It was at the end of the last watch, when I felt that a bit of my mana went way with the familiar feeling of my healing magic kicking in. There was something different this time though.
Soon the others woke up as well.
“The healing kicked in!” Tilly jumped up with her blanket, exposing Milly to the cold morning air.”
“Wahhh! Tilly!” Milly grabbed for the blankets.
“The magic healing is back!” I smiled at Milly.
We sat the for a few minutes in silence.
“Let’s have some breakfast and head on. We still have to find those herbs for Loraline and Caroline to recover.” I got to my feet.
“We need a place to clean up as well. I refuse to soil another set of clothing with this stink.” Milly got up as well.
“We stop at the next creek.” I wrinkled my nose in disgust.
It was nearly noon when we found a small creek to wash. We made an early lunch break and got rid of all we were wearing. Milly put everything to the flame.
We spent a while cleaning, using soap in abundance. We couldn’t get rid of all the stink though.
“Let’s just wear a set of these workout clothes. They’re simple to make and it wouldn’t hurt to loose a set.” Milly furrowed her brows while sniffing her arm.
“They’re a bit cold though.” Tilly frowned.
“We just walk a bit faster.” I gave Tilly a wry smile.”
“It’s only for a few days.” Loraline shrugged.
“You don’t want to throw away a good set of clothes without need!” Caroline shook her head.
“Tilly! Stop whining!” Milly frowned at her.
“Okay, okay.” She grumbled.
We put on the lighter clothes. After a few minutes I didn’t feel cold. We probably should use some blankets for longer rests.
The road had turned in a small path again, which we followed in hope of finding an entrance to one of the dwarven settlements along the mountains.
I hoped they were not as well hidden as the gate near Soltan, but on the other hand the area was much more remote.
Generally the mood was still bad, as we needed the herbs as soon as possible before the fever progressed too much. We didn’t talk much and I think all of us were still digesting that night in the ruins.
The next day I woke up in the morning I felt nauseous.
“Aww.” I fought myself out of the sheets.
“What do you have Lilly?” Tilly looked at me with wide eyes.
“I feel like shit. And I’m not having breakfast this morning.” I nearly puked.
“There is a new strange magic aura about you!” She looked at me with concern.
I focused inward, but I couldn’t feel anything.
“I am drained, but that would be normal healing up all these cuts.” I sat up.
“Can you walk?” Milly asked me with furrowed brows.
“I have to.” I clenched my jaw.
“I’m lacking the mana to have a closer look!” Tilly pouted at me.
“Nothing you can do about it.” I patted her shoulder.
“Better you keep your distance.” Milly frowned at me.
“Can’t hurt, but if it’s contagious it’s probably too late after sleeping together under those sheets.
The others had a quick breakfast. I wasn’t even able to think about eating.
I struggled to get to my feet. It was bearable to stay on my feet though.
We proceeded towards the east, but unfortunately I was feeling worse over the morning.
“My mana regeneration is out.” I looked at Tilly.
“Out?” She shook her head.
“Out. I’m not healing anymore and I’m not getting any new mana.” I looked down on the ground before me.
“Lilly! Can you once stop collecting disconcerting afflictions?” Milly shook her head.
“It’s not that I want them, you know.” I tried a smile.
“The last days were a rollercoaster.” She started to weep.
“I know.” I slumped.
“Please don’t die, Lilly!” She hugged me.
“I try. Seriously.” I gave her a hug back.
She gulped.
After lunch break we continued along the path. Soon walking became a nightmare as I felt more and more dizzy.
“We can’t go on like this, Lilly.” Milly frowned at me as I nearly managed to stumble over edge of the path.
“We mustn’t rest!” I looked at Loraline and Caroline.
“Then we’re going to carry you. No arguments!” Milly easily tackled me to the ground.
They used the halberd and the spear with a blanket and some rope to create a makeshift stretcher. I was carried the rest of the day. I felt too shitty to protest. It got noticeably colder over the day.
“There will be snow soon.” Caroline looked to the south.
“Winter is coming.” Loraline nodded.
“I want some good news for a change!” Milly glared at Loraline.
“It’s quite early for winter, but up in the mountains snow falls much earlier than in the valleys.” Caroline shrugged.
“Let’s hope we don’t have to bother with snow now. We’ve enough on our plate already.” Milly looked at me with concern.
They ate their dinner in silence and I was excluded from the watch. So I tried to get some sleep. It took long until I finally got some shuteye.
I woke up feeling totally beaten up covered by a blanket. All my muscles were aching and with a groan I shoved the blanket out of my face.
The light was dim since I was inside a long narrow room. There was another heap of blankets next to me, which was slightly moving up and down. There was the top of a staircase at one of the small sides of the room and there were arrow loops along one of the long sides of the wall.
With a groan I got to my feet. My legs felt wobbly and when I looked at my hand I noticed that my skin looked a bit roughened up. The sleeves of my shirt were a bit short as well. Carefully I stepped over to an arrow loop.
There was familiar looking mountain terrain ahead. Further down I could see the green pastures of the empire. Struggling to keep my balance I approached the head of the staircase.
Where were we? I sneaked a peek under the other blanket and found Milly and Tilly still asleep. It was late morning from the positions of the suns.
Looking down at me, I noticed my pants were a bit short too. My shirt showed a small strip of my waist.
I walked over to Milly and Tilly again and sat down beside them.
Then I heard someone coming up the stairs.
It was Loraline. She was carrying a steaming kettle and three cups.
“You’re awake!” She nearly dropped what she was carrying.
“I am.” My voice had subtly changed somehow.
Looking at Loraline I noticed that she was slightly smaller than usual. Groaning I got back to my feet.
“Did I grow?” I shook my head.
“Yes, a bit. You were unconscious for three days.” She put the kettle and the cups on the floor.
“What happened?” I looked at the kettle.
“This is tea which helps with the ghoul fever. Just drink a cup in the morning and another in the evening each day.” She gave me a slight smile.
“Then we have something to help you?” I smiled back.
“Caroline and I will probably make it.” She nodded.
“Great!” I filled myself a cup of tea.
“We have enough for all of us thanks to the dwarves we met.” She sat down a few meters away.
“We have a roof over our head?” I took a sip of the tea. It was comfortably warm and did taste decently.
“This is an abandoned outpost which we may use for the winter.” She looked down at her feet.
“That’s good news!” I smiled at her.
“The dwarven healer. She wasn’t really optimistic regarding the ghoul fever for the three of you.” She looked down at the floor.
“We’re not normal in regard to our health. Don’t lose hope already.” I drank the rest of the tea.
“Milly and Tilly told me the same. The tea only stops the disease to grow worse. You have to beat the disease by yourself.” She bit her lower lips.
“Lilly!” Someone bowled me over tackling me to the ground.
“Tilly!” I managed to save the cup somehow.
“Tilly! She’s ill! Don’t you hurt her!” Milly knelt down beside me and gave me a tight hug.
“I’m awake again. Yet something happened. I’ve still no mana at the moment and it feels weird to grow over night.” I hugged them back.
“You should drink your tea. Anyone hungry?” Loraline smiled slightly looking at us.
“I’m starving!” I suddenly felt a burning hunger.
“You’ve not eaten anything in the last three days.” Loraline nodded and got to her feet.
“We stay up here for now, for we’re highly infectious. The tea should help but I don’t want to take chances. I had enough of that for a while.” Milly sat down on the blanket.
“Sure.” I sat down on my own blanket.
“So what happened to you?” Tilly looked at me with wide eyes.
“Well. I’m the big sis now.” I grinned.
“You’ll need all your clothes changed.” Milly frowned at me.
“At the moment I don’t have any mana and my regeneration is still out.” I sighed.
“That’s bad! Any idea why?” Tilly rubbed her nose.
“Not the slightest. I suppose we will have to wait again.” I shrugged.
“At least we will probably have some time.” Milly smiled.
“We beat those empire scum to pulp. They will never take this door!” Tilly grinned at me menacing.
“At least we’re inside when the winter comes.” I chuckled.
“May they freeze to the ground” Milly smiled again.
We had nice breakfast. I ate more than usual, but stopped as I started to feel full. I ate the remains of our breakfast a few hours later.
“We’ve bought more food and coal from the dwarves. They brought it here with a cart yesterday afternoon. We’re well stocked for the winter!” She smiled proudly.
“Well done. Even if this is no luxury suite, we can stay a while enjoying just to life for a change.” I gave her a hug, nearly falling over.
“You have to get used to be big sis.” Tilly chuckled.
“I’ve time enough to get used to that.” I chuckled as well.
“Maybe it has something to do with that throne.” Tilly looked at me tilting her head.
“Maybe, but there’s no evidence.” I shook my head.
"We need more information." Milly nodded.
“At least we have a decent stove.” Loraline smiled at me
“And a bathroom as well. We won’t need to go outside at all.” Tilly smiled at me.
“We’re well prepared for the winter.” I smiled back at her.
We spent the day chatting and joking, ignoring the looming disease over our heads for a while. We had done everything we could.
Loraline and Caroline were down in the kitchen and common room, which was the only room with a chimney.
The outpost had a sturdy oaken door with a lock and a bar, so we decided to forget about the outside world for a while.
Just after breakfast Tilly became ill as well.
It seemed to be similar to whatever I had a few days ago. Tilly insisted on staying away from us for the day. On the next morning she fell unconscious just after breakfast. She drank her tea though.
“Will she wake up again?” Milly sat down beside me.
“I think so. In three days we will know for sure. I’ve got the feeling you’ll get it as well sooner or later.” I laid an arm around her.
“I hope not. Your description sounded awful.” She frowned.
There wasn’t much we could do. My mana was still absent and Milly had low mana as well. Tilly got her tea twice a day.
While my wounds refused to heal, Milly was completely healed after a few days.
“Your mana pool seems to be okay, but it’s just empty. No sign of mana regeneration as far as I can see.” Milly gave me a hug.
“Maybe it’s the disease which is messing with it.” I shrugged.
“Tilly has got a strong magic aura about her, but it’s way too complex for me to make any sense.” Milly hung her head.
“Being able to use magic was fun and even useful once in a while. I hope it’s only temporary.” I sighed.
Even if it was only weak magic, I definitely enjoyed using it.
Loraline and Caroline were still recovering from the ghoul fever. According to the dwarven healer at least Caroline would need much of the winter to get rid of it. Loraline was the least affected. She’d recover sooner.
We closely watched Tilly and hoped she was okay. Since I was still covered in cuts I wasn’t in the mood of cuddling. It just hurt.
Tilly woke up after another three days, she was now as tall as I was, a bit thinner though, but I’ve been eating a lot the last few days. I was sure now Milly was in for this as well.
“I’ve lost my magic too.” Tilly looked like she would cry any moment.
“I’d wait until the ghoul fever is gone. It’s quit a beast.” I pulled her in a hug.
“Let’s wait. I-I-I’m sure this fever is the culprit.” She hugged me back.
Milly was mostly quiet all these days and busied herself with changing all our clothes.
Aside from the lack of mana all we were doing quite well. It began to snow. The door was completely blocked by the snow after a few days.
After a while my wounds started healing again, but slowly.
As the temperatures dropped below freezing point, Loraline provided us with stones she heated up. It kept us warm enough.
We changed to warmer clothes as well, since frostbite was a thing to avoid at all costs.
“It’s been a month now and no sign of mana.” Tilly hung her head.
“It’s a mess, but as long as we life, there’s a chance things will get better again. We’re still struggling with the fever.” I tried a smile.
The ghoul fever seemed not get worse anymore. But what would be if we ran out of tea? We had plenty of the herbs, but some day it would be gone.
“I know you waited for it all the time, but I’m feeling sick now as well.” Milly frowned at us.
“Then we loose the last one who could do magic!” Tilly slumped.
“We see. I will miss this sewing spell though.” She sighed while giving Tilly a hug.
She had the same affliction as Tilly and I.
Over the days my wounds finally closed up. We spent some time to get back our sense of balance, but avoided heavy workouts.
Finally it was winters edge. The temperatures outside were well below freezing point.
We decided to drink much tea that day and spent some time together.
“It looks like you are recovering from the the fever.” Loraline furrowed her brows.
“That would mean that our magic healing should be at work somehow.” I propped my head on my elbow.
“It could be. Probably that darn power drains the mana before I can even get a glimpse of it.” She scratched her head.
“You’re definitely looking better than the day we arrived here.” Loraline sipped from her tea.
“It would make sense, but something must have changed with the coma. It was dripping off a bit of my mana before, but it was not much. I could do many other things beside the healing.” Milly cut her sausage.
“It’s a mystery.” Tilly shook her head.
“Without mana we can’t even look at it in detail.” I shook my head.
“It’s annoying. I want my mana back!” Tilly hit the table with her fist.
“At least the situation isn’t hopeless.” I patted her head.
“Let’s wait until the disease is gone. At least were alive and will survive the disease as well!” Milly smiled happily.
Winter set in and it got even colder. Fortunately we had plenty of coal and food. There was no need to go outside. We relocated in the heated room though.
I went up to the arrow loops a few times a day. The pastures to the south were covered in snow as well. We had a few month of relative peace ahead.
Next year we would be on the road again. Even when most of the time there wasn’t even a road in these mountains.
It was in the midst of full winter when we all woke up from a piercing scream!
Milly was thrashing and flailing around beside me.
She was panting heavily and looked at me with dead eyes.
“Milly! What happenend!” I shook her a bit.
“It. It. Hurts!” She started to weep.
“What hurts? I can’t see anything!” I pulled her in a hug.
“It’s my chest!” She looked down her tummy.
“Let me see.” I opened her shirt.
“Don’t. Don’t touch the mark!” She clenched her jaws.
“I can’t see a thing. It’s magical as usual.” Tilly examined her sternum closely.
“It’s getting better.” Milly looked at me with teary eyes.
“Try to get some more sleep.” I petted the back of her head.
“It’s still two hours till breakfast.” Loraline looked at her with squinted eyes.
“I’ll try.” Milly cuddled her back against my chest.
“Lilly!” I was ripped from my dreams in an instance.
“Ahh. How are you?” I twinkled at Milly.
“There’s mana!” She gave me a wide smile.
“What?” Tilly shot out from under her sheets.
“Yes!” Milly looked at me with glee.
“Shoot!” I sat up.
“And. It’s orange! Not red!” She smiled.
“What? That’s impossible! And normally really dangerous!” Tilly looked at Milly with wide eyes shaking her head.
“There isn’t much mana though, only a few trickles.” Milly looked back at Tilly.
“Let’s have some breakfast first.” I got to my feet.
“What about last night though?” I looked at Milly.
“It just hurt like hell. The pain faded after a few. An it was at the slave mark.” She shrugged.
“We should try to keep an eye on it.” I sighed.
“Let’s hope it was a one time thing which was caused by the return of the mana.” Milly looked at me tilting her head.
“I want to have a deeper look at that!” Tilly frowned.
“Just have some patience!” Milly stuck out her tongue at her.
“How about regeneration?” I looked at Milly.
“Nothing since we woke up. Probably only in the night, just as in the beginnings?” She shrugged.
Milly regained no mana until the evening.
“Let’s see how it is tomorrow.” Milly yawned.
“Wake me up if there’s something bothering you the night.” I gave her a hug.
“Sure. I feel much better now.” She hugged me back.
I was ripped from my sleep by another piercing scream.
“It’s. It’s the same as yesterday!” Milly looked at me weeping.
“Let me have a look at your mark.” I started to open her shirt again.
“Be cautious!” She gulped.
“Still nothing!” Tilly examined the vile thing.
“Maybe it’s a kind of attack from the ring?” I scratched my head.
“I hope not! It hurts like hell!” Milly looked at me with wide eyes.
“The amulet. It. Looks different.” Tilly fumbled her amulet out of her shirt and held it next to Milly’s
“It’s slightly damaged.” I nodded at Tilly.
“Then it’s the mark!” Milly hung her head.
“The next time I see one of these fuckers...” I glared daggers to the south.
“Maybe you should try and get some sleep if you can.” Loraline shook her head.
“I’ll try. I want to strangle someone! Now!” Milly was fuming.
“Come here. Let’s cuddle a bit to calm down. You need your sleep to keep sane.” I smiled at Milly.
In the morning Milly was still asleep as we woke up.
“Let her sleep. She can eat later.” Loraline looked at me.
“It’s maybe the best.” I nodded.
Milly woke up with another ear piercing scream.
The day was without any problems. She still had some mana in her pool. It turned out that she got attacked once or twice a night.
Using mana sight without mana didn’t reveal much. The were multiple effects, including the protection amulet and the slave mark. The connections were not visible without using mana.
Milly had problems to fall asleep, but it always caught up and resulted in the painful attack.
Loraline tried some herbs, but it didn’t help much.
We were all suffering as nobody could really sleep through the night.
The amulet took more and more damage as the days passed.
Milly seemed to have gotten over her fever though.
A few days later.
“I’ve mana again, and it’s orange as well. Tonight I will hunt down the attack on Milly!” Tilly woke all up early in the morning.
“At least some good news!” Milly tried a smile.
“Regarding the amulet. If I remember correctly it weakens attacks from the mark.” I looked at Tilly
“Yes. Without the amulet it should be worse.” She nodded.
“Then let’s hope it lasts longer than these attacks.” Milly paled.
“You can have mine if yours fails.” I gave her a hug.
“And then you get killed instead of me?” She shook her head.
“I’m not attacked.” I smiled.
“And what if the attacker notices there’s someone unprotected and switches to attack you?” She stared daggers at me.
We woke up a few hours after went to bed.
Milly was crying again while Tilly knelt beside her focusing on her magic sight.
I pulled Milly into a hug as usual and waited for Tilly to finish her examination.
“Now. This is interesting. And scary.” She looked at us slowly shaking her head.
“Shoot!” Milly looked at her with teary eyes.
“It starts with your healing magic kicking in.” She looked back at Milly.
“It heals the mark, or at least tries to.” She pointed at Milly’s sternum.
“Then the mark lashes out at you, triggering the amulet, which swallows up a decent cut of the marks energy.” She crossed her arms below her chest.
“So it’s not an attack from the outside?” I looked at Tilly.
“No. Milly’s healing power is damaging the mark. It’s difficult to see, but there are changes at the mark. It’s an attack from Milly at her mark.” She grinned at Milly.
“So how can I avoid this?” She looked back at Tilly.
“It seems a certain amount of mana is needed to trigger the healing. Using your mana would help, but then you would get no real sleep.” Tilly shrugged.
“Fortunately the mana regeneration is low. Imagine that happened every hour or two. All the day.” I gulped.
“It might be, that in the end we could get rid of these markings.” Tilly looked Milly in the eyes.
“I’ll continue, at least as long as the amulet is doing it’s job.” Milly clenched her jaws.
“I’m sure we gonna join you in this misery soon.” I gave Milly a peck on the cheek.
“Then let’s get some shuteye.” Caroline yawned.
“This is going to be taxing.” Loraline yawned as well.
“At least we have no obligations to wake up early. Let’s have breakfast until all are awake. There’s no need to hurry.” I looked at Loraline.
“Sure. These are for sure no normal times.” She crawled back under her blanket again.
After midnight Tilly ripped us all from our sleep with an ear piercing scream. It was similar to Milly's pains. I spent some time to comfort her. We slept in.
We didn’t get a nights sleep at a time anymore. At least the fever was barely noticeable at all. I had only a faint aura. We continued to drink the tea though. Loraline had recovered as well while Caroline was on a good way to recover completely.
“The dragon book has new pages. And others had magically updated!” Tilly had opened the book a while ago.
“That might be interesting.” I smiled at Tilly.
“It’ll take a while to study all this.” She smiled back at me.
“I might have a look at the book at some point as well.” Milly ruffled Tilly’s hair.
My mana recovery set in a few days later. It was a real pain, but I survived it. We tried to comfort each other as good as we could.
Eventually Milly’s and Tilly’s amulets shattered, but they survived the next pain attack, but it got slightly worse. My amulet shattered last. It hurt badly. It was worse than having the amulet, but on the other hand I had been gotten used to the pain to a degree I think.
We struggled through the winter. As there was usually some mana left in the morning we were at least not drained for the day. We picked up some bits from the book, but most was about the difference of red and orange mana. It was dry stuff to read.
“Let’s start with some workout again. It will distract us a bit and we should be at our best when we head out again.” I looked at the others.
“We can’t stay here. Probably out enemies can pinpoint our position quite well after all this time.” Tilly nodded.
“And it probably easier to sleep in the evening.” Loraline laughed.
“It looks like there is progress, even if it’s only a bit.” Tilly grinned.
“At least there is light at the end of the tunnel. It will be literally a pain for the coming year at least.” I shrugged.
“Let’s workout the afternoons.” Caroline smiled at me eagerly.
We celebrated the beginning of the spring with still plenty of snow at our door. We could open the door as the snow slowly melted in the vicinity.
“The snow starts to thaw. We should head out soon. We can pack all the food that’s left for now.” I looked at the others.
“We should. It could be dangerous though because of avalanches.” Caroline shrugged.
“We can’t wait until the empire’s soldiers are at our doorstep.” Tilly shook her head.
“I don’t like it, but it’s probably for the best. We will attract predators at night though.” She shot me a wry smile.
"Or frighten them away. We'll see." I smiled back.
“It's good that we have snow shoes. The snow is still quite deep.” Loraline smiled at me.
“Then let’s prepare to leave.” I nodded at the others.
