The Witch's Relay

Chapter 45: Field Trip

A week passes as Heather and I are on guard towards the new possible threat.

The prince and his men thankfully decided to stay at a different inn nearby. "The North Northerton Inn" which they chose to stay at, is a rather respectable inn, although slightly less busy than The Blue Bird. Despite living a bit away, the prince and his men often dine here, which is understandable since the food from here is famous around the area.

In an attempt to avoid them, I am often outside the town on quests, and Heather has started joining me for the same reason, but it is also a good excuse for her to train me half to death.

We make sure to keep close track of the prince's movements and that of his men. Currently we have counted a total of eleven men, and Heather saw one woman, but since I have yet to see her, I suppose it is possible there are others whom we are unaware of.

"We should leave the city for a little while." Heather had broken the silence in our rooms one evening. "Both to stay away from possible dangers, and also to train you more intensively before the expedition." This led to a long conversation where we decided to leave first thing in the morning, and then only return until a few days before the dungeon's predicted opening.

This was yesterday evening, and now we are wandering down a dirt path, separate from the main road.

Heather takes a deep breath in and lets out a big sigh. "It's nice to be out of there for a while. All this tension really doesn't suit me."

"Oh? And I thought you could handle any situation." I smirk.

"Of course I can. But that doesn't mean I like to."

I let out a small chuckle. Heather really is a fun person to be around, at least when she isn't in her "master mode", where she seems intent to test the boundaries to what I can, and can't handle before collapsing.

Before leaving town we were also able to purchase a couple of small used tents from the guild. The adventurers guild, among lots of other things, will purchase useful gear that members no longer have any use for, and will sell it back to other members for a slight discount.

"Where will we set up camp?" I ask Heather. It is still just a little past noon, but it is never too early to plan ahead, especially when rest is involved.

"Away from any common questing spots. I am thinking in the hills, since you've now improved your simple water magic, I want you to start learning about other elements as well. Specifically fire and wind magic. If we are surrounded by hills, no-one will be able to see us unless they appear pretty much right on us."

On the way to Northerton we crossed the large hill country, and I sigh as I recall it being an entire day's journey by foot, and currently half of the day has already passed. "And would I be too presumptuous to assume we will stop before reaching our goal?"

"Yup. You would. We will keep going even if it takes us all night." She turns to me with an evil grin.

She meant what she said. We kept on marching all the way until nearly midnight.

...

"How did the mages fall anyways? If mages were as dominant on the battlefield as you've described, then how were they defeated?" I ask Heather as we sit around the campfire, cooking a rabbit on a stick. I think back to the dragons who went extinct and mentally make a comparison.

"Time. No human can win against time." She stares into the fire. "They first assassinated everyone they could, and then started a battle of attrition with the ones remaining. Some mages fought back, but since they were taken off guard by the initial attack, they were mostly isolated from each other and gradually picked off. Of the ones that succeeded in grouping up, even the largest group ended up getting overwhelmed by sheer numbers." Heather then turns to me with a serious look in her eyes and her lips clasped together. "As you know, training new mages takes both a lot of time and effort. Unless more mages are trained than are killed, then eventually they will die out. And that is nearly what has happened."

We both go silent and just sit there, listening to the fire crackle and watch as the sparks fly up, disappearing into the night sky, like small bits of magic.