Dream and Nightmare

Chapter 10 - Green Magic

His feet were confined in the styled strips of leather known as shoes. They were jails for his toes, preventing him from the freedom he needed. Felidy and Lina always complained when he didn't wear shoes, but he didn't give a damn what they thought, and they weren't with him anyway. 

Rendel kicked his shoes off with such force that they broke a limb off an unfortunate tree.  

"Frustrated?" Kellen asked. 

Rendel had completely forgotten about Kellen's presence which was hard to do considering he was three times the size of Rendel. "Sorry," he forced a friendly smile on his face that hurt his cheeks.  

Acting was getting exhausting.  

His thoughts turned back to Lina and Felidy as he secured his sword around his waist. They were distractions, he decided. His job was to protect Anah, not getting mixed up in the lives of two annoying girls. The murder of his landlord, the threat to Lina, and Anah's pain had been enough for him to realize that something had to change. Once he got Lina back, he had to keep focused on his job: Anah. 

"Are you ready?" He asked Kellen. Some small part of him felt bad for the man. He didn't know what they could possibly be walking into. 

Kellen nodded. "Who would threaten Lina like that?" 

"I don't know," Rendel lied. "But we have to find out."  

With his newly freed foot, he stomped the ground, pushing the magic out through his extremity. A hole twisted its way into the dark blue dirt, tunneling just large enough for Kellen to fit through.  

"You're not claustrophobic right?" Rendel asked lightly, trying his best to keep any fear from his voice. If only Kellen knew. Maybe some people would enjoy the company, but to Rendel it was a burden. He tried to pick the person to accompany him who he'd miss the least when they died. If, Rendel scolded himself, if they die.  

Felidy was out of the question. It was idiotic of him, but he had developed some sort of feelings for her to the point that it'd hurt him more than he'd ever admit if she died. Anah couldn't be lost; that was a given. She wouldn't be much help anyway; an untrained human would be more of a problem than any sort of assistance. He had considered taking Jack. While his powers were unpracticed, Rendel was sure that his grandfather had at least taught him how to fight. However Rendel's foolish emotions had gotten in the way again, making him change his mind. Anah, Lina, and Felidy would all be devastated if Jack died, and Rendel had this annoying desire to protect them despite his precautions against getting attached. Kendelyn, though Rendel was perhaps the only one to notice, was with child, and Kellen had insisted on her staying behind anyways.  

Kellen was the obvious choice for a companion. He would clearly be an advantage in any fight, and was well equipped with a variety of weapons of both human and Elvitan make. 

"Who exactly are you?" Kellen asked as they made their way through the tunnel. It was in no way an ordinary tunnel. Rendel had created several orbs of light to float alongside them, lighting their way. The tunnel was opening in front of them, but closing up again once they were past. Where they were walking was impossible to tell; Rendel used his magic to bend the space around them, making their trip faster than ever seemed possible while walking at a natural pace. 

That question struck Rendel deeper than Kellen could possibly know. Who exactly are you? 

Rendel took a steadying breath, going over the practiced answer in his mind. "I'm not my parents' son. They were Shriians." 

Kellen's eyes first widened in surprise then narrowed in suspicion. So he knew what Shriians were, maybe he wouldn't be completely useless to Rendel. Though Shritaum had been widely accepted as being dead for half a century, some twisted individuals still followed his ways. Either they believed him to be alive, or they just really believed in his teachings. There weren't too many of them, but it didn't stop them from their dark practices or misguided attacks.