They'd been on the road moving practically non-stop. Even travelling late into the nights. Havi guiding them through the dark until they'd have to stop to give themselves and the horses a break. During this time Havi barely spoke to Olya, still angry about her actions in Carborough. He had been leading them directly south to cross the border into the Lower Principalities. A loose collection of nation states who were no longer controlled by the Faith Lands. While magic was not outlawed, they had their own issues. They crossed over the day before, yet Havi was still keen to try and put distance between them and any mage hunters who might be willing to cross the border in pursuit. This was the first time Havi had let them stop as the sun set instead of keeping going. They proceeded to set up camp. The atmosphere between them was still tense.
Olya pondered how long Havi was going to be cold to her. She fully understood why he was angry with her and didn't question that he had a right to be. She was still troubled by the potential consequences that her actions might cause, to them or others. Part of her stood by what she did, but another part of her wondered if she had chosen differently would things have turned out better. If she had woken Tamlen up? Waited for Havi to get back? Gotten their help to ensure success and prevent Agnes and Haymitch from being caught. She wondered if there was something she could do or say that would smooth things over with Havi but came up blank. At least Tamlen had been fine, it would have been worse if he had been cold as well. As they finished setting up camp Tamlen spoke.
"Perhaps I should have a lesson with Olya? We're not on the Faith Lands anymore and it's the first night in a while where it's not too late..." He asked tentatively.
"Sure."
Havi answered, one word. No smile, and even tone with a neutral face.
She and Tamlen walked a distance from the camp to find a good spot. Olya posed a question to Tamlen when she thought they were out of Havi's hearing range.
"Do you think Havi is going to be always angry at me now?" She asked, sheepishly and uncertain.
She saw Tamlen think up his answer. Carefully choosing his words.
"It's not just anger...it's mostly worry. Mage hunters are not to be taken lightly, he has reason for them to give him pause. They have justly earned their reputation for efficient brutality. Even someone with his talents would have a tough fight against a squadron. Until he feels you are out of immediate danger... He's probably going to keep being like that. There's nothing you can do for now."
Olya nodded.
"...Okay... What do you have to show me today?"
Tamlen gave her a warm smile.
"Well, based on what you did to the cleric, I'm assuming you had no trouble summoning your power?"
"He made me angry enough that it was easy to call forth."
Tamlen nodded.
"It was quite the display. Did you mean to summon that much force? Did you feel in control?"
Olya cogitated. Then answered with her eyes cast down.
"Yes, I was in control and I fully intended to kill him."
Tamlen took this on.
"Then let's try something smaller. When you first showed me your power you created a bolt of lightning out of your hand and it bounced off various objects before finally stopping."
He summoned a trail of water and made it dance through the air.
"When I do this, I am planning out where I want the water to go before I move it. To ensure I keep control of its movement. I want you to do the same, plan where you want the lightning to jump to before it goes. It'll be too fast to do once you cast it. Let's see if you can control it. But first let me...."
"Find some cover?" She retorted with a smirk.
Tamlen chuckled and nodded. He found a ditch he could kneel in to potentially shield himself. Olya focussed on summoning the storm. She went straight back to her memories of the cleric, swiftly filling with rage at his corruption, ego and desire to arbitrarily assert dominance. She clutched the inner storm and harnessed it. She held out her hand, she took a deep breath, planned the path she wished the bolt to take and set it loose. She commanded it to hit the same four trees three times each, bouncing between them. When it finished its path it dissipated into the air. The trees neatly separated into four pieces each and fell to the floor, edges scorched.
Tamlen poked his head up from the ditch and gave her a beaming smile.
"You did it! I knew you could!"
"Yet you still ducked for cover?" She jibed light-heartedly.
He chuckled.
"Having faith in something doesn't mean you shouldn't prepare for it to go wrong. I was hopeful, not stupid. There's something else I would like you to work on. I want you to try meditating...in the sense you try to access your power in a state of calm. Slowly working toward the point you can access your power without filling yourself with rage."
"I thought you said being angry was how I access my power?" She queried.
"It is one route but...it makes your use of it far more conditional and less effective, if you have to make yourself angry each time. Being able to reach it in a state of calm is vital to mastery. Do you think I'm summoning a particular emotional state every time I cast? I just instinctively bring it forth, like muscle memory. It also helps to prevent your power being blocked by fear, if you can summon it regardless through practice. Since we aren't in the Faith Lands now, you should be able to work on that." He smiled.
Olya returned his smile.
"Anything else for this lesson?"
"I think you made good progress today. That'll do."
They walked back to camp where Havi was making dinner. No words were exchanged and supper was eaten in silence. They went to bed soon after. Even with the awkwardness between her and Havi, he had still been sharing his tent with her. She restlessly lay there, savouring his scent like fiery whiskey. Even with the metaphorical distance between them right now, she cherished that he was still keeping her close. She slowly surrendered to sleep.
She woke up the next morning to Havi shaking her legs and shouting at her.
"WAKE UP! YOU NEED TO HIDE!"
He dragged her out of the tent and ushered her to an old large tree with wide roots. He started pulling undergrowth aside to reveal a burrow large enough for her to hide in.
She asked in a flustered panic.
"WHY?!"
He barked at her.
"I hear horses and lots of armoured boots headed straight for us. GET IN!"
She scrambled into the hole and Havi covered it with the vegetation.
"Don't make a sound and don't get out until Me or Tamlen come! Or you're beyond certain you are alone!"
Olya sat in the dark as Havi ran back to the camp and hid her bedroll and pack in some overgrowth. Tamlen was doing whatever he could to conceal the presence of a third person at camp before he ran out of time.
Then it happened. More than a dozen mounted riders charged towards them and surrounded the camp. Havi heard archers hiding in the trees bows trained on them. Far more than he could safely dodge and Tamlen would be riddled with them. Both Tamlen and Havi raised their hands signifying non aggression and potential surrender.
"Is there a problem gentlemen?" Havi asked the riders. Keeping his tone even and easy going.
"Where's the girl?" The most decorated rider yelled.
"What girl?" Havi answered. Faking confusion.
"The girl you have been seen travelling with!" The officer rider barked.
"There's no girl here. Just us two camping." Havi maintained his confused facade.
The officer ordered his men.
"Take these two back and search the immediate area, they might be hiding her!"
The riders dismounted. They bound Havi and Tamlen's arms behind their backs with metal manacles. Havi's weapons were confiscated and the riders aggressively searched the camp and the surrounding area. Havi and Tamlen desperately hid their tension as the riders started probing around the tree Olya was hidden under. As one was starting to poke at the vegetation hiding the hole Havi ran to the officer and headbutted him. The searching rider's attention snapped to his superior and swiftly joined the group trying to subdue Havi. Once things had settled, the searching rider's finished their investigation, missing Olya and her hidden things.
"Nothing, sir!"
One of the riders reported to the officer. Who was pinching his bleeding nose.
"Very Well let's take these two back to Merevingeon. He'll want to interrogate them himself."
The rider saluted. They mounted up, put Havi and Tamlen on the horses and took them with them.
Olya sat there in the dark in silence. She didn't know for exactly how long but felt crippled by guilt. This was her fault. When Olya heard nothing but the sounds of the forest, she poked her head out of the hole. She had a cautious look around. Satisfied that she was alone she left the hole and went to sit at the campsite. What did she do now? She didn't know where they had taken Havi and Tamlen. Was she supposed to wait? Find somewhere to lay low and hope they'd find her? Or keep moving? Hoping she could handle being by herself? She tried to decide, commit to a course of action. She worked through the costs and benefits to each one. She had been so absorbed in her problem solving it took her a while to notice the shambling footsteps coming towards her.
When she noticed the source she shrieked. It was a corpse, feminine and decayed. When she made eye contact with it, it made a wheezing croaking noise, gnashed its teeth and lunged at her. It caught her by surprise, but she pulled her dagger. She slipped the knife through the ribs to where the heart was.
The corpse didn't even flinch.
She kicked the corpse away, her dagger stuck in its chest. She tried to reach for her inner storm but her innate panic and horror at what she was seeing left it beyond her grasp. She did the only thing she could do at that moment.
She ran.
She sprinted away from it. It followed after her in a shambling run. She pelted along, weaving her way through the trees, ducking under branches, jumping over roots and ditches. It hissed at her, letting her know it wasn't far behind. She kept running, dashing towards the edge of the treeline into cleared ground. A stone fence was fast approaching, she vaulted over it. She heard the corpse growl and gurgle as it launched itself over shortly after. Her lungs were burning and her muscles were screaming as she passed through what appeared to be a farm. Tears and sobs came out of her. She couldn't keep this up. This nightmare was going to catch up to her. Havi and Tamlen, if they survived what they went to, may never know what became of her. If by some miracle she survived this, she needed to tell them how sorry she was, how she meant for none of this. Perhaps she deserved this, to be torn apart, Havi and Tamlen would be free of their responsibilities to her. They could go back to living their lives.
As she felt the strength start to leave her muscles, she knew that she was going to fall soon. When she heard a thunderous bang. She stumbled and face planted into the ground. She turned around expecting to see the corpse bearing down upon her, to give her death. Instead she saw it splayed out on the ground with a significant portion of its head missing, the wound charred.
She looked around to see a farmer with a musket slung over his shoulder walking towards her. He was in his forties, graying hair with crows feet and tanned skin. He stopped in front of her and held out his hand.
