Pyle, who had seen the whole exchange and heard her words, chuckled lightly. "Well, Meliss. If you turn out to be a monster like your future husband, I'll stop worrying about the future of the synners," he said playfully. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a tinge of excitement flare up in my belly when her face flushed with color. "I can't wait to spar with you, and see what you can do," I said as encouragingly as I could.
"Oh, fuck no. Nuh-uh. Not happening. You're sparring with me, fuckface," Bernar chimed in, pulling his horse up next to mine. Meliss flinched at the curse word he spat in my direction. "I think I still need to get used to the swearing. I know you use foul language and insults to avoid fighting each other, but it is a far cry from the language I'm used to hearing in Coltend," she said, rubbing her temple. "Yeah, sorry about that," I said, nervously scratching the back of my head.
"Also, brother, I want to spar with her at least once before we… well, you know," I said, not trying to bring up the fact that I would eventually be going to Caegwen to train. Not ready to have that discussion again, I thought. "Trust me, I know, but for most of your training, you'll be sparring with me," he said. "In any case, I look forward to training with both of you, and under Mast… I mean, Pyle's instruction, I'm sure I'll be alright," she said, building up her confidence a little.
The conversation with Bernar that followed us the rest of the way to Codrean was, for the most part, in regard to Leona. I think I lost count of how many questions he asked about her, her likes and dislikes, as well as her favorite foods. While Meliss had enough patience to answer most of his questions, there were some, I felt, that were a little too personal. It felt strange to see him so worked-up about a woman, as most of his life he was fairly nonchalant about anything and everything pertaining to them. I liked seeing this side of him.
Our eventual arrival at the fortress was heralded by a few of the synners the Master had sent on ahead to make sure everything was in order. Out of the original five hundred we stormed Coltend with, only a little over half survived against the horde. However, with Pyle's added forces, and some of Nenvalur's people agreeing to help train us, Codrean was back at full strength and then some.
As soon as we arrived, the stable hand from our journey North, who stayed behind during the assault, helped us to take care of our horses. The voyage from Codrean, to Hjalfar, and then to Coltend was the furthest he'd ever been from home, and he was always excited to see new things. "Hey, Thoma!" he rushed over and greeted me.
"Darren! How was the trip, buddy? I'm sorry I didn't get to talk much on the way here," I said, scuffing up his curly, red hair. His bright, hazel eyes accented by the freckles strewn across his cheeks responded to the smile that grew. "Oh, that's alright! I just wanted to let you know that I'll take good care of Celer as a thank you for your help back at the palace," he said cheerfully.
"Help? When did you have time for that?" Meliss asked. "It wasn't much. I just wrote out a few things for him to try out in a note, and told him to take it to Roburn. That way, he could get training from one of our certified instructors, who I'm sure had not much else better to do," I replied, making the last part sound a little more sarcastic than my usual tone. "I heard that," Roburn said from across the way, removing his saddle from his horse.
Darren chuckled. "Now that we're back, do you think you could also help me with my training?" he asked. "I'm not even sure of my own training schedule at this point," I sighed. "I'll still help you where I can, I promise. I know you're excited, but for now, let's just settle back into this place, yeah?" I invited him to reconsider.
"Okay. I guess I'll wait," he said, scrunching his left cheek up by pushing his mouth towards it. "Don't worry, it won't be too long before we can spar," I said, trying to cheer him up. The smile regrew on his face as he darted off to tend to the other horses.
He reminds me so much of Irun when he was younger, I thought.
"You have a way with children that I didn't expect," Meliss said, tugging my arm as we walked towards the fortress. "Well, I know he doesn't look to be the type to say anything philosophical, but my brother taught me something very important; that I should always be the person I wish I had there for me as a kid. I was lucky that my brother was there for me, so now, I want to do the same for others where I can," I replied. "A surprisingly mature outlook on life for someone who swears as much as you do," she said, pinching my arm. "Ow! What was that for?" I asked. "Just making sure you were still real, and not the perfect boy from my imagination," she replied playfully. I smiled and pinched her back for the same reason.
The sun was beginning to hide behind the distant hills, and we were nearly finished settling in. Meliss, unfortunately for me, was sent to another area of the dorms, while I set my old room back up. The charring on the wall from that night with the mana-flame was still present, and I could swear I still smelled the burnt bucket of piss-water. "It's good to be home, but damn does it feel empty," Edryd said, noting the two empty beds. "Yeah, a little," I said, realizing what he meant. "Hello there! Sorry to interrupt, but are these beds taken?" a voice came from the door.
I turned around to see who it was, but didn't recognize them. A pair of elves that didn't look much older than I was, stood in the doorway. The first, and taller of the pair, had shining, golden hair, pointed ears that stayed close to the sides of his head, and nearly gray eyes. The second had similar features, but blood-red eyes and tar-black hair instead. Both were wearing similar armor to that of Nenvalur when he first appeared at the portal stone, so I concluded they must have been some of the augmentees to our forces.
"I suppose they are now," I said welcomingly, outstretching my hand. "Thoma Fayren from Kinth," I introduced myself. The pair of elves looked at my hand, questioning the gesture. "Thorn Thuridan," the taller one said, slowly grasping my hand in a less than usual manner.
Gotta give him points for trying, I thought.
"And you? What's your name?" I asked the one with the red eyes. He muttered something I couldn't quite hear. I assumed he was just being shy, or perhaps he was just extremely soft spoken. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. What was your name, again?" I asked.
"His name is Rennyr Virie, but you can call him Ren for short," Thorn said in his place. "It's a pleasure to meet you," I said, bowing this time, instead of outstretching my hand. I figured it was the better of the two options after the previously awkward experience. Ren bowed in return, and it was only then that I remembered how elves were with physical touch.
Anwill would have a field day if he saw this majestic fuck up, I thought.
"I promise that it's nothing you've done. He's just a quiet person. Has been for the last two hundred years I've known him. Never bothered to ask why because I was always sure he'd never tell me. He's loyal, dependable, freakishly good with a sword, and trustworthy with any secret," Thorn said. "Well, that's good to hear," Ed chimed in. "I'm Edryd Baelis. It's nice to meet you both," he said with a bow, avoiding my earlier display of awkwardness. "Edryd? The one who slayed the addia with Nenvalur? We've heard a lot about you. It's an honor," Thorn said, initiating a bow with Ren following suit.
I knew it was still a sensitive subject for him, but I was very happy to see Ed's face crack a little smile at the sight of these two, much older than he was, paying him respect. "Oh, lighten up. You've more than earned their respect for what you've done," I said, patting him on the shoulder, hoping to carry the positive momentum forward and help bring my friend out of his depression. I missed Batch, too, but I knew that my sadness couldn't compare that of Ed's while watching him get ripped apart.
"Thank you for the kind words. My friends, Thoma and Roburn, have been helping me cope with what happened, but I'll get over it eventually," he said, lacking confidence in his own words. Thorn looked at him questioningly, and with a quick glance to Ren, the shorter one stepped forward. "Here," Ren said, putting his hand over Ed's core. "Wha-what are you doing?" he asked, nervous about the interaction. "Just trust him," Thorn said reassuringly.
I couldn't even see Ren's eyes change, but I knew he was channeling mana. I could feel its warmth resonating through the air, and with a subtle pulse, the mana left as quickly as it came. Ed's eyes were wide open, almost like he had seen an addia appear in front of him. "Wh-... what the fuck was that? H-how did…?" he stammered, grasping at his chest, though he didn't seem to be in any pain. "Ren has the extraordinary ability to mend cores," Thorn explained. "He can do what?" I asked, incredulous to the words I just heard.
"As everyone who deals with mana knows, a core is where the soul resides. If someone is emotionally damaged, that also means that their core is damaged, to varying degrees. Negative emotions not only affect our bodies, but our cores as well. While a core can mostly heal on its own, it will never be the same as it once was. What Ren did was simply speed up the recovery process," Thorn explained as if talking to a child.
How the fuck did he figure out how to do that? I wondered. I guess living as long as they do means you have to try all sorts of interesting things.
The color on Ed's face returned, and he breathed a sigh of relief. "Ah-ha.. Hahaha! I don't fucking believe it," he said, struggling to understand what he was feeling. "Feel better?" Ren asked in a gentle voice. For an elf of a few words, he was surprisingly caring of others. "Y-yes, but how did you…?" Ed began to ask, but Ren simply held up a hand. "I couldn't tell you how many times I've asked him that, but he's never once told me how he does it, only what he does," Thorn explained.
"I feel like there is going to be so much we can learn from each other here, and I look forward to working with both of you," I said, realizing just how much more I had to grow. "Indeed, and we look forward to learning from you, too," Thorn said with a slight bow. Ed and I helped them settle into their new quarters, with Thorn taking Irun's bed, and Ren taking Batch's.