The Hunter's Pursuit

39. The Two Beasts

    Jacob blinked his eyes open to find sunlight streaming across his face. It spilled through a crack in the cave wall, inconveniently placed at just the right spot to reflect on him. He squinted and sat up, ruefully rubbing one side of his face.

    His gaze dipped to one of the wounds on his arms and to his surprise, he found it already almost healed! Jacob quickly checked the rest of his injuries and found them either healed or almost healed as well. His brows lifted and he ran his fingers through his hair with an impressed hum.

    "I told you it would heal all wounds," Viviane said beside him.

    Jacob faced her as she sat up. Her own injuries were practically nonexistent. Only a few scrapes remained, and he could've sworn he saw her flesh knitting back together right before his eyes. "Hearing it and witnessing it are two different things," Jacob replied.

    "You lived with Cerva for two years. I find it hard to believe you never witnessed any of their healing magic. They claim it's even more powerful than Witch healing."

    "I witnessed a lot of things with the Cerva, but they still had some secrets I wasn't allowed to know. I didn't get to see how the blacksmith infused Arlen with starlight, for one."

    "Ah." Viviane stretched her arms over her head with a contented sigh. "That's understandable. Cervan weaponry has always been one of their most guarded secrets. If everyone possessed swords with unique powers and properties, the world would be even more broken than it already is."

    "The world isn't broken. People are."

    Viviane arched a brow, her gaze sliding to him from the corner of her eyes. "Are you always so philosophical in the morning?"

    "Only when I've come close to death and received a gift I never thought I'd be given," Jacob replied.

    Viviane smiled as he leaned closer and lightly swept his lips across hers. "You should've been an author or a poet," she said. "Your flair for dramatic, romantic, and slightly ridiculous dialogue is unrivaled."

    "I'm glad you think my flirtations are only slightly ridiculous." Jacob stood and offered her a hand.

    Viviane groaned as he pulled her to her feet. "The only bad thing about that tonic is that it doesn't cure aches and soreness, only injuries."

    "I imagine we'll have more aches before we reach port. Do you have any supplies we can take with us?"

    "I don't have any food, but there's a few empty canteens that we can fill with water, and we can take the tonic and bandages just in case we need them again."

    Jacob nodded while tying his hair back in a loose braid. A few stray charcoal brown locks fell around his face, but he didn't bother fixing them. The wind would just blow them back out of his braid once they were on the open sea. "Amos and Emilia might be able to use it too. Who knows how badly the crew was injured?"

    Viviane approached her chests and pulled three old leather canteens out of one. Jacob caught them as she tossed them over. He knelt beside the pool and began to fill them while Viviane continued to scavenge through the chests.

    When he next looked at her, she'd found a satchel and was filling it with bandages and the herbal tonic. Viviane lifted a change of clothes out of another chest, then revealed a flintlock pistol, one even older than his grandfather's, which he kept stored in a trunk at home.

    "Stars," Jacob remarked. "That thing's an antique."

    "One of the first pistols Valence ever produced," Viviane confirmed. "I bartered it away from Captain Bard during one of my secret visits to Falorea."