1-6: All the Blame
753 4 47
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A- 15px A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.

It took several days for Theonis to really get comfortable with how things operated. Kosgoris, Dimileios, and often Kateni would stay at camp most of the day while Satiria, Myrova, and Lias traveled into the settlement to do their field work. Satiria and Myrova continued to refuse Theonis’ help, while neither Dimileios nor Kateni seemed to need any. Theonis spent most of his time assisting Lias with his cartography or doing housekeeping around camp with Kosgoris.

At least with Lias, Theonis occasionally got to follow him into the settlement and admire the architecture. And sometimes Kosgoris would ask Theonis to deliver supplies to either Satiria or Myrova, not that they were ever glad to see him. Theonis was a glorified pack mule, but it was better than sitting around and doing nothing. And it was better than sitting on the Polaia.

After a relaxed breakfast one morning, Myrova, Satiria, and Lias returned to their tents to pack for the day. Kateni sat down and started sharpening her blade. Kosgoris started cleaning up his cooking supplies. After a minute, Theonis stood up and walked over to Myrova’s tent.

He hesitated outside, but eventually cleared his throat to get her attention.

“What do you want?” Myrova asked from inside.

Theonis’ insides squirmed. This was a dangerous mage. Did he really want to be alone with her for any length of time?

“I was wondering if I could come help you search for artifacts today,” he mumbled.

“…No.”

Theonis’ heart sank a little, but his breathing did become less shallow. He didn’t really want to be around her, but he was interested in learning more about magical artifacts and helping her seemed like the only way to do so.

“I can carry supplies for you,” he offered. “You don’t have to do it all on your own.”

The flap of the tent opened and Myrova walked out, locking her rainbow eyes with Theonis’ own. Then she raised a hand and it started glowing with an orange aura. Theonis took a step back, trembling slightly, but all that happened was a bag emerged from the tent, floating in the air. Myrova walked away and the bag followed.

Theonis sighed and walked over to Lias’ tent. He was just fastening his pack and getting ready to head out as well. When he saw Theonis, Lias smiled softly.

“Can I come with you today?” Theonis asked.

“I don’t really need the help right now,” Lias said. “But since you’re here, I would really appreciate it if you could organize the maps I’ve already finished before I get back.”

Theonis replied quietly, “I guess I can do that.”

“Thank you.”

Lias departed and Theonis sat down to work. Fortunately, each map was labeled. He suspected that Lias was just trying to keep him busy. Theonis probably could have gotten it done faster, but he didn’t really feel like putting the effort in.

Kosgoris wanted Theonis to collect more firewood. The fire was burning consistently through the day now, so everyone could see the smoke and navigate their way back to the camp without too much difficulty. As a result, though, Theonis had to keep going out into the woods to collect firewood.

After the fifth or sixth trip, Theonis saw Kateni standing by the fire with one of Lias’ finished maps in her hands. When she saw Theonis approach, she walked up to him.

“Myrova needs someone to deliver a shovel to her,” she told him. “She’s found a half-buried artifact and needs some help getting it out.” Kateni pointed to a spot on the map. “She said she’d be working somewhere around here. You should be the one to deliver it to her.”

“Alright. I can do that,” Theonis said. “I’m going to have to work extra hard to get enough firewood when I get back, but I can definitely do that.”

Myrova was waiting outside of a small squat building with thin pillars when Theonis arrived. For a moment, Theonis thought she was going to scold him for not getting there faster; he had walked the entire way. Instead she just grunted out  a brief thanks and took the shovel inside. After a moment, Theonis followed her.

The inside was dim, dusty, and dirty. The stone floor had been broken in multiple places. Half-buried in the dirt was what looked like a stone chest that had been cracked in multiple places.

“Is there magic in there?” Theonis asked.

“I’m hoping there’s an artifact, yes,” Myrova replied, beginning to dig. “Chests like these were often used to keep magical tools safe.”

“What’s so special about these artifacts, anyway?”

Myrova paused, then continued digging.

“I forget how little you actually know,” she said. “Magic was almost completely lost for a long time. The Academy studies these artifacts in order to find new ways of applying magical energy. A lot of what I learned about came from the knowledge recovered from Apositan artifacts.”

“How does studying the artifacts even help?”

“Magic works like a muscle. Figuring out how to do something new is difficult and it helps if someone shows you how, much like how you need to learn how to exercise properly from another person or you risk hurting your body. The artifacts show us things that can be done with magic that we haven’t thought of before.” She paused. “And like using a muscle, casting magic is very intuitive and requires a lot of energy, but the more you practice the better you get at it.”

“So how do the artifacts work? Do you have to activate them somehow? How do you know how to do it?”

“Sometimes, but that’s a complex design. Most artifacts just always bleed magic, especially artifacts as old as the ones we find.”

“Are they dangerous?”

“They can be,” Myrova said, “which is why you should leave. I can shield myself when I open the chest if the magic within is dangerous, but it’s best not to put anyone else at risk.”

Theonis nodded and started walking away. Once he was out of the building, his hand found its way to the pendant under his shirt. Surely it wasn’t going to hurt him, right?

The next day, Lias decided to stay in camp and work on the maps he’d already finished. When Theonis was finished gathering firewood for the morning, Lias asked him to come and help. Theonis followed him into his work tent.

“What are you doing?”

“Filling in some notes so the next team of investigators has an easier time getting around. It’s not difficult, just a little time consuming. Numbering streets, labeling districts of the city, marking which buildings were probably significant to daily life, stuff like that.”

“What do you need me for?” Theonis asked, “I don’t know any of that stuff.”

“I just need you to write a few things down on the back of each map for record-keeping. I’ll tell you what you need to write.”

Theonis nodded and picked up a pen. His handwriting wasn’t the best, but he didn’t have the luxury of slowing down and putting in the extra effort. It wasn’t long before his hand began to hurt, too. He had to stop after every map to relax and massage his writing hand. Still, he was out of the summer sun; this wasn’t so bad.

“Okay, what about this one?” he asked, picking up the next map.

“Let me see what you’ve done so far.”

Theonis passed Lias the finished maps. Lias looked through them, and his expression fell. Theonis furled his brow in concern.

“This won’t do at all,” Lias said. “This is almost illegible. A lot of things are misspelled. I’m going to have to redo all of this.”

“I—I—I’m sorry,” Theonis stammered.

This couldn’t be happening. Lias was the only person who was consistently nice to him. Theonis didn’t want to lose that.

“I’ll fix it, don’t worry,” Lias said, sounding exhausted.

“I really didn’t meant to—”

“Theonis.” Both of them looked up to see Dimileios standing at the open tent flap. “I need to speak to you.”

Theonis gave one last glance at Lias before standing up and following Dimileios outside.

“Theonis,” Dimileios said, “it’s very obvious that you aren’t taking this job as seriously as you promised you would. Several people have complained about your poor work ethic.”

“It’s been a lot to deal with,” Thoenis insisted, unable to look Dimileios in the eye. “I’m still getting used to all the things I have to do.”

“I don’t believe that this is the best you can do.” Theonis didn’t respond. “I brought you along because I was hoping that having an extra pair of hands would increase efficiency. Maybe I was wrong.”

He walked away, leaving Theonis alone. Theonis wrapped his arms around his stomach and sighed. He needed to lie down.

It was hot inside Theonis’ tent. He pulled his shirt off and laid down on the bed roll, resting his hands on his stomach. What Dimileios said was true: Theonis hadn’t been putting all of his heart into his work and it was obvious to everyone. For all his pride, Theonis hadn’t been willing to actually live up to his claims.

But he shouldn’t have to, right? Theonis didn’t owe these people anything! He didn’t even want to help. But if he didn’t try harder, everyone would think he was just incompetent. Theonis didn’t think he could take that.

He ran his hand over his chest. Confused, Theonis sat up and started rubbing the skin on his arms. His skin was really soft and sensitive for some reason. It wasn’t normally like this. What was going on? Some kind of allergic reaction?

From outside the tent, Theonis heard Kosgoris’ voice: “Lunch is ready. Come eat. You need your energy.”

Theonis decided that whatever was going on, it could wait until later. Putting his shirt back on, he joined the rest of the team around the fire and took a plate for himself. A slow conversation started up, people talking about their findings and complaining about the heat.

Then Dimileios walked up to the group.

“I need to talk to you all,” he said grimly. “Group cohesion has been somewhat lacking during this expedition, and it’s very disappointing. I know that you all have it in you to be a smoothly operating machine, and I’m going to need everyone to redouble their efforts to improve the situation around here. That’s all.”

He returned to his own workstation without even taking a plate for himself. Theonis avoided looking at anyone, but he could feel their gazes on him. He was the newcomer; obviously they all blamed him.

Once lunch was over, Theonis stretched and went to go feed the pack animals. Before he could, though, Kosgoris approached and asked Theonis to follow him. From his pack, Kosgoris pulled out a small book.

“This is an introduction to basic field medicine,” he said. “I’d like to instruct you how to do some basic medical procedures: dressing wounds, making splints, stitching wounds. If someone has an accident, it would be really helpful if you could assist.”

Theonis wanted to turn him down. It was just one more thing he’d have to dedicate time and energy to. But what Dimileios said still rang in his head. If Kosgoris wanted this, he could give it a try.

“Alright,” he said. “I doubt I’ll need this, though; I’m only here for one expedition.”

“Still better to be prepared, just in case.”

Kosgoris opened the book and started explaining to Theonis how to clean and dress small cuts and abrasions. Theonis tried to pay attention, but he wasn’t ever going to need this. It wasn’t long before his mind started to wander.

“I have a question,” he finally said as Kosgoris was describing the different types of splints. “If everyone is always off on their own, how do you know if someone needs treatment? If someone breaks their leg, they can’t walk all the way back.”

To Theonis’ surprise, Kosgoris pulled out a small pendant from his own shirt and held it up.

“Everyone on the team has a magical accessory they keep on their person that’s connected to this one,” he explained. “If someone is seriously injured, this will light up with a color unique to them and I can use it to lead me to their location. Myrova also has one of these, and if she can arrive first then she can start applying healing magic to stabilize whoever is injured. This has helped us on plenty of occasions.”

“Wait, why do you need medicine if magic can be used to heal people?”

“Using magic takes a lot of energy from the caster, and it only has an effect for as long as you apply it. Furthermore, it works by increasing the rate at which the body heals itself. Magic, if regularly applied, can reduce the time needed to heal a broken bone from over a month to merely a week, but you still need to set the bone first. Magic can treat illnesses, but can’t stop someone who’s choking or get water out of their lungs. Medical knowledge is essential for keeping people safe.” He shrugged. “Besides, mages are rare and in high demand. We’re lucky to have one at all. And while Myrova may be able to stop someone’s internal bleeding, that doesn’t do much help if she’s the one in trouble.”

“So… you actually use a magical artifact to keep tabs on people.”

“Yes. I understand that they were very expensive.”

“What do you know about how artifacts like that work?”

“Not much,” Kosgoris replied. “That’s Myrova’s area of expertise. And unless you’re a mage, you can’t actually interact with them; you just have to let them operate on their own.”

Theonis nodded slowly. If the pendant did anything, he wouldn’t be able to activate it. Unless he became a mage? How did one do that? Maybe he could ask for Myrova’s help, but that would mean admitting that he’d taken something he wasn’t supposed to. She’d just want to take it from him if she knew about it. And he couldn’t really defend his actions by saying he wanted it to feel pretty; everyone would just laugh at him.

“It’s almost time to get started on dinner,” Kosgoris said suddenly, closing the book. “Will you help me with that?”

“Sure,” Theonis replied, glad to be shaken out of his thoughts.

This time, Theonis actually tried to put his heart into what he was doing. He hadn’t made a lot of food in his life, so he paid attention to what Kosgoris told him and moved slowly so he wouldn’t mess up. Kosgoris seemed to notice, but he didn’t comment.

Everyone gathered around the fire that evening to eat. Theonis saw a few of them cast dirty glances at Dimileios for what he’d said at lunch. Myrova would occasionally glance at Theonis but her gaze didn’t linger. Satiria wouldn’t look at him at all. Kateni stared at him, but it was with a largely vacant gaze.

All of the women in the group seemed to have a problem with Theonis for some reason. He knew why they disliked him—Satiria and Kateni thought he was a threat and Myrova thought he didn’t belong—but it still hurt. It reminded him of when he was younger and the girls he’d play with suddenly wanted nothing to do with him.

“You can all thank Theonis for helping to prepare the meal,” Kosgoris said. “I think he added a nice personal touch to it.”

“He did a good job,” Kateni said.

Theonis blinked in surprise. Praise. That was a surprise. And from the person who had the least reason to show him any affection.

He couldn’t help it; a small smile flickered on his face.

Aww, that's a sweet gesture from Kateni.

Gentle reminder, dear readers, that I have a Patreon! Patrons get access to chapters at least a week early, and higher-level contributors get access to Patreon-exclusive stories every month as well. At this very moment, actually, patrons are voting on what the next story I begin will be; if you're interested in having input in that, now is your chance! You can find my page here if you're interested. If, however, you just want to give without receiving any rewards, you can make a donation here for as little as $3. Other helpful ways of supporting my work include leaving comments, rating the story, viewing my other work, and sharing my stories with friends who might be interested. Every little bit helps, and thank you in advance.

Special thanks to my patrons of honor: Grymmette and Alex.

47