Chapter 33:

  The afternoon sunlight was still high above when Eli and Aria left their lessons for the day. They stopped by the kitchens, where one of the staff passed them a small pre-prepared package before they slipped away, dashing down the quieter corridors of the keep with childlike exuberance and delight.

  “Aria. We have been freed!” Eli laughed, turning around and catching an equally grinning Aria before she sped past him.

  Aria patted at the small stasis bag by her side. It was a hand-me-down from Eli. One of the failed prototypes he’d had his mother help him activate. Aria knew for a fact that he’d made this particular bag for her specifically and deliberately, but being the understanding friend she was, she didn’t call him out on it. Instead, she melted into his embrace, giddier than propriety found acceptable, yet less inclined to hide it than she had been in the months since Eli came into her life.

  The two children made a game of ‘escaping’ the keep. Guards and labourers turning a blind eye to the obvious shenanigans the children were getting up to as they darted from wall to wall; crouching, and sliding, and giggling before pressing fingers to their mouths.

  The entire ‘escape’ had been so much fun that it took actually leaving the keep proper for Aria to remember that the outing was meant to be a secret.

  Eli chose a side exit. They slipped through one of the less-used gates that opened near the back of the keep. It meant they’d be taking a longer route to the edge of town, but it let them step into the open without drawing attention from guards on the main road. From there he took her along a private path, bypassing the town wall almost entirely as he led his friend into the lightly wooded area that made up the mundane forest.

  By the time they’d made it beyond the sight of Lira’s walls and gate the sun was finally beginning its descent. They had a few hours before full dark, and Eli planned to have them tucked safely back inside the keep before they were missed at dinner. He would happily face a colony of enraged squimate alone if it meant he never faced his father’s displeasure over missing supper with no notice.

  Eli set a brisk pace. He didn’t slow when the path narrowed into packed dirt, or when that dirt became game trails on uneven ground that wound between terraced farmlands and the well traveled sections of the forest. Aria followed without complaint, but she quickly discovered that traversing the forest was an entirely different type of brutal activity than she was used to. Sweat dampened the hair at her temples, and her breath was slightly ragged as she followed her friend far past their little town and into the depths, they’d read about the dua before. Her lungs began to burn, but her jaw stayed set and her eyes bright as the two of them moved quickly through the foliage.

  The land sloped upward, ridges folding into each other. Scrub brush gave way to thicker trees, the trunks close and the air damp. Aria’s breathing grew ragged, but she never asked to stop and catch it, or to pause.

  Eli glanced back once, caught her determined look, and faced forward again. He could tell how close she was to her limit – he could see her steps faltering, hear every gasping indrawn breath. He considered pausing, but this was a valuable lesson that she could either learn now, or under the malicious supervision of an academy instructor. Better now than then.

  It took a while longer than Eli had anticipated, but he was both relieved and impressed when they finally reached the clearing. The open space Eli used to practice was gorgeous in the daylight. The stream ran clean at one side, its bed glittering with pale stones. The grass had been worn down in places, traces of past activity visible.

  Aria staggered forward, braced herself against a tree, and then bent over suddenly. She had pushed herself beyond her breaking point as she’d struggled to keep up with Eli. The sound of retching carried across the clearing, and Eli was by her side in a moment.

  The poor girl was an embarrassed mess by the time she had emptied herself out and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She refused to look at him.

  Eli’s hand on her back was steady and calm. “Why did you not ask me to slow down? To take a break?”

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  She shook her head, still breathing hard. “I’m fine.”

  “No,” Eli said. “You’re not.”

  “Elia-”

  “Aria. Today is meant to push you. We are out here to train, and to push both of us. That is the point. But there’s a difference between pushing forward because you are determined and pushing forward because you are afraid of what will happen if you do not.”

  Aria was not really listening. Her eyes lifted briefly, wide and defensive. “I said I’m fine.”

  “Ari…” Eli’s gaze went distant for a moment before he caught himself and came back to the moment. “With me, you do not need to hide when it is too much. Okay? I need to know.”

  He said as he reached out, laid a hand on her shoulder, and let mana flow into her. The circulation threaded into her muscles, easing strain, refreshing her body and dissipating some of the fatigue that had built up within her. Color returned to her cheeks, and her breathing steadied.

  She stared at him, startled. “What did you do?” She twisted her hands this way and that before giving Eli an incredulous look. “Is that body magic?”

  “Yes,” Eli said simply. “Also, please do not tell anyone I used it with you. I could get in trouble.”

  Aria simply nodded. Her lips pressed firm around the unspoken promise. More secrets, she thought and felt honoured for the trust.

  Eli let his hand fall away. “Next time, tell me the truth. Always tell me the truth. Okay?”

  It took a while for her to deliberate. But eventually Aria nodded.

  “Okay,” she said.

  “Okay,” Eli grinned.

  ~

  They sat near the stream until Aria had caught her breath fully. Eli pointed back the way they had come.

  “From now on, this is our practice spot,” Eli said.

  “The secret one?” Aria asked, and Eli smiled.

  “Yes, the secret one. We will be here a lot, so you need to know the way. How to get here, how to run away. The wilds are dangerous, yes?”

  Aria nodded.

  “So,” Eli asked, “what did you notice on the way in?” Aria blinked several times, before leveling Eli with a confused look and frowning.

  “What did I notice?”

  “Yes. Markers, landmarks, sun position. What did you notice.”

  “I-” Aria had not been paying attention. Trying as she had been to not throw up her lunch during the trek to the clearing. Eli just smiled.

  “Too tired to notice things, too tired to pay attention properly? This is dangerous, Ari. If I left you here now, could you find your way back.”

  She looked down, ashamed.

  “No. Do not look like that. This problem can be fixed. I will help you.” Eli settled them in the center of the clearing, pulling a small blanket out of his bag and arranging a picnic with fresh meals still steaming with heat. He never got tired of the incredible properties of a well-made stasis/storage artifact.

  “I’m sorry,” Aria mumbled.

  “No need to be sorry. You just need to know your limits. When you push past your limit, you lose more than stamina. You lose awareness. That is not safe. Today, we will start learning to be safe.”

  They ate together for a while, just enjoying their surroundings as Aria’s body settled, and her heartrate returned to normal. Once they were both feeling refreshed he started the lesson, beginning with obvious landmarks. He pointed to the stream. “See this? If you follow it, it will eventually bring you back toward town. But the stream cuts through the Wilds proper. You would run into beasts. Dangerous ones. Only go this way if you can’t see or hear or find any other path. You understand?”

  “Yes,” Aria said quietly.

  Eli and Aria walked around the clearing with him pointing out what she needed to know.

  “These,” he said, indicating a cluster of broad leaves near the stream, “are safe to eat. Bitter, but safe. These,” he gestured at another plant, thorned with bright berries, “are poisonous. Fine to touch, not to eat.”

  Eli showed her claw marks on a tree, faint but still visible. “Mana beast,” he said. “These marks are old, so the beast has left, but that is a clear sign it was here. When you awaken you will be able to sense the change in mana. Even small beasts will change the feel of an area if it has been there long enough. It is good to know the signs.”

  Aria nodded, her expression serious.

  When they finally sat down again, Eli shifted the topic. “What do you know about Vereth? Start big.”

  Eli throwing out questions like this was a routine occurrence. Often, he would send open ended inquiries to Cailean or Aria, especially if they had spent a long time with just Eli talking. He said it was good for them to ‘link information’ in their heads, saying lots of the things they learned were connected, but doing the connecting was a process.

  Aria was happy to show some of her own expertise. She began with what she could recall. “We live on a continent.” She said, and when Eli nodded, she continued. “To the north is an ice desert. It’s like a sand desert, but cold, not hot, and snow, not sand. In the far south, though, there is a sand desert.”

  “Very good. What about here. What about Adler?”

  She hesitated.

  “Use what you see. Look around.”

  “Mountains,” Aria said, and Eli nodded.

  “Yes. We are higher up than the central provinces. That means thinner air, harder work for the body. Remember that. It matters.”

  “Is that why I got so tired so fast?” Aria asked, and Eli nodded.

  “Part of the reason, yes. The land also changes. There are rainforests to the east, the great desert to the south, and ice to the north. We are here.” He tapped her chest lightly with two fingers. “In the middle. Semi-north-central. Remember the shape?”

  Aria traced out the shape of the province in the grass, smiling as Eli nodded along.