Dak And Stell/The Travelers Trilogies

1.8 Setting off

Always with the easy-going, maybe I should take a page from his book and lighten up. As we got ready to go, people came in and gave us packs with supplies, rations, bedrolls, and a knife for each of us. Stell looked at the knife awkwardly.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Stell sent.

"Take the pointy end and stick it in something that means you no good." A female voice whispered.

I looked up to see Xalmia standing behind the two women helping us pack our bags, making foolish stabbing gestures. I did not expect that from her and had quite the time keeping my self-under control from bursting out laughing.

"That was much better this time, just a bit to quiet. You are getting better, so this will be the easiest way to travel without trouble. What kind of things can we expect to find on our way to the spires and mines?" I sent questioningly.

"Once we reach the edge of the western plains, we will hit a mountain range. There will be beasts and Dark-Eyed-Ones and hundreds of other things we can not plan for." She sent."We are unfamiliar with the region past the mountains."

"Are there certain antidotes to common poisons that we should get before we go?" Stell asked out loud, as the two women were leaving the room.

"all the basic medicine and bandages are in the bags. The rest we will have to find on the way." Said Xalmia. It was going to be a long trip. We got our packs ready and slung them on our shoulders.

I groaned. No, this was not happening. These bags felt filled with rocks as some cruel joke to the new guy.

I set the bag down and looked at it. I began to gather my will to shape a spell, but as I tried, I could not seem to get the magic to do what I wanted. Baffled, I stood back and looked at the bag.
"Oh, Just ask the big one to try it you, it is too painful to watch you struggle." Meso sent with mock pity.

"WHAT WAS THAT" Xalmia's voice screamed through my mind. Both Stell and I cringed and put our hands to our heads.

"See? I said they were all like that." Meso said in a know-it-all fashion.

"Oh, that old dusty voice?" I asked. "Just some old book we picked up that talks to us from time to..." I never got to finish that sentence. That seems to be the case more often than not lately. I slowly picked myself up from the broken nightstand. Luckily, I was getting smarter and threw up a wall between the nightstand and me to break the impact. Stell was shaking his head.

"You best learn to be a bit nicer to our friend Dak," Stell warned."He might break a bone one of these times."

"I will try," I said reluctantly. I hated letting this book get the upper hand. We might be the tools in a giant game of the gods, but that did not mean all forms of entertainment came from me? I didn't particularly appreciate getting flung across the room every time I insulted our textbook god. That one would call me tossed for sure. As I looked back, I could see that Xalmia had a very puzzled look on her face.

"It is a long story," I said. "Just know it is here to help for the most part and to record events."

"Record events?" She asked.

"You are just going to have to trust me. It's too far over what you need to know right now. It is tough to explain, and we had to experience it to understand how it works truly." I told her.

"You are right; I am already confused. What was that the book said about the big one trying it before?" She asked.

"That is right, Stell!" I exclaimed and pointed to the bags. "Make these lighter, my friend!" He looked at me with a strained look, and then everything seemed to click into place. I could feel and hear the calm roar of him pulling in his will to shape the spell. Suddenly out of nowhere, Meso appeared brilliant and white and flew open and with a shout he sent.

"Write it down now!" Meso commanded. Stell reached down and pulled the quill out of his arm and wrote the spell on to the page. As he did, magic poured from the floor, and the tree the build was attached. Then the book slammed shut and disappeared. I heard that all to familiar gasp from behind me.

I turned and reached out just in time to catch Xalmia falling. As I caught her, I slowly brought her to the floor. The exposure to the book must do something to mortals. I remember being near that six-armed god and being unable to breathe. So I can understand how this could have happened, and I could assume it had the same effect on Sister Glendra. Xalmia was starting to move and make some noises.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Fine, that book is overwhelming. I can see why you get so exhausted from using it." She said, brushing her hair out of her eyes, and she sat up. I stood up and offered her a hand up, and she accepted, pulling herself up. I looked at her and smiled.

"One day, I might tell you a funny story about that tome," I said, stressing the word "tome." She gave me a faint smile.

I looked over to my packs and said, "lighten." Then I did the same for hers. Stell would be tired enough from the copying of the spell, and the use of it afterward was trivial compared to the actual shape and transfer. That could be one of our significant problems. If we create spells on the go, more energy will have to be used to transfer it while fighting or trying to get through a challenging situation.

"We are going to have to figure out a plan for if we end up in trouble, which is more then likely to happen," I explained. "If we are in a safe spot creating a new spell will be fine, but if we get into danger, we need to have a system." Stell nodded. From that point, we planned more throughout the day and into the evening.

When we finally got to bed, there was a plate of food left on the table in the room. I snacked on before slipping my clothes off and getting into bed. We had not even left yet, and I was exhausted. Though, my gut warned me to enjoy this last boring, comfortable night. We were not going to see any in the foreseeable future.