Hidden Before Their Eyes

Chapter 18: The Journey Back

When the others return, coming down the stairs, they look exhausted. I stand up and brush off my pants as they walk over. Around ten feet away from me they stop dead in their tracks. I can see their bodies slightly depress and their eyes all widen considerably. "What is this feeling?" Codra asks, her voice trembling.

"That is how magic feels, if you are getting the same sensation I was from the stone," I say.

"How are you just standing there under this pressure?" Pavlios asks.

"I already went through the pain of getting all the way to the stone. I am no longer under the effects of pressure," I answer.

"You walked under this pressure?" Codra questions amazed.

"I have encountered it once or twice before. It only gets worse the closer you get. But I am lucky, this is sort of what old growth forests feel like to me," I respond.

We take a minute to discuss how to proceed under our current conditions, considering no one else can get near me, and thus no one else can get near the stone. Then we proceed down the tower, unlike going up it does not take us more than a day, however once we are outside night has fallen and we need rest. The doors the tower close behind us, turning around I see the blood flake off, resealing the tower. Honestly looking back at it we had an easy time getting to something this powerful, and I have to wonder what exactly allowed us to get it. Not every day you simply walk up a tower and get your hands on a powerful relic.

For the first time in what feels like a while, although it has only been a few days, we light a fire and I take first watch. When the others are falling asleep, I take out the stone and take the time to inspect it. The purple color it has is quite an usual, it has this look about it like it is shifting, as though the color is never constant. Occasionally it has tints and shades, some as black as night, some as bright as looking at a fire. It is mesmerizing to watch.

Turning my attention back to the others, I watch over them as they sleep a good eleven or twelve feet away form me. I unfortunate precaution we are now having to take, however none them seem too keen on getting close enough to touch the stone. Not that we know that would work, effectively stopping the feel pressure. There is not exactly any information on the stone itself, all we were told was to retrieve it after all.

It is well past the time to wake another when I finally decide to wake Cora, the moon already passed its highest point. Sleep leaning against the tower, hoping that will the skies me from any attackers who think that would be an easier target then the group. Not that I am particular worried because I would assume the stone effects everyone equally.

I wake just as the sun has begun to rise. Looking at the others I see that Pavlios is keeping watch while Codra is doing her daily morning meditations. I watch as the sun slowly creeps above the horizon, casting light across the dunes of sand. Upon the sky losing its color from the sun, becoming its usual light blue, I call for Pavlios to wake up Dracix and Cora.

"I will take the lead, make sure you do not lose sight of me," I call out.

One downside, that could possibly be useful, of the stone is that I will have to keep my distance from everyone else. While this will reduce my interactions for about two weeks of travel, maybe a bit less than that, it also gives me time to think about situation I have gotten myself into. There are now more people than I would have preferred that know my secret. Of course the sorcerer always knew, but then Kalvik found out and now Codra has confirmed her suspicion of it.

I am quite certain that Codra will keep quiet she has so far. Kalvik has some plan involving the box he gave me. Then there is the sorcerer, she has the key to me being forced back to being my old self, but also seems to have some plan of her own. While I would like to know what it is, I have a feeling she knows something is going to happen that no one else is quite prepared for. That and there is no way of knowing how far out it is. It could happen tomorrow or it could happen months from now, there isno way of telling. However I am fairly certain that it is coming quickly, and it is going to rip me from my current life, likely a little sooner than I would like.