Episode 12: Speak No Evil

30th of Umbralis

It only came in short spurts, disconnected flashes followed by reactions that seemed delayed by half a second. Wherever he was, it was labyrinthine and far larger than appearances would have him believe. Around every turn was another illusion, more scars that would heal over time but never go away and more anguish. And over it all was the woman with the fiery eyes.

Jeremie sat up. He closed his eyes and pushed his hair back, asking why he could never have pleasant visions. He dressed quickly and exited his tent, packing up his things when he saw he was the last of the Heroes to awaken. They began to travel again.

About half an hour later, Yumi pointed to the horizon. "Look, you can see Vulcan's Bridge from here. It looks like it collapsed." She said. The others looked, and they could see where the bridge had fallen.

Ulrich crossed his arms. "I guess that's why they wouldn't let us cross. It's impossible to do so."

Odd shook his head. "I don't see why they didn't just tell us that."

"Dwarves are famous for their craftsmanship. I don't think people would believe the Rangers if they said the bridge had collapsed, or the dwarves could have asked the Rangers not to tell." Jeremie explained. "I'm sure that, even if the bridge had been sabotaged and that's the reason it collapsed, the dwarves wouldn't want the general public to know about it."

"I like dwarves, but I can't ever get them to talk to me." Aelita said.

The group continued on for about half a mile, talking amongst themselves. Odd was unusually close to Aelita, and though she seemed to enjoy talking to him, she seemed confused at why he was close to her. Jeremie kept listening to them, though for the most part it was innocent chatter. Suddenly there was a crack, and the aravel jerked back and forth before tilting to the right. The teenagers jumped, and Rorkal startled before Aelita ran to his side to calm him. "Goodness! What happened?" Laura exclaimed.

Jeremie examined the tilt, cursing when he found that a rock had damaged the wheel. He slammed his hand on the side of the aravel and stood. "Dammit! The wheel's broken! It must've hit a rock." He cursed under his breath. "We can't afford to just sit out here in the open. Why did this have to happen now?"

Aelita moved to grab his shoulder but she hesitated before dropping it. Instead she examined the wheel. "Don't worry lethallin. Everything here can be fixed. It'll only take until morning, if I start now."

Jeremie tore at his hair. "Gods! A whole desert to walk through and we hit the only rock!"

Odd laughed in spite of the situation. "I'm sure that it isn't the only rock."

Laura seemed confused. "You're really on edge today."

Aelita manipulated the earth, creating a mount that would support her side of the aravel then pulled the wheel off of its axel. "I'll start repairing the wheel. Just calm down." Aelita said. Ulrich and Jeremie moved the rock while Aelita examined the broken wheel. The leather had torn and the wood on the inside had snapped, but with her skills it could be easily remedied.

The others set up camp while Aelita used her magic to create enough wood to replace the snapped wheel. She peeled off the leather, removed the broken wheel and began to carve the new one.

A few hours later, about an hour and a half before sunset, Aelita had finished carving a new wheel. She smiled at her handiwork. Odd approached her from behind. "This is beautifully carved." The Scout complimented, tracing the archaic runes that Aelita had carved into the wood in hopes that they would strengthen it.

"Thank you. Hopefully this will be stronger. It may even get Jeremie to relax." Aelita said. She looked up at him. "Has he told you why he's been on edge? He's been like this since yesterday."

Odd touched Aelita's shoulder as she examined the leather in an attempt to decide if it was worth saving. "Jeremie doesn't tell me much of anything." Odd said.

"I do wish he would calm down. He acts like we're being chased or something." She laughed half-heartedly. "Although I guess we are being chased. Still, he's on edge."

"Maybe you should relax," Odd said. He kissed her neck, and she froze. She leapt up, nearly dropping the wheel.

Aelita laughed nervously. "I need to patch up the leather, otherwise the aravel will sit weird and nobody wants it just shaking side to side." She explained quickly. She grabbed the sewing kit from the shelf in the aravel, and she sat close to Ulrich. Ulrich looked from her to Odd then simply shrugged as Aelita began meticulously patching the leather.

Odd looked over to Jeremie, who suddenly looked down at the map. Odd shook his head. After a few minutes, Jeremie folded the map and looked at the Scout. "Odd, why don't you and I go scouting? See what's around." The Wise Man offered, the smile on his face obviously forced.

Odd looked up at the orange sky, spotting the first of many stars. "Tonight is a full moon. Are you sure that you want me to accompany you?" Odd asked.

"It won't take long. It's just that I'm getting antsy and I don't think it's safe to go alone." Jeremie explained.

He looked at the others. Ulrich and Yumi nodded, while Aelita refused to look at him. Laura just seemed confused. "Okay, whatever you say, Belpois."

The two boys stood and left the campsite. North of their position were buttes and sand dunes, though when they finally stopped walking, Odd spotted an old statue that was taller than even the slopes of the canyon walls that had been toppled and buried in sand. The land here seemed to have been less arid than other parts of the desert—the Scout spotted a small group of trees near a well. The sky was streaked with orange and pink still, though the colors were fading as the sun hid for the night. Odd was about to advise Jeremie to head back to camp before he transformed when the Wise Man spun on his heel, kicking up sand in the process. "What do you think you're doing?" He demanded, anger evident in his blue eyes.

At first, Odd was confused. "Um… standing here?" He suggested. "I was following you, but you stopped."

"Not now. Back at camp!" Jeremie clarified crossly. When Odd offered nothing, he added, "With Aelita? This wasn't even half an hour ago."

"Oh, you mean the kiss?" Odd laughed. "Please. It was innocent."

"Your definition of innocent baffles me. A kiss on the forehead? Innocent. The neck is sexual, which is not, by its very definition, innocent." Jeremie argued.

Odd chuckled again. "To you, maybe. I've done worse." He folded his arms across his chest. "If she doesn't want me to pursue her, she will tell me."

"I don't think she wants to tell you off and is trying to get you to leave her alone more subtly."

"What makes you say that?"

"She ran from you!"

Odd shook his head. "Why do you even care? Are you jealous?"

"No, I'm not jealous! I'm just… concerned." Jeremie ran his fingers through his hair. "Your history with women involves using them and throwing them away."

"I object! I don't 'use' anyone. I get what I want, they get what they want. There is no loser." Odd disagreed. "It's just fun. Doesn't Aelita deserve to have fun?"

"That isn't what Aelita wants! If that's what she wanted, do you think she would've run away from the brothel?" Jeremie demanded. "And don't think that I didn't notice you didn't deny that was your intention!"

"Was that in dispute?"

"I can't believe you! You would actually use her like that?"

"Only if she wanted to use me in return. Like I said, it's a mutual exchange." Odd narrowed his eyes with a smirk. "But while we're on the subject, I distinctly remember her telling you that she doesn't want your protection. So why are you bothering me about it?"

"I don't want her to get hurt by entering into a relationship with you thinking that it'll mean something to you that it won't!"

"You mean what she did with you?" Odd asked, and the words cut at Jeremie like a dagger. If he was angry before, he was livid now.

"How dare you even suggest that what went down between Aelita and I meant nothing to me!" Jeremie shouted. Odd was glad they were so far away from camp—the conversation was getting more heated by the second, and his transformation was getting closer.

"I never said that it meant nothing; just that it meant something different." Odd said. "You're the one who sent her away, remember? And not an hour later did you accept Laura's proposal of marriage."

"This has nothing to do with—"

"This has everything to do with what happened that day!" Odd interrupted him. "If you don't want to marry Princess Bitchiness, then call it off and apologize, but if you're really adamant about marrying Laura, then stop treating Aelita like you own her!"

"I don't treat Aelita like I own her!" Jeremie shouted.

"Oh, really? You're doing a piss poor job at showing it!" Odd looked away. "She can't do anything without you watching over her like a fucking gargoyle, and if she tries to do something she's actually good at you act like she just killed a baby! It's slavery of a different kind!"

"I DO NOT TREAT AELITA LIKE A SLAVE!" Jeremie screamed.

"You might as well! Anything would be better than watching you suffer with Laura!"

"I am not suffering with Laura!"

"Yes, you a—" Odd stopped his sentence short, looking quickly over to the distance opposite camp. "Shut up. Did you hear something?"

Jeremie took in a deep breath before he spoke. "I don't hear anything." He said calmly. Odd said nothing in return, and suddenly Jeremie understood. "Wait… what happened to the coyotes and the winterbirds and… everything?" He wore a frightened expression as he said, "Uh-oh."

Jeremie and Odd drew their weapons and stood back to back. "I don't see anything." Odd said as the scanned the area. There were a few things to hide behind, but not in such numbers as to scare away the coyotes.

"Moonrise is only a few minutes away. Your wolf sense should be able to sniff them out, whoever they are." Jeremie said.

Down from the starry sky came an arrow, piercing Odd's shoulder. He yelped, and quickly looked from the arrow to the sky. There was nothing in the void above but twinkling stars. With moonrise drawing closer, Odd's night vision became sharper, and he saw something dart by a dark cloud. He tried to relay this to Jeremie, but his voice came out more like a pained growl. Odd looked back to the arrow, and he noticed it was made of silver. As fire pained his blood, he noted angrily that it was likely poisoned with wolf's bane.

Jeremie turned when Odd fell to his knees. "Odd! Gods, you've been hit!" Jeremie apologized before gruffly pulling out the poisoned arrow, ripping his shirt to create a makeshift bandage. "Try not to move. I'll contact Laura and the others; just hold on."

Odd tried to stop Jeremie from closing his eyes, but the Wise Man was more focused on saving him than paying attention to his actions. He closed his eyes and tried to picture Laura's hazel eyes in his head. Suddenly, he felt something hit him in the head, as if someone had sucker punched him. Jeremie fell to the ground, his vision growing dark.