The War of the Roil: The Knight and the Warlock

Chapter 8: Tialeis's Call

Gammond grimaced as though he had just eaten a lemon after he finished off the small glass bottle of multicolored liquid they had referred to as a Stim.

Lucia, Lara and Gammond all sat around the fire of the camp they had made just at the base of the mountains that started the Ash Rim.

As interested as Lara was to see Gammond finally use his Flerish, she had spent the week thinking about his encounter with the guard.

Knowing she slept but a few yards from a murderer every night made for a bad journey. But Gammond and Lucia were all she could turn to in this place.

Gammond poured several pieces of metal and other components from a small sack into his hands and exhaled, closing his eyes.

The pieces in his hand glowed with a subtle azure light, lifting into the air with some invisible force. The components began twisting themselves around each other and weaving into the quickly formed structures.

It wasn't long before the pieces dropped into Gammond's hands, assembled into three small brass devices. He handed one each to Lara and Lucia.

"This will make sure you get oxygen in your lungs instead of sulfur." Gammond said.

"The Ash Rim is the least of our problems." Lucia said, "Between here and friendly territory is a warzone. We're lucky we managed to find this area without any military presence."

"How do we intend on getting across, then?" Lara asked.

"I could use a Shadowfler to make us invisible, but with no God Shards..." Gammond muttered.

"We'll just have to be careful. Gam can make us some equipment. We'll have to climb. A lot." Lucia said, "We'll discuss it tomorrow morning. I'm tired."

Lucia turned over on her sleeping mat, her back facing the fire.

"I should get to bed as well. Can you put out the fire?" Gammond said as he laid back.

Lara nodded. She grabbed a bucket of river water nearby and poured it over the fire, stamping out the remaining embers.

She then slid under the covers of her bedroll and tried to put herself to sleep. So she waited. And waited. And waited.

But she was still awake.

Lara quietly slipped away from camp and towards the river they'd refilled their water supply on. She hadn't found the time to wash herself since they first arrived on Emreth's shores. Perhaps that would make her more prone to sleep.

Using the moonlight, Lara made her way to the bank of the river. She slipped off her clothes save for her undergarments, leaving them in a pile on the shore as she waded into the clear water. It quickly turned muddled and dirty around her. If only her mother had seen her like this.

Lara dunked her head under, wetting her hair and face. She would need a comb at some point.

As she came up, she heard a rustling among the nearby vegetation. Lara immediately sunk down to her neck and glanced around the banks of the river.

"A tad late for you to be going for a dip." Gammond stepped out from the trees into the moonlight.

"How long were you there?" Lara asked.

"Woke up not two minutes ago." the Ophiomancer said. Lara thought it would be better to just take his word for it.

"Why'd you follow me?"

"This area's dangerous." Gammond shrugged, "It was just as likely to be an Atrellian soldier as it was me."

"I know that." Lara said, "I have half a Godshard's worth of power left. I'll be fine."