The Unbidden: A New World (1) (Short Parts)

Part 5

I could see visible sweat dripping down Matteas' face as I drew near. His wife and son were in the back of the wagon huddling together watching me with fear. I decided to approach with a cautious tone.

"Hey, do you mind if I sit next to you?" I asked, pointing at the seat to his side.

"Y – yes, sir. T - there is no reason for me t - to deny you," he stammered out, scooting to the edge of the driver's seat.

I climbed on board and turned to him.

"Why are you scared of me? Rather... Why are all of you scared of me?"

Maybe being direct isn't really that cautious, I thought in hindsight. He was hesitant to respond for some reason.

"Just tell me what the problem is, Matteas. I'm a man same as you," I said calmly.

I saw a flash of disgust appear over the fear. I tried to reassure him that I wasn't going to do any of them harm.

I motioned toward God to remind them I'm with Her. She was standing off to the side at a distance with worry on Her face. Is that worrying for them, or me? I wondered. It seemed looking at God gave Matteas a bit of courage to speak up, so I didn't really think much of it.

"Sir, only monsters are mages," he spoke, whispering 'mage'.

"I'm a man, and I'm a mage. So, I don't understand what you mean. Are there powerful men that are mages, or only creatures can cast magic?"

"Sir, I cannot answer that question, but magic is only supposed to be a legend. I heard stories in my younger years about beings able to use it, and they were the ones who caused the great catastrophic occurrences."

"I assure you, Matteas, I am no monster. Would God bring herself to the realm of Man and keep a monster on a leash?" I placed my hand on his shoulder as I spoke, startling him a little.

"She has proven Her holiness, and I feel you should believe in Her cause. I am only here to help wherever I can. Here, I want to prove it. Leeris, can you hand me the empty waterskin?"

Leeris' eyes widened at the mention of her name. She cautiously handed it over. I grabbed it, opened the cap and after making a few motions, and spoke out a phrase I thought of off the top of my head.

"Oh, almighty God, I bequest the sustenance of life to fill this soul's waterskin to drive off the ever-encroaching thirst."

Water began to flow out from my enclosed hand and into the waterskin. I spent a couple breaks over the days working on creating water. I figured it'd be a useful spell to have if I ever found myself in such a precarious position. Hopefully this will help them believe me, I thought. I handed the waterskin to Matteas and urged him to drink. He did so with great hesitation, but after a single gulp, his eyes lit up.

"Sir... This tastes like royal water," he whispered.

"How do you mean?" I asked quizzically.

"Th – the water that nobility drink is pure, like this... I had a taste back when I was a child ... it is not something one can easily forget."

Interesting, I thought. I put that information aside for later. I had no means to investigate at the moment, so I maintained focused on the present. He handed the waterskin to his wife and son who took a drink as well. Their expressions toward me changed drastically; what was once fear was now surprise and joy. God must've finally taken that moment to approach the wagon. She climbed into the back, lightly lifting the ends of Her gown into it. She looked at each one of us, as though deep thought ran through Her mind.

"Shall we be off?" She asked with a casual smile.

Matteas nodded deeply before grabbing hold of the reigns tightly. With a snap of the reins we headed off. Over the course of the following week I continued to practice during our stops. Sometimes God watched me in idle, other times it was Lawd.

I figured out how to temper spells when I cast so I didn't cause a massive surge akin to the lightning strike. Basic fire, water, wind and electricity creation were things I got down. For some reason though, messing around with the earth was proving difficult. Guess I need to devote more time to earth manipulation, I thought.

Around high noon we arrived at the gates of the next town. It seemed none of the other villagers came in this direction. At least, I assumed so due to the lack of reaction we got upon arriving. The guards let us through with ease and we proceeded toward an inn.

Upon arrival, Matteas had everyone disembark. He told us he was going to find a spot to store the horses and wagon, and handed his wife a small pouch with coins. She handed it over to me.

We opened the shaggy wooden door that seemed like it might fall off its hinges at any time and proceeded toward the innkeeper. A young man who may have been in his late twenties greeted us. I returned his greeting and reached into the pouch to pull out some coin.

I examined each of the different pieces. It'd be really nice had She told me about these kinds of things before sending me here, I thought. I had no idea how to measure what each coin was worth in value.

The first coin I withdrew was a dirty brown in color. It was mostly an oval shape, with dents along most of the sides. Emblazoned on the front was what looked like an eagle's head inside of a curvy box. There didn't appear to be anything on the back. I set it on the counter and withdrew another. The second coin was squarer in shape and also had dents and dirt on it, but it was grey-silver in color. On the front was a building of some sort, and a man's face on the back. I set that coin onto the table and pulled out a few more, but it appeared the only two types in the bag were those. There were mostly brown coins in the pouch.

"How many rooms can I get with this?" I asked, pushing the grey-silver coin toward the innkeeper.

"Two rooms for one night," he stated matter-of-factly.

"How many nights can I get for those two rooms for two of these coins; how many beds come in each room?"

"Repeated residence is discounted. Two Peri silver coins will get two rooms with two beds each for three days and nights."

I handed them to the innkeeper and deposited the remaining coin into the pouch save for one I placed into my pocket. The Innkeeper handed me two keys and pointed me up the stairs.

"Last rooms on the right."

I thanked him and handed one of the keys to Leeris. The innkeeper gazed at God as we proceeded up the stairs. I wish She could keep Her veil-thing up, I thought. With three days and nights in a place indoors, I began thinking. The town we were in was called Tult. Matteas knew a bit about the place because he had to travel here once the village harvested all their wheat along with the other farmers.

We went into our respective rooms, Leeris and Lawd in theirs, with God and myself in the other. She moved onto one of the beds and sat down happily at first. Her expression changed very rapidly into one of disappointment.

"This bed is rather rough," She said unhappily.

"Did you see the door we came through to get these rooms – wait, why are you even complaining, can't you just use your Godly powers and fix it?" I asked with light agitation.