, and had been planning on perhaps finding a glacier or cave to while away eternity in once my hopes were dashed yet again. But now everything was different.
Somebody, or something, knew about me. Knew enough about my past and my nature to use a shroud against me. I could not hope to rest peacefully while such a foe existed.
“Evren!”
In the distance, through the smoke, I could make out moving shapes and heard the call of my name. I did not respond.
If there truly was a being out there that wished for me to be destroyed, then they and I shared a most fervent wish. But if they hoped merely to seal me for all eternity…
“Book-Nucleus-Shape-Blade”
The orb seemed to shimmer, then elongated and thinned into a gently curving knife, wickedly sharp on one edge. Without hesitation I ran the blade along my forearm, skinning off a length of my flesh to bind around the handle for a grip. Ignoring the already-sealing wound, I forced what little power remained to me into my new knife, binding it to my will through blood and intent.
Once I was finished with the binding, both physical and otherwise, I held the blade up to the sunlight that managed to filter through the smoke.
“They sent you to bind me, against my will. Instead, I bound you. Now I go to return you to them, whoever and wherever they be.”
I began to walk once again, heading towards where I could hear the party moving about.

It seemed this would be a longer journey than I expected.

I had a debt to pay before I could sleep.

The horse below me nickered softly, stirring me from my slumber with a sigh. I cast my gaze about as I blinked blearily, my eyes struggling to adapt to the midday sun after the comforting dark of my closed eyelids and cushioning arm.
“Awake, are ya?”
The gruff voice drew my wandering eyes to the left, where they took in the sight of the stocky Radd seated upon an almost equally stocky horse. He was watching me with half amusement, half annoyance in his eyes.
“Ya fell asleep a good while back. Your horse almost damn near wandered off with you still on ‘em, so we tied ya to Tor’s saddle. Why do ya sleep so much, anyway?”
I glanced forward, and indeed, my reigns were bound to the back of the saddle that swayed atop the horse in front of me. In the saddle, hood once again drawn up, Tor kept his head facing forward and gave no indication that he was paying attention to myself or Radd. Though, considering he was riding at the head of our little column as trailguide-cum-scout, it was an understandable reaction. I returned my attention to the smaller man.
“I sleep for the same reason you would- I am exhausted.”
Radd raised an eyebrow, guiding his mount around a divot in the dirt path as he did so.
“Aye, but you sleep all the time. In camp, in a tree, in the saddle, everywhere! Hells, Eve said ya were even sleeping in that dungeon.”
I tilted slightly as Tor led the horses around a wide, muddy puddle, then righted myself before answering.
“The weight of the years is heavy on the mind, and heavier still on the eyelids. I cannot recall when I fell into this… malaise, but at some point I found myself awakening with entire lifetimes having passed me by. Not that I minded- It was a peaceful existence, at least for most of the time.”
I heard the sound of an another horse from my right, and I glanced over to find Jessa urging her mount forward to ride beside me as well. Seated in front of her was Eve, once again just a young girl, who was studiously ignoring me.
“I couldn’t help overhearing, so please, forgive my intrusion. But how then did you get involved with the Vords? If you were asleep, I mean.”
I chuckled humorlessly.
“They woke me up, of course. I don’t recall the exact circumstances, but I believe I was asleep in a cave to the… south. Yes, the far south. And the Orginal Duke, who wasn’t yet a Duke, was hunting for artefacts of power to increase his influence. Instead, he found me.”
Jessa looked at me askance for a moment, joined briefly by Eve before she returned her attention to the low hills and light forest rolling past.
“So they woke you up, and you just… agreed to work with them?”
I shrugged lightly as I leaned forward again and set my head against my steed’s neck, closing my eyes and welcoming the return to the dark.
“Not ‘them.’ I was very annoyed about being woken up, and so I vented some of that frustration. But afterwords, I had a long discussion with the original duke and we eventually came to an agreement, which ultimately leads us to our current circumstances.”
I heard Radd snort from a distance.
“Ya skipped more than a few details there, didn’t ya?”
I shrugged again.
“Almost certainly. But I don’t remember most of them, and I’m under no obligation to share what I do recall.”
I attempted to slip back into my world of dreams, much more pleasant now that I was being awakened by a novice torturer, when a high-pitched voice cut through the haze.
“You always say that- ‘no obligation.’ You said it when Etheel… back in that dungeon.”
I opened one eye and stared silently at Eve, who stared back, equally silent. It was a contest she was doomed to lose.
“Ya do say that pretty often, ya know. Makes you sound like a right bastard, too.”
I ignored Radd- The short man was starting to annoy me, and I had no intention of explaining myself more than I already had. It was understandable that the mortals would have questions for me, and I wasn’t so rude as dismiss them as a matter of course, but I drew the line at expending unnecessary effort for their sakes. It wasn’t as though satisfying their curiosity would change anything, after all.
“Jessa!”
A shout rang out behind us, causing me to straighten up and open both of my eyes. The sound of rapid hoofbeats came from behind us, and before long Leric and Daniel both drew up their mounts just behind us. Jessa looked back with a concerned look etched on her brow, still skillfully guiding her horse as she did so.
“Daniel? What is it? What’s wrong?”
The armored man grimaced and shook his head.
“Riders, approaching fast. I don’t know how many, but from the dust they’re raising, its more than we have.”
Jessa cursed softly, then urged her horse closer to mine.
“Eve, ride with Evren. Everyone else, form up around them, and stay close- We’re going to try and outpace them.”
I imagine my expression was as equally dismayed as the girl’s was, but Jessa’s insistence allowed no time for anything more than a grumbled dissent as she helped Eve climb into the saddle before me. As she was helping Eve, Jessa grabbed my shoulder and stared into my eyes.
“Keep her safe, please. If not for me, than for the sake of your goal.”
I blinked in response. What a curious request, to preserve a life so that I might end my own. But mortals were always strange, I suppose. I doubt I was much better when I was young, to tell the truth.
I watched passively as the remainder of the party quickly formed up around us, Tor and Radd taking the lead with Jessa and Leric holding up the sides, leaving Daniel to guard the rear. Once everyone was in position, Tor urged his steed up to a canter, and then a full gallop, spurring my own horse to follow suit. The others soon joined us in our flight.
And so it was that we found ourselves racing down a dirt path in a forest younger than I, fleeing what could reasonably be called justice. Or perhaps not, if the sensibilities of this world had changed without my noticing. Regardless, it was all quite taxing, and I felt myself beginning to drift off in the saddle once again as the world rocked about me and the air was filled with the rhythmic sounds of hooves hitting the hard-packed earth.
I blinked, and the next thing I was aware of was that self-same earth slamming into me as I tumbled off my mount, the impact bouncing me into the air and sending me rolling, snapping my collar bone and several ribs in the process. I let out a soft groan of annoyance as my body tumbled into a shallow rut beside the path, barely even coming to a rest before I felt my many recently-acquired scrapes and cuts seal back up, and my bones meld together as though they were soft clay.
I lay quietly for a long moment, considering the possible benefits of simply allowing the encroaching forest to cover me, before the sound of hoofbeats and a shout drew my head up above the lip of the ditch.
“Evren! What happened!?”
I quirked an eyebrow as Jessa bore down on me, pulling her horse around at the last moment to come to a jittery stop beside my ditch.
“What, exactly, are you doing?”
She glared down at me, anger an confusion warring on her face.
“What the hell do you mean!? I’m here for you! Anyway, we have no time-”
A distant rumble interrupted her, growing louder with every passing moment. I sighed and stood, dusting myself off as I did so.
“Indeed, we do not. Which is why you should have left me- Now, your entire party is in danger.”
This was a truly vexing situation. If Jessa had just continued to ride alongside the others, there would have been no issues. I could have easily evaded pursuit, escaped captivity, or survived torture on my own. But now, because of Jessa’s naivety, I could see the rest of the group wheeling their mounts about further down the road to rejoin us, while from the other direction the thunder of our pursuers’ mounts grew louder. I shook my head.
“Really, how foolish you children can be.”
I stepped out of the ditch, walking past Jessa and her steed to stand in the middle of the path, facing the direction of the approaching thunder. Behind me, I heard the remainder of the party ride up and bring their own mounts to a halt, followed by the sounds of a heated debate. I ignored them, instead examining our surroundings, noting every detail as though I might need to write down a description of the scene one day. The dirt path was hard and wide, worn by more than its fair share of travelers, and while the forest around us was young yet, there were many thick trees and gnarled roots to be found. I took a deep breath, drinking in the scent of pine needles and spilt sap- Scents that had once been my merry companions while I wandered the vast expanses of the northern coast.
I was struck by a wave of remembrance, a swell of memories long buried breaking through the cauterized crust of my mind. I remembered the crunch of snow under my boots and the comforting warmth and weight of the bearskin I wore slung across my shoulders, too large by far for me alone, but just perfect for her to join me, and our-
The sound of childish laughter echoed through the barren halls of my mind and I snarled, tearing myself back to the present with a scream.
“Book-Chains-Create!”
The pop that followed my command was accompanied by the rattle of metal on metal, and the creak of wood warping. As I watched, the earth around me shuddered and stirred as the many tree roots seemed to shimmer and fade, reforming with the dull metallic sheen of thick metal chains.
“Book-Chains-Bind!”
With another pop, the numerous chains now littering the ground jerked into action. I was speckled with flying dirt as previously buried roots-turned-chains tore themselves free of their earthen embrace and began wrapping around trees, stretching to cover the path with a spider’s web of metal links.
“Book-Chains-Sharpen”
I sighed, my brief moment of rage and sorrow once again overwhelmed by the apathy of the ages, and turned away from the promise of pain now awaiting the unaware riders that I could hear, now all but upon the party and I. I walked back towards the group, all now watching me in stunned silence, speaking levelly as I did so.
“I would advise you all to make ready for battle. My little trick will kill some, wound others, and stall the rest, but they will get past eventually.”
Jessa blinked mutely at me for a long moment, then swung out of her saddle in one fluid motion, barking orders as she did so.
“Tor, get to the back- Take the horses! Radd and Leric, take the front. Daniel, stay mounted and watch the flanks! Eve, stay by me, and be ready to throw up a shield if you have to.”
She paused after hopping off her horse and glanced towards me, a question plain in her eyes. I answered it as I shrugged out of my vest and began undoing my shirt.
“I will move separately- You are unfamiliar with my abilities, and as such will not know how best to engage them in battle.”
Jessa nodded once thenn turned and focused her attention on the path, and I felt power beginning to collect around her and Eve as both began preparing their castings. A quick glance backwards revealed all but one of the horses corralled by Tor between a tight copse of trees, and the hooded man himself stringing his bow. Nearby, Daniel remained mounted, ready to respond to any threats from the flank, while Radd and Leric both swung their weapons to loosen up and settled into easy stances to wait. I nodded once- they were nothing I hadn’t seen before, but nonetheless the party was experienced and efficient. Good traits for the road, no matter how short the journey would end up being for these mortals.
I pulled my shirt free and allowed it to fall atop my similarly discarded vest, shaking my arms which were now bare of everything but my gloves, which I retained for grip, and limbering up my shoulders. I barked an order at the book, which I had tossed beside my vest.
“Book-Blade-Create”
With a pop, I heard something whistle from above me and quickly stepped aside as a razor-sharp branch-turned-longsword plummeted to pierce the ground where I had been standing. I scowled at the book, snorted at its shuddered response, then reached out and grasped the blade in both hands. My body was still too weak to fight at my true peak physical capabilities, but the fact that I didn’t need to worry about mortal wounds, or indeed wounds of any kind, offered me the sort of advantage in combat that master swordsmen could only grind their teeth in jealousy about.
I swung my new sword a few times to become familiar with the weight and balance, then drove the tip back into the earth and rested my weight on the handle with a yawn. There was nothing left to do but wait.
The wait proved short, however, as the thunderous noise approaching us revealed itself in the form of a crowd of riders tearing around a bend in the path back the way we had come. At the speed they were going, they would be upon us in moments, and with their numbers and momentum they would be hard-pressed to stop before they encountered my blockade.
I allowed myself a grim smile as the first shouts of fear were carried to my ears by the wind, but it quickly faded as the shouts were drowned out by the screams of wounded men and beasts.
The riders struck my trap with such force that, even if I had not sharpened the edges of the chain links, flesh likely would have been torn from bone by the impact alone. With the edges, flesh was shredded from bone, and bone sliced from body with almost equal ease. I watched impassively as crimson splatters arced through the air, painting the ground in riotous colors even as men were minced by the weight of their fellow riders crashing into them. The lucky ones died immediately upon impact, or shortly after. The unfortunate ones survived, thrown free from the saddle, mangled beyond recognition and tortured beyond thought. The truly unfortunate escaped with their minds intact enough to beg for aid or mercy, crawling towards myself and the party with gore-stained hands outstretched.
Leric and Radd both hesitated as they watched those few unfortunate souls, but I did not. I strode forward, dispatching the mortals with as much mercy as I had to offer, a twinge of envy accompanying each thrust and slash of my blade. I never did understand the concept of letting a foe that had bared his teeth at you live, not even when I walked as mortal man. It seemed some tendencies survive even eternity.
After a while, the screams started to die down, and with one last slash of my sword I dispatched the final suffering pursuer on my side of the chains. Shaking the worst of the gore from my blade, I looked up to stare at the now-halved group of riders, who looked back at me with a mixture of rage, confusion, and fear. I tilted my head.
“So, tell me- What is next?”

The last time I had roamed the open world, it had been as a masked and anonymous caster, striking fear into the hearts of the many petty lords the original Duke of Vord sought to subjugate. While I could recall little of the actual campaigns, I did recall the general, over-arching themes of life on the march: Noise, exhaustion, and filth. In that, if in nothing else, traveling with my new companions proved much the same.
“You runt! Give me back my skewer!”

I blinked my eyes in irritation as a roar of anger shook me from my sleep. Looking down and over my shoulder, I stared into the campsite where the red-haired woman, Leric, was chasing a surprisingly quick-footed Radd around the fire. As I watched, Radd took the offending skewer in both his hands and raised it to his mouth, tearing away a hunk of roasted meat while simultaneously dodging a tackle from Leric.

“I don’t see your name on it now do I, fire-head? So what’s the bloody issue?”

Leric snarled in response, then lunged again, and I sighed in irritation as I readjusted my head and closed my eyes. I had gone to the trouble of finding a suitable tree branch, one both a good distance from the fire and high enough off the ground, precisely so that my rest would go uninterrupted. But from what I was seeing, and hearing, I would be hard pressed to truly avoid disturbance unless I fully left the small forest in which we were currently encamped.

“That’s enough, you two! We’re trying to avoid detection, if you’ll recall.”

From below me I heard the young man, Daniel, begin to scold the two troublemakers. As soon as we had dismounted from the day-long ride we’d begun at the Ducal mansion, he’d been unsubtly keeping a close eye on me. Though, because the first and last thing I’d done had been find my current perch and settle in, he had done little but hover around the base of my tree and bark reprimands at Radd and Leric whenever they became rowdy. Which was often.
I heard the sound of movement stop for a moment, and then I heard Leric remark with scorn.

“I don’t want to hear that from you, tinhead. You make more noise than both me and the midget combined, clanking around in all that armor.”

Daniel sighed, and moments later I felt my tree shudder slightly alongside the clank of metal on metal, leading me to assume the young man had stood up.

“Listen, I understand- We’re all a bit on edge at the moment, what with… recent events, but that’s no reason to antagonize each other. Especially not right now, when the Rhode Kingdom is certainly going to be looking for whoever torched the Vord Mansion and killed the Duke. Because, as it has seemed to have slipped your minds, we’re the ones they’re looking for!”

Silence met his words, and I allowed myself the smallest of hopes that perhaps peace would return to our humble campsite, at least for a short while. Then I heard a rustle from the underbrush on the other side of the camp, and that slim hope was quickly dashed.

“Alright, the wardings have been strung around the camp, about thirty paces out in every direction. Remember, don’t cross them until we’re ready to leave, or else Eve and I will have to redo all of them. And that would make me very cranky indeed. Also, Daniel, you’re being just as loud as the other two.”

Jessa’s chiding words carried over the camp, joined by a formless chirp of assent from Eve’s higher-pitched voice. Daniel’s response was slow and embarrassed in comparison.

“Sorry, Jessa.”

I heard nothing in response, leading me to assume Jessa had simply waved the boy’s apology away. It had been an unexpected bonus of our rather short journey together so far, watching the obviously-smitten lad trip over both his tongue and himself whenever he interacted with the caster. It was one of the few things that had not been fully stripped from me over the course of my existence, that curiously bemused feeling I experienced every time I watched a mortal spend far more time than was necessary attempting to express their interest in another. That was not to say I didn’t understand- I had been mortal once, and I had been in love several times since, and every time was a new experience, a new challenge. Watching the boy and the caster reminded me of that, and of why I had ultimately chosen to withdraw from even merely observing the mortals- All it did, in the end, was compound the excruciating loneliness that had come to be an integral part of my existence. To lose one lover in the sands of time is hard enough, but to lose so many that no abacus could ever tally the total? To have one’s heart torn apart again with every lifetime that one exists?

Death would be preferable. Death is preferable.

“Evren!”

A muted call drew me from my morose musings. Opening my eyes again, I turned my head to look down towards the base of my tree. There I found Jessa, standing with her arms crossed and an eyebrow quirked, looking up at me.

“Are you going to come join us for the meal? It’s not much, just some trail stew, jerky, and a rabbit that Tor poached, but I imagine after your stay in that dungeon you could do with some actual food. The Vords were never renowned for their hospitality, even towards their actual guests, so I can only imagine what they offer to their prisoners…”

I stared blankly at her for a few moments, considering whether or not I should take the offer seriously. I had consumed all variety of cuisine over the course of my eternity of wandering, but in the last century or so I hadn’t consumed anything of note. In fact, I doubt that I had eaten quite literally anything since the original duke of Vord had locked me in that room all those decades ago. But while I had grown used to the perpetual gnawing and cramping in my stomach long ago, I also now had to consider the fact that I was going to be traveling again, at least for a short period of time, and if I wished to avoid having to constantly use restoration castings on my body then I would need to feed it on occasion.

My decision made, I rolled to the side and let the weight of my body drag me off the branch, briefly enjoying the weightless sensation of falling before I crashed heavily into the ground and my neck slammed down onto a jutting root. I grimaced as I felt my spine shatter momentarily, robbing everything below my head of all feeling, before I felt it reform and fuse back together, restoring the sensations of life throughout my body. I had never managed to get used to that particular sensation, no matter how brief its stay, leaving me with a marked distaste for spinal wounds and being beheaded.

Rising, I dusted myself off and began to move towards the campfire, passing by Jessa who was standing silently with a part shocked, part bemused expression.

“The answer to your unspoken question is ‘nothing.’ The Vords don’t feed their prisoners- Or rather, they didn’t. Now then, what is this trail stew you mentioned?”

Jessa didn’t respond. Instead, I heard a rustle from beside me, and as I glanced over I was treated to the sight of Tor the hooded bowman emerging like a wraith from the forest, bow in one hand and another unfortunate rabbit in the other. He shook his hood back, revealing a grizzled face framed by short dark hair, and answered my question as he settled near the fire.

“It’s a dry stock, got a goodly amount of beans and jerky chunks in it. Add some water, heat it over a fire, pinch in some salt, and you’re set.”

I immediately took a liking to the hunter’s short-spoken demeanor and settled beside him, watching silently as he quickly and methodically skinned, gutted, and skewered the freshly caught rabbit. After a few moments, I heard Jessa sit down on my other side, and across the fire Radd and Leric engaged in an uneasy truce as they also took their spots. Daniel and Eve, who had been loitering quietly on the periphery while Eve conspicuously avoided looking at Tor’s butchery, came forward as well and lowered themselves to the ground near to Jessa. Without speaking, Jessa leaned forward and grabbed a wooden platter from a small stack resting a safe distance from the heat, then ladled some stew onto it from the pot resting in the fire. She passed the platter to me, then grabbed and filled another while I passed the platter on to Tor. It had been several lifetimes or so, long even before I had been hidden away in the Vord dungeons, since I had camped under the open stars with traveling companions and shared a meal. In fact, I couldn’t quite remember when it had been, or with who, that I had gone on a journey with anyone but my own thoughts and the book for company. I hadn’t missed it, but after so long, the variety was an appreciated change.

Then Radd snatched another skewer from Leric’s grasping fingers, and I sighed as the renewed squabble filled the clearing.

---

---

 

The fire had died low, the pot had been emptied, and the last of the skewers had been stripped of their meat. I sat silently, staring at the glowing embers of the once-vibrant flame as the sounds of sleep filled the clearing. Radd had fallen asleep sitting up, his back pressed against a tree and his cloak spread across his knees. Nearby, Leric was stretched out, using one arm as a pillow and the other grasping a sheathed dagger closely to her chest. On the edge of the clearing, cloistered in the shadow of a large and warped root, Eve slumbered peacefully under two cloaks, given to her by Jessa and Daniel to ward against the faint chill that marked the true arrival of night. The two had slipped off into the dark, ostensibly to check the condition of the wards one last time, but I suspected they were more interested in privacy than security at the moment. And Tor had slipped back into the dark, leaving me to sit alone and ponder, though I could hear the soft, rhythmic scrape of a blade on a whetstone carrying through the night. I welcomed the noise- I disliked the rambunctious energy of earlier, but I had also had my fill of silence for the moment.

“When day turns to night…”

I softly sang the opening to a song whose name I had long ago forgotten, drawing the book from the folds of my clothes as I did so.

“Fires seem to burn, ever so bright…”

I tossed the book lightly into the embers, smirking slightly as it shuddered in response.

“Did that annoy you? I suppose it would- You’ve never been fond of fire, I can recall that much still.”

The book didn’t respond. It never did. I suppose that was one of the greatest motivators for my hatred of the thing- My partner in eternity, yet it never said a word.

I sighed, then pulled one of my gloves off and reached out to cup an ember in my bare hand. I watched impassively as my flesh burned and blistered, then healed, then burned again. Pink to red, to pink again, all while pain lanced up my arm in flashes.

“Do you feel pain, I wonder? If not, do you feel mine? Is that why you always heal me? If so, is that why you keep me alive? Because you fear death?”

I spoke monotonously, the result of asking the same questions for eternity. The book responded in kind- With a single, short shudder, and then nothing more. I sighed again, then dropped the coal and pulled the book from the embers, warm but untouched as always. As I began to slip the book back into its normal location, I heard footsteps behind me, soft and light, like a child’s. A short glance towards the root where Eve had been slumbering revealed nothing but a slight indent in the ground, and empty shadows. I sighed.

“I shall speak with Thee now, ‘Immortal.’”

I did not acknowledge the spirit’s words for a long moment, then slowly glanced back over my shoulder to take in the sight of Eve standing there, still swaddled in two cloaks much too large for her small frame, eyes aglow once again.

“Will you now, o ‘Goddess?’”

The spirit tilted her head slightly at my mocking tone, but otherwise seemed to ignore my response, instead staring up at the moon that hung brightly overhead.

“I have heard whispers of thee, carried by the sylphs and the nymphs to mine ears while I was still rightfully worshiped as the Lady of the Moon. A mortal, possessed of the power and the arrogance of the Eldest, a forgotten champion…”

I snorted derisively, glaring back at the dying embers as I did so.

“An abandoned pawn, you mean.”

Behind me, I heard the spirit shift, and then the sound of footsteps once again entered my ears. Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement, and I watched silently as the spirit paced around the fire until she stood on the opposite side, facing me across the low glow.

“Perhaps. But thou hast not been a pawn for time immemorial now, hast thou? The tales of the Eldest precede even mine own in age, and thou appearest only as a rumor even in the oldest of those. And yet, here thou sits before mine eyes, persisting still.”

I did not reply, but rather waited, silent. The spirit had a point, something she was working towards.

“The power thou wields… I know not its nature, but I know well that it is not thy own. It is beyond any mortal capabilities, any mortal comprehension. And yet, thou wieldest it with impunity, without direction or constraint. Why? What happened to thy sponsor?”

I stared silently at the spirit for a moment, then chuckled humorlessly.

“The answer to that is simpler than you suspect- I never had a sponsor.”

The spirit narrowed her eyes.

“Foolishness. No mortal has such power by nature. Even mine own strength, drained as it may be, is far beyond what any mortal could hope to hold alone.”

I quirked an eyebrow.

“I never said my power was mine by nature. I simply never had a sponsor to which I was pledged or indebted. The day I was empowered was also the day I became the sole wielder of this power.”

I watched with a sallow smile as the spirit silently digested my words for a moment, her eyebrows slowly narrowing.

“Thou… didst thou slay thy benefactor?”

My smile grew grim.

“No. No, I never had the satisfaction.”

I looked back down, staring at the cold lumps of ash that had once been home to vibrant flames.

“No, the one who cursed me with this fate proved a coward- They took their own life as soon as their burden had become mine.”