A Coursing Passage (A Life of Magic Book 3) (5 page)

"Yes, he is still asleep. I have been keeping an eye out for any changes. The rib sank all the way in and the skin has healed over. Other than that I can not say. But you need to heal Raven now." He turned and headed out of my tent.

I stood up and slowly followed him. The morning sun met my tired eyes, sleep had done little to restore my energy levels. Suddenly Raven cried out in pain. I shook my head and rushed to her tent. "Raven!"

"Ott, help me?" She was sitting up on her cot. Tears coursed down her cheeks. "Help me please."

I laid her back down on her cot, "Stay here just a moment. I will be right back." I turned and rushed out of the tent. Mophar met me just outside.

"I have a pain vial." He held it up. "The energy vials and gems are still in Stain's tent. I will get them, you take care of Raven."

I grabbed the pain vial as he turned and scampered into Stain's tent. I rushed back into Raven's tent. "Take this."

She took the vial and swallowed it. "Thank you Ott." As the potion took effect she went limp once more.

"Here is the rest of the stuff." Mophar strained to drag a sack into the tent.

"Thanks Mophar." I grabbed the sack and pulled out the contents. Gems spilled over the edges and formed a pile. I grabbed two energy vials and downed their contents. A burst of energy spun deep inside of my body. "Have another ready for when I am done with Raven."

Mophar held up an orange vial, "I have it right here."

I smiled and kneeled beside Raven's cot. Pulling deep on the energy stored in the gems I emptied them completely. I focused on Raven, seeing the break in her leg. I aimed the magic at the break and thought of how it was supposed to be formed, the shape of her leg, the way it moved, even the very structure of the muscle and bone. Holding this image tightly in my head I cast the spell and watched it sink into her body. The magic started to knit back together, the damage was being reversed. I stood up and almost fell back over.

"Take this quick!" Mophar handed me the vial. I drank it down in one gulp.

"Help me to my tent." I stammered out.

Fiosrach grabbed my leg, "Let me lend you some help." He stated this calmly as he helped me balance.

With Mophar on one side and Fiosrach on the other I made my way to my tent. I leaned on the edge of the cot. "I am exhausted."

"Well, you did two major healings in a short period of time." Mophar's chuckle caught me off guard, "Now, lay down and rest. We will watch over you and the rest."

I laid down and could feel my body shutting down, once more heading for rest. "Take care of them." I murmured just before falling asleep.

***

"When will he wake up?" I could hear Raven's voice through the fog.

"He should be waking up soon. His body has finally recovered from what he did to it." Stain's voice answered, yet he sounded slightly different.

"Ugh." That was all the sound I could muster, but it was enough. Raven and Stain rushed to my side.

"Ott! Can you hear me?" Raven grabbed my hand.

I tried to blink my eyes but they seemed to be stuck shut. "Hold on, let me clean your eyes off. You have been asleep longer than we expected." Stain rubbed a wet cloth on my eyes, cleaning crud from them. I could finally open my eyes and I looked up.

A much younger looking Stain looked down at me with Raven leaning in from the side. "Can you see me?" Raven asked worriedly.

"What?" I just stared at Stain. He looked more like my father's age than like his ancient self.

Stain smiled, "I think questions can wait a little longer. We need to get some food and water into your body. It has gone long enough without either." He helped me to sit up and handed me a cup. I drank deeply, all the while watching Stain. He looked like him, just younger. My mage sight revealed that it was the same Stain.

"Ott, I know it is weird, but quit staring." Raven chuckled at me.

I looked at her and grinned. Her leg was straight and looked like it had never been broken. "The leg is better?" I asked.

She grinned and looked down at her leg. "Oh yes. The leg is very much better." She rubbed her thigh where it had been snapped in two. "I can not even tell it was ever broken. When you fix something you really fix it."

Stain chuckled at this and agreed, "He does do that." He handed me a plate. "Eat. Then I will answer your questions." He walked out of the tent. I could hear him talking to someone near the fire.

"I am so weak." I said this gently as I tried to eat. Raven ended up having to help me.

"You have been asleep longer than we planned. You used too much energy and almost caused real harm to yourself." She sounded worried. "I woke up and found Stain like he is now and you asleep. You did not wake up. I was so scared."

"I am sorry. I just wanted both of you to be okay." I smiled. "Did he tell you about me having to heal him?"

She nodded, "He is a devious man. I had no idea he had hurt his ribs so severely." She looked down, "I should have known."

I chuckled, "If Stain refuses to let you know something, most likely you will never know."

"I agree." Mophar commented. "It is good that you are awake my friend. You had us all worried." He hung from the ceiling.

I looked up, "Thank you for all you did. I could not have survived without your help." Mophar nodded.

Looking around I could see things had been moved in my tent, even the light did not seem right. "What has occurred? How long was I asleep?"

Stain walked in on that question. "First things first. We are not alone, so we must be cautious in our conversation." He sat on a chest. "You were asleep a whole seven days, as near as we can tell. You drained yourself down to almost nothing, even with using the stored energy in the gems." I just stared at him at this news. A whole seven days? I had trouble comprehending the idea. "Also, you cast the same spell on both Raven and myself. However, as you can tell, the spell worked differently on the two of us. I believe your focus was not correct when you cast the spell upon my body. When you cast it upon Raven it did as meant. It healed her broken leg and all the damage near it. Even to the point of no scar. When you cast the spell on me you did not focus well. What exactly were you thinking when you cast the spell on me?"

I sat there a moment and then blushed, "I was focusing on healing you. I wanted you healed to the point where you were healthy again. That your body was whole."

Stain nodded, "That was what I thought. In focusing in such a vague manner you allowed my body to determine when the healing would stop. Not only did you heal my injury, you healed all the damage that has occurred to me in many years. I cast a spell many years ago that would extend my life. You healed everything that has occurred to my body since that moment, even the damage done by time alone. With everything else taken into account I have the body of a fifty-year old man." He leaned back and grinned. "While I do appreciate the fact that I am much healthier I am also very worried. You could have killed yourself, quite easily I must say. The precautions I ordered you to take accounted for only the healing of my ribs, not reversing hundreds of years of damage. You must focus better."

I sat there and let it sink in. I had reversed all of those years, all that damage was just gone. I had almost died. But both of them were healed. "I guess I got lucky." I stated this softly.

Stain grinned, "Yes you did. Remember in all things, luck only lasts so long. When you run out of it you had better be good at whatever you are doing or you might end up dead." He pulled me to my feet. "Now, the other news. Since you were not waking anytime soon and both Raven and I were perfectly fine, we loaded everything up and tied you atop Tag and kept traveling. We reached the main road just the other day and yesterday a band of Wanderers showed up. They have allowed us to join up with them and are even allowing us to camp with them. We have explained your sleeping as a result of experimenting with various potions and getting an unexpected reaction. Until we meet up with the main group we will keep our special skills a secret. Then I will determine our path." He led me from the tent and into chaos. Our tents were pitched around a small fire, but formed a small node off of a much larger camp. Each set of tents radiated out in a circular fashion, to the point where from the sky the campsite must look like a massive flower full of fire and brilliant color. "Come meet our hosts." Stain led me from our area into the center of the camp, where a large tent seemed to squat amidst the smaller tents.

"So the apprentice awakens." A man's voice called out. It rumbled and boomed much like Tag's, but louder. I looked towards it's source and saw a man that resembled a bear. He stood taller than any man I had ever seen, a beard of black and silver hung past his belt, and his eyes winked in devious mirth. "I feared he would sleep until the end of time." He moved forward and reached out to grasp my hand. His grip was strong, yet he did not crush my hand. "It is good to finally meet you young man. I am Gorcy. I am the camp master of this people. Be welcome as long as you mean no harm to those who sleep here. Share our food and our fire." He suddenly pulled me into a massive hug. He smelled of smoke, herbs, and even some flowers. Releasing me he chuckled, "I can tell you are still gaining your bearings. Allow your master and protector to take care of you. We will talk more at a later time." With that Gorcy turned and ducked back into the largest tent.

Stain and Raven stood there and laughed at my expression. "Gorcy is a lot to take in at first. He is a good leader, if a little intimidating." Stain stated this quietly.

I nodded, "I agree with the intimidating part." I swayed where I stood. "Perhaps I should sit down somewhere?"

Raven led me back to our area and sat me down beside the fire. "You look ashen."

I smiled, "I feel ashen."

Stain sat across from me, "Here, this should perk you up." He handed me a potion that was slightly purple with green swirls. It tasted like earth and flowers. My head cleared after a few moments and I quit shaking.

"Thank you Stain." I stated this much more assure of myself.

"So, some more information that you need." Stain leaned forward. "There are about twenty people in this troupe They have beast of burden and take other animals with them. None know of our special abilities or our companions abilities. Mophar is playing dumb as are Tag and Evins. Fiosrach is doing an impressive impersonation of a stone statue among the baggage. Pat is accepted, evidently dragonetts are seen around here, so he is simply an oddity. Cracklecord is also accepted, not as an oddity though. The group sees us as lucky, being traveling healers and such. I have made an agreement with them to heal any problems that come along in exchange for allowing us to travel with them and a small share of their stores." He took a deep breath and looked at Raven. "Anything I missed?"

She thought a moment, "There are some young women who have made it their mission to find out all about you. The mystery is driving them to distraction. Also there are a few young men who will probably wish to challenge you. Just to see how tough you are." Her eyes grew dark, "I would suggest you avoid the women and not beat the men too harshly."

"Good points." Stain grinned. "Also you are a guest and my apprentice. Do not accept any gifts or challenges without my permission. Otherwise it is considered rude. Do not enter a tent unless invited. Treat all people politely." He thought a moment. "I think that is it. I have made it clear to them that you have had no experience with any of their people, so you are not expected to know the social niceties. Just listen and pay attention." He stood up. "I must go and talk to Gorcy for a bit. We are getting underway tomorrow morning and I need to know a few things." He walked back towards the large tent.

"So much has changed." I stated this in shock.

Raven laughed gently. "You were asleep a decent period of time. Things change all the time, you just slept through it all." She stood up. "Let me get you another drink." She ducked into her tent and came out bearing a large jug. "Fruit juice, provided by our hosts."

I took a long pull of the juice, the tartness biting into my throat, yet a refreshing drink at the same time. "That is good!"

"I am glad you like it!" A new voice crossed the clearing. "May I sit?" A short woman had approached our fire.

Raven stood and motioned to a stool, "Please sit here."

The woman sat and I realized she was much older than I had thought. She must be the oldest woman in the camp.

"I have had children, they have had children, and they have had children. One of them being Gorcy." The woman spoke clearly and shortly.

"I am sorry. I did not mean to stare." I was already making a bad impression.

"No apology is needed young man. I have seen many looks and yours was not judging, it was impressed at my appearance." She smiled, "I am old by most people's account. I am also in charge of this troupe." She stated this and watched my reaction.

"Gorcy said he was the camp master. I am confused." I thought bluntness might be best with this woman.

She smiled, "Yes he did. However, I am the one who appointed him to that position. As is my right as the leader of this troupe. He keeps the camp running and deals with troublemakers. Honesty is a good position to take. Just do not do it blindly." She looked at me and smiled wider. "I will share a secret about you that I know. You are a mage. As is this young warrior maiden. As is your master and even some of your companions, even the young statue that sleeps on your packshell." She stated this quickly and bluntly.