Page 67 of The Shadowed Oracle
“Yes,” Ingrid said simply.
“Only a little,” Raidinn countered. “Just about your… teachings.”
“This again?!” Tyla flashed a brief scowl, but something seemed to dawn on her, and she smirked devilishly. “My teachings, huh? Would that be my teachings with Ingrid?” She looked to her brother. “Or to you, Rai? Back when you could barely swing a sword?”
Ingrid put her hands on her hips. “Wait, she trained you, too?”
“Oh yes,” Tyla answered for him. “I bet he didn’t tell you that. Just like he left out what kind of shape he was in back then.”
“Don’t start,” Raidinn begged.
“I won’t say pudgy. That’s too mean. Really, he was more… portly. Like a cute little baby. About as talented with a sword as a baby, too, until I taught him.” Tyla got on her toes, lifting herself high enough to pinch her brother’s cheeks. “Feel guilty yet?”
“Guilty? Me?” Raidinn huffed. “You’re the one shaming a child.”
“Yes, but you started it.” Tyla lifted her arm, pulling the sleeve of her undershirt up. On the palm of her hand was a small cut, not deep, but still bleeding. “While you were ridiculing my swordsmanship, I was out there fighting more Ungii.”
Raidinn’s face went still. “How many?”
“Just two. But the path to the Occi Isles is swarming with them.”
The Occi Isles, Ingrid remembered instantly. That cluster of islands from the map Dean had laid out for her. It was made up of two large islands and a series of smaller islets and unnamed seamounts. They extended down a large gulf in the Jemii Sea that led directly to Maradenn, their destination.
“No vacation cruise for us, then,” Raidinn lamented. “Damn.”
“I was thinking more in terms of the future,” Tyla countered. “Finding a boat would be one thing. Traveling that unprotected and out in the open past the Nockspring coast, though, that would be suicide.”
Dean and Raidinn nodded slowly, almost bored. The constant reminder of looming doom was not only tiring for them, but repetitive. Ingrid envied them for that.
“But on a positive note,” Raidinn said jovially, patting the hard metal of Ingrid’s shoulder armor. “Look at you, all geared up like a real live killer.”
Dean echoed the compliment. “You look incredible.”
“I’d have to agree,” Tyla said. “Positively frightful.”
Ingrid again looked down at herself, taking stock of all Dean had equipped her with. The armory in the fortress on Earth provided most of it, but the cabin had its fair share of weaponry as well. The four of them cleaned the place out, taking everything from daggers, throwing knives, bows, and magic dust—Dean’swords, spoken in all seriousness when claiming the odd blue powder could create a storm of clouds to temporarily blind their enemies.
They might’ve been on a suicide mission, but they wouldn’t go down without a fight. Preparation was not an issue.
Like a mother handing out lunches and sending her children off to school, Dean began doling out the Spectis Weed. Raidinn went first, chewing and swallowing in one fluid motion. Tyla took down the strange plant next. Then after Ingrid received hers, the four of them watched in awkward anticipation, dumbly staring.
“How long did you say this was supposed to take?” Raidinn asked.
“Minutes,” Dean answered sharply. “Be patient.”
“Oh, wait, I think something’s happening now!” Tyla took a step toward her brother, assessing his facial features. “No, sorry. It’s just your face.”
“What do you meanit’s just my face?”
“Your nose,” Tyla said, cruelly indifferent. “It’s always been too small for your face.”
Ingrid started into a laugh, but could feel the mammoth male staring daggers at Dean and her.
“Don’t you dare laugh,” Raidinn protested. “It’s not that funny. She probably planned that last night, too. Never the quickest, my sister.”
“He’s right,” Tyla conceded. “Ididthink of it last night. Truth is, his nose isn’t that small. It’s his elephant-sized head that makes everything else look puny.”
“Oh piss off!” Raidinn stumbled over his comeback, the bickering pinging around the circle until the four of them were silenced by the slow but obvious change occurring.
