Ruins In The End (We Three Mages, Book Two)

Chapter Twenty Four: Into the Temple

"Is she going to be okay?" Devin asked for the tenth time that day. Half way through the morning, Nadia had suddenly collapsed. The early wake ups, spotty sleeping hours, and constant use for her magic had taken a toll on her body and she had reached her limit. Jared and Mari were taking turns replenishing her magic as she slept. Jared rode a horse while holding Nadia against himself. He slowly and gently let his Imagination element flow into her.

"She'll be fine by nightfall," Mari assured Devin.

"Are you sure we can't help?" Kyree asked as he led the horse that had their supplies.

"You need every part of your magic to cast spells; we don't so me and Mari can completely drain our Imagination element without there being any serious repercussions." Jared explained to him.

"But that doesn't mean we should do it all at once," Mari looked up at Jared. "You should let me take over already."

"I can handle it for a bit longer," Jared assured her.

"Jared, let Mari take care of Nadia for a bit, you've had her since she fainted," Calvin rode up next to him. "You need to take it easy for a bit."

"Fine," Jared stopped the horse and the two switched. "How much longer until we reach the lagoon?"

"According to Nadia's little map," Mari took out a piece of paper, "We should be relatively close now. Just a few more hours and we'll be there."

"When we get there we need to set up camp and sleep. I have a feeling it'll be a while before we sleep again." Calvin advised.

"Aye aye captain!" Jared saluted him.

"Cut it out," Calvin laughed as he playfully pushed Jared.

"How can they go from serious to that in a matter of seconds?" Kyree asked himself.

"In our line of work it's kind of mandatory," Devin answered. "You never know when something really bad is going to happen so it's nice to smile while you still can."

"You speak from experience?" Kyree asked.

"Unfortunately I do," Devin forced a smile. The two didn't talk until they reached their destination.

Nadia had returned to Jared's arms and the two were on the ground. Night had fallen and it was not anyone's friend. The frigid night air bit at them and threatened to do worse. The fire that had going was barely keeping anyone warm. They had run out of firewood the night before so they were forced to rely on magic.

"Guys!" Jared called to everyone, "I think she's waking up!" Jared looked down at the stirring Nadia. Her eyes slowly opened and the first thing they saw was Jared's face.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what's going o-o-o-on?" Her face was a bright red as she freed herself from Jared.

"You had us worried for a while there. If you were tired, you should of said something." Jared calmly explained. "Mari and I took turns replenishing your magic so you should be good to go."

"Th-th-thanks," Nadia forced out.

"She has quite the stutter," Kyree said surprised.

"Only happens when she gets worked up," Mari snickered. "Guess handing her off to Jared was the best choice after all."

"Quiet the scheming mind you have there," Calvin complemented.

"Why, thank you. I do try," Mari did a small bow.

"The lagoon?" Nadia was back to her usual self.

"To your left," Mari motioned. "We had Jared jump around to make sure and this is the only pool of water for three miles in any direction."