Death Comes To All (Book 1) (43 page)

Thankfully,
though they felt like rubber underneath him, his legs still succeeded
in holding his weight. He carefully staggered his way to the kitchen.

"Hey,
glad to see you're finally awake," Raine said as he came in. She
was cleaning her day's catch, over a dozen fish from a species he
didn't recognize, with deft strokes of her sharp knife. Nearly half
of the fish were already cleaned and deposited in a tall wooden
barrel filled with salt. "You've been asleep for nearly half the
day."

Half
a day!? I doesn’t even feel like I slept an hour!

"Where
did Raiste disappear to?" he asked. The assassin had said he was
going to go into the kitchen and start getting the jars ready to
store the fruits and vegetables that would spoil quickly. He had
expected to find Raiste here, and it certainly looked like Raiste had
been jarring food while he slept. Several dozen jars were filled and
sealed already, but the man himself was nowhere in sight.

"He's
getting his things ready to head out," she informed him. "The
feed for the horses is starting to run low, and Raiste doesn't want
to start using up the grains you two gathered earlier. He's going to
have to take them to the city soon. He'll probably be leaving either
tomorrow or the day after. We had talked about it while you were out.
Now that you can use your magic, or know how to turn it on at least,
he figures it's time he gets going. I can't disagree with him."

"I
was hoping he would be here for a little longer at least. I only just
learned how to bring out my magic, and we still don't really know
much about it."

"He
told me to stay with you when you're practicing with it," she
told him. "He doesn't want you doing anything with it or at
least a couple of days. With what he told me about it, I'm surprised
your up already."

"Barely,"
he admitted. "I'm still pretty drained."

"He
said you would be. Let me guess, you felt like proving yourself, and
so you pushed yourself beyond your limits? You should know better,"
she scolded. "So did you get that stupidity out of your system?"

"Definitely,"
he assured her. "At least now I know what my limits are, so I
can practice without coming to close to the edge."

"Glad
to hear it, seeing as how there's no way I could carry you back into
the house. So you know, if you bring yourself that close to the edge
while I'm training with you, I'll just have to leave you out there,"
she teased.

"I'll
keep that in mind," he said dryly.

With
nothing else to do, he stayed in the kitchen helping Raine with her
catch until they had finished cleaning all of them, which didn't take
them long. She had already finished half of them before he had come
in, and it only took them a few minutes for each one. In less than
fifteen minutes they had finished with the last of them. Without more
work left to do in the kitchen until dinner, the two headed out into
the living room.

Raiste
joined them a short time later. He wasn't carrying anything with him.

Whatever
he was packing must still be waiting for him in his room,
Drom
thought.

He
walked over to the chair he sat in most nights, picking up the book
he had been reading the night before. Like most of the others he had
been reading since they arrived at the home, this book was also a
history on mages from the past. It had the dark tan color of old
wood, with deep red, raised letters on the cover.

"How
are you feeling?" he asked Drom once he had settled himself.

"Better,"
Drom answered. "Raine tells me that you'll be leaving tomorrow."

"Tomorrow
or the day after, depending on how things are going with you between
now and then. Something has to be done about the horses, and we need
to know how much effort the mages are putting into finding us. The
fact that Bloodheart was using a dragon to hunt for us doesn't bode
well, though the guards didn't seem to be looking all that closely. I
don't know if he's trying to keep things quiet, or if the orders he
sent his guards just hadn't kept pace with us. It could just be that
the guards received their orders, but were too lazy to look properly.
I would rather not take any chances. I'm certain that they won't
notice me if I'm disguised as Grant, the old man I created after we
left the city. Even if they are looking for
me
as far as
Miani, they won't be looking for
him
. I'll sell the animals,
gather a bit of information, and come straight back."

"How
long do you think you'll be gone?" Drom asked. He knew that
Miani shouldn't be too far, but he wasn't certain exactly how far it
might be.

"At
least a month, maybe two," Raiste answered. "It depends on
how long it takes me to gather information. I'll try to return by
boat if I can. As you've seen, we're surrounded by water out here. If
we had a boat, it would be easier for us when it's time to leave
again in the spring or summer, depending on how long we decide to
stay."

"Well,
try not to be gone for too long," Raine said with a smile of
amusement. "I don't want to be stuck babysitting Drom all
winter."

Gee,
thanks.

"As
if I need watching," Drom retorted.

"You
certainly needed watching today," she reminded him, only
slightly joking.

Drom
refused to comment further. He knew that she was only baiting him,
and had no intention of letting it bother him. He had already
expected his friends to tease him, but figured he probably had it
coming. He should have known better than to push himself as far as he
had.

Of
course, I don’t think that Raiste would have done anything
differently if he had been in my place,
he thought.

Still,
he did need to know his current limitations. Should he need to use
his magic in a fight anytime soon, which he hoped was unlikely, he
would need to know how far he could go without suffering. As Raiste
had pointed out before, passing out in the middle of a fight was
certain to get him killed, as well as putting everyone fighting with
him at risk. Better to find those limits now, when he was relatively
safe, than to find them out the hard way later on.

For
the most part, the group relaxed for the rest of the day. While Drom
had recovered some from his heavy use of his magic, he was still
weak, and tired quickly. Before they stopped completely, Raiste had
Drom assist him in bringing up the jars that were still in storage.

After
dinner Drom went straight to his bed, not staying up to read as he
had been on most other nights. Even with his midday nap, he was still
exhausted. He was sound asleep within seconds of his head hitting the
pillow.

Chapter
fourteen

Two
days later Raiste set out as planned, heading for the port city of
Miani. Trick flew in long, lazy circles above him as he led the
horses away in a long, single file line. He had saddled the first
three horses, tethering each animal to the saddle of the one in front
of it, and guided the first one himself.

Drom
was momentarily confused as Raiste headed out to the west, recalling
belatedly that his friend had told him that the Hut only had one path
in. Raiste would have to follow that path for some time, he realized,
not turning east toward Miani until he reached the road. He didn't
know if the path might split sometime sooner. He hoped it would,
otherwise Raiste was going to have to go far out of his way before
being able to go in the direction he wanted, but he refrained from
asking.

Now
he understood completely why Raiste wanted to get a boat. Rowing was
slower and more strenuous than walking, but if it cut a hundred miles
off of your trip, it would certainly make a difference. Also the boat
would not limit them to one direction in or out only. He didn't think
it was likely that they would have to leave in a hurry, but having
options was never a bad thing.

All
the food that needed to be stored had been taken care of the day
before, and Drom found himself with very little to do. His strength
had returned, for the most part at least, however he wasn't ready to
try his magic again just yet. Raiste had suggested he wait for at
least three days before using it again, and he thought it best to
take his friend's advice.

He
practiced his techniques for perhaps an hour, without the use of his
magic. Without its aid his movements were much slower, and he had to
control Ocean's hand's full weight, but he preferred it that way. By
practicing that way it would built up his strength, he believed, and
if Raiste was right, building his strength would also build his
stamina, allowing him to use his magic for longer periods of time.

The
knowledge he had gained from using his magic, the technique that had
developed while he had used its power, stayed with him, even though
the magic itself was dormant. This allowed him to practice with the
new fighting style as if he was using the magic. He couldn’t
use the weapon with the same sort of ease that he could while his
magic infused him, but the technique was still present. He wiped the
sweat from his skin once the workout was finished and considered what
to do next.

He
thought about cutting them more firewood for the colder days they
might have that winter, but decided against it. Technically winter
was already upon them, and yet so far the temperature hadn't dropped
as low as he would have expected, even during the night. They had
replenished their already fair supply several days before, and had
barely used any of it. They had no need for more, at least not
anytime soon.

Instead,
he decided to join Raine, who had gone back to her fishing shortly
after Raiste had left. She had considered watching him practice, but
in the end decided that she was not really needed, as long as he was
not going to use his magic. He wasn't really certain why, day after
day, Raine still fished, even though they already had enough to last
her for several weeks. With the meat from the game she had hunted,
they had enough to last all winter long, even if Raiste returned
sooner than expected.

He
didn't have to go far. Walking toward the back of the building he
spotted her quickly, lounging on one of the long wooden benches
sitting on the dock. She had some sort of object in her hands,
presumably the gear she used to fish with. Drom had seen her leave
them to go fishing several times, and had even seen her fishing from
their camps once or twice, but he had never really paid any attention
to what she had used before. Now, with nothing else to distract him,
he found the strange device quite interesting.

In
her hands was flat piece of wood, deeply grooved on the top and
bottom, but carved in a way that didn't leave any sharp edges. The
reason was plainly clear. Some sort of thick string was wrapped
around that board, and any sharp edges would almost certainly have
cut through it. Part of the line had been unwound from the wood, and
now extended out into the water. Some distance away, far out into the
water, a bright red object floated on the surface. It appeared that
the cord was attached to it.

“
Mind
if I join you?” he asked her as he walked out onto the dock. He
spotted several posts along the outside edge of the dock’s
floor. At some point this dock had been covered by a roof of some
sort, protecting those that were underneath it. Now the floor under
him, and a few benches, were all that remained.

“
Feel
free,” she answered, gesturing to a second bench nearby.

These
benches are not actually made of wood,
he realized,
or if they
are they are so heavily coated that it doesn't really matter.

They
were both painted bright white, hanging freely from a chain attached
to a beam from above, allowing them to swing back and forth if the
person sitting on them so desired.

He
had seen something like this before, he realized, though it took him
several minutes to recall where. The painting in his room, the one he
had seen when he first arrived, had been of a woman sitting on a
bench much like this one.

Perhaps
even one of these very benches,
he thought.

A
sudden movement on the water broke into his train of thought. The
bright red object in the water bobbed slightly, then started weaving
back and forth, as something moved it from underneath. Raine watched
it intently, waiting for some signal that Drom did not know. He never
needed to ask. The object shot under the water, disappearing
completely, and Raine pulled hard on the string from her end.

A
large fish, perhaps two feet long, leaped from the water, shaking its
head back and forth before falling back in with a splash. Raine
pulled back on the line, methodically bringing it in a little at a
time. As she gained line on the fish that struggled on the other end,
she wrapped the access back around the wood, leaving only the
smallest amount of slack behind her hand.

Drom
stared in amazement as she pulled her catch completely out of the
water, depositing it on the deck of the dock in between them. He had
never seen anything like it before. He had always suspected that
people would fish with nets or perhaps spears, but nothing like what
he saw now.