Ensnared
Given a heading by the imprisoned Pack members, Noah, Valia, and Shannon departed from Welindar, heading northeast on horseback, though Shannon preferred to gallop on her own hooves. With the Pack all but vanquished in the city and the poison arrows ready and waiting, now was as good a time as any to go out and search for the kidnapped horse tribe. Heading northeast, they dove back into the wilderness, crossing plains and forests. Their pace was quick, driven by Shannon's eagerness, and Noah and Valia often had to call out to her when she raced too far ahead.
Autumn had taken hold, and the winds that crossed the plains had lost their sweet warmth. Soon, the branches over their heads would be bare, but they greedily clung to their remaining amber leaves for now. The sun was also quick to set, much to Shannon's dismay.
"Are you sure we can't keep going? There is still some light left," she asked as they made camp.
"It'll take half a month for us to get there, and no amount of desperation is going to change that timeframe. Besides, you need to rest whenever you can," Noah reminded her.
They had found a wooded area to camp in, out of the wind and out of sight. Since the nights were getting colder, they brought tents, alchemically crafted out of mylar, which reflected the campfire's heat. They were open-sided to provide a complete view of anything trying to sneak up, and Noah also set up an alarm system he built in Sylphtoria to alert them if anything came close to their camp. He even had some magic tools to conceal the smoke of their fire and any other scents that might give away their position.
Though Shannon was anxious to keep moving, once she sat down, all of her accumulated fatigue hit her, and as Noah started cooking a wild bird he caught, she became aware of her hunger. Not wanting to remain purely on the receiving end, she prepared soup to go with it, using the techniques of her tribe.
"I had never seen a city before coming to Welindar, and it was truly amazing to see so many buildings and people, but I much prefer it out here, in the wilderness."
"I definitely know that feeling. As an elf, I feel truly at home among the trees."
"I spent a lifetime living in a log cabin in a place called Alaska. It was beautiful, rugged country, with mountains carpeted in lush forest, and rivers and lakes winding across the land. The winters were brutal, colder than you can imagine, and there would be a whole month where the sun just wouldn't rise, but the summers were just spectacular, and the sun would never set. It was a difficult life, but also very tranquil. Every night, if the weather would permit me, I'd sit outside on my porch, looking at the stars."
"Did you have a wife?" Valia asked.
"No, I was alone, but I had befriended most of the animals in the area. An Alaskan grizzly won't hesitate to tear open a suit of armor like a burlap sack, but if you know how to handle them and be patient, they'll roll on their backs and let you rub their bellies. You have not lived until you given a bear a belly rub."
Valia and Shannon giggled, and Shannon hugged her knees to her chest with a lingering smile. Though she didn't dare to say it, more than simply enjoying being back in the countryside, she was happy to finally be alone with Noah and Valia. From when they traveled to Welindar to when they worked for the prince, there were always other people around: Uther soldiers who saw her as a nuisance and beastmen who saw her as a traitor.
Finally, she was away from that negativity, free to be with her friends. Noah, who had become her mentor, and Valia, who gave her courage; they were her heroes, her saviors, and her respect and gratitude towards them were beyond words. She had taken it upon herself to serve them loyally, and though she longed to be reunited with her tribe and return to her old life, part of her wanted to continue following them, aiding them with whatever incredible endeavors awaited.
After running all day, Shannon quickly fell asleep while Noah and Valia remained awake, gazing at the stars. Noah used his concealment magic to contain their voices so they could talk without waking her.
"Valon and I used to spend countless nights stargazing like this, searching for new runic constellations."
"And you could just make new spells like that?"
"Rarely. The stars had to line up just right, and as they moved, the spells would weaken."
"You know, this is the first world I've been to where I don't recognize the stars."
"Really?"
"It's true. In every world I reincarnated in, the stars were always the same. I even learned how to tell the date by measuring the stars. It's how I figured out I was always being reborn into the same time period, even if the world around me was more primitive or advanced. It was comforting to know I could always rely on them. No matter how different everything else was, they remained the same."
"That's so sweet," she said, rubbing her head against his shoulder.
"Thanks," he sighed.
"What's wrong?"
"Using the tech in the lab, I managed to write a counter spell for my curse."
"You did? That's great!"
"Not really. It's mainly just a proof of concept. The spell itself is incredibly simple, just supply a certain amount of power to completely obliterate the curse. It's like moving a boulder; the spell figured out how much force would be required if you pushed it with just your hands. If I can add specifications, details, and algorithms to the formula, then I can lower the required energy, the same way you can use levers and pulleys to move the boulder easier."
"Well how much power are we walking?"
