Mortal Magic: Broken

The next morning we got up before sunrise just like we said we would and we got ready to depart. Yuto made sure to get some money by finding some of the herbs the shopkeeper that made the mana potions wanted and as a bonus he also gave him some potions that were used for muscle relaxation and for dampening the senses in case of a painful injury.

We made sure to not wake Maia up and left her house just before dawn with the hoods of our cloaks on. It was satisfying to be able to move as much as you want and not be bedridden all the time. After we left the village limits I couldn’t take it anymore and just run until I felt I needed to take a break and Yuto was right behind me laughing at my stupidity as he called it.

A few hours later and we could no longer see any kind of manmade structure, only the vast expanses of the plains and far, far away what appeared to be the beginnings of a forest. It took us until noon to actually come close to the forest and now that we were at its edge I could see that it stretched as far as the eye could see. I wouldn’t be surprised if it started and ended with the plains themselves, and it was just as big as them or even greater as a forest.

I was familiar with the life in a forest. I lived in a village inside a great forest 5 years ago so this was nothing new to me. The trees were as big as the coliseum itself, more than a hundred feet tall and old as at least two generations like huge pillars as far as the eye could see and then some. The intoxicating smell of the earth and the sound of the birds sitting high on the tree branches were as relaxing as I remembered. It felt peaceful here, like everything else could be postponed for a few hours. Even if I knew that the only way for me to rest was to finish what I intend to do.

Soon I heard Yuto’s stomach growl in hunger and I suppressed a laugh only because I was hungry myself and the act would backfire at me. “I guess I should have bought some bread at the very least before we departed”. True he should have thought about it but I was not better myself. If it was up to me I probably wouldn’t have been able to even find the information I needed, much less prepare for the journey ahead. “Stop whining. We are in a forest full of life and any animal can sustain us. We need only find an animal and we have ourselves a meal. Besides I was a hunter in a forest much like this one before remember? Hunting is one of my specialties”.

We left the deviated from the path only a bit and then I told Yuto to gather wood and gather some wood for a fire. “Why? I have all the fire someone can need”. He did not understand why I asked and frankly I didn’t have the patience to teach a fire magus the importance of using natural fire to cook since it would need the appropriate temperature and time for the meat to cook properly. No magus can concentrate long enough to slowly cook a rabbit or a deer if that was what I returned with and he would simply end up either burning the food or not cooking it well enough. I left without explaining though with only a glare of warning that he seemed to understand for his sake.

I wandered for about half an hour until I found the first signs of my pray. I stumbled upon the footprints of a deer but the multiple variations in size told me that it was more of a herd than a lone deer in the forest. Following the trail for a few minutes I found that it was indeed a deer herd feeding of the sparse grass and the bushes they found. They were twenty in total, more than half of them male from the looks of the huge horns they donned on their heads. One of them stood out as it was the only one that was looking vigilant and cautious as it ate its share of the wild.

I was about to make my decision and kill one of the males as the females were less and they would be needed later when I saw a one of them wandering off the herd in search of more food perhaps. It was one of the somewhat younger males, its horns big but not huge like the others and body slightly smaller than theirs. If I killed one of the big ones it would be an even bigger waste, so I decided to stick with this one instead. I followed it further from the herd and when I we were far enough I made a dagger projection above its head and was ready to fire when I saw two relatively big hares in the distance. They were slightly smaller than the one in the plains and they had a brownish fur instead of light gray and they were eating side by side what little grass they could find.

I let the dagger disappear and then made two more above the hares and fired instantly. The deer saw me then and left for its herd that was now fleeing in terror and I got up and headed for the dead animals. I picked them up and then I saw a small stream and decided I would get them ready here.

I knew little about how to prepare the animal after you kill it to cook but I knew how to skin them at the very least. When I was done I cut them open to remove their intestines and cleaned the meat in the stream. Surely there were carnivores here so I left intestines and took the fur as I made my way to Yuto. On my way the forest was quiet as usual after a death, it was like every living thing and even the trees and the wind knew it when an animal or a person died and stayed silent to mourn of something.

I found Yuto another half an hour later and much to my delight he actually did what I told him to. While I was gone he had gathered firewood and dug a hole in the ground to house the fire, now he was just waiting for me. We set the skinned hares on the fire and then waited until it was time to eat. I must admit it was nice to not have to eat that awful food they gave us in the arena, I was getting used to this.

After we ate we decided to take a nap before we continued down the road in the evening. Yuto fell asleep quite fast but I could not relax enough to do so. Every sound I heard was unnerving me, the birds chirping, the cicadas singing in the shadows, and most of all the sound of Yuto’s light snoring which was really testing my patience. How can he be so lost in his sleep that he is snoring in the middle of the day in the middle of a forest in the middle of nowhere?

It was some time after that I heard a sound that didn’t belong here as I was starting to doze off. I heard a twig breaking under a foot and I was on my feet in record time, already pulling on my mana reserves. “Mana Burst”. I infused my body with mana and then projected a small sword to my hand the moment I saw the figure getting off the path and coming closer to us. I got to the person faster than he could react and put my blade over his throat. The person froze in place and I couldn’t see his face under the hood of his cloak, but I could tell he was scared by the way he was shaking. Or was it maybe surprise from my sudden appearance?

Either way the person did not move a muscle as I held my blade in place ready to slit his throat with the slightest provocation. Then I heard footsteps behind me and I knew that sleeping beauty had risen from her sleep to see what was going on. “Why is it that every time I go to sleep you are having all the fun”? I turned around and looked at him questioning his mental state like he was a lunatic and I was just figuring that out now. “You are calling someone sneaking up on us fun? Are you mental”? Then he started laughing his lungs out and I turned my focus on the mysterious person I was holding. “I’m going to remove the hood, don’t make me do something we will both regret later”.

He didn’t even nod as I moved my right hand that was grabbing the hem of the cloak to the hood and yanked it off his head, or more accurately her head. Not only it was a woman but it was Maia that I was threatening with my magic. Immediately I let the blade disappear and backed off with the terror clearly etched in my eyes and most likely pale face. When I was at least a few feet away from her she let out a breath that she was apparently holding all this time and brought a hand to her throat. She was looking at me like the monster I knew I was probably realizing that she helped a murderer and she was horrified by what I might have done until now.

I was so shocked that I didn’t even realize that I was leaning with my back on the bark of a tree by now. I kept my eyes on hers and I was shaking for no reason at all. “This isn’t what it looks. I-I was just”. The words were simply coming out of my mouth making no sense and I was getting desperate now. I looked at Yuto for a brief moment and he was just surprised whereas I was mortified. How was he taking all this so lightly like it was nothing? Was he that clueless of the severity of the various situations he found himself in at least while I know him?

“Maia, what brings you here”? He sounded calm and collected and I was more grateful than I was irritated at that right now. He was making the tension lighter but I was still unable to move. Maia found it hard to take her eyes off me and look at him but she did it anyway. With a trembling voice she answered the question even if it was just to distract her. “I-I have something to do at Starkhaven. We need some supplies and the closest town with them is Starkhaven”.

She was seemingly becoming more relaxed as they talked and tried not to include me to the things that needed their attention. The initial shock was fading away and I was able to get away from the tree but I could not look at her after what I did. My mind was coming up with all the things she must be thinking about me right now and not a single one of them was good. I mean who would be thinking good things about someone they helped, and welcomed to their home and that same person brought a sword to their throat ready to kill them if necessary the very next day when he left. I was trying to fool myself by constantly thinking that what I did, I’d did in self-defense. But that was all I was doing. Deceiving myself into thinking what I thought suited me most.

They agreed that it was safer to travel together and I thought I saw Yuto smiling when Maia wasn’t looking his was but instead was staring at me. However she looked away hastily when she figured I was aware of her eyes on me, piercing holes on my body. We were silent for the rest of the day as we drove closer to Starkhaven. The only sounds between us were our footsteps on the dirt path of the forest and the shaping of an occasional twig we stepped upon. I was the one in front of the group since I told them that I knew more about forests than both of them so I was a better guide even if this forest was entirely new to me. But in truth I wanted to avoid a confrontation with Maia.

I knew that sooner or later I would have to talk with her about what happened and to do that I would have to tell her about my past. And if I was fair I would have to tell her everything, and include Yuto in the conversation as well. He deserved to know what I withheld from him all along just as she does. But I was not ready for it yet, so instead I acted like a jerk and kept quiet and brooding to delay the inevitable.

When the night came we decided to make camp for the night and just like before I set out to find something to eat. This time it took me less than half the time than last time to find food and the river I used was closer to the camp. And now it was wider and deeper which meant we were getting closer to its banks. Like before I took the fur of the animal with me, only this time it was from a very young deer that would provide just the right amount of food for all three of us.

We ate in silence under the light of the now almost gone fire and after that Yuto started telling Maia about his life before he was captured, but without his time in the arena and all things related to that. He must have understood that it was not safe to indulge her to this as it was a sensitive matter. We are most likely considered like criminals and fugitives after all.

I noticed that she was listening intently to his stories about his family and the various places he went to with his wife before they settled down on the eastern continent and had their daughter. His stories were new to me as well but I acted far less interested than I actually was pretending that I was not listening or I already knew while I was stroking the fire. When he was done she bombarded him with questions that he eagerly answered feeding her curiosity and making a monster out of it. She was asking so many things that I was feeling a slight headache when suddenly she asked something about me. “So when did you two meet”?

Yuto looked at me blankly since we never discussed the relationship we were to show to other people or the way we met. His hesitation didn’t go unnoticed and the way he was looking so Maia turned to look expectantly at me for the answer. I could surely find many solutions to this problem but if I told her a lie now then I would have to keep lying to her all the way, and I didn’t want her to find the truth in a bad way. “That is another long story that usually I tell and it was a long day. I’m sure you must be tired from all this walking and you didn’t seem to have rested like we did when you stumbled upon us. Get some rest and I will tell you another time”.

My voice was calmer than I had anticipated. I felt peaceful in that moment, like I wanted nothing more than this, but I wanted so much more after I finished talking. I was tempted to tell her I changed my mind if she wanted still to hear the story behind our meeting but I decided against it for her sake. She was visibly tired and I saw how she struggled to keep up an hour before we camped. That was the only reason I said we would do so early since Yuto and I could keep at it for a few hours more maybe.

With a smile she nodded her approval and then lied on the ground and wrapped her cloak around her. This was as best time to tell her as any. “I didn’t mean to attack and scare you back then. I’m not used to people not wanting to kill me so I often act in self-defense even if I don’t need to”. Was it wrong for me to say this now or was it necessary for her to understand where I was standing here? Either way I said it and I could not take it back now. “I… I’m sorry”.

She raised her head and looked at me with emotions unknown to me in those blue and green eyes looking dark from the absence of proper light. I lowered my head to look back at the fire I was still playing with but I still saw her small smile after a few moments. She didn’t say anything and I was relieved since this was hard for me. I wasn’t used to apologizing and it felt strange to me, the knot on my throat like I had a knife stuck inside. I saw her lowering her head back down and she closed her eyes, her body facing my direction and the smile was still there minutes after she did so. I glanced at Yuto and saw that he followed her example and was now sleeping facing in the opposite direction from the fire. I was expecting him to be even a little annoying but instead he said nothing and went to sleep.

I stayed awake for long enough to witness the fire going out completely and the charred wood lose the red glow, thinking of nothing and everything at the same time. I only realized that I was staying awake for the sake of not going to sleep after I run out of things to think. Not knowing why I didn’t want to sleep I felt like I was going crazy, and for some reason I felt hot. Sure it was warm during this time of the year and I was sitting near a fire for a long time, but this was more than just warmth. The heat was intense and it made my body tense. I was sweating and my heart was beating faster and faster while I was trying to figure out what was happening to me. And then I accidentally laid my eyes on her sleeping. Her face was so calm and peaceful and…

What was going on with me? The moment I saw her, my heart skipped a beat and I felt warmer and warmer. And now I could not stop thinking about her, she was there in everything I tried to think to distract myself. I got up and moved away from them in hopes that distance would help me and it did to an extent. I didn’t feel like I was going mad anymore. But the heat was still here and now I felt the overwhelming desire to go back to…

Getting desperate I went to the river and splashed some water on my face but it didn’t help much despite the fact that the water was ice cold. It would do nothing on such a small part of my body so I decided I had to go into the river. I peeled off my clothing and stepped inside the cold water slowly while clenching my fists and jaw from the sudden change in temperature. When I was in the middle I lowered myself in the water and let it cool my body while concentrating on the cold and then I dipped my head in too. I stayed there for a few comforting moments and then I got my head back out, my slightly long black hair clinging to my forehead almost covering my eyes.

I was panting by the time I got out of the water and with the lack of wind I wasn’t freezing to my death. I put on my pants and stretched my cloak on the ground to lie down. Feeling myself calming down sleep was soon upon me and I hoped that nothing was going to happen whilst I slept.