Teach Me Magic - Teach Me How To Fly

12th Tea part four

It was the gentle sent of chamomille that brought Shen Wei eventually back to his senses. The first thing he saw was the white sky above, filled with clouds, the kind of sky that just looks all cotton-like with not one bit of blue. He looked to his left and could see Rosie resting a few meters away, blinking her big round eyes at him. Turning his head to look to his right, he was met with the leather clad back of his knight. Half unconsciously he leaned to rest his face against him.

Zhao Yunlan looked at the slowly wakening Shen Wei nuzzling his thigh. "Rise and shine."

The Captain was smiling but there were signs of tiredness and wrinkles of worry in his face. He was holding a wooden laquered travel cup filled with nicely smelling chamomille tea, a translucently yellowish liquid. But his leather armor had signs of a brutal fight, it was even damaged in several places with long  deep cuts, his hands had forming bruises and his arms and neck were stained with a thick blackish fluid - the blood of creatures born of black magic.

Zhao Yunlan noticed Shen Wei analyzing his looks and turned away after handing him the cup of tea. "Sorry, I'm a mess..." he mumbled and got up. "I will go wash myself first."

"Wait!" Shen Wei sat up and caught the hem of the rider's tunic with his free hand. "What happened? I only remember being in the village." Only now Shen Wei thought to look over himself but there was not a single scratch on him... Only the back of his right hand had a small bruise on it that felt hot, like a small fresh burn. Then he once again stared down the man in front of himself with worrying eyes. "Are you okay?"

Zhao Yunlan gave his companion a gentle half-smile. "I'm fine. Only tired. It was a long day and I didn't know when..." ...and if... "you would wake up from the spell. I'll be back soon, don't worry." With that he briskly left.

* * *

Captain Zhao submerged his head in the icy cold river. He was standing in the middle of the shallow waters only in his underpants, trying to wash off all the bad blood and filth off of himself. Rosie stayed behind to keep Shen Wei company and to guard him. He was glad Shen Wei didn't seem to remember what happened, he himself wished he could forget all he'd seen inside that cottage.

Not like Shen Wei hadn't warned him that Noon Hags are definitely man-eating monsters, so any chances of discovering the lost children alive were tiny...

But he'd never imagine he'd see pieces of furniture and small totems made out of tiny white bones and parts of soft white skin hanging around the room, drying out... Brown blood stains all over the floor and walls, ugly rotten and rusty blades clincking hanged around on strings...

And amidst all that macabre and disgusting sights, in a hazy state stood his perfect and pure Shen Wei. Right next to a heated stove while this ugly, deformed two-legged, two-armed, but otherwise inhuman and wretched crouched creature paced around back and forth, wondering how to fit a grown up men into her child-sized cremation place.

After dealing with the monster, Zhao Yunlan carried out the unconscious Shen Wei and burnt down the terrifying place. No one should ever witnessed what he had today. The smell of burning flesh permeated his lungs and so he called Rosie, flying with Shen Wei away to find a safe camping place. He himself didn't want to go back to the town. It's not like the villagers should know what exactly happened. From now on, there will be no bewitched children getting lost. End of the story.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shen Wei decided to assess the situation, trying hard to piece together little bits of his memory of the last 2 days but everything was too misty. The last thing he remembered was the bonfire with the locals, nothing further. He got up eventually, sipping the calming tea. He noticed Yunlan had opened his medicinal herb bag and searched it for the chamomille flowers. He probably searched for something he himself knows safely, since Shen Wei kept both poisonous and healing herbs in there.

Rosie carefully watched her wizzard as instructed as if making sure he doesn't suddenly fall down and hurt himself. Shen Wei walked over to her and reached out his arm. She gently nudged it with her beak, making a low sound, nodding her head.

"Yes, let's wait for Yunlan," he smiled. He was slightly worried because of Zhao Yunlan's expression before leaving here but he hoped the Captain would eventually tell him everything without any pressure. Afterall, according to his own words, the mission has been accomplished... but the man himself looked like it had left a deep scar on his heart.

* * *

"Yunlan!" Shen Wei rose up from the fire site as soon as the Griffin rider came back.

Zhao Yunlan evaded looking directly at Shen Wei and instead headed straight for Rosie, adjusting her saddle. "You alright, Shen Wei?" He asked.

"Yes, but..." Shen Wei hesitated but eventually nodded. "I'm fine."

"Good," Captain Zhao started collecting their camping equipment. "We'll ride through the night and stop only when necessary. Ideally, we'll be able to arrive in Capital at the beginning of new week. After that...!" he patted Rosie's greyish fluffy feathered neck. "...training and more training! These two champions need to protect their title afterall!"

Shen Wei sighed. "Can I even succeed in talking you out of that mad race?"

Grining, Zhao Yunlan put on a confident smirk. "I might be available to bargain... in bed!" As always, running away from serious topics to obscenities.

"Zhao Yunlan!" the wizzard turned a slightly redder shade of pink at the shameless suggestion.

"Yes, my love?" pretending he had no idea why Shen Wei just raised his voice, he continued to fold the blankets.

Again, Shen Wei felt like sighing. What will happen to them when they're back, though? One in the Military, training for the big upcomming annual race... the other researching at the Academy. Are their regular lives even compatible?

* * *

Heya! Finally, after 6 months of sometimes promising to update, I finally finished the 12th episode... Sorry... It's just too much the last few months working in the epidemic ward, things getting worse and worse with our government being totally useless... plus family and friends worrying me all the time...

Butt! Here we are back on track for the emotional wreck! XD I'm not promising consistent updates, when I update next, nobody knows... But for once, here's an update! I have to say Teach Me Magic fans are not as persistent as Mascarade fans, you guys are well-behaved and patient! <3 Thank you for that! XD

So until next time!!!