The Villain Wants to Quit

The Gems (8)

Theo disapproved of their current plans. 

It wasn't that he thought the danger of navigating the Quartz Mountains was too great or that he was upset about the tracking spell Terrell had on him. 

No, what really bothered Theo was how cold it was getting. He would rather deal with the Sanain heat over this cold any day.

He shivered and pulled the heavy cloak tighter around him. It even had warming spellwork embroidered into it, but the wind and snow of the Quartz Mountains were on another level. Theo sniffed. 

The weather outside the mountain ridge had just warmed up enough to let him stop wearing a coat, too. 

Of course, Scourge was glad that the coats were making a comeback. He loved to nap in the pockets.

Vin held up a hand to stop the group's procession and threw a silver dagger into a bush. 

When he went to retrieve it, he held up a snow hare. "I got dinner," Vin grinned.

"Good job," Marc said. The rest of the group grinned back at Vin. They could all use the extra protein to help with the exertion of climbing these mountains. 

Especially Theo. It would be a shame for him to lose the couple extra pounds he had worked so hard to gain. 

The difficulty of traversing the mountains was wearing on everyone. Even Carrot couldn't move quickly with the depth of the snow, the rocky terrain, and the steep inclines they had to climb. 

That, paired with increasingly sparse vegetation to make campfires and provide windbreaks, exhausted everyone. 

Even Stabby complained that the cold was making him ache.

"Here, I'll keep a fire going as long as I can," Theo offered when they had passed the last of the vegetation. 

He had an essentially limitless supply of mana. The biggest problem was dealing with the exhaustion of staying so focused.

"Oh, thank Numen," Marie stretched her hands out to the fire that Theo was sustaining in the middle of the group. "Honestly, I wouldn't complain if you lost control and burned us all down."

"With all this snow available, I wouldn't have as much trouble controlling his spell this time," Giselle said. "So enjoy our new heater worry-free."

"Yay, Heater Mortal Theo," Scourge let the flames lick his scales.

Theo wanted to tell Scourge that being the heater was his role, but he decided against it. 

The kid might get his feelings hurt.

"I better hurry up with the rabbit before he loses concentration," Vin set to efficiently preparing the rabbit for Marc to cook.

Theo couldn't risk joining in on the chitchat. While he had fewer magical accidents these days, any spellwork required massive amounts of concentration for him. 

However, he felt accomplished once he had held the fire up through dinner and long enough for the others to set up tents and sleep for a few hours in warmth. He let the fire dissipate. 

He blinked as the exhaustion hit him. While Theo had an almost infinite mana source, using it could still be exhausting. 

He wobbled to the tent, where he nudged Marc awake.

"Can you keep watch," Theo said blearily. "I need sleep."

"How long did you keep that up," Marc whispered.

"You've been asleep four hours," Theo whispered.

"Thanks, it was the best sleep any of us have been able to get," Marc said. "But you need to make sure not to overexert yourself."

Theo mumbled a noncommittal noise at Marc.

Theo collapsed under the furs in the tent and relied on them and the others' body heat to keep him warm. 

It wasn't as warm as when he had the fire going, but it was survivable.

They continued traveling in this manner for another week before they finally reached the abandoned castle.

"I've never been so glad to see a building," Theo nearly cried tears of joy from seeing the stone structure.

 It was crumbling, the architecture was best described as stoic, and most of the windows were broken, but it still looked preferable to what they had been dealing with. 

"Can we take a week's vacation here before we head back?" Theo asked.

"There needs to be premium oats to call it a vacation," Carrot said.

"Actually, we might need a full week to find the gem," Vin said with a grimace. "The gem was last seen a long time ago, and while this is a relatively small castle, it's still a lot to search."

"Do you know where to start searching in the castle?" Marc asked.

"We could look in the former lady's quarters," Vin suggested. "I also studied the blueprints and saw some inconsistencies where hidden treasuries could be located."

"Another possibility is that she may have been buried with it," Vin paused momentarily, knowing that the group wouldn't like his following words. "So if it doesn't turn up in any other locations, we may need to exhume the body."

"That's disgusting," Marie protested.

"The body will have decomposed to a skeleton, so it won't stink," Vin reassured Marie.

"Oh, that's good," Theo nodded along to Vin's explanation.

"It's still disgusting," Marie said, staring at Vin and Theo with a horrified expression. "It's still a dead body."

"I worry about my sister sometimes," Marc shook his head at Vin. "But then I remember what her personality is like and realize that you're the long-suffering one in the relationship."

"You don't have any problem with bones when you're eating food," Scourge said, blinking at Marie and Marc with a confused expression.

"Well, those are a different species," Marie protested.

"I don't get the difference," Scourge turned to Carrot for an explanation. Carrot didn't bother giving one.

"Of course, we may not have to exhume a body," Giselle serenely refocused the group. "And if we do, the sprites will do most of the dirty work for us." She gave them a thumbs up.

The sprites fluttered around her head indignantly.

Theo wondered if the kind Giselle was actually the scariest one in their group.

"...shall we enter the castle?" Marc asked.