General Summary
Days 188 - 189
We spent the next two days moving North towards the Endless Sands. The land is so dusty and so dry. I wonder if it was drained and killed at the same time or if the draining happened first.
Over our journey we talk about elvish places and spaces of high magic. We talk about elves who make a study of a place more than a school and we work on teaching the apprentices elvish.
Day 190
Partway through our travels we are attacked by a horrible worm-thing bursting out of the ground (a burrowing lizard?) that nearly kills a pack-horse before turning on us.
Without magic it’s a horrific fight. Camellia sets the apprentices to keeping the horses under control and Nina deflects a blow aimed at Dawn, breaking her shield and arm in the process.
The rest of us split up and draw focus in turns, aiming at its eyes and fighting our best with just weapons. Before too long it’s clear how much stronger it is, knocking Bran out completely and deafening Alder and I with a terrible sonic blast (bitterly I think of my own sonic magic that is just out of reach).
Instead, I sink my hands into the bleeding out corpse-to-be of our pack horse and use the last of its life energy to power Dawn Breaker enough to finish off the blinded worm and steal its energy as well. Chaining these spells together I heal myself enough to manage the situation. It still feels bitter - stealing the energy I need, but it’s worth it. It’s always there, a sinister second option.
Camellia is immediately tending to Bran and Nina as best she can without magical healing. I send Miriam and Hella to capture another carrion bird so that I can lend some of my energy to our wounded. They return fairly quickly, having very cleverly captured an unhappy squawking bird.
I speed along Nina’s broken bone healing by a few weeks and get Bran back to consciousness and we set out again slowly and carefully.
Camp is set up at a small oasis past sunset. We are exhausted. Bran still can’t quite form words but he’s able to write a bit and asks if everyone is okay. Camellia and I decide to deviate from the path he laid out and head straight for the edge of the dead magic region in the hopes of connecting him with his magic and getting him back to normal.
When we consult the map we find that at this exact point the plotted course veers in a straight line out of the dead region already. That man...it’s a good thing none of us are too attached to the idea of being right. He seems to beat us at every turn.
In the eerily silent night, Camellia and I lean on one another, caught up in the feeling of how helpless we were without magic. She remarks that when she comes back, she’s still not sure what she’ll be but she knows she’ll come to find me again.
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