49 – No Words

Once he calmed down properly and thought about it a bit more, Jonny realized that the first mana well might actually still have been an option. A very last resort option, but an option. Getting all the way to the center of the mana well was out of the question, but if they could camp out on top of the cave entrance, it might be doable. There was no shelter there, and it was quite exposed, and if whatever lived in the cave woke up, they would just die, but if they had no other options, Igrette would at least be able to stabilize herself there.

Still, it was firmly at the bottom of his list. He didn’t want to be anywhere near whatever that thing in the cave was.

He checked in on Igrette who was still feverish, but alive and actively healing herself, then traveled along the ridge toward the mana well that they had passed on the way there. It took almost three hours to reach it, though not because he was too far away. He ended up picking up a stalker in the form of a second layer white-furred fox. Igrette had said that these foxes would not attack unless they were certain of victory, and they hadn’t had any issues, but Jonny must have looked like very viable prey. He had to move slowly, and stare it down whenever it got too close for a while before it finally gave up.

He did not actually make it all the way to this mana well. He didn’t even get close. The mana was hardly any denser than the average when he was forced to hide behind a tree as he heard a group of magic beasts approaching. Luckily for him, it was a herd of glass deer, and while he was pretty sure they noticed him, they were far enough away from the mana well not to get overly aggressive, and they let him back away in peace.

The deer didn’t look any more powerful than the ones that he and Igrette had defeated at the previous mana well, but that didn’t mean that it was at all doable for him. He was reasonably confident he could take on any one of the deer—except maybe the biggest ones—but taking on a whole herd? Not as he was.

When he got back to their camp, Jonny decided to stick around a little while, just in case the fox showed back up and found Igrette incapacitated. Jonny was pretty sure Igrette would be able to kill it, but he would rather she didn’t exert herself any more.

A few hours passed, and the fox did not reappear. Igrette seemed to improve slightly while he waited, but she kept her eyes closed, and her focus on her healing, so Jonny didn’t say anything to her.

Just before he was about to leave, she opened her eyes just long enough to tell him not to worry too much about her. She must have somehow sensed his nervousness about leaving her alone while she was so obviously unwell. She told him that any scavenger that might find her wouldn’t even be strong enough to pierce her skin. If she was in danger, she would be able to take care of herself.

That was only a small comfort for him as he left the snow bank shelter and headed for the third mana well. Even if she wouldn’t die to a random scavenger, that didn’t mean he was comfortable leaving her alone. This was usually the time that he would have been keeping watch and training while she slept. Even if he knew that this was ultimately for the best, he didn’t like just abandoning her.

He didn’t want to entirely skip his training for this, so as he hiked, he practice his breathing, condensing his mana as he inhaled, and pushing it out and into his body when he exhaled. His body had developed a good tolerance for the practice, and he felt that doing it this way was actually better. He originally did it while perfectly still because he was worried he would injure himself, but now that he was stronger, moving his muscles while they were saturated seemed to help them more than lying down did.

It did not take that long to reach the final mana well, and he audibly sighed when he saw what lived there. A full herd of yaks. There were almost a hundred, half sleeping, and half wandering around and grazing. The mana well was a fairly strong one, but it was also completely untakable. He doubted even a large pack of winter wolves could do anything about this.

They had encountered a herd of yaks once in their travels, and had to patiently wait for them to pass through a valley they wanted to travel through. The yaks weren’t aggressive unless you threatened the young ones, but they were extremely hardy. Their entire survival strategy revolved around being extremely hard to kill. Everything about them was tough, to the point that Igrette said her sword wouldn’t be able to do more than cut their fur if she didn’t empower it with mana. Even Jonny wouldn’t be able to strangle them to death, because their necks were just too thick.

By the time he returned to the camp, the sun was beginning to set, so he decided to put off the final mana well for the next day. Igrette was asleep, and thankfully undisturbed, so he decided to stay outside for a little bit, watching the sun set as he thought about his options.

The yak well was out of the question. It was just flat-out impossible. There were too many of them. The underground mana well was also far too risky, but it might be serviceable as a last resort, or a stopgap measure until he was able to find somewhere less dangerous. If the fourth nearby mana well wasn’t viable, though, then their only option would be to travel back the way they came, and hope the first was unoccupied.

Maybe I could take on the deer…

He tried picturing himself defeating the herd of deer. They were the weakest of the three mana wells he had scouted so far, and he had already slain one deer. Maybe if we went full guerilla warfare on them, he could take them out one by one and clear out the mana well. How long would that take, though? Even if he borrowed Igrette’s sword to speed it up, it wasn’t like it would be a quick process. And if they realized they were being hunted and grouped together, that was it. He was screwed.

But it still might be possible…

He decided that would be his even laster resort. If he couldn’t find anything else, he would leave Igrette by the cave mana well, and then try to clear out the deer. He didn’t like that idea, but it was the best he had. If worst came to worst, then maybe Igrette would be able to use the last of her strength to kill the thing in the cave, and then the more powerful mana well would be enough to help her recover…

It was a plan, but not a good one, or one he wanted to use, so it stayed as his lastest resort. If they got truly desperate, they could try that. Otherwise, he just had to hope that the last mana well was something he would be able to take. A weaker mana well with a single, stronger beast that he could hopefully choke to death. That would be ideal.

I sighed and laid back on the snow, watching as a small cloud circled overhead. The cloudhawk had been occasionally following them around, even after they left behind their piles of free meat. Jonny guessed that it must have been hoping that they left it more scraps. Either that, or it was waiting for Igrette to die, but he liked to think it was the former, and they had formed a sort of working relationship. Especially since he knew that it could swoop down and kill him at any time, and there was little he could do about it.

Once the sun finished setting, and the stars were out, he got back up, and returned to their camp to start preparing dinner. They had saved some meat from their last few kills, which was transported with Igrette on the wolf pelt, and had more than enough to survive a few nights without any fresh kills, which was good, because they hadn’t found anything.

Stolen novel; please report.

Igrette woke up on her own when the meat was just about done, and while she tried to sit up at first, she listened to Jonny when he gently pushed her back down, and asked that she stay reclined. He doubted that using her abs at all was good for her wound.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Terrible,” she said, staring up at the ceiling. “Everything hurts. Even my missing arm. I swear my elbow hurt less before I cut it off.”

“Damn…”

“But I’m not dying. Yet.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Of course I am.”

“The meat should be ready right about now. Hold on, I’ll grab you some.”

Jonny reached back and pulled one of the skewers from the ground and placed it gently in her hand. She took a large bite, then used her sleeve to wipe off the extra grease, still staring up at the ceiling. Jonny grabbed the other skewer for himself, and the two ate in silence until the food was all gone.

“Earlier while I was healing, I was also praying,” said Igrette. “I asked God why I’m still here, when it’s clear at this point that I’m more of a burden than anything else. I am ready to go. I have accepted my fate. But I am not gone yet. That can only mean there is something left for me to do. Something for me to teach you, or to protect you from.”

“Or, it’s because you’re not supposed to die yet.”