Six Will Stand (First Draft)

Chapter 3

Maria—14:37
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"So, first things first: lodgings!" Fai turned around to face all of the others as they entered the small town.

"Whatever works for you guys. We're not picky," Caleb said. He noticed that the others were a little stiff with them after they found out. He hoped they would calm down and just accept it. He and his siblings all had. He guessed it was probably harder for the person being guarded than the guardian though.

"Okay, Marion, you make the rooming arrangements; I'll go stock up on supplies in the market." Fai then motioned to the twins. "You two...do whatever you do. Cade, you come with me!"

"O-okay...." Cade reluctantly left Marion to get them their rooms and followed Fai to the market.

After the others left, Josh turned to his brother. "What do we...?" He broke off, not wanting to say too much.

His brother got the message. "I think they'll be all right. We should give them some space. Besides, I used my last amulet to distract that dragon. It's always a good idea to carry some of those around." Josh nodded, but he still looked unsure. Caleb hissed in his ear, "You know what happens when they're in trouble. We're linked to them; we'll know." That only seemed to partly reassure him, but he let his brother guide him toward the market.
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"I call the chair," Marion immediately said once they entered the inn room. The room was small, but it only seemed that way since there were two double beds taking up most of the space. The chair that Marion mentioned was tucked into one of the corners. "I didn't have enough money to get two rooms; apparently this place is a big tourist spot."

"No kidding. The marketplace is huge compared to most cities," Josh responded. He and Caleb didn't mind the cramped space; they were pretty used to it by now. "How long do you guys want to stay here?"

"Until we figure out what to do next," Cade replied, falling backwards onto one of the beds. "I'm exhausted." Fai nodded, agreeing, and curled up on the bed, laying on his side. He fell asleep quickly.

Josh and Caleb made their way to the other bed and fell into it. Josh fell asleep almost instantly, but Caleb remained awake, staring at the ceiling. Then he got an idea.

"Cade? Are you getting more headaches than usual? Riv always had some, but never as many as you seem to have had recently."

Cade nodded slowly. "Yeah. They come and go, though."

"Do you think you'd know if Riv is doing anything?"

"Like if she's somehow inside my head?"

Caleb shrugged. "I don't know. It's your head. I guess I'm just a bit worried about her." He stripped off his outer jacket, revealing both burns from earlier. They looked pretty bad, bright red and swollen. Now that he was paying attention, both his entire left arm and right shoulder throbbed terribly. Groaning slightly, he reached to his pack, which he had thrown on the floor earlier, finding the burn salve he and Josh carried around and began to apply it to the wounds.

"O-oh, are you okay?" Cade sat up, worried. "Marion knows some healing spells; it'll help you heal much faster than using the salve alone." The blond rolled off the bed, whimpering slightly as his sore limbs stretched themselves out. "Here, I can wake her if you want," Cade moved to go over to the chair Marion had fallen asleep on.

"Don't bother. It's all right. She seems a little wiped. She probably could use the sleep." Caleb winced as he touched his arm. "Most of the burns seem to be only second degree anyway. I've had worse. It looks worse that it is." He paused. "There's a small part on my back that I'm having a hard time reaching though if you don't mind...." He trailed off.

Cade nodded his head and grabbed the jar of salve. "Hey...can I ask you a question? Oh, and where's the part you can't reach? Is it under your shirt? ...Those, um, weren't the questions I wanted to ask...."