Totrium

Chapter Thirteen: New Territory

Adrian leaned against the raised platform behind the helm with the journal flipped open to the map. "We're nearing the coordinates," he said, looking up at Zuri who was steering the ship. He wore his beloved orange shirt again, having gotten all the blood stains out with one of the inventor's cleaning solutions.

"What should we be looking for anyway?" they asked, peering out at the seemingly endless dunes.

He looked down at the book as if it would give him answers. "I'm not sure. I'd have thought a power plant would be hard to miss."

"It's probably been buried by the sand, like the ship was." It was Jacques who spoke, the leader walking over and leaning on the railing to look out.

Adrian immediately felt himself tense up. He glanced up from the pages to see the man peering very seriously out at the landscape. His wavy black hair was blowing in the soft breeze and glistening under the sunlight. As soon as blue eyes fell over the white linen shirt and the slightly exposed chest, they were blinking away quickly.

He'd been in a state of unadulterated anxiety the last day and a half since their run-in with Carnadine. It was not from the blood or gore he'd witnessed, however, that had caused such distress. He'd felt something for Jacques that day. Something that was not in any way platonic, and certainly not something one should feel for their friend.

He shifted his weight onto his other foot, looking down at the ancient Elden words but not actually reading them while he continued to sort through his thoughts.

He had no explanation for it. The feeling hadn't gone away either and this was made evident as Jacques's mere presence was causing him to sweat. Had they all just gotten too close the past month since he'd joined their group? But he didn't feel that way about Zuri or Andre.

He glanced up at the inventor who gave him a friendly smile which he returned wholeheartedly, then his eyes drifted over to Andre who was on the opposite side of where Jacques stood, searching the dunes for a sign of anything. He remembered their time in the kitchen and couldn't help the warmth he felt in his chest. Then his eyes were on Jacques again, but he could barely linger there as his cheeks heated up. A fierce pit formed in his stomach. If he felt this way about a man, then had he ever really loved Madi?

He shook his head slightly.

Of course, he had. That wasn't even a question. She'd made him suffer body and soul for three years while he pined after her.

"Stop fussing, Zuri!" the man causing Adrian's inner crisis cut through his thoughts. "I told you it doesn't hurt anymore."

"You keep rubbing at it though," they said, looking him over in concern.

"Yeah, you try having all your energy sucked out at once."

That's right, Adrian thought. This whole situation was probably just that he'd been caught up in the heat of the moment after they'd landed a triumphant blow against Carnadine. After almost losing his friend, of course Adrian would be emotional. His heart rate calmed down. This explanation would have to do for now.

"Well, actually," Zuri corrected, "it's more like the element inside those collars destabilizes the magic inside you, which causes the pain and feeling of faintness."

He rolled his eyes. "Knowing that doesn't make it hurt any less."

"Wait...an element?" Adrian interjected, and they both glanced over at him.

Zuri nodded. "It's something that Carnadine and Spillers alike have used to take down magic users for centuries called Teptrite. She uses it in basically all her weapons. When struck, it reverberates and the pulse is painful to magic users and blocks their magic, causing them to pass out at the right intensity."