The Tale of The Frenzied Maiden and The Knight of The Three Fingers

Chapter 7

On the circular plaza behind her, the enormous tree stood its glory. It no longer held leaves, its formerly golden crown replaced by a massive, infernal sphere of fire. The throne by the base of its roots stood empty. Disa found herself standing on the edge of the high wall, eyes open wide with blinding orange light playing on their cornea. The capital burned. Every building, every monument were engulfed by flames, and outside its borders they slowly but steadily crept over the open fields of the Lands, leaving everything in its wake in complete desolation. She was not alone. Strong arms embraced her from behind, held her close and secure but told of no fear or need to protect her. They had succeeded. They were together, they were untouchable, they-

Disa awakened with a sharp gasp. What a frightful dream! Naturally, it might not be so strange to be haunted by such a nightmare at this time, surely it was just an aftermath of last night's strange events, but just as surely did it leave her rattled and she did not ease before she could spot her partner peacefully feeding Moonveil berries from her hand before moving on to thoroughly pick his hooves. She had changed into a rust-coloured wool shirt neatly tucked into the hem of her dark brown leather pants. She had also attached the greaves protecting her knees and shins and she had her gloves and gauntlets on, but her chest plate and pauldrons were of course, as of yesterday, lost back in the woods.

Resting her head in her hand for a moment, the physician shamefully considered the other aspect of her dream... The aspect of pure delight from the knight's very presence in this vision, even in such a horrible, dystopian scene. It was like the state of the world had not even phased her because-

'Good morning, Miss Fieldstream.' As polite as ever, customary addressing the physician by surname, she still managed to surprise her by putting her hand appreciatively on her arm as she approached her. Completely thrown off from her bewildered pondering Disa blushed indiscreetly, an expression which the knight obviously did not at all address. 'Did you manage to sleep?' 'A-actually, I think I got a few hours. What about you?' Linnae shook her head unconcernedly. 'Not tonight. I've been... Thinking.' 'I remember what you said yesterday', it was not often that the physician resorted to fidgeting with her hands, but now was apparently, much to her chagrin, such a moment. 'What you said about needing some time to process... Last night.' 'I am sorry.' Linnae seemed sincerely distraught by her own recurring cumbersomeness. 'I... My mind is... Frailer than you would think. It... Sways, easily. I owe a lot to you, Miss Fieldstream, and as soon as I'm a bit calmer I will-' 'Hey, hey- enough of the apologising.' As the knight did not look to see the colour of her blossoming cheeks, Disa took the liberty of again taking her by the hand anew, squeezing it lightly. Only then did she think herself to see some change in tone upon the knight's own visage, which engaged her enormously. 'I trust you', she insisted, 'So just tell me how we are proceeding.' Linnae nodded. ' From now on, we... No, I, do not sleep unless there is a Grace nearby. No matter what. I think... He can reach me, when I sleep. Somehow...' Disa dearly wished her theory to be correct, would this man be able to reach them at any moment away from Grace, in the shape of a phantom no less, their chances were doubtlessly slim. 'One thing we can know for certain', Linnae continued, 'is that this mission is not, and will not be, the same as it was. Our opposition is now not just the dangers of this island, not just... Me. I have yet again been naive, and... I cannot bear how much danger I'm putting you in.' Of course, she was right. Disa was doubtlessly the wrong kind of person to be in this kind of situation, as had she been from the very start of this journey, utterly dependent on Linnae in almost every aspect. However, they had been through this already.

'Linnae, it was my own choice to-'

'But there is something that I just can't-'

They spoke precisely at the same time, and glad to not have to defend her decision a second time, Disa let the knight speak. 'Well,' she began, 'do you know the full purpose of a maiden, Miss Fieldstream?' Disa shrugged. 'On a fundamental level, yes. They accompany knights on holy missions. They, how should I put it, interpret the Erdtree's energy, they... Can heal, sometimes... And oh, they convert the spirits of fallen foes into strength, right? How does that work?' Disa realized how infantile she had to sound when it came to just about anything of magical nature. Hopefully Linnae did not think of her a fool. 'Well', she said simply, 'Those are the basic duties of a maiden. And thought neither healing nor converting is exactly what took place last night... The more I think of it, the more I am certain that you are to thank for our escape.'