Council of the Heir

Chapter Twelve - plot struggles

Valor sat down with a small thump at the base of a leaning tree, and Lydia crouched down next to him.

"How we holding up, my guy?" She asked. He only grunted in response. "Cool." She sank down to sit beside him, flashing him an 'ok' hand sign before leaning back on her hands.

"What..." Valor began tiredly. "What's... that." He copied the motion.

"O-oh, it means, um..." Lydia made the 'ok' sign again. "It's acknowledgement. It means 'okay'."

"Oh." Valor shut his eyes and leaned his head back, looking thoroughly exhausted as he rested against the tree.

If the sun nearly right above them was any indication, Valor and Lydia had been walking (well, hobbling) for at least four hours now, with no sign of any pursuers. They had come across a sparse forest a couple of hours in, allowing them to slow down somewhat with the relative cover of the trees protecting them. Lydia was hoping that meant that her pursuers had lost their trail. The only issue now was that they had no food, no water, no protection from the elements, and no idea how to rendezvous with Steven and his gang.

Maybe that was more than one issue.

Lydia shut her eyes, letting her chin and shoulders droop as she did so. She was exhausted. She might not be injured, but she had been dragging Valor along for several hours. If she'd tried to do that a month ago she would've fallen a while ago, but regularly performing manual labor had helped her get into some semblance of shape.

"Hey." Valor's voice caught her attention, and she looked up. "You hurt?" His voice was clipped as he pointed to her hand, and she followed his gaze to her ring finger.

"Oh." She held up the crooked digit. "No, I broke it when I was younger and it healed wrong."

"Ah." Valor nodded, looking satisfied. "I did that to my nose when I was... twelve or thirteen." Lydia blinked, taking a closer look at him to realize that his nose was ever so slightly crooked.

"Not as dramatic as mine." She pointed out. Valor scoffed softly, the closest she was getting to a laugh. "How'd you manage that?"

"Tripped and fell." He said, then continued after a moment's hesitation. "Into a stone wall. I was mining with my father and a bat spooked me." Lydia let out a soft 'aww'.

"That must've hurt."

"No more than your finger, I imagine." He tilted his head.

"I... well, no, I actually didn't notice it was broken."

"What? Why?"

"Long story man." She flexed her fingers, then slumped down onto her back in the scrubby grass. "I don't really remember. I was like, five."

"Oh." Another bout of silence, and Lydia was starting to wonder if she should suggest they try to sleep when Valor spoke again. "Can you tell me anything more about this sorcerer?"

Lydia chewed her lip, considering this for a moment. "...he's powerful." She said at last. "All he had to do was touch me, and I became too weak to stand. And he..." she rubbed at her chest. "...felt like he was crushing my lungs before Notch stepped in an' made him stop."

"Notch stopped him? Why?"

"Think he felt bad." She shrugged. "He ratted me out to Null, but I think he decided eventually that I didn't know anything. He wanted to let me go because I was innocent, but Null said that wasn't an option because I'd seen his face so he had me killed."

"Ah..." Valor shut his eyes again, his head slumping back against the tree. Lydia pursed her lips.

"We should try to sleep." She said. Valor opened his mouth as if to argue, but hesitated.