Guild Of Zeroes

Chapter 6

Cool, clear water surrounded me, blocking out the noise of the forest and easing the ache in my bruised ribs and battered knees. The Drake really got me good. All things considered I was lucky to be alive. Doubly lucky considering what the wizard had been able to do. I shuddered at the memory, at the oily feeling of someone else's thoughts freezing me in place like that. I didn't know that kind of power existed. It certainly wasn't in any of the spellbooks Mouse had shown me, and probably for good reason too. Taking someone's will and freedom away like that was an evil that didn't deserve to be written down. No one should have power like that.

The abyss was still there, still looming inside me, but now that I was here, floating by the shore of the old camp, the edge of the abyss felt further away now. It was like I could think about everything that had happened without worrying that I would trip over the edge and tumble into the dark.

A voice called out from the campsite. I paddled closer to shore and stood up, wading in until I was about waist deep.

"Parsnip?" the voice called again, it was Mouse.

"I'm here," I said. "You can come through if you want. I'm wearing my swim scales." Swim scales were pretty well standard issue guild equipment. They were a vest and a pair of short pants made from storm serpent hide. Great for keeping you warm in cold water and for keeping stingweed and nettlefish away from your sensitive bits.

I could Mouse rifling through bags and stirring the campfire. "I'm all right here," he said. "I have some stuff to unpack."

I waded in the rest of the way and pushed my way through the reeds. "What are you doing?" Mouse was setting up a stand for a pot over the fire and a handful of quillback spines were laid on a flat stone, warming in the heat of the flames. "I'm not sure I'm willing to let you practice your tattooing on me. I thought they were still making you practice on pig skin."

"Stargazer said I was ready."

"Stargazer is a thousand years old and three quarters blind. I'm not sure he's the best judge for art anymore."

Mouse finished building the metal stand and passed me an empty pot. "He's the best Wizard in Tower Four. I think he knows what he's talking about."

I rolled my eyes and collected some water. "That's not overly encouraging. Isn't the best of Tower Four equal to the worst of anywhere else."

I came back to find Mouse looking down at his feet like someone had just stepped on his favourite puppy. "Well, thanks for that vote of confidence." He bent to pack away his quillback spines.

I caught his hood and gently pulled him back. "You know that's not what I meant. You know that you're a great Wizard."

"That's a lie. I'm not a great anything."

I spun him around so I could look him in the eye. "Mouse, look at me. You are a great friend to me, and one of the two people I trust completely. You're the bookworm little brother I never had, who's also somehow a few years older than me, and that is ten times better than being a great Wizard. You could ask me at any time, in any situation, and I will always choose a great friend over a great wizard."

He tried to pull away, but I pulled him into a quick hug. He did his best to wiggle free but I think I needed the hug more than he did right now so I held him tight until a branch snapped at the other end of the clearing.

"This is awkward," said Quin. "Are guys fighting? Or do you need a few extra minutes alone?"

Mouse shoved me away. "Neither." His cheeks flushed bright red and he stuttered out a few loose syllables, struggling to find an explanation for what was happening.