The next morning, the two teens packed up the campsite together. Pepin was strong enough to stuff everything in bags inside the tent while Emelri strapped things onto Bibi.

As she hefted a bag of heavy pots up with one arm, she couldn’t stop thinking about the night before, remembering the way his arm felt around her as they shared the same blankets again. It had been cold and quiet, and in the darkness, he’d placed a kiss to her mouth which, even a day later, was making her blush.

Glancing over, she caught sight of him through the open flaps of the tent and smiled when they made eye contact. His timid little responding grin made her heart flutter, and she looked away with red cheeks.

It wasn’t until all their cooking supplies was packed up and Bibi was fed that the silence was broken.

“Everything inside is packed, Emi,” Pepin called. “Could you help me with the tent?”

“Sure thing!” She came over and steadied one side as he removed the stakes. “You’re looking much better today. How are you feeling?

“Definitely better, though I’m moving pretty slow.”

“I can see you’re still using your healing magic. Are you sure you’re okay to travel?”

He nodded. “I might just need to take breaks every once in a while.”

Now that the shelter was in a heap on the ground, they worked together to roll it up.

“That’s a good idea. Make sure you’re drinking enough water too.”

“I will.”

Emelri curled up the last of it and stuffed the bundle into a bag before standing. “Well, that’s the last of our things. We should probably start leav...” Her words dissolved when Pepin took her wrist in a featherlight grip and pulled her towards him.

“Can I kiss you first?”

She considered the handsome features before silently lifting her chin and closing her eyes as he brought their lips slowly together. Her other hand rested on his chest as he took her waist.

When they pulled apart, he had a little smirk on his face. “For someone who talks so much, you don’t have much to say when we touch.”

Flushing, she thwacked him on the chest with her hand. “Shut up! What am I supposed to say? Stop it! Why do you look so smug?”

He chuckled. “Does that mean you like it when we kiss?”

“I mean... I wouldn’t kiss you otherwise.”

It was his turn to blush. “So... if we were to again...?”

She exhaled quickly. “Fine, but we should get going soon.” Sliding her arms around his neck, she led the kiss this time, and the ‘soon’ was longer than anticipated.

 

❀❀❀

 

“The next civilization is Coqville,” Emelri said, holding the map the woman in Lorvima had given them as she led Bibi with the other hand. “It’s another Venwi town. I think we should stay at an Inn there tonight, don’t you?”

They walked at a slow pace, Pepin having to take frequent rest stops. “Yeah, probably. It’s only a half-day trip from where we camped in Fevlin, and yet it looks like it’s going to take us the rest of the day with the speed I’m going at.”

“Well yeah, you’re still recovering.”

“Sundown is only in a few hours. I promise tomorrow my body will be ready to make jumps again.”

“And if not, then we wait another day.”

His hand ghosted over her waist. “I don’t think it’ll come to that but thank you for being understanding.”

“Oh, uh, uh huh,” she managed. He bit back a smile. “What?”

“You’re being quiet again.”

“Tssk!” She gave him a shove. “Yeah, yeah. Make fun all you want.”

Giggling, he opened his mouth to respond when he tripped, nearly falling on his face had she not caught him by the arm. “Woah! What the—”

Pulling on Bibi’s reins, she screeched to a halt, then gasped. “A corpse!” They both stared in shock at the bloodied body Pepin had just tripped over, then something small and pink caught her eye. “Wait, what is that?”

She pointed to it and Pepin crouched down, picking up the square of pink, torn cloth with a crimson stain on it. “Toulou...” he muttered.

“Is that dried blood—Oh, Pep, look...” Grabbing his arm, she pointed ahead of them where the road bared a few black scorch marks along with more old blood stains and a splintered spear.

“There was a fight. If I had to guess, I’d say all this is Spiller blood.”

“Not all of it,” a voice cut in, and Emelri blinked as an emerald bubble appeared in a split second around her and Pepin just before an arrow ricocheted off of it.

A cry of glee rang out as a crimson garbed archer with a helmet decorated with golden horns stepped out from behind a tree with an arrow nocked and ready to fly. “Another magic user?” this man with a single, red dangling earring mused. “You don’t happen to be in league with the one that was here a few days ago, do you?”

“Where is Toulou?” Pepin demanded, his arms shaking as the forcefield flickered in and out.

“Is that his name? Let’s just say one of my arrows pierced him and the wound won’t be healed by any magic.” He circled them, hands not moving from the bow. “I’d give him a week before he’s dead.”

He gaped. “W-what? What did you do to them?”

A grin spread over his face. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Eyes widening, Emelri yanked the magic user down just as the forcefield flickered out and an arrow sailed over their heads instead of into Pepin’s shoulder. She seized him by the arm and dragged him behind a rock before drawing Broyeur and blocking the next arrow with it.

The Spiller was waiting for her, and she had a moment to turn the shell around her neck and dart out of the way of the third arrow. Surprise crossed his face as he lowered his weapon to look around.

“A third magic user?” he asked, turning every direction, and pointing his weapon at nothing.

Holding her breath, Emelri brought her weapon down, but he must have heard her since he stepped out of the way, the battle axe’s blade only nicking his upper arm.

He winced, grumbling, “You fucker,” before letting another arrow fly. “You’re no magic user.”

The arrow wasn’t even close to hitting its mark as she darted behind him and kicked the back of his knee, forcing him to kneel. She wasn’t expecting to be grabbed by the wrist and thrown forward. Using the forward momentum, she turned sharply and hefted the axe into his chest.

He spat blood onto the ground, gritting crimson teeth at her as he reached for the dropped arrow next to him. He went to raise it when Pepin’s boot pressed firmly over his forearm.

Prying it out of his hand, the magic user examined the arrow for a second, catching sight of the black liquid dripping off the end of it.

“Poison,” Emelri said, hands still on the handle of the embedded axe. “I’ve seen it before.”

“Poison? That would mean Toulou...” Anger flashed over his face as he pointed the tip directly at the sputtering Spiller. “Where’s the antidote? I know you must have one.”

Choking on his own blood, the man simply grinned, grabbing Pepin’s hand and forcing the arrowhead into his own throat. Horror crossed the green eyes as Pepin watched the man’s life fade away.

He let go, taking several steps back, chest heaving up and down as his eyes flicked over to Emelri. She shared a similar expression.

 

 

 

Pepin paced around their Coqville tavern room while Emelri sat on a little wooden stool, cleaning the blood off her axe.

“Why wouldn’t that Spiller carry any kind of antidote on him?”

“For this very reason,” Emelri answered, rubbing an especially stubborn stain. “To ensure the fatal blow of their victims even after death. Any kind of antidote would be at a Spiller base.”

“Then we head back to Fevlin and poke around,” he insisted but she shook her head.

“Everything there was decimated, Pep. There was nothing left. We need to find someone who can make an antidote based on what we still have left of the poison.” She nudged her head to the bundle of black tipped arrows sitting on the nearby desk. “We can visit the apothecary tomorrow morning. I saw one on the way to our tavern.”

“And then?” He sat on the bed in the center of the room. “We can barely get a few words in with Toulou. How are we going to get them to accept an antidote?”

“They’ll just have to. They can be as stubborn as they want, but we’ll be there to heal them when they start getting weak.”

“What if Carnadine gets to them first?”

“Hopefully we’ll catch up to them before that.”

“I’ll be able to teleport soon. The best-case scenario would be reaching the location before them and intercepting them before they do anything stupid.”

She nodded. “We can still fix this.”

He stood. “I’m going to draw the poison from those arrows, so the apothecary has something to use tomorrow.” Rummaging through a bag set on the floor, he took out a small glass vial. “I won’t let them die.”

“Let me help.” She set a clean Broyeur down. “We need to make sure we collect as much as possible.”

The two teens took great care in extracting the black sludge from the arrow tips, filling the vial nearly full. Only until the glass bottle was corked did either breathe again.

“Hey, Emi.”

“Yeah?”

He sat on the edge of the bed again. “What if... I helped Toulou defeat Carnadine?”

“Huh?”

“We could work together to take her down. Don’t look at me like that. She’s trying to introduce Teptrite here. You know what happened to the Alchemist culture in Elderian. There’s a good chance they’d be wiped out. I’m not excusing what my sibling has done, but I do feel a certain duty to make this right and protect magic users here.”

She considered him. “That’s so risky, Pep. I don’t know. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I know but I feel more and more that this is something I need to do. This isn’t about my mother or Toulou’s revenge anymore. It’s so much more than that. But… I need to know you’re okay with this. I won’t just make this decision without you.”

She blinked. “I...” Considering him for a moment, she finally took a seat beside him on the mattress and took his hand in hers. “Of course, I support you. I’ll always have your back, Pep. No matter what.”

He searched her face, then squeezed her hand back as they both leaned forward, meeting in the middle for a kiss.

Pulling back, he said with a confident smile, “I’ll be ready to jump again tomorrow. I can feel it.”

 

❀❀❀

 

Getting an antidote the next day was easier than expected. According to the apothecarist, Coqville had been experiencing countless poisonings the last several years, what with being so close to a Spiller stronghold.

“People are always asking for an antidote,” the woman behind the counter explained as she opened a hanging shelf on the wall, packed full of glass vials full of clear liquid, “so I keep the place stocked. Here you go.” She plopped a single serving down on the counter. “Have the afflicted drink this and they’ll be feeling better by the end of the day.”

Emelri placed the appropriate payment down before pocketing the vial. “That was surprisingly painless. See, things are looking up, Pep.”

He nodded, his disposition lighter. “Let’s be on our way.”

Sometime later, it was determined that teleportation was a go, and the two teens were feeling optimistic as Pepin, now with his wounds healed, clutched multiple energy crystals in his hand while Emelri gripped his shoulder and Bibi’s rump.

Emelri threw up after the second jump and Bibi during the third, but by the fourth, the twisting in their stomachs and the pulling of their craniums was somewhat less severe.

“You’re getting better, I think,” she admitted, patting his arm comfortingly between labored breaths.

Pepin had an extremely apologetic expression on his face as he stroked Bibi’s neck. “I’m so sorry. I’m trying to do it with more finesse.”

“You’ll get it. Don’t worry.”

He nodded, then looked over at the poor donkey. “I think maybe we should leave Bibi behind. I don’t know how much more he can take.”

She considered the shivering animal and nodded. “It’ll be difficult carrying all our things on our own, but I agree. I bet we could sell him in town. We’re near one, I believe.” Pulling out the map, they both looked over it.

“Barshio,” Pepin read aloud.

“Looks like a Venwi town. Maybe we can sell some of the things we don’t need while we’re there too. I’m afraid Adrian’s beloved books are part of that. They’re much too heavy.” He nodded, and she hesitated a moment. “You uh, think you can teleport us there?”

“Yeah. Shouldn’t be too hard. Just one last jump, Buddy.” He gave Bibi a few more pats. “I’ll buy you lots of snacks when we get there, okay?”

The donkey snorted, and Emelri guessed if he could speak, he’d have some choice words for the magic user.

Barshio was a massive Venwi Folk town that stretched as far as the eye could see. It was just as diverse as Lorvima and all the sights and smells had them both wide-eyed and curious. After buying lunch and eating something not entirely familiar to them that would most likely cause bowel troubles later, they stopped by a large barn housing donkeys and found the owner standing out front.

“Sorry, you two,” the black man with dreadlocks said in Venwi. “The stalls are all filled, otherwise I’d take this handsome fellow off you. You may want to try several blocks down from here. There’s a farmer there who purchases livestock.”

“Oh, yeah, we’ll head over there,” Emelri said, glancing past him dubiously at the several empty stalls. “Thanks, Sir.”

Pulling on Bibi’s reins, she led the donkey away as they started down the street again.

“He definitely had space for another donkey,” Pepin whispered, shooting a glare back at the owner who was clueless to the hostile gesture.

“Oh, I know. Shit, Pep, we forgot to cover my hair. That’s probably why he didn’t sell to us.”

“Bastard.”

“Pardon me,” The two teens stopped and blinked at the tall, middle-aged man who approached them. “I couldn’t help but overhear you two wanting to sell your donkey?” He had long white hair pulled into a bun, prismatic eyes, bronze skin, white facial hair, and a scar across his jawline; an Alchemist, no doubt, but the Venwi clothing and hairstyle was throwing her off.

“Uh, yeah,” she said, considering him curiously. “What about it?”

“Let me take him off your hands. I’ve been needing another anyway.”

“Oh, you’ll purchase him?”

“Sure will. Always want to help a fellow Alchemist out here where folks aren’t so friendly.” He glanced over at the shop they’d just left. “How much are you asking?”

“Well, I’d say he’s—”

“Before that,” Pepin cut in, and she blinked over at him in surprise. “What would you use him for? We would need to know first if you’re a good owner. Bibi only deserves the best.”

“Pep!” she hissed, lightly elbowing him, knowing this was their quickest and maybe only option of selling Bibi before swiftly being on their way.

The Alchemist laughed. “I admire someone who cares for their animals. I can show you the barn where I keep the others if you’d like, and you can decide if it’s up to par for Bibi. I would use him to carry over different supplies for my craftsmanship.”

“Craftmanship?”

“Yup. I’m always making this and that. I mostly craft weaponry and that takes lots of materials, so donkeys help with that.”

“Hm. Let’s see this barn then.”

“Sure thing. I’m just around the corner on the main street. I’ll take you there.”

They followed him with Bibi in tow, and Emelri couldn’t help but notice the looks they were attracting.

This stranger didn’t seem bothered in the least however, as he turned his head of white hair to them, asking in a pleasant tone, “You two live here in Barshio?”

“No, just traveling through,” she replied. “We’re headed north.”

“Lots of pretty sights up north.”

“Really? I’ve never traveled up this far.”

“Oh, I bet. Most Alchemists haven’t.”

“How come you’re here?”

He shrugged. “I get better business out here, plus some of my family lives in Lacvi, the next town over.”

“They do?”

“Yup. I may not look it, but I have quite a bit of Venwi in me.”

“No kidding. So, you make weapons, you say? What kinds?”

“All kinds. Swords are my specialty, though I am really impressed with the craftsmanship of your battle axe.”

She blinked, then a big smile spread over her face. “Thanks! I named it Broyeur.”

“Broyeur? Like the Venwi verb, Brueur?”

“Exactly like that, but instead it’s the Venish ver—I mean, yeah, k-kind of like the Venwi verb.” Her face paled slightly as she cleared her throat. “Anyway, what other weapons do you make?”

He raised an eyebrow then answered good naturedly, “Lately, I’ve been embedding energy crystals into sword hilts to give non-users magic abilities. A lot of people have been demanding weapons like that, though I just want to enjoy the craft and not worry about deadlines sometimes. A creator’s burden, I suppose...”

“You combine crystals with blacksmithing?” Pepin asked, and the man nodded.

“That’s right. This an interest of yours?”

“Well... I’m a magic user.”

“Oh really? I never would have guessed. Oh, here’s the barn for you.” They stopped in front of a large business with a few busy workers around the blacksmithing area that shared a wall with a well-kept barn.

A little shop was attached to the other side, and after someone left out the small door, Emelri caught a small glance of dozens of finished weapons hanging on the walls inside. There was also another building that looked like a regular house with windows peeking into a large workshop. Emelri only got a small glance at the mess of tools, papers, scraps, and different materials littered over a wooden desk before her attention was drawn back to the group.

“Oh, this is a nice fit for Bibi,” Pepin said, already walking through the barn and looking the donkeys over. “You brush them every day?”

“Certainly do! This is Broda and Pilu. They’re very friendly. Should get along with Bibi. Here’s where his stall would be.”

The magic user nodded in approval. “Looks like we’ll sell to you after all,” he said seriously, causing the Alchemist to laugh.

“Alright then.” He rummaged for his wallet. “What do I owe you?”

“Let’s say... ten Saphs,” Emelri said. “Is that your house beside the barn?”

“It is indeed. I share it with my workers.”

“You don’t live with family or anything?”

“Nope. After my last marriage and once my business started taking off, I’ve just never had time for any kind of relationships really. Always need to stay on top of the latest craftsmanship and technology if I want to keep ahead of my competitors. Here’s your ten Saphs.” He placed the money in her hand, and as he did so, his eyes fell over something, and he did a double take. “Hey, hold on. I know that necklace. Where did you get it?”

She blinked at him then looked down, her fingers finding the shell around her neck. “What, this? What do you mean, you know it?”

“I made it. Yes, there’s no doubt about it.”

“What?” Her eyes widened.

“How do you have it? You... you don’t... I mean, you wouldn’t happen to know someone named Emelri, would you?”