Page 31 of The Dark Mage
Ren’wyn led the way for the rest of the day, grateful Fael trusted her to take charge.Tall pines loomed over them, shadows lengthening as the sun dipped lower.When they crossed a small creek with marshy edges, Fael stopped and stretched.
“Let’s rest here,” he suggested.“I’m not too proud to admit I’m still exhausted.I’m amazed we made it thisfar.”
Ren’wyn gathered firewood, and Fael worked quickly with flint and tinder to start a small fire.She noticed a pile of watercress near his pack.He must have grabbed it from the riverbank.Pride bubbled in her chest—he was learning fromher.
By the time Fael returned from hunting with two rabbits, Ren’wyn had spread the ghost pipes across a large, flat stone near the fire to dry.He roasted a rabbit with the watercress and some cattail roots Ren’wyn had foraged while choosing her drying rock.Still famished from the exhausting magic in the glade, the meal was one of the most fulfilling she’d ever enjoyed.
Ren’wyn couldn’t help feeling how unevenly matched they were.Fael was singularly strong and intelligent, while she was a young, untested woman.He carried the weight of battles and loss with ease.She was the forgotten fiancée whose father had sold her like a problem to be discarded.Ren’wyn felt it keenly as the setting sun filtered orange through the branches of pine, eating Fael’s rabbit in Fael’s camp under Fael’s protection.
Lost in thought, Fael’s hand on her wrist was a gentle surprise.Did he feel her sadness?He broke into the internal darkness where she had fallen with a quiet smile.He pulled her up, guiding her into the clearing next to theircamp.
“Work through the Passage with me,” he offered.
Slow and steady, Fael guided her through the first five movements.He taught her how to breathe: in to draw strength and out to move energy.Her dress wasn’t made for it, but she did her best, shifting her weight through a slow lunge from side toside.
“You’re a natural,” Fael said gently, bumping her shoulder.
She huffed a laugh, breathless but pleased.Maybe it was more praise than she deserved, but she took the compliment.She repeated the movements until her legs burned from exertion, then stopped to tend the fire while Fael went through the rest of his routine.He was so fluid, like water cutting a familiar path within a riverbed.How long had it taken him to reach that kind of mastery?
Fael finished his exercises as she pulled the fully roasted second rabbit out of the fire.He glistened with sweat in the firelight, his features softened by the glow.He smiled before heading to the stream to rinse off.Ren’wyn watched the fire, stifling the ache in her chest at the thought of Esrin—his joy when exercising with wind and water, his quiet laugh during practice.
She laid out their bedrolls, but the heavy melancholy ruined her mood, stripping her of any desire for conversation.Curling up on her blanket, back to the fire, she watched the silent ghost pipes where they laid safely out of the fire’s reach until her lids dropped.
Fael returned from the stream, and his magic flickered over her in a gentle assessment.His boots whispered across the pine needles as he circled the campfire.Leather creaked as he knelt behind her, and then—light as a breath—a callused finger brushed her curls over her shoulder.
“What is it about you?”Fael whispered, more thought than question.“I thought you might die in the clearing.I thought I would break, and yet…” His voice caught on the last words.“Your power called mine, made it sing.How are you so soft and sweet… and still a dark queen?How is it that I already feel my destiny tangled with yours?”
Silence descended, broken only by the crackle of logs and the call of a barred owl.Fael didn’t move, and Ren’wyn let herself roll forward onto the blanket that smelled like sweat, stone, and smoke—a scent that already spoke ofhome.
“I will die for you, Ren’wyn,” Fael said, his voice even quieter, as though he couldn’t believe he was admitting it to himself.“Sleep soundly tonight, no nightmares, and we will face tomorrow together.”
She thought he might touch her, caress her, and a desire she had believed was lost burned deep in her stomach.But then he moved away, leaving the fire to warm the empty space left behind, and Ren’wyn took that uncomfortable yearning and smothered it with sleep.
After a day, Ren’wyn recovered enough to reach the Void without getting lightheaded.She resumed stilling her mind, opening herself to death.The forest was empty; the shades here were settled.She wondered if none had come here out of fear of the host that haunted it.
Fael had estimated well; the forest thinned three days later.It grew steadily warmer, a sure sign that their time among the conifers was ending.On the fourth day, they entered a savanna, its scattered trees allowing the bright blue sky to shine above them, and Fael found them a well-tended path as they continued south.
Ren’wyn had only been to Terrepin once before, but she knew it boasted diverse habitats, warm and friendly people, and villages dotted along the shoreline and inland.Each village and town sent a representative to the nearest city, and these groups elected someone from their city to travel to Ishvaen.Twelve representatives from the twelve major cities advised the governor.Ren’wyn’s heart tightened at the thought of Ishvaen, the governor, and most of all, Esrin.How she missed him, and how she hated him—for how he had abandoned her like she meant nothing.
“There’s a village called Delmor near here,” Fael said, interrupting her thoughts.“They should have an inn and a clothing shop.It’s a day’s walk east.Does that sound good toyou?”
She nodded, and they continued.
They passed the first farm less than an hour later, and it was strange to see other people again.Ren’wyn tried finger-combing her hair to make herself look remotely presentable, but the mess hadn’t been washed for two weeks.She patted her skirts and sleeves but only succeeded in creating clouds of dust while lengthening a rather scandalous tear along her thigh.
Reaching a paved road, Fael set his pack on a low stone wall, unabashedly removing his shirt and pulling out a cleaner one.The muscles in his upper body flexed as he stretched his arms up, and Ren’wyn’s eyes dipped to avoid staring too long.Not that she minded, but she didn’t want him to feel self-conscious.His new shirt was decidedly cleaner, and it would only help them if at least one of them looked decent.
The sun was hot and bright over the road, so hot that sweat cascaded down Ren’wyn’s back in rivulets.Scattered farmers and villagers wore clothes designed to keep cool in the warm Terrepinian weather.The men wore flowing pants and loose-fitting shirts, while the women donned light dresses with a single strap and loose skirts.
She had never been more jealous as she itched beneath her structured bodice and layered skirt.The people they passed cast curious glances but didn’t ask questions.Some raised their hands in friendly greeting—a gesture at odds with the cold, divided world Ren’wyn grew up in.Fael easily returned the gesture, offering a nod to anyone on horseback.
That night, they camped in a small, grassy field as the sun dropped toward the horizon.They ate fresh apples plucked from trees along the roadside and finished the last of the hardtack.Fael had rationed their stores well, even if apples and hardtack weren’t much of ameal.
Mosquitoes hovered over their camp, an unfortunate change after the Dark Forest.Fael slept with his second shirt draped over his upper body to protect himself and offered her the extra blanket to help keep the insects away.Ren’wyn tossed and turned in the heat of the night, feeling suffocated by the blanket.
Anxious in this new place, nightmares plagued her sleep.She dreamt of being chased by the rotting, reanimated corpses of Erst’s soldiers.When one caught her by the arm, her nose filled with the scent of decomposition and his bones and ligaments scraped against her skin before she woke screaming—only to meet Fael’s hazel eyes shining in the pre-dawn light.
He held her forearms as they breathed together, Fael’s steady rhythm grounding her until her tears finally stopped.Fael brushed her hair behind her ears, his fingers trailing slowly over her wet cheeks.What she wouldn’t give to read his mind—her terror didn’t seem to bother him.Instead, he soothed her until he seemed satisfied, then packed their gear as the birds began to sing, tossing Ren’wyn a couple of apples for breakfast.
