Chapter 08: forgotten dreams
Working on alchemy again gave me a calm I hadn't realized how much I missed. It was the simple, quiet focus. Just a task to complete. No timetables, no interruptions, and no worries haunting the back of my mind. That was how I used to feel at home, and having it again was a quiet relief. I worked for hours like that, only stopping when we reached what was probably our second or third break of the day.
Only then did I stop and let the rest of the world seep back in. The rhythm had soothed my mind, but it also made the contrast sharper. I could see how out of character I'd been acting lately. I stood, stretched, and hopped out of the wagon. My first instinct was to look for the others and see what they were doing. Seeking out company like that was something I never would have done before all of this. Curiosity had always been enough for me, content to simply be alone. Now that contentment had been replaced by something else.
It was tempting to pretend I didn't know the cause, but that would have been a lie. I was forming attachments to the humans I had been spending time with ever since the dreams began. I had never been without empathy, but this felt different. The dreams were too vivid, too coherent, and they refused to fade. They clung to me like someone else's memories lodged behind my own, and the emotions tied to them hit me every time I thought about them. It was frightening because I had no idea how to turn it off. When something reminded me of those dreams, the feelings came rushing back as if they belonged to me.
"Hey, are you alright?" Lina asked, making me realize I'd stopped, lost in thought.
"Yeah, I'm okay. How are things going?"
She had been walking toward me and stopped as she reached my side. "Things are fine. The animals are fed and watered, and we're going to eat some lunch if you want to join us."
"That sounds wonderful."
She turned and led me to where the others had set up a few travel chairs around a small fire. A pot hung over it, bubbling with something that smelled far better than anything I'd found scrounging for berries. The idea of eating cheered me, but it also reminded me that I hadn't fed in a couple of days, and the need was starting to creep in. I could feel my body burning through what blood I had left to keep the poison purged.
They passed around bowls of stew and thick pieces of bread. While they ate, I found myself thinking through my options. There were six caravan workers and four adventurers, none of whom made good targets for feeding. I couldn't hunt at night, and during the day they were always awake and always near each other. More than that, it would be a stain on my pride if anything happened to the group I'd promised to protect, especially if it was my own doing.
This was a trade route. If things grew too urgent, I was sure some opportunity would appear.
"Are you just going to hold it?"
I blinked out of my thoughts to find Kael grinning at me. "I was a little lost in thought."
I picked up the spoon but paused. The memory of collapsing in the adventurers' guild flickered through my mind, and with it came a flash from my dreams—warnings about never leaving a drink unattended at a crowded party. These people didn't give me the same uneasy feeling the pirates had, and I'd watched everyone get served from the same pot, but caution still tugged at me. I lifted the bowl and inhaled. Only the warm scent of herbs and slow-cooked meat met me. Even my enhanced senses caught nothing amiss. It smelled… good. The kind of good that made my chest feel light. I found myself smiling.
I finally took a bite and let myself drift back into the conversation around the fire—just in time for Saros to ask, "How's the work going? I've heard you've been at it since we left."
I nodded, swallowed, and said, "Yes. I've used about half of the materials provided. I am up to seventeen healing potions. Have you all had any luck in spotting any more ingredients?"
Saros shook his head. "We'll be lucky to find anything on the road. The materials are rare around here. If anyone spots them, they get snapped up quick."
I pointed to the small bush near his boots, "Golden leaf."
He glanced down, then grinned back at me. "Nice try. Real gold would stand out."
I stared at him for a moment before realizing he was serious, "Golden leaf is only golden during the sunrise. It looks like that for the rest of the day."
His grin held for another breath before he looked down again. Then back at me. "You're serious?"
"Yes. I only need the leaves, but don't take so many that you'll kill the plant."
That was how I accidentally turned lunch into a quick lesson on every useful plant I could brew into something valuable. Asking strangers to collect rare ingredients without telling them what to look for had been… optimistic. For the rest of the day, everyone brought me new finds from the roadside, and I kept working.
When I was down to material for just a few last potions, I decided to do a little experimenting. I added a few drops of my blood to the next healing potion. I was curious how its powerful healing properties would impact the potion. In truth, I expected it just to cause the potion to fail, but since I'd not failed a single potion yet, I was okay with the risk.
To my surprise, the potion came out perfect. Better than perfect. I could feel the potency humming through the glass. I repeated my experiment four more times before we stopped for the evening, and each was a success. That left me with thirty-one potions and five high-potions, as I decided to call them. It was a little pretentious, but I didn't mind. I was packing up my alchemy station when Saros came to check on me.
"Mirela, how are things going? Do you need any help getting settled for the night?"
I looked up from my work to see him staring, mouth agape, at the crate of carefully packed potions I'd been putting together. "I am doing well. I am out of a few things, but I managed to get thirty-one potions out of the materials. I also made five high-potions. They are stronger and will purge toxins and disease."
"That's… impressive. David said it should be enough to make ten potions if you were careful. How did you manage this?"
I thought about it for a moment before understanding dawned. "Ah. That is true if I only knew the basics of alchemy. My father had me trained in alchemy, sorcery, necromancy, and herbalism. Then he taught me how to use them all together. It makes a big difference. Your favorite plant, golden leaf, is a good example. If I only knew alchemy, I'd know I could grind it up to use its oils and pulp as part of the potion. However, with herbalism, I understand better what the true components of the plant are. With sorcery and necromancy, I can break the leaves down into refined and concentrated essences that maintain their magical properties. There is no waste, and the materials go much further."
"You're a necromancer?" he asked, suddenly wary.
I gave him a flat look. "No. Of course not. I have no class. I only know a few cantrips for things like decay for breaking things down, or a spell for stabilizing the injured. Don't give me that look. Necromancy isn't all about the undead."
He blinked, the concern slipping away, then shook his head. "You're right. Of course. It sounds like you've had a very extensive education. We were luckier to stumble across you than I realized."
I shrugged. "Study is important, and I enjoyed the work. Will you divide the potions or sell them?"
He laughed. "I suppose we should do a bit of both. You made them. What do you think?"
"I don't mind either way. I am content knowing that I improved my alchemy in the process."
I handed him the crate, grabbed my bedroll, and followed him to where the others had settled. That's when I noticed another camp about thirty feet away. It was larger than ours, organized, and several guards stood watch in matching armor.
"Who are they?" I asked.
"The patrol? It's part of the monster suppression force. They travel this road to keep it safe. They're coming in from the direction we're headed, which is fortunate for us. This means less chance of us encountering anything on the road tomorrow."
I glanced toward the dark stretch of road ahead. "Trouble from what?"
"We'll be moving close to a pass into the Gordan Wilds."
"What's that?" I'd never heard the name, though that didn't mean much.
Saros nodded, "Well, that makes sense. You are far from home. It is, in its way, like the Dark Forest of this area. The Dark Forest is rumored to be controlled by a powerful undead monster at its center, keeping everything ordered and, in a way, safe."
He gave me a sideways look, gauging my reaction. When I only patiently waited, he went on.
"The Gordon Wilds aren't like that. They're a massive valley full of monsters fighting for territory. Nothing keeps them inside. They wander out whenever they feel like it. Can't be tamed, either. The mana's thick as soup, and if you try to cull them, the place just breeds more."
Left unsaid was that any attempt to build a fortification to bottle up the area was also doomed to failure. As beings who naturally retain mana, a concentration of humans would attract an endless tide of monsters to siege the defenders. The only practical solution was to build the roads around the Wilds and send patrols to thin out anything that wandered too close.
"Do you think there is a ley line nexus there?" I asked.
Saros gave me an amused smile. "I see you know a bit about these things. Makes sense if you lived near the Dark Forest and studied magic. Yes, there is one. Maybe two or three, but no one's gotten deep enough to confirm it."
"I wonder what's at the nexus…" I murmured, settling my bedroll. He took it as an invitation to keep talking.
"Probably whatever the biggest, meanest monster in the valley is, just sitting in there soaking up the mana like it's on holiday. Based on the monsters that come out of that place, I'm willing to bet it's some kind of giant furry beast with more teeth and claws than I'd ever want to meet."
"I'm going to find out one day," I decided. It was too interesting not to.
Saros patted me on the shoulder, "Ha, yeah, I bet you will. But for now, maybe you should focus on getting your class unlocked. You know, I thought you'd want to visit the nexus of the Dark Forest first. Rumor says there's a lich in there doing the same thing. At least you could talk to a lich."
I shook my head, "Vampires, not a lich, oversee the Dark Forest. They do not like company. I doubt they'd talk to anyone."
He laughed, "No, I guess not. Less chatty, those fellows. If I were you, I'd hope for a lich. They're usually mad to some degree, but at least they can be reasoned with. In my experience, vampires are just as feral and dangerous as any other monster."
That was… offensive. "And you have so much experience with vampires?" I asked, snapping a little sharper than I meant to.
He didn't seem to notice.
"Twice I ran into them, yeah," Saros said. "Terrifying both times. I was only level three the first. One got loose in a town we were questing from. We used to have a fifth in our party, but the thing got him and two dozen soldiers before we managed to kill it. The thing was monstrous. All angular features, bones sticking out, bat ears, massive teeth that didn't fit in its mouth. The second one we ran into a few months later was less bestial than the first but no less ferocious."
I nodded. That made sense. "The first was likely the spawn of the second. The lower the generation of the vampires, the less human they are, until they're pure monsters. Vampires of low generations aren't supposed to create new spawn, but not all of them listen to the rules."
He gave a low whistle. "You sure know your vampire lore. Is that from studying necromancy?"
I shrugged. "Not exactly. Necromancers know about as much as anyone else. Vampires don't come from necromancy."
"Then where do they come from?" Lina asked suddenly, reminding me that everyone had gathered close enough to hear.
"Only the Blood Sovereigns know for sure," I said. "At least, most of them. The common belief is that a Dark God created the first of them. But new vampires only come from older vampires. There's no other way."
My words seemed to kill the mood, and everyone went quiet. That's when I remembered that talking about the Dark Gods was taboo for humans. We sat there in that heavy, uncomfortable quiet until Thane finally cleared his throat.
"I have stew over the fire," he rumbled. "Maybe we should talk about tomorrow."
That broke the tension, and the group shifted easily into discussing watch positions, how the supplies would be split, and what to expect from the common monsters along the route. The wagon teams carried spears as a last line of defense, but they clearly weren't meant to fight unless forced. My role, according to Saros, was simple: stay out of danger and heal anyone injured.
It left me feeling a little underestimated, but I saw the benefit. It would give me a chance to observe how they fought as a unit. With the patrol having just passed through, the odds of us meeting anything were low, but everyone seemed determined to plan for trouble anyway. I could respect that.
As I listened to the planning session, I couldn't help picking up bits of conversation from the neighboring camp. The ordeal had dulled my senses for a while, but they were sharpening again, and the soldiers weren't exactly subtle. Their patrol seemed to be exclusively male, and the presence of two women in the caravan camp was enough to make several of them forget their manners. Every so often, one of them would get too loud and earn a sharp reprimand from someone higher-ranked, but it never stopped for long.
No one in my own group seemed to notice, so perhaps it was irrational for me to be upset. That didn't make me any less annoyed. As our conversation wound down and Thane began filling bowls, another careless scrap of their talk drifted over.
"I'm going to go talk to her. Five silver says I'll have her tied up with that cute ribbon and begging for more by morning."
"Five silver says you chicken out and never say a word to her."
Before I could lose my temper, a bowl was passed into my hands, but I still glanced over to see the people who were talking. I knew I'd need to keep an eye out for them. I began to eat before another idea hit me. Perhaps I didn't need to look out for them after all. That idiot wanted to be alone with me.
"Something on your mind?"
I looked up from my bowl to see Lina moving to sit beside me. "I'm not sure. I heard two of the soldiers talking about us."
Lina snorted. "Ignore them. They're just lonely, stupid little boys."
I nodded to her wisdom. "They are. But they were taking bets. One of them will probably come over to speak with me soon. He intends to have me tied up in my own ribbon."
That made Lina laugh. "I'm surprised you heard that from all the way over here. Don't worry. If they bother you, we'll send them packing."
I shrugged, "I am debating going with him and teaching him a lesson."
She stared at me like I'd grown a second head. "Why would you do that? You could get hurt. It's not worth the trouble, even if he deserves it. If you do anything that hurts him, his commander might arrest you. If you're not careful, you might end up in a situation you don't want."
I sighed, conceding the point. "You're right. It's not worth the risk."
The real risk was exposing myself if I couldn't find a way to bite him without getting caught. I could follow him into the woods and knock him out. Then I could drain him nearly to death before healing him and sending him on his way with some excuse… but what if I failed to drop him with the first blow? That was all it would take to expose myself.
I was letting irritation and hunger shove me toward something reckless. I couldn't exactly dump the body of some obnoxious soldier and hope no one noticed. Everyone would know who he'd wandered off with.
"Thank you, Lina. I'm not sure what I was thinking. Perhaps I will just take my things and hide in the wagon for the night."
Lina punched me in the shoulder. "You'll be much more comfortable sleeping out here than wedging yourself between some boxes. It'll be safe with the group. Don't worry."
I nodded and focused on finishing my stew. I wasn't used to stopping this early, but everyone else needed real rest after the last few days. And with a patrol camped thirty feet away, it made sense to take advantage of the extra security.
The others settled around the fire, swapping stories—old quests, close calls, and plenty of complaints about missing the festival in the capital this year. Half the group seemed relieved to skip it; the other half sounded like they were missing the event of the decade. Everyone agreed the Church was planning something bigger than usual. Most rumors guessed that the Oracle had a new prophecy coming. A few swore she might be stepping down for a successor.
My only theory was that whatever the church was planning might interfere with my own deadline. I hadn't thought about it much in years—not while I'd been tucked safely at home, studying and pretending I had all the time in the world. But out here, actually moving through the world, weakened and painfully aware of it, the weight of that clock settled heavier on me. If I had a class, any class, I wouldn't feel so exposed.
Dwelling on it wouldn't change anything, so I pushed the thought aside and tried to stay present, listening to the group's easy chatter as the sun slid toward the horizon.
Eventually I excused myself. Everyone else was happy to keep talking, but I wanted to be asleep before torpor crept up on me. I set down my bedroll, slipped off my belt and swords to lay beside it, and curled onto my side beneath my blanket. The moment my head touched the fabric, my body reminded me just how tired I truly was.
"You're just going to sleep right there?" Kael asked, teasing.
I nodded into my tiny pillow and lazily lifted an arm, letting my fingers drift through the anti-vermin charm.
"Okay, that's it. How are you casting spells with no class?" Lina demanded, baffled.
My eyes were already shut. "No questions. Only sleep."
A few chuckles answered me, mixed with half-hearted grumbling, but she let it go. I listened to the fire's soft crackle and the low murmur of their voices fading into a pleasant blur. I knew I had at least half an hour before torpor truly took me, but I was already sinking fast.
Sleep claimed me in moments.
I was sitting on a familiar hill overlooking the lake. I'd come here every summer, high in the mountains, quiet, untouched. I never wanted to live this far from friends and family, but it was the perfect place to breathe for a while. Far out on the water, someone drifted in a small sailboat, sails reefed, fishing lines cast. My best friend since childhood sat beside me, and together we watched the sun slide behind the ridge, shadows and gold dancing across the lake.
"We have to remember this," she said softly. "Who knows when we'll be able to come here together again?"
"It's just a few years of school," I tried to joke, though my voice wavered. "We've got our whole lives ahead of us."
She smiled and wiped her green eyes, but the red of her hair was already darkening, her outline softening like a smudge on wet paper. She turned back toward the lake. "What is that?
I followed her gaze.
A sweep of black rolled across the water, leaving a smear of crimson behind it. The sky collapsed into darkness. The air thickened with the coppery reek of blood.
I looked back to her—
—but she wasn't a girl anymore. She was older now, at least thirty, dressed in formal black, standing over me as though at a graveside. Tears streamed down her face as she reached for me.
"I miss you so much," she whispered.
But I could hardly hear her over the screaming men, the roaring monsters, the crash of steel—noise crashing through the dream like something trying to break in.
With a start, I tore out of my bedding, landing in a low crouch. The sun had just slipped below the horizon, close enough to drag me toward torpor, but not fully under yet.
Chaos had swallowed the camp.
My companions were gone, but their trail was obvious. The patrol's camp was burning, tents collapsing in sheets of fire as two massive monsters rampaged through it. Each one looked like some grotesque mix of ogre and dire wolf—twelve feet tall, hunched and long-limbed, arms almost dragging the ground, ending in curved talons meant to tear and disembowel. Shaggy wolf heads too large for their bodies snapped at anything that moved.
A knot of soldiers tried to hold one back, but the shredded bodies around them told me how well that was going.
The other beast had been drawn away. Saros was in front of it, blade flashing as he fought toe-to-toe, the rest of the team striking from behind. They were holding it, but only barely.
I looked between the two monsters, the grave pulling at me hard now. I had moments before torpor dragged me under completely. If I didn't act, those things would kill everyone, and then they'd tear my helpless body apart.
I knew I needed to hide. I knew I couldn't win. But one of the monsters whipped an arm sideways, catching Kael across the chest. He flew, hit the ground hard, and didn't move.
My indecision lasted one heartbeat more.
I bent down, pulling my sword and dagger from my belt, and with the creak of muscles that were trying to die, I stepped forward.
TO BE CONTINUED...