Hidden Before Their Eyes

Chapter 14: Every Scar has a Story

I leave the sorcerer's cottage shell shocked. She tricked me into wearing what ever this ring is. The others I find a hundred or so feet away sitting at the edge of the clearing. They are eating their rations for the day and after plopping down with them Pavlios hands me mine. I do not taste anything as I munch on it.

That night I skip watch, having asked for a good nights rest after having stayed up the whole previous night. It is a dreamless, somber sleep. I feel better upon waking to the rays of the sun reaching their way over the tops of the trees. I stretch out my limbs, from having slept curled up on the ground instead of against a tree as I had been. I look up to see Codra meditating as the others begin to stir.

"Welcome back," she murmurs to me.

"I appreciate it," I respond.

The others begin to wake up and get up. Meanwhile I sit there with my arms curled around my knees. Once they have completely cleaned up I stand up and brush the dirt off of my pants.

"Where are we headed to now?" Pavlios asks.

"The Tower of Allanie. It is a weeks travel from here I believe, based off of the maps that is. It is within the Mirrored Steppes. I have never been there so this shall be interesting," I muse.

"What use are you if you don't even know about the place where we are going?" Cora complains.

I death glare her and she backs down. Then I explain, "I am here because I am as close as you can get to a walking encyclopedia on monsters and other species. I never claimed to be all knowing."

"Walking encyclopedia you say?" Cora muses, a smirk forming across her face. "Then tell me about Nephilim."

I chuckle lightly and as we begin walking, I begin talking. "Nephilim, born of an angel and a human mother they tend to be rare, however if you travel round you are likely to meet at least one in your lifetime. Although rumored to be giants, fallen angels, and even cannibals at times that is not who you are. You are, obviously, not giants, but instead of that you gain various abilities from your angelic pedigree. It varies from one to another what those abilities manifest as."

"What about me then?" Cora asks, after I pause.

"I do not have the magical prowess to identify you that specifically. You show no outward signs of your powers manifesting," I answer. That blows a hit to Cora's ego and she goes quiet.

I spend the rest of the morning staying out of the other's conversations. I keep my attention on the map, and lightly curse when I notice a small note jotted down at the edge. We can apparently only access the tower from the exact north. We will be approaching from the south-west as I have us headed now. Adjusting for that change adds multiple days onto the travel time. These are things that should just be said, not written as a side note. If I had not noticed now it might have caused major delays to us getting to this Stone of Alcali.

Around noon, from what I can tell of the sun, we encounter a river so I decide it is a worthy location to take a break. We decide to munch on our rations for the day now and I break away from the group to look up and down the river for the optimal place to cross. Down stream a hundred or so yards I find the perfect place. The river is slightly skinnier and a few boulders are sticking up above the rushing currents. They look startlingly slick, but better than nothing, someone could drown if we flat out just crossed the river.

I head back to the others and find them standing idly, ready to move once more. I motion for them to follow me and lead them to the crossing point. Pavlios is the first to cross and gets over the river without much trouble. Cora and Dracix are quick to follow him. I watch as Codra struggles to make it from one boulder to the next. She is four fifths of the way when she freaks out and drops to her knees, legs dropping into the water due to the slickness.