Wilton pushed open the door to his barracks. As all of the other scouts were out patrolling, it was empty. He stumbled over to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Wilton sucked in a deep breath before removing his mask and looking into the mirror.
His wound was not a pleasant sight.
He tried to wash it down with the water from the sink, but it didn't do much. Wilton had two options: rely on his healing magic, of which he knew very little, or go see the medics. If he went to see the medics, he would be forced to explain how the wound occurred, and if he told the truth, he'd be punished for straying from his post.
Wilton twirled a finger around his face, desperately trying to remember anything from the few healing classes they got in the Emperor's Coven. The most he could do was stop the bleeding, the wound still not looking great. Defeated, Wilton tied a bandage around his eye and slipped his mask back on.
What happened back there? He thought to himself as he stared in the mirror. That human bested you too easily. You're better than that. And now what? Are you just going to give up? You need to go back there tomorrow and teach those humans a lesson. You won't get a promotion acting like this, and don't even think about becoming the Golden Guard.
Wilton nodded. Maybe he would go back. But for now, he had to learn how to cover up his wound with something better than a few bandages.
He left the bathroom and searched through the small library in their barracks. Finally, he found a book on healing magic. Wilton was about to sit down on his bunk bed with the book before he realized that would be a mistake. Another scout could return at any time, and they would have questions as to why he was back so early. No, he had to go somewhere else.
Wilton knew only one place.
Wilton walked a path through a forest not far from the barracks, the same path he had walked since he and Layla had come upon a very scenic river at the end of it. They often went there in between classes (it wasn't far from Glandus) to get away from the power struggle that was their high school. It had been a month since had been here, though. Scout duties kept him all day and there was a strict curfew at night. Was it even there anymore?
But, yes, there it was, at the end of the path. A river flowed from a cliff, the waterfall completing the relaxing view. That is, as long as you don't get too close to the waterfall, which boiled like nearly every other body of water in the Isles.
Wilton walked to the side of the river and sat down at the foot of a large boulder. He carefully removed his mask and opened the book. Inside were several chapters. He promptly flipped to the Cuts and Scrapes section. Wilton began to study the first page:
"Cuts and scrapes are often considered simple to heal compared to ailments and more serious wounds. However, if treated incorrectly, they could lead to infe-"
"Hey."
Wilton jumped, closed his eyes, and quickly twirled his finger, causing abomination goo to rise from the ground and ensnaring the person who discovered him.
"HEY! I can't say 'hi' without getting twisted in this disgusting purple stuff?! You know how much I hate abomination goo!" Wilton recognized that voice.
Wilton opened his eyes and rushed over to Layla, now covered from the neck down in abomination goo.
"Sorry! Sorry. I thought you were someone else." Wilton said as he brushed off her shoulders.
"Sorry isn't gonna cut it," She said as she tried to rub the purple out of her clothes, her face a mixture of disgust and anger, "You better cover for me if the captains ask what happened. They're going to be furious when they see what happened to-" Layla looked up, her eyes meeting Wilton's. Her face instantly turned to worry.
"Woah. What happened to your face? Is your eye OK?"
"Yeah. Yeah, it's fine."
"What happened?" She repeated.
"Unfortunately, you weren't the only one to sneak up on me today."
"Who?"
"One of the humans at the Owl Lady's place," Wilton admitted.
"The Owl Lady's?" The look of anger was back now, "You know that place isn't safe! You could've been killed, Will!"
"Well, I'm here now, right? What are you doing here, anyway?" Wilton asked.
"What am I doing here? This is our spot, dummy. Why'd you stop showing up?"
"Coven Scout duties. Don't you have them, too?"
"Yeah, it's just… I skip them every now and then." She confessed.
"Layla… You're going to get kicked out."
"Well, I'm here now, right?" She said with a laugh. Wilton suddenly felt a lot calmer. "Now shut up and take that poorly-wrapped bandage off. Unlike you, I actually paid attention in our healing classes."
Wilton removed the bandage as instructed. Layla cringed when he did.
"That bad, huh?" He asked.
"We're going to have to take the whole eye out." Layla laughed again, Wilton joining in this time. When they had settled, she drew a circle in the air in front of his eye and held her hand there for a few seconds. When she brought them away, she grinned.
"Lucky. You get a cool scar."
"Does it actually look cool, or are you just messing with me?"
"Yeah, man. You look like an action star in one of those crystal ball movies. All except the good looks. Shame." She teased.
Wilton rolled his eyes, "You're the one with abomination goo all over their face."
"And who's fault is that?"
"Maybe you shouldn't sneak up on me."
"Maybe you should thank me for fixing your ugly face."
Wilton chuckled, "Thank you."
"No problem," She said with a smile.
The two paused for a moment, both staring out at the boiling river. Soon, Layla spoke again.
"How's your staff training going?" She asked.
Wilton sighed and pulled out the two splintered pieces of the quarterstaff from his belt.
"Not well. Basically useless now." He answered.
"What are you talking about? Instead of one long, stupid weapon, you have two small, sharp ones!" She took one of the pieces out of his hands and stabbed it into the ground in front of them. That was the Layla he knew, always looking on the positive side of things.
He took the piece out of the ground. "Not a bad idea. Just wish we had our palisman back."
When he said that, Layla's face lit up.
"What?" He questioned.
"What do you mean 'what'?" She looked at him, confused.
"Your face. You always do that when you get an idea."
"No, I don't."
"Layla, I've known you for six years. What is it?"
She sighed.
"I know where they are." She said at last.
"What?"
"The palisman. I know where they keep them."
"What are you talking about?"
"Will, what do you think they do with the palisman when they take them from us?" She looked him dead in the eyes, a serious look overcoming her.
"I… It's not important. The Titan needs them. That's all that matters."
"For what, though? What could a long-dead Titan need from palisman?"
"That doesn't matter, Layla. We can't question what the Titan wants."
"You sound like your dad." It was true. Wilton's dad was in charge of spreading the word of the Titan back in his hometown. He always wanted Wilton to follow in his footsteps, but he was also satisfied with his son striving to personally work with the man who spoke to the Titan.
"Listen, Will. They're all stockpiled in a room in the Emperor's Castle." She continued.
"How do you know that?"
"I uh… know people."
"What people?"
"People higher-up than us. People who like to…" Layla hesitated, "People who like to keep an open mind."
"Spies. You know spies." Wilton said, his eyes narrowing to a glare.
"It's not like that! They're just trying to keep everything in check. The Emperor has a lot of power, they just want to make sure he doesn't abuse it!"
"I can't believe this!" Wilton shouted, standing up. "This is treason, Layla!" He put his mask back on and began to walk away. "Thanks for the healing. I'm going back to my post. Good luck with your mission."
"Don't you miss Slink?" Layla called after him. Wilton stopped. Slink was the name of his palisman, for no particular reason. He was a turtle. Wilton knew when he joined the Emperor's Coven that they would take their palisman, but neither he nor Layla was prepared when the scouts actually took them.
"Please, Will. We can get them back. Just… think about it, OK?"
Wilton thought for a second. After a few seconds, he nodded. Then, he walked back to his post without another word.