Of Bonds Forged Ch. 04

Sylanna simply listened.

"I think a good place to begin is to try to put yourself in their place. Empathy is a start. Even if you don't truly feel it, if you understand where the other person is even as just an intellectual exercise, you can deal with them more effectively and get what you want from them without literally abusing them or, if nothing else, leaving them feeling that way."

Sylanna felt slightly patronized so that flattened her tone, "I understand the concept."

"Good. That you understand that Ara's mother meant no harm tells me that you were and aren't insane. If you had told her that the cost of Ara's life was her own, it would have been paid."

"As I said, I understand the concept. Just because I didn't care doesn't mean I didn't understand."

"But you care now," Sylanna concluded with some satisfaction. "You care now and it's so foreign to you that you try to make things as they were by seeing to it that all around you are, at best, indifferent to you. They do not share their feelings. They don't bare their needs, their wants, and their fears because they feel you cannot be trusted. Then you are left in a place not unfamiliar and not uncomfortable."

"But there is always risk, so now you seek to leave."

"Exactly, Vale." When the other's brow furrowed, she continued. "If I am alone, all there is to contend with is the ghosts I carry with me that I am now forced to face."

"There is a very old saying that goes, no matter where you go, there you are, Sylanna. The ghosts of our pasts are always there with us." She looked down at her bowl, as if to perhaps avoid looking at one as she began to speak before looking up again, as if to face it. "I think of my mother. I think of what it was before I left. I think of her begging me not to go. I remember, after everything, stopping for just a moment because perhaps my leaving would open her eyes that not just her grief mattered and that I needed her before she turned my pain into an attack on her, as she had done a thousand times before."

"I wonder since if all she has done is wallow in her pain. I wonder if she has healed. I wonder if she thinks of me at all. Those are already many ghosts to carry with one person." She released a sigh that felt years in the making. "I have tried to show others exceptional care to limit the ghosts that walk with me and how many I leave to others."

"But it's always easier to contend with your ghosts when you have people close to you that know you and trust you. To leave others better than you found them wherever you can lessens your burden and quiets those ghosts. Run away to be alone and all there is is you and them, which doesn't help now that you have no choice but to listen to them."

"It is better for you to not be alone, for many reasons."

Sylanna quietly weighed the words, before answering. "Well, now that we've rested and had a decent meal, I believe we should move on."

Perhaps Vale heard an added bit of finality in the tone and perhaps she added that bit in her own mind and let it be. She wasn't sure she had anything to add now anyway.

Leaving the shack as they found it, they compared thoughts on the bit of map Sylanna retained. Enough remained for the pair to come to a consensus as to a general direction and set off once again. The path was thick with woodland, but, if they read the piece correctly, it would thin out in time and meet a new bit of road. Where to go from there, they were uncertain, but that was a problem for later.

"I assume you've made mental note of the shack?"

"More than that," Vale answered. "I marked it before leaving."

Sylanna reached her senses outward and found the mark that shown in her mind like a beacon. They could now find it again blind. "Good."

"I'm surprised you didn't."

"Perhaps I wished to see if you would."

"Think I'm incompetent?"

"Would it surprise you to know that I do not?" She looked to Vale to see her studying her carefully. "You simply lack experience. In fact, I know learned mages that would not mark a useful place on their journey. They believe their wits are enough that they will remember the place. They believe their skills are enough when the rain falls in sheets, the snow cuts into their eyes, or the heat sucks the fluids from their bodies. Yet a simple thing such as a mark placed somewhere useful could have kept them from dying."

"Did a mark save you, or did you doom someone because they didn't use one?"

"Did I doom someone because they didn't use one," Sylanna repeated, deliberately changing emphasis. "Is it completely my fault if I leave them to their own devices and they fail because, in their own arrogance, they did not help themselves in the smallest of ways before ending up as they had?"

"You, no doubt, would never have left them in such a position to begin with, endangering yourself and the job just in case they fall short in such a way, playing nursemaid as you go. I trust the people that work with me to be able to be where they say will be and will be capable of doing what it is they are supposed to do. That they are sometimes incompetent isn't my doing."

"Doesn't helping them help you?"

"It does," she agreed. "And, rest assured that I have spent much of my career compensating for the shortcomings of others. But there are limits to even my exceptional abilities. I'm sorry I couldn't be everywhere at once, but I wouldn't have to be if my fellows would remember to do simple things like mark their path."

"Heavy is the burden of..."

"Quiet," Sylanna said harshly. "We are not alone." A lifetime being alone left her with a keen sense of when she was not.

Vale looked around her. Seeing nothing through the trees and no hint of the passage of others in the blanket of stow they traveled over, she reached out her senses and detected the dimples in the pattern of life around them that flowed through the haze. Mages made larger ripples in the flow of life by their very nature since they might need to tap that flow to use their power. "Mudanes, all eight of them."

Sylanna gave a slow nod, "Coming from where we're headed, I imagine."

"Excellent." Vale made a choice before she could give herself time to think better of it. "I'll go meet them."

Sylanna blinked. "You should not. Let us instead follow them back where they came from."

"And have no idea what we may face when we get there? I know that you would prefer to fight your way through..."

Sylanna's spine stiffened with her sense of righteousness. "Because it is usually easier than deal-making whether you choose to accept that or not."

"Perhaps. Sometimes," she conceded, in part just to keep from descending into argument. "But I believe this way has more merit. There are too many unknowns. We don't know how many men are there. We don't know if who or what we seek is there, not for certain; not the talisman and not the women."

Vale continued speaking, focused so on closing off any potential avenues of argument for the other that she paid no real notice of the other reaching for this powder from her cloak and that elixir from her bag in a rapid, practiced fashion, mixing one after another in an ever more complex mix.

"If he is, and he has it, perhaps a deal can be struck, and you're not the one to do that. If need be, I'll take it from him. Or at least try to."

"And if he has a mastery of it you don't expect? Or if he and those with him have no interest in parting with it?" Sylanna asked, using a long-honed skill of only half-listening to that which she found pointless. "Then to have a stronger mage on the outside to cause mayhem and one within may allow us opportunity to free the women if nothing else."

"You are the stronger mage," Vale admitted, finally paying attention to what her companion was doing just in time to see her pour a glass vial of muddy brown liquid into her mouth, swirling it around as she looked through her surroundings, as if in deep concentration. "What are you...?"

The thought was lost as Vale felt the contents of Sylanna's mouth spray into her face. Her mouth dropped open in shock and she wiped her face clean with her arm, too stunned by the act to register that her cloak came away dry. "There really are less disgusting ways to express your disdain."

"To track where you are and see what you see." She raised her brow, unable to quite let the opportunity pass without comment tinged with derision. "That it bought your silence isn't an unwelcome side effect. You are determined to do this and this is as close to you not going alone as can be managed just now. Deal with it."

"Looking out for me," Vale wondered.

"Sparing myself the endless interrogations that would ensue if I failed to even attempt to safeguard Mistress Lia's favorite pet. And, as you reminded me, I have ghosts enough following me, and I imagine yours would be the most insufferable."

"Afraid I would torture you with cloying sweetness?"

"As you do in life. I can't imagine it would be any other way with your shade anchored to me."

"I'm trusting you to do the right thing."

She huffed, "As if I know what that is."

"You know." She made sure that she met and held Sylanna's gaze. "I'm trusting you. I trust you."

Thinking for an instant that she had heard one of those random utterances in a disjointed dream that has nothing to do with who you are or what was happening around you, she froze. She saw determination in those eyes and even a hint of...faith?

Not in Sylanna certainly; more likely the magic that changed her. But Vale admitted that Sylanna was the stronger of the two, leaving her to the greater task if it came to that, and the trust in her stemmed from that. Reconciling that in her mind, she gave a small nod just before, "Proceed carefully and...good luck to you, Denna Vale."

She took the reins more firmly and prepared to move. The words were comforting and disconcerting at once. "Could you not say goodbye to me as though I'm going to die?"

Sylanna averted Vale's gaze for a moment, afraid she'd undermined Vale's confidence, and unused to dealing with moments such as these, as it had rarely mattered to her whether or not a companion she traveled with was doomed beyond how it affected her task. She recovered quickly however and her tone conveyed a shrug, "Better to expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised."

"All right. Makes a certain morose sense, I suppose. Stay hidden until I'm clear unless there's a fight."

"Obviously."

Vale started ahead on a parallel course with the riders, waiting to begin easing towards them until she knew that no one would be in a position to spy Sylanna even though she was certain that the woman was probably already vanished, so she didn't bother looking back. She told herself that was why she was waiting and it was at least reasonable, but the truth of the matter was that she was steeling her courage.

She had rarely headed off into anything with so many unknowns. Most of her meetings were on behalf of her guild and the people she met were, at worst, neutral towards her. They needed the guild's help with problem or other for which magic provided the only solution, or sometimes some of the more unsavory elements of society used the guilds to mediate and enforce agreements between them, so she had rarely been exposed to people openly hostile to her. They may not be so to her, but she was preparing herself for that, as it seemed wise to plan for that. Then, to do that, led her down the path of contemplating all that could go wrong until she forced herself to stop. Whatever will happen will. You will not prepare yourself for it by spinning around every possible outcome in your head.

Mistress Lia once told her that bravery was doing what needed to be done in the face of your fear and all the worrying was just a way to call her fear something else and avoid doing what had to be done, so she steered toward the men, angling towards them as they rode down the path. She kept her pace casual, not only because weaving through the trees would have made anything faster impossible, but because time wasn't of the essence just now and they would cross paths soon enough. There was no reason to alarm them unnecessarily.

It wasn't long before a pair of eyes caught the movement of her horse and the group stopped and silently waited for her to catch up. Now making as straight a line as she could, she rode towards them. "Fancy meeting you out here," the fourth of the men in the now haphazardly assembled half circle called out to her. He was tall and scruffy with all of the men looking a bit on the unkempt side, but they were hardly the nastiest looking lot she'd ever come across even in her relatively few years dealing with the underbelly of society.

"Greetings," she said warmly, careful to mind her tone so that it didn't sound too chirpy.

"Some coincidence meeting you here," the man noted. "This isn't an often traveled path."

"Which is exactly the reason for my own interest in you," she told him, settling herself in the center of the circle, maintaining her amiable tone, making eye contact with each and offering a smile even as she appraised which might attack her first if it came to that. "This doesn't seem an often traveled path, so it seemed a bit strange to see so many traveling together, though for that very reason that it is a rarely used path, there's strength in numbers. "I am Denna Vale. And you are?"

He thought for a moment before deciding that his name wasn't that much of a surrender of information. "Hawly. I think I would have remembered one like you in these parts."

"Understandable. With so few people around here, I imagine you know everyone by sight."

"Almost, I think." He looked her up and down. "Since I don't know you, what are you doing out this way, mage?"

"Mage," she said, tone flat so she didn't sound like she was trying to dodge.

He looked to a bit of her arm exposed and the edge of the expertly drawn black and gray tattoo. "I recognize a guild marking even if I don't get to see the whole mark."

The look in his eyes dared her to dispute it. She wouldn't have even if she hadn't seen a couple of the men tense up around her. "Very observant, though I'm not actually part of a guild anymore. Freelancer. Making my way around, finding work where I can."

"Isn't that just about the most perfect of coincidences, boys?" Several of the men snickered and exchanged glances. "It just so happens that we're looking for a mage and here you happened to be, just waiting for us to find you."

Vale kept her posture relaxed. "A coincidence, I assure you. Fairly off the beaten paths and not many people around this way. You know that yourself; a good place for an unaffiliated mage like myself to make a living. I cured someone of fever not terribly far from here and I heard whispers from him and others about another place up this way and I thought there might be work to be had."

Hawly made a show of looking around her and saw nothing. "Working alone these days?"

"Most freelancers do, I'm afraid. It can be a bit lonely, but, it's a good living if you're gifted enough." Vale kept the tension from her voice and her body through practice, knowing that she was already in deeper than she'd anticipated. That's what happens when you step into something you know nothing about.

He made eye contact with his closest companions who were even less adept at hiding their emotions as he was. "Well, it just so happens that we are in need of a healing mage, and, in a day of coincidences, here one comes upon us even as we search. The Goddess works in mysterious ways." At that, his companions laughed.

"At times. You need a mage and I happen to be one who has some skill and likes getting paid for it. Sometimes fortune turns as it needs to. Does it really matter right this moment how we came across one another?"

"I suppose not, he agreed. "Will you come with us?"

"Will I be paid for my efforts?"

"Of course. My employer has promised good money for anyone that can deal with his problem."

Deciding to go with something that she thought Sylanna might say and the way she might say it, a smirk followed, "All money is good money. Lead the way."

The group turned back the way they came, Hawly coming to ride next to her as the rest loosely encircled them. It was disconcerting, but it helped her to remind herself of Mistress Lia. She carried herself as though she could handle anything or anyone that crossed her path. She had seen Mistress with the queen together at official ceremonies and always treated Queen Evaline with respect and affection. Mistress was careful never to give the impression to others that she was believed she was on the same level as the queen, always walking behind when expected, always showing proper deference.

Even so, Bryana Lia moved as if she was a queen herself. She knew her power and her gifts. Vale needed to do the same. She had had a few opportunities to stand off against others, or even threaten to, and this was another. She focused on her posture, her breathing, and making eye contact with each of them in turn. Vale was gratified to see two pairs of eyes shy from her gaze, the reputation of mage kind aiding her as much as anything else.

"Can you tell me what the nature of the problem is?"

Hawly seemed slightly more relaxed now that something of an agreement existed between the two. "I don't, really. All I know is that one of Lord Solos's guests is seriously ill and we were sent to find help for her."

"All of you for that?"

"You said it yourself, safety in numbers. There are unsavory characters all over these parts." There was another smattering of laughter from those around him.

"So, what does Solos do, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Hunter. Trader; mostly those things."

Her perception told her he was holding things back, but it wouldn't help her at all to push. Is there a place that I might get a meal and stay nearby?"

"We have a pretty nice set up. If everything goes fine I don't expect you'll have any problem with either."

The 'if it doesn't...' hung in the air. She found herself a little less uncomfortable with the idea that Sylanna's magic could track her and see what she saw. The journey wasn't a particularly long one. Clearly, the group hadn't been on the hunt for help for long. Idle chat filled the time until they came upon the old trade post. She recognized some design bits still in use. Guards stood on either side and rushed to open them well before the group approached.

Heading inside, Vale scanned the scene. Her eyes saw nothing unusual. People milling. People haggling. People loud and drunk far too early in the day. By outward appearances, it wasn't a terrible bit of civilization, but appearances could deceive, and she felt that, too when her sense of magic sent a shiver through her. There was the magic she sought. The remnants of it in the minds of those that set her on this path matched what she felt now even just in the air. It was powerful. It was wild and untamed. She felt echos of sadness. Desperation. Anger. Confusion. It all only added to her own considerable unease.

"Someone go find Solos," Hawly said to no one in particular behind him, just expecting that someone would do it. "Tell him we found a mage."

"We'll stay here until he comes." The words suggested a casual idea, but Vale was certain she wasn't welcome elsewhere in the compound yet.

"That sounds fine." She came off her horse and guided him to posts near the opposite wall to tie him off, knowing their eyes would remain on her. After doing so, she took the opportunity to look around. It was very much like other outposts she'd visited when it came to goods to be had, though there seemed to be fewer exotic baubles, the merchant goods focusing instead on basic needs of travelers, though there were a few things that she might have been interested in under other circumstances.