Broken Lands

Sophia bit her lip. Who she was was a question she really didn’t want to answer. It never went well. That was back on Earth where people actually knew who her family was, too; she didn’t think it would go over any better here, especially not when they had a problem with people whose species the Guide didn’t properly recognize. “Is it important? I’m a long way from home; all that should matter here is me, not my family.”

“I didn’t ask about your family,” Arryn countered. “But I suppose that’s still an answer. Is your family where you learned the basics to gain an Ability like that at your Level? It’s like siege mage magic but even more extreme.”

Sophia blinked. How did he expect her to explain who she was without reference to her past? Maybe that was exactly what he wanted, though, and that was why he said it was an answer; he now knew her family shaped who she was?

“It’s not an Ability,” Dav commented when Sophia didn’t say anything. “Sophia called it a ritual.”

Arryn looked from Sophia to the stream then to the town. “Why would a Patron grant the movement of water to put out fires? Is that something from your family?”

Sophia caught herself bringing her hand to her face and forced herself not to literally facepalm. She was pretty sure “Patron” meant “God” in this context. “It’s not a religious ritual, it’s a magical one. Think of it like an Ability that you learn instead of one granted by the Guide.”

An expression of doubt crossed Arryn’s face.

Sophia was certain that the expression was deliberate; it was too clear to be anything else. She still needed to answer it, but she could at least pick a reasonable way to do so. “You’re wondering if I learned it from my family, aren’t you?”

Arryn shook his head. “I can’t think of anywhere else you’d have learned it, but mostly I’m wondering what else you can do with it, if it’s not granted by a Patron or the Guide.”

“Me?” Sophia snorted softly. “Not much. I don’t even know the basic divination rituals, and they’re about the only ones that actually see much use on Earth because those Skills are almost impossible to get if you don’t have a Talent. There are better ways to do almost anything else. Rituals are old magic, mostly replaced by other things; the knowledge is so specialized that it’s mostly useless. I didn’t see anything in the town that could actually fight those fires or I’d have used it.”

Arryn seemed to consider that for a moment, then nodded. “Old family knowledge is common in the noble clans. Yours is not in any of the groups I know of, but you are from far away. It makes sense that it would be somewhat different.” He turned to look at Dav with a questioning expression. “What about yours?”

Sophia wanted to say that she wasn’t a noble. Unfortunately, it kind of sounded like she was, at least by local standards. She wasn’t wealthy or powerful, but her family was; that was close enough. It was probably better not to try to make the distinction when it wouldn’t be believed and didn’t really matter.

“I’m not a noble,” Dav protested. “Kind of the opposite, really. I grew up poor.”

Arryn looked doubtful. “How do you have sword training and a summoning Vocation, then? The poor can’t afford swords and summoning is not a normal basic Vocation; it’s usually a branch off Mage and Mage isn’t open to most.”

Sophia had the feeling that Spellblade wasn’t a “normal basic Vocation,” either. She knew they’d been granted them because of the Wanderer, but he’d also warned them not to talk about him.

Dav shrugged, then gestured at his face. “I think it’s the manaburn. It did something, gave me an element? That’s what I can summon. It was one of the options I had, that’s all I know.”

That was an explanation Sophia wouldn’t have thought of. It was true, if not complete. Lack of knowledge and a possible partial explanation might well cover it.

Arryn seemed to relax. “And the sword training?”

Dav blinked as if he hadn’t even thought that was a real question the first time. Maybe he hadn’t. “My parents were both soldiers. Of course I had access to weapons. I prefer the sword, but it’s not the only weapon I know how to use.”

Sophia had no doubt that he could use guns, probably several different types of guns. They weren’t her weapons and she hadn’t seen any here yet, so it probably didn’t matter. She wondered if he had any other weapon types he could use well. He certainly hadn’t seemed particularly interested in the crossbow when Sophia asked about buying a pair for Dav and herself. Having Arryn tell her that she’d be better off buying them in Casterville probably shouldn’t have been a surprise.

“Soldiers?” Now Arryn actually sounded surprised. Had Dav not mentioned that to him?

Sophia thought about it. She couldn’t entirely pin down when she’d heard Dav talk about himself other than before they made it to Fallen Kestii and inside the baths before Arryn arrived. It seemed a little incredible but it was actually possible Arryn didn’t know that because Aymini might not have known.

Dav nodded. “We had what they were able to take with them, plus what they earned afterwards. They didn’t make much, but it was enough along with their retirement package.”

Sophia was pretty sure Dav put an emphasis on the words retirement package. From what he’d said before, it made her suspect that they’d come away with all the not-quite-junk they could liberate, anything that wouldn’t be missed even if it wasn’t really supposed to go to them.

Arryn relaxed even more and cluckled. “A pair of smart soldiers and a magical accident while traveling? I suppose I can see that. You make me think I’d like to meet your parents.”

Dav’s slight grin fell off his face as he shook his head. “It’s unlikely. I don’t know if I’ll ever see them again.”

“Life is uncertain,” Arryn agreed. “Still, you are a summoner. Even if you cannot learn the teleportation magic that would allow you to rejoin them yourself, perhaps you can someday manage to summon them to you.”

Dav perked up for a moment before he clearly deliberately schooled himself to not show the sadness he felt. “No. I bet summoning them would make them travel through that place and I wouldn’t do that to anyone I cared about.”

Dav clearly remembered more of the Origin than Sophia had assumed, but it also didn’t seem to bother him the way she’d feared it would. So far he seemed basically fine.

Peaches made a grumbling noise. It was surprisingly loud.

“You want a nap?” Arryn sounded surprised. “Well, we did deal with the flame beavers. We can stop for the night once we get the wagon back to the road. And yes,” he held a hand out to Peaches as if to forestall a question, “I’ll give you peaches when we get there.”

Peaches was never fast, but he made better time getting to the wagon, connecting himself to the harness, and getting to the Road than Sophia had thought was possible even after the quick run from the Road to the town.

When they reached the Road, Arryn told Revina, Dav, and Sophia that they were welcome to stay in the wagon, then got Peaches his reward. Sophia could hear him talking to people outside the wagon. From what she could hear, he seemed to be giving himself credit only for having a fast wagon; defeating the Flame Beavers and rescuing people was all done by the three Called, who were “resting” in the wagon and not to be bothered.

Sophia wasn’t sure what to think about that. Dav had an even stronger reaction, and hopped out of the wagon. She followed him; she wasn’t sure what Dav was up to, but she wasn’t going to let him face whatever it was without support.

Dav walked over to the side of the road, then stopped and turned to Sophia. “Good, I forgot to ask you to get out the tent.”

Sophia frowned at him, but pulled out the tent anyway. “Why do we need the tent? It’s not that late yet.”

Dav grinned. “It’s an excuse for us to be outside. We’re setting up the tent. That way, we’re visible. I don’t think Arryn’s trying anything he shouldn’t, but this way we have less to worry about. People will know.”

It seemed to Sophia that that was less important than Dav thought it was. Not only was there no real reason to believe that Arryn was hostile, even if he was, who’d actually come and find out what the villagers saw? They didn’t know anyone and no one would miss them. It was a terrifying thought; she’d always known that her family would come for her if something happened and now that wasn’t true.

The thought was like a cloud covering the Sun. She’d missed her family, but she’d never quite realized just how much she depended on knowing they were there.

“Sophia?” Dav’s warm arm went around her shoulders. She leaned into him, shaking. It was freezing out here, suddenly, but Dav was warm. “What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing’s wrong,” Sophia choked out. “It’s just really cold out here. It must be the water.”

“We are kind of wet,” Dav agreed cautiously. “Let’s get you warm first. Do you have a coat in your bag?”

Sophia shook her head. She wasn’t prepared for cold weather. The Cliff Dungeon echoed the weather that surrounded it and it was always warmer in armor. She didn’t need cold weather gear there in any weather she’d actually want to fight in.

“A blanket, then?” Dav actually sounded worried.

Sophia wasn’t sure why he’d be worried. She leaned closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder as he rubbed her other shoulder with his hand. It felt nice. Seh turned towards him and turned the sideways hug into a full hug.

“Thank you,” she whispered. She squeezed him hard once, then stepped back and held the tent out to Dav. “We should set up the tent.”

It was quick to set up and didn’t even require magic, as long as they always packed it away properly. She was pretty sure they had, and her confidence was rewarded when Dav set it up in just a few minutes. The only thing he hadn’t done was anchor it to the ground when he ducked inside and ushered her in to change out of her wet clothes.

Before Dav could follow her, one of the townfolk interrupted him to thank him for what he’d done in getting them out of their saferoom. Sophia thought it was the woman with the baby from the first saferoom, but she wasn’t certain. Whoever it was, she didn’t stay long, but her visit seemed to open up the floodgates.

By the time Sophia was dressed in warm clothing, she felt a lot better. She’d also heard at least a half-dozen different people thank Dav. When she ducked outside, Dav looked a little bothered. For him, that was as big a sign that he was extremely uncomfortable with the situation as she’d ever seen. For Sophia, this wasn’t that unusual a situation. She sent him inside the tent to change into dry clothes himself and started talking to the villagers. She spotted the Mayor coming and was glad she’d taken the time to change; she might be in less formal clothing than she should be but at least she wasn’t covered in water.

For some reason, she felt a lot more comfortable now, even if she was a bit impatient. This was important; the townfolk wanted to thank them, so they should be allowed to. She’d deal with Cliff’s message that he’d Collected things as soon as she had the chance, but now wasn’t the time.