Chapter Eleven

"What in the abyss were you thinking!?"

The voice awoke me, but I didn't move. Aside from still being tired, I realized that I wasn't sure where I was. So, rather than showing any signs of consciousness, I waited to learn of who was with me.

"I had no idea, I was given the job and I set out to complete it!"

I recognized the voice as Nick's.

"There were noncombatants there! You told us that there would only be magic users and maybe a few guards!"

It sounded like Cantrol's voice.

"Don't you listen? I didn't know! The report I was given never mentioned them!"

"Then why didn't you get Chris out of there when you found out your information was flawed?" Cantrol roared.

"Do you think she would have left? She was looking forward to it too much to have simply quit!"

I opened my eyes slightly and peered through my eye lashes. Cantrol's face was only a couple of inches from Nick's. He looked like he was ready to rip Nick up with his own hands. Nick was glaring back at him but at least seemed to be trying to control himself.

"I don't care how much she was looking forward to it! The fact of the matter is that you were paired with her and therefore had the responsibility to stop her from going into that mess!"

"I didn't think that it would have affected her the way it did!"

"Judging from how messed up she was, I would have to say that you made a very bad guess!"

"Speaking of which, what kind of hell-hole did you pull her out of in the first place?"

"What!" Cantrol's teeth were gritted and an attack from him seemed imminent.

"My brain nearly exploded when I read her mind! Her thoughts were so jumbled and fractured I couldn't even understand any of them! I'm almost afraid to find out what trash hole you-"

Cantrol let out a bloody scream and leapt forward. Nick saw him coming and dodged out of Cantrol's grasp. He quickly got behind Cantrol and yanked one of Cantrol's arms into a painful position behind Cantrol's back. With the other arm he positioned a knife against Cantrol's neck.

"For example," Nick continued, "do you know who Philippe is? Apparently Chris killed him. Or thinks she killed him."

I started to get nauseated at the thought of Philippe. I thought that he had been behind me. I thought that Goombuckle had helped me bury him. It seemed, though, that my mind had only been using Goombuckle as a shield, or a dam maybe, to make it seem that Philippe was finally gone. Once the dam had been destroyed, though, the despair was allowed to flood back in.

"I don't know who Philippe is, you scumbag." Cantrol grunted, giving a tug in an attempt to free himself.

Nick kept Cantrol in his grasps and pressed with the knife. I saw Cantrol squeeze his eyes and grit his teeth. Blood slowly crawled its way down his neck.

"I know that you've been trying to protect her. I guess this incident is a black mark for you, isn't it? I wasn't saying that she was trash; she's shown me that she has way too much potential to simply be trash. I'm like you; I'm frustrated that she's become so… so injured."

The bad feeling in my gut was nearly gone now. What Nick was saying about me was improving my mood bit by bit. It felt good to know that somebody thought that I had future. It also made me feel better knowing that Cantrol seemed to be trying to protect me because of me, and not because of his ambition.

Nick shoved Cantrol away. While Cantrol felt the puncture wound Nick wiped off his dagger and sheathed it. Nick thought for a second and sighed. "I'm sorry that I let that happen to her. Trust me, I wish that it never happened. I suppose that the only thing left to do is hope that the damage can be fixed."

Cantrol retreated to my side, where he had left his bag, in silence. He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a bandage which he used to wrap his neck. He looked at me and used a hand to brush my hair out of my face. I felt my heart flutter a little, but I didn't move. I absorbed the touch and dissected it. Was that the same touch? Was it him? A second later I was cursing myself for not paying enough attention when I had first been touched.

Of course, I was jumping to conclusions, I reasoned. What if it wasn't Cantrol. It could be Nick. It could even be Wexler, though the person who had saved me seemed to have been as tall as Cantrol or Nick. I'd just have to wait and see. I wouldn't ask them straight out. If it was Cantrol, I doubted that he'd admit to it. I wasn't sure if Wexler would but Nick probably would. Still, I would prefer to narrow it down a little before I actually asked.

"Hey, Norg?" Nicks voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Yeah, boss. I gotcha," replied Norg. After Norg said it I felt Cantrol stop moving. My instincts pulled at my curiosity to see why, but I kept myself still. "We gitten outa here," Norg announced.
I heard Cantrol don his backpack and wondered if he'd rouse me. He didn't, however. Instead, he gingerly bent down and picked me up. I was amazed that he could do it even though he was already carrying all my stuff as well as his own. Once again I tried to learn something about the previous night, but could discern nothing.

Once we started going Cantrol's gait became a bit uneven, which I knew meant that we were in the rear.

I stirred a little bit and pretended to be waking up. I cautiously opened my eyes to see Cantrol looking down at me. His eyes looked like they were pleading for a sign that I was alright. I smiled. It seemed that for the first time he wasn't annoyed with me. Without saying anything I reached up and touched the wrappings on his neck.

"You got hurt?" I whispered.

"It's nothing, just a prick," Cantrol said quickly, keeping his head held high and out of my immediate reach.

"Why didn't Wexler heal you?"

"I didn't ask him to," Cantrol mumbled, shifting his gaze back to where he was going.

Without a word I pulled the loose end of the bandage and let the dressing unravel.

"Hey. What are you-" Cantrol started to say as he jerked his neck away.

Before he could say anymore I reached up and concentrated. I whispered the incantations that Wexler had taught me and the hand gestures. When I finished, the wound was healed and I checked to see how Cantrol was reacting. To my disappointment I couldn't interpret the emotion he was displaying. It seemed like shock but there seemed to be a measure of happiness in there along with a pinch of self-consciousness and… fear? Confused, I decided that I had merely misinterpreted his reaction and closed my eyes to get some more sleep.

A second later I felt Cantrol tighten his grip on me. I popped open an eye curiously. Cantrol's face was close to mine and I had to suppress a surprised squeek. Even though he had gotten my attention, he didn't say anything for a long time. He simply starred at me with soft, concerned eyes.

"Thank you, Chris," finally croaked out of Cantrol's apparently constricted throat.

I let a smile flit across my lips in reply. I did my best to snuggle a little closer to Cantrol right before I drifted off to sleep.

I spent the next couple of weeks "recovering". In my opinion, I was fully recovered after a couple days, but no one believed me. Despite all the effort I put into it.

I must have asked half a billion times if I could go out. Every time I asked I was told no. But no one ever got angry with my stubbornness. Well, at least not with my asking. But after a while I got so itchy to get out that I tried to sneak out. The inn, however, was more like a prison. Cantrol and Wexler patrolled the place so frequently that any normal exit was impossible. But I wasn't adverse to finding a new way out.

My escape from the cramped boredom was an excursion onto the roof. It wasn't a very difficult feat to perform. Since my room was located on the highest floor of the inn all I had to do was stand on the window sill and pull myself onto the roof. Granted, if I had been of normal height I would have had a much easier time getting up there. Nonetheless, just watching the day progress was almost as exciting as actually being down there myself. It was also at this time that I made it a habit to watch the sun set behind the Soccear Mountains. As the day dawned my hope got brighter. Any remaining terrors from That Night slowly dissipated into the early evening shadows.

Where would Nick take us? I couldn't imagine what it would be like to go on a real adventure. I had heard about them from travelers in bars and in the temple. From what I could gather, they started with lazy hikes through the forest. After a few days, you entered into the old graveyard, cave, or similar area. Once you got near your heart started pounding. You drew your weapon and prepared yourself for the worst. You walked cautiously, always looking in all directions until, suddenly…

"Don't dawdle, you three," Nick called back.

We were hiking up a steep hill. Nick, Norg, Ronever, and Williams were just about at the top of the hill. Cantrol, Wexler and I were just about at the bottom. It hadn't been a leisurely walk. It had been only been two days, but we were already tired of the hiking. Well, I was only bored. Cantrol and Wexler were about ready to drop over dead. Wexler was wearing his scale mail and had a full pack. Cantrol had his chain shirt on and had two full packs. The only thing I was carrying was a protective leather tunic, my dagger, and Nick's dagger that he had given me.

Nicks group had moved on throughout the past two days without much noise passing between them. There was a murmur or a quick "thank you" when one of the water skins were passed around and a quick divvying of chores when we had made camp. It was sort of odd to me. They seemed to be close knit, yet they refused to talk to each other.

As Cantrol and Wexler stopped to take a heavy, almost laborious breather, Nick pointed across the valley to the next hill. I looked to where he was pointing but saw nothing. I moved behind him to see if I was looking at the right place. It turned out that I was, but I still couldn't figure out what he was pointing at. So I asked.

"You probably can't see it, I barely can myself, but there are two pillars over there in the hillside. They mark the entrance. Provided that our companions here don't pass out," he smirked at Cantrol and Wexler who apparently hadn't noticed, "we should be there by midday. For their benefit we'll rest for the rest of the day and enter tomorrow morning."

A moment later we were marching again, or trudging in Cantrol and Wexler's case. I had plenty of time to build up my anxiety over tomorrow's venture before we even reached the bottom and started heading up the next hill. The eerie silence was the only other thing that I could think about. Even Cantrol and Wexler sounded quieter. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I could tell that something was wrong. I peered around but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Not until it was too late.

A bone-shaking cry shattered the silence in an instant. Even as the cry began the underbrush started crackling and rustling at a rapid pace. When I finally regained myself, only a second after the cry had begun, I saw a large cat racing towards me. There had been forty feet between us at that moment, by the time my body started to move there were only ten feet separating us, and inches before my hand even touched Nick's dagger.

The cat was in mid air when its eyes rolled back into its head. Its large body went limp and landed on me, taking the wind out of my lungs. When I reflected upon the event later, oddly enough… I could have sworn that I had heard a bell ring somewhere. I had supposed it was just an effect of getting crushed.

I was too dazed to notice the hands pull the large cat off of me and then lift me quickly off the ground and caress my face. I think they said something, or yelled something, but by that time I was out.

I awoke to find Wexler kneeling before me. I could tell he was relieved to see me up. I then looked up to see Cantrol staring intently beside him. I couldn't help but smile at him. But when I did, his face changed to that weird expression I had seen before and he quickly diverted his gaze. I'll admit that response was starting to get annoying.

Before I could say anything, though, Nick's voice rose up from behind Cantrol.

"Looks like you're feeling better," he smiled over Cantrol's shoulder.

I started to return the smile, but then fully remembered what had happened. I looked around quickly for the deadly beast that had fallen on top of me. Seeming to sense my thoughts, Nick smiled again and jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

"We had Ronever and Williams skin it. It will make quite the trophy for back at The Guild. Those things normally don't come this far south."

The three men surrounding me moved out of the way so I could see. It had been a giant cat with black stripes. It's underside and insides of its legs had been cut away. Already it seemed like there was some temporary preparation in place to preserve it. The head had been left attached, probably to be stuffed later. But those hollow eyes still stared out, and the teeth still seemed to want blood. Yet, I wasn't feeling fear at the sight of it, but something else. Something much more terrifying. I was getting a sense of nostalgia. Like I had known the cat from somewhere. Or that somehow it knew me.

"Well, there's our first treasure from our little adventure. Let's go get the rest of it," Nick said cheerfully.

He gathered himself up and gave the order to continue the march. Cantrol firmly, gently helped me to my feet and made me walk at a slower pace than the rest of the group. Every time we came to some kind of difficult terrain, he would make me move doubly slow to make sure I did receive so much as a scratch. While part of me was a little frustrated at being babied so, the majority of my being was singing. I didn't know what I was feeling then, but later on I would know it as infatuation. Come to think of it, that day introduced me to quite a few emotions I had yet to experience; it is a wonder I even got to sleep that night. At that time, I just knew I was enjoying being with Cantrol. The memory of the pain and fear of when I faced the big cat paled away into a specter. As we fell further and further behind, it seemed more and more like this was our own little world. And that was perfectly fine. Absolutely fine…

By the time we arrived at the twin pillars we had sighted, Norg already had a fire going and Ronever and Williams seemed to be finishing up their search of the area. I glanced around but didn't notice anything except our own footprints in the dirt clearing that spewed from the moss-ridden mouth of the crypt; well, at least that's what it looked like to me. To think that anything would live down that dank entrance seemed improbable.

I heard Wexler snap at Cantrol, who was still at my side as I inspected the stonework on the pillars. Cantrol and I turned around in unison. Wexler gestured for Cantrol to approach and, with a quick glance back to me, complied. He approached the stone-faced holy man tentatively. It seemed to me that Wexler was about to scold Cantrol; perhaps for lagging behind and delaying his apprentice from her lessons. However, as soon as Cantrol was within arm's length he stepped forward and grinned. He put a fatherly hand on Cantrol's back and started walking him off into the forest, whispering to him the whole way. The cackling of the nearby fire swallowed any wisps I could have gleaned of the conversation. I glanced around and saw the only one paying attention was Nick. He sent me a smirk and went back to what he was doing. My ignorance shielded me from any chance of understanding what it all meant.

Defeated, I return with a sigh to one of the weather-beaten monoliths. It loomed nearly twice my height and seemed to be having no problem holding the gray-brick ceiling above its head. There were some carvings on it. At one point they might have been exquisite and masterful. Now there was nothing more than scratches and scribbles here and there. I could tell they were more defined at the top where they were partially protected by the roof.

Curious for a closer look, I climbed up and around the gaping mouth. I laid down on my stomach and slowly lowered myself over the edge. My hair danced around towards the ground, as if it was trying to ward it away, or perhaps my hair thought it could function as legs should I fall. I doubted I would, but at the same time I made sure to grab securely to a nearby root should worse come to worse. The inscriptions at the top were more pronounced than I had thought. A line of sharp script ringed the column. It was no where near as lovely as elven script but at least seemed fully developed. Below it, I could make out the start of a thatched pattern that, presumably, had at one point traveled to the ground. Here and there I could make out clear patches that may have held more script or perhaps pictures at one point. Whatever had been there, however, no longer existed.

"Interesting, isn't it?"

Jolted out of my intense study, I instinctively pulled my head back up. I saw someone's face blur by mine and heard a surprised shout. I yanked on the root to pull me to a safer place. Once everything stopped moving, I saw Nick standing there, frozen halfway through jerking away and smiling at me. Apparently he had gotten himself out of the way before we could collide. I pulled myself up to a sitting position and he rectified his stance.

"Are you alright?" he asked, just to be sure.

I nodded. "Who made this?"

He stepped closer to the pillar and stood on tip-toes to get a better look at it. "I believe I was told this used to be an aborigine ceremonial den. Used for some sort of celebration or ritual or something. Since they migrated further into the plains and we gained more control over this land, I highly doubt they've returned here for a good ten years. Reguardless," he finished his inspection and stepped back to get a better look at me, "we will be making sure to keep four people on watch at all time tonight. Just to make sure nothing else has decided to reside here."

I nodded and he began to turn away. Almost completely around, he turned back to look at me.

"Stay safe, Chris."