Linus Toria

Chapter 18

Manon was pleased. The fresh wind was a welcome change compared to the stale air she used to breathe in in the last few hours. Even better, somebody had killed all the dwarves for her.

On their way through the tunnel she had still debated wether she should really do it. Once they reached the round room her decision had become unnecessary. In her oppinion, those drastic measures were completely justified. After all, the dwarves had wanted to kill them first.

Even though they apparently changed their intentions, they were still untrustworthy. And they had seen their group and might somehow suspect that there was something wrong with them. Manon knew that was mostly her paranoia talking but she could only relax if all potential sources of danger were nipped in the bud.

Speaking of, Lina was even more dangerous than the dwarves. After all, she had seen what damage Etienne had taken and survived. No normal human was capale of surviving that feat.

The next time they met, Manon decided to kill that girl. Her teammate Gaspard would probably oppose her on this but she could just do it secretly. In the end it was a pity that her body was not amongst the dwarves. That would have saved Manon a lot of work. Now she had to actively search for the girl.

While Manon was plotting murder in her mind, her teammates had dropped to the ground to marvel at the stars. While the sight was pretty, she was being bothered by more pressing matter. Like the freezing temperatures. During daytime the desert had no problem surpassing the fifty degree mark but at night zero degrees could be considered pretty mild.

On top of that she was drenched in sweat from the manuall labour of building their way out. Searching through her backpack she found her tent only to remember that her tent poles were already occupied. Sourly she settled for the tarpaulin instead and threw it over her surpised teammates.

„Hey! What are you doing?", Gaspard complained.

„I'm cold and tired", Manon declared, „And you should be as well. So we need to cuddle together to keep warm"

„That's a good idea", Mathieu praised, „but it will be for naught if we don't have any isolation against the ground. Gaspard, go get one more tarpaulin"

„On it"

Minutes later all except Mathieu who was on guard duty were cuddled together between two tarpaulins while trying to keep Etienne warm as well without putting too much pressure on his injured form. Unfortunately, they were all still too wound-up and couldn't sleep.

Manon was trying her best to ignore her thoughts and drift off into sleep but every little noise seemed amplified and her brain was searching intently for something. She didn't know what. At a loud groan she almost jumped to her feet.

„Etienne's waking up", Elodie informed them, „Eti, can you hear me?"

He must have nodded because the medic started telling him about his situation, how they had found him and where they were at the moment.

„W-water, please", he whispered raspily, „What's wrong with my voice?"

„Your vocal chords were damaged. Until we reach a magic saturated area I won't be able to fix it", Elodie explained.

Mathieu had come closer to question his injured comrade: „Do you remember what happened?"

„Yeah, but it's all a little hazy", Etienne confirmed, „Lina and I had entered the corridor that Gaspard and Manon hadn't scouted. After some time we reached the room with the magic array. Unfortunately, I had never taken one down for real so I was a little overwhelmed. Lina was trying to teach me how to do it and I was being foolish and didn't take her seriously. In the end she left and I stayed behind to look some more around.

I thought I was alone but suddenly a man appeared and got without reason really angry at me. He wasn't speaking any language I knew so I didn't understand him. I was trying to calm him down and he pushed me into the circle. Then everything exploded and I lost consciousness", Etienne rasped on.

„You were pushed?", Mathieu asked eerily calm.

„Yes, but I gave him no reason to attack me. I was just standing there!", Etienne felt the need to stress that fact.

„Was that man also caught in the explosion?", Elodie implored, „Because you were the only one at the scene when we arrived"

„No", Etienne denied sheepishly, „he was shielded by my body"

„So that bastard hurt you and got away without any repercussions?", Mathieu summarised.

„As much as it pains me to admit, yes" Etienne said shamefaced, „But I've only got myself to blame as I stupidly believed that he wouldn't attack me. And when he did, I couldn't react in time"

„What matters most, is that you're still alive", Elodie consoled.

„By the way, where's Lina?", Etienne perked up.

Gaspard visibly deflated and Mathieu and Elodie looked guiltily elsewhere. Manon was the only one unmoved by the question. „She left", she informed him.

„Why?", Etienne asked wide-eyed, „she knows a great deal about magic. Maybe she's a mage herself and even if she wasn't she could give our team really useful advice"

„After your accident, she felt that our group was useless and she wouldn't gain anything by staying", Manon lied. She didn't want any more sympathisers with the girl. That would only create more problems when she finally got rid of her.

Mathieu and Elodie seemed to actually consider her statement and only Gaspard gaped at her lie. „To me she didn't seem like the type to focus only on advantages", Etienne mused loudly.

„Maybe she hid it well", Manon retorted. She was surprised as nobody disagreed with her anymore. Especially Gaspard. Looking towards him, she realized that he was giving her a considering stare making her want to squirm.

Had he figured out what she was planning to do? Would she have to kill him too? Nonsense, she scolded herself. Gaspard was still her comrade and has accompanied her for the last 29 years. When it came to the worst he would choose her side over Lina's.

That girl was just a stranger he seemed to be infatuated with. And just like Manon, Gaspard had been taught to make rational decisions without being influenced by his feelings. In addition, they were still kin. Perhaps not as close as her and Mathieu who were both from the M-series as Gaspard was a special model without a series. But they were created in the same factory. That had to count for something. And there weren't many of their kind left. So they had to stick together.

Placated that Gaspard wouldn't become a problem for her, Manon finally relaxed. Coming to the conclusion that everything including Etienne was going to be fine the group went back to sleep.