Chapter One Hundred and Sixty Nine: Sleep it Off
His head was going to explode.
He was sure of it.
It hurt like living fucking hell.
After waking up around noon, Xaphile had barely been able to get out of bed, let alone help everyone pack up and get ready to go, and the same held true for Ella. His eyes had almost been plastered shut, tired and hurting as he was, and his tongue was numb and totally dry.
He was grateful once they were on the road again since it meant he could go back to sleep.
And sleep, he did: for several hours, he was completely out of it, waking up off and on to the sensation of Skitsy swaying beneath him and Ella resting against his chest.
Eventually, however, he couldn't fall back asleep.
Which left him to his misery.
Xaphile let out a small groan for the hundredth time since they'd gotten on the road, cheek pillowed on the top of Ella's soft hair as they swayed from side to side. None of the others complained, however, since most of them were in similarly bad shape.
They'd made their way out of the mountains at some point and already had begun crossing the plains where Amelia had been chasing rabbits so long ago. The memory made him realize how far they'd come with their relationships since the last time he'd been here.
Behind him and Ella, the Sysh brothers trudged along beside the cart, speaking quietly with Ninira and Bruno, and ahead of them, Gus was looking at the scenery with the two prisoners lying tied across the back of his saddle in a very uncomfortable-looking position.
They both had cloths tied over their mouths to prevent them from talking, and they looked like they were in a mild amount of pain, but Xaphile resigned himself to ignoring that since they were, at present, still enemies who wanted to do great harm to them.
Ella shifted, breathing softly, and he sighed, cuddling her again.
The events of last night still lingered in his mind.
The intensity of the moment, the way she'd finally broken down, her words, the feel of her.
For the first time, he was contemplating what to do.
Really what to do.
Knowing that he needed to truly think about the future made his current headache worse, but lying to himself about things wasn't going to make things any easier, period. If they kept up on this spiraling game of hot and cold, someone was eventually going to get hurt.
He closed his eyes, letting himself drift off for a little while.
He would come to a decision eventually.
Ready or not, he wouldn't be a coward anymore.
He just needed to figure out what, exactly, he was going to do.
Resigned, he fell asleep again, and time passed in a blur after that.
There was no reason for them to stop, so the trek was endlessly undisturbed, save for a single moment when he was woken up to eat a loaf of bread. He cast a glance backwards and found that three of the Sysh brothers had taken to sitting on the cart with Adariel, Windal, and Faeble.
Druthmar and Obi were the only ones still walking.
Bruno was dozing off against Ninira's chest, using it as a pillow of sorts, and Vordt's deer-mount had returned to him at some point while he'd been unconscious. Xaphile was confused as to where the creature had been until then, but his uncle was still riding it majestically.
When Adariel caught his eye and waved, however, he smiled sleepily and waved back.
Then he turned around and leaned against Ella's soft hair again, letting out a sigh.
Sleep found him again not long after that.
The next time he was roused, it was dark outside, and it was only because Ninira let out a gasp.
"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?!" the woman hissed, throwing her arms into the air with a surprisingly angry expression. "Forgive my impertinence, but I highly doubt those bastards would be willing to listen to such a confrontation!"
"Whether they're willing is none of my concern," Ella said sternly. "It is one of the biggest topics that needs to be addressed aside from the situation with Duke McCarthy and King Osric."
Her words made him raise his head off of hers with a tired yawn and blearily peer around, but instead of seeing the plains, there were familiar dark green trees all around him. They'd made it back into the southern forests, although how far in they'd gone was beyond him.
He felt, suddenly, as if he'd come home after being away for a long time.
It was swift and unexpected, but not exactly unwelcome.
"I would suggest that yeh leave it alone until after this is over," Bruno said slowly, drawing his eyes; at some point, the married couple had ridden up beside them, and the elf had also swapped places with his wife, who was now using his chest as a pillow.
Both of them were staring at Ella with firm, worried gazes.
"I will!" Ella snapped, face turning red. "However, it doesn't change the fact that they lied to me, hurt me, and blamed me for something that wasn't even my fault for ten years!"
"Then, make it clear that it wasn't your fault, but the king's, and let their own guilt do the work for them as time passes," Vordt pointed out, raising a thick eyebrow at her. "Confronting them and spurning them is unnecessary: it will do more harm than good."
"Will it?" Ella muttered. "I'm not so sure."
"Ella," Xaphile sleepily rasped, wrapping an arm around her when she huffed. "Everything's gonna be fine. Just stick with the original plan. Those jerks will understand in the end, trust me, especially once you show them just how serious you are about protecting them."
She leaned back against his chest.
"How's your head?" she quietly asked. "You slept for so long I was beginning to get worried."
He thought about it, realizing for the first time that his headache was completely gone, but his tongue was still very dry. After a moment, he sighed and dropped his arm.
"Better," he admitted. "How long was I out of it?"
"About two days, off and on," Ella sighed, turning in the saddle and looking up at him with those mesmerizing eyes. "We're nearing the borders of Nimika's forests."
"Yeah—and it's about damn time," Gus called from up ahead, eyeing them over his shoulder with sharp green eyes. "Even so... it's good to see that your head isn't causing you too much trouble now. Every single one of you was in terrible shape after drinking that ale."
"Was the nastiest shit I've ever tasted," Xaphile deadpanned, shuddering.
"Agreed," Ella absently added, letting out a discouraged sigh before she untied her silver hair and let it fall freely around her shoulders. "It was rather gross."
Ninira gave Bruno a hard stare.
"What ale did you give them?" she murmured, firmly crossing her arms; her face was full of worry that only a mother could have understood. "Tell me, this instant."
"The creeping drink, love," he said with a blink. "Why?"
"I thought we discussed this! I specifically told you not to let them have that ale!" she groaned, smacking his thigh. "I told you to use the peach drink! They're all only just kids, you silly elf!"
"Yeh did?" he asked, raising his silver eyebrows. "Huh. I missed that."
"Because you were so excited that you only heard it when I said 'yes,'" she sourly informed him, gently flicking his nose; then she sighed. "Ah, no matter... it's already been done. Next time, though, try to reign in your inner child and listen until you're sure I've finished talking, eh?"
Bruno chuckled and cupped her freckled face with his large blue hands, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs; Ella and Xaphile both watched as they gave each other a passionate kiss and pulled away, smiling at each other with their eyes.
"How do you think Amelia, Vrael, and Sinmir are doing?" Ella suddenly asked, jerking his gaze away from them. "Do you think they've managed to convince King Grinwald to accept the invitation to Nimika for the council?"
"I would hope so," Xaphile murmured, shivering slightly.
"Speaking of my son," Nini suddenly said, glancing at them, "what sort of things has he experienced since he's been away from home? Tell me of your travels together."
"Okay," Xaphile murmured, shrugging. "Well, after we left your cottage the first time..."
And so, he once again began to explain in full detail all of the things that had happened after leaving the Syl mountains with Vrael in tow. Ninira and Bruno and even his brothers listened in silence as he started from the beginning and slowly worked his way forward, with Ella chiming in now and then to fill in the things that he missed or was a little forgetful about.
Recounting everything took an extremely long time... so long, in fact, that the sun was rising when he finally finished. Ninira and Bruno both seemed more than a little stunned, considering how long they rode in silence after he was finally finished talking.
After a time, Bruno let out a slow laugh, maroon eyes twinkling brightly.
"Our son has a heart of gold and a will as strong as diamond," he said softly, squeezing Ninira with both arms. "Letting 'im go with these people... it was the right choice."
Ninira, however, had gone pale and didn't say anything at all.
This didn't go unnoticed, but Xaphile didn't pay it much mind. He paused, then, and turned to look at Vordt over his shoulder, but the faery merely raised an eyebrow when their gazes met.
"How long do you think," he said, tilting his head, "it'll take Zelphira to come to Nimika?"
"As far as I know, she's working on it to the best of her abilities," Vordt said with a shrug. "She first has to convince the Thirteen Oracles that doing so is beneficial to our clan, however, otherwise she and a great many others of my kind would have already come back with me."
"Might be more beneficial to have a bit of time to prepare," Gus called back. "We'll need to set up some lodgings for the attending parties, figure out where we're going to have the council meeting, and have the best of our guards stationed and ready for safety measures."
"Yes, and I know that you're right about that, but I can't keep myself from worrying," Ella finally said, leaning back. "What if they... turn on me? What if the people of Chisago are so angry by my choices, or so shocked, that they decide to rebel?"
"Oh, Ella..." Gus sighed, green eyes becoming sad; he instantly reigned his steed in and drew back until they were riding side by side and leaned across the gap to pat her arm. "Don't worry, they'll be understanding, if only because all of us are here to make things clear. The truth is more palpable and dangerous, but you mustn't forget that it's not a truth of your own making."
"That didn't stop them the first time," Ella said sadly. "I know the truth, Gus... I know that it wasn't my fault that Chisago burned to the ground. I know that it was actually King Osric who did everything, and I also know that a lot of people knew it wasn't really my fault, yet they still tormented me, hurt me, and blamed me. What I don't know, or understand, is... well, why?"
The man's eyes changed in a barely-noticeable way when she sadly looked at the ground.
"Ella..." he murmured, staring hard at her face. "Who told you such things?"
Xaphile's heart jumped when the man's gaze turned on him.
There was a level of malevolence that he'd never seen before behind those jade irises.
"It was Vordt," she sighed, shaking her head. "We had a talk after the assassin tried to kill me, and... well, I know the truth now."
Gus nodded, but his eyes remained a little stony.
It made Xaphile uncomfortable and put him a little on edge.
What the fuck was with that look he gave me? he silently wondered, hugging himself with goosebumps rising on his arms. For a second, he looked almost... scary.
Don't stress yourself, Vordt suddenly murmured inside his head. Not only can I hear your thoughts, I can also feel the effects of your emotions. Remember that.
Yeah, yeah, I know, Xaphile replied, shaking his head to clear out all of his worries.
You're improving with controlling your feelings, I see, Vordt noted. Good... that'll come in handy later, trust me.
It's all because of your influence, you know, Xaphile silently replied, lifting his eyes towards the slowly brightening sky. All the help you've given me with using magic opened several new outlets to channel my emotions through. I've been less stressed thanks to that.
Vordt didn't respond.
Xaphile sighed, then set his head on top of Ella's.
All of them rode in complete silence, punctuated only by the sound of the kids chatting on and off about things he only half paid attention to behind them. Faeble seemed really interested in Adariel's tail, and the toddler kept playing with it while Windal showed him all his toys.
From a carved wooden horse, to a wooden toy soldier, to a miniature wagon, he showed off all of the marvels that his father had made for him and Faeble and eagerly explained how to play with each of them.
Xaphile listened to their banter a little curiously, since his little brother sounded totally intrigued by the idea of having material forms of entertainment. From what he could gather through their playing and occasional laughter, Adariel had never owned even a single toy over the years.
That bothered him deeply.
But he was also struck by a sudden curiosity.
"Hey, Ella?" he murmured. "What sort of toys do kids play with here?"
"Hah?" she asked, turning around with raised eyebrows. "Toys?"
"Yeah. Toys. What sort of toys are popular for little boys around my brother's age?"
"Er, I dunno," she said slowly, thinking about it. "I mean, I often see little girls in town playing with dolls of all varieties, from the knitted sort to the cloth sort, but when it comes to little boys, the only time I've ever seen them playing with anything is when they're kicking a ball around, or acting like soldiers and hitting each other with sticks and wooden play swords."
"Really?" he asked, surprised. "That's it?"
"Mhm. The younger boys and even some of the girls are almost always outdoors playing with each other," Ella informed him, shrugging. "Their favorite game involves kicking a ball, I would assume, since I almost always see them doing it near the town square."
Xaphile was hit with a flashback of the time he'd met Kirby: the group of kids who'd pushed him down had done it because he'd kicked a ball too close to the cage he'd been locked in.
He shuddered, thinking about that time, and Ella felt it.
"Something wrong?" she asked, glancing at him in concern. "Are you all right?"
"Fine," he murmured, shaking his head free of the flashbacks. "Just... remembered something not so nice, that's all."
"If you want to talk about it---"
"I don't," he instantly interrupted, squeezing her gently. "It was only a passing thought, not something serious."
She shrugged and let it go, but when she faced forward again, he wondered for a moment how people would react when they learned about how much she'd changed over the months.
He had a feeling that people would be beyond incredulous to learn about how close they'd gotten. After all, when they'd left Chisago together, they'd literally hated each other's guts, or perhaps even more than that. Ahead of them, Gus pulled out the map and looked at it closely.
"If we spur our horses a little bit faster and keep the pace steady," he said, turning around and looking at them with contented green eyes, "we should arrive home within two days."
"So soon?" Ella asked, startled. "How can that possibly be? It took weeks for us to get from Chisago to the mountains, Gus! Weeks!"
"You're absolutely right," he agreed, nodding, "but that's because we were forced to take a very long detour thanks to the situation with the slavers, and we also had a lot of mishaps. As such, we stopped traveling far earlier than we should have each night."
"Oh," Ella muttered, furrowing her brows. "That does make sense. When we ran from the slavers, we ended up fleeing in the direction opposite where we were supposed to go."
"Indeed," Gus sighed, rolling the map up and tucking it into his saddlebags.
"How long would it have taken if we were traveling through these forests normally?" Bonks asked, peering at him from his seat on the edge of the wagon. "Do you know?"
Gus blinked, then squinted, lips moving as he thought about it.
"Well, the trip from Chisago to the plains we left behind would have taken perhaps about a week and a five days, if all had gone according to plan," he eventually said, "and that's going at an easy, slow pace with frequent stops to eat during the day and make camp for the night."
Xaphile did the math, realizing that two days had already passed, and his brows rose.
"Whoa," he murmured. "Without needing to worry about that, it won't take very long at all."
"Indeed it won't," Gus said, smirking back at him, "and that's because we've halved the distance in thrice the time. Let's spur our mounts. I desire to sleep in my own bed."
"I see," Obi said, looking at the forests. "Well, be that as it may, I find myself enjoying the forests of the south. These trees... they are unlike the ones in Calcoon, as they are smaller and less extravagant to the eye, but there is something quite comforting about them."
"Really?" Bruno asked, warily peering around. "I find meself a bit spooked by them, truly."
"There is no reason to fear anything from these forests," Druthmar growled, nodding. "They are welcoming and full of life... I can tell that they have been tended to with an unmistakable amount of care. There is a powerful magic resonance that dwells in each plant around us, all the way down to the very last blade of grass beneath our feet."
"Really?" Xaphile asked, turning around in shock. "You think so?"
But it wasn't Druthmar who answered, it was Vordt.
"Yes, as do the rest of those from Calcoon," his uncle said, catching his eye; there was a strange glint in those fierce irises. "I know this sensation all too well after being marked by you."
"Sensation?"
"The sensation of your magic, as well as your younger brother's," he reiterated. "It fills the plants, fuels their lifeblood, like endless fountains... I can feel it so strongly that the very air sends tingles all the way down to my bones. We have entered your domain, Xaphile."
He couldn't deny those words.
He could feel it in his bones.
Even though he was still a little tired, his body felt like it had been rejuvenated somehow. Like it had been given something he hadn't even known was needed to heal a part of him he hadn't known was sick, and that something was now making him better.
He felt alive.
Truly, completely alive.
"Nimika's forests haven't changed since I was last here," Adariel mumbled from behind them. "They're blooming and happy as always."
"True, but let's not forget," Ella said slowly, turning around with stern eyes, "that while these forests may feel welcoming because of you and your brother's influence, there are also many nasty denizens who have made their home here. Keep your eyes open: this is demon territory."
Nobody had any complaints, so they did just that.
Xaphile was bolstered by the fact that Chisago was so close, but he still hoped that his other friends were having good luck with their own endeavors.
He missed them.
A lot.