Quest (OLD: the new version MIGHT be posted shortly)

Chapter 14-Sage

The morning sun made us stir, but nobody felt like starting again. I was the first one to move. I had to; otherwise I’d be sick in the middle of our rock.

I leaned over the edge and released what little I had eaten yesterday. I stopped and heard a little voice screaming and muttering at me. I looked down and saw an imp, shaking a fist up at me from where I had ruined his morning.

“Heather,” I called, after cleaning my mouth. She was awake and looked up at me, her eyes red and nose running. “I need you to draw something.” I handed her my journal and a pencil, then reached down to pick up a cleaner imp.

I held up the imp so Heather could sketch it. It was about 5-6 inches tall and had a baby face. It looked the little cherub’s evil twin; where the cherub was an angel, the imp was a demon. Though it still had the adorable face of a child, it had twisted horns poking out of its flaxen curls. It even had a forked tail. The chubby baby face was set in a scowl as its claws dug into my index finger. Heather was sketching as fast as she could, seeing my pain, but the imp just kept digging in. The horrible creature jerked my flesh back and I did a little sound of pain. The creature looked at me and its scowl broke into a sickly amused smile. It tore my finger again, and I cried out more. The thing actually laughed. Heather was sketching like mad and finally put her pencil down. I heaved a sigh of release and threw the little devil as far as I could.

That’s what Emily had meant about “little hands”, I realized. They’re what had been tripping us. I stood up slowly, still feeling faint. Serenity was immediately at my side with a cup of medicine tea.

“What’s in this stuff?” I asked, taking a sip.

“Pine, fennel, galangal root, and a pinch of thyme, aside from the lavender tea,” Sage told me calmly. I tried to remember the uses of those herbs, but the only one I knew was lavender, which was for protection, specifically against bad dreams, and was soothing.

“What’s it for?” I asked.

“It’s supposed to help you,” she replied. She looked at me as if she knew more than she let on. It was as if she knew more than I did. I took another long sip and felt my stomach settle. I gave Serenity a nod for thanks and looked around. Most of the other questers were sitting alone, still grieving. This would not do. We had to keep moving.

I slipped into my muddy jeans from yesterday and tied my loose shirt off so it didn’t hang down so far. I slipped my boots on and checked to make sure all of my charms were still in place. I fingered my mother’s talisman and sighed. I needed knowledge now. I needed a way to lead the others past this.

I slid my fingers through my hair quickly and pulled it up in a knot on the top of my head. I turned around to see people staring at me, dumbfounded.

“What are you doing?” Carson asked. His voice was still hoarse and his eyes were red. He really had gotten to know Emily.

“I’m getting ready,” I replied. “We can’t stop now. We can’t just sit here and do nothing. Every day we waste is a day more that the Hole can kill, can torture, and can capture more mages. I’m not going to let that happen. I’m not going to let those cursed wretches at the Hole have any more! They have my dad. They have Serenity’s husband. They have Emily’s sister. They aren’t going to have any more, and they aren’t going to have those people for long. I’m going to keep going. You all signed up to come with me. You all know this. You all saw this with your own eyes. You saw the awfulness, the cruelty, the horror of reality that you decided needed to change. Just because Emily… can’t see the wish granted, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be. That doesn’t mean it won’t be, because it will. It has to.”