When the human, Ash, had come to Simone’s village, He knew nothing of their language, and they knew nothing of his.

  Alteima had worked her shamanic powers and using herself as a bridge, had passed Ash’s language to Simone, and in turn, Simone’s language to Ash. Simone attempted to do the same, but it wasn’t just Mercedes’ language that flowed into Simone, but also her memories. Had it been the same for Alteima?

  Mercedes was a warrior of some kind- the concept was unfamiliar to Simone; what need was there for people that could fight other people? But also, she learned of Mercedes’ quest to find the source of the dangerous, magically enhanced beasts that were attacking her people.

  Simone let go of Mercedes, and shook her head, trying to clear it. Mercedes did the same, pinching the bridge of her nose and massaging it.

  “We should be able to understand one another better, now.” Simone offered as a headache throbbed in her skull. “Can you understand me?”

  Mercedes rubbed her own aching head. For her, the experience had been terrifying. She felt as if she’d been swallowed up by the light blazing from Simone’s eyes. To her, Simone seemed poised on the precipice of eternity, dreams and whispers of untold things swirling about the elf like a fog.

  And yet-

  Simone lived simply within her tribe, her People. Mercedes caught images of hunting, of studying the stars, the moon, grinding herbs, and a human with a blurry, inscrutable face.

  “What did you do to me?” She whispered, a spark of anger lighting a flame that burned in her chest. “What did you do to me?” She demanded, glaring up at the elf. She scrambled to her feet- her sword was still missing, but she’d been trained to fight without weapons.

  Simone frowned up at Mercedes. “I made it so we can speak to each other clearly.” She replied.

  “You cast a spell on me!” Mercedes cursed, lunging forward, her fist lashing towards Simone’s face.

  Simone anticipated the blow- in a way, they were still connected- so she dodged it awkwardly. Simone had never been in a situation where someone would try to intentionally hurt her, and so avoiding the attack was challenging.

  Simone’s mind was racing; this wasn’t how she wanted things to go. She wanted to talk with the strange elf, to try and make sense of the tangled mess they appeared to be in.

  “Speak, foreigner!” She urged. “I did not-” she quickly hunted for the word in Mercedes’ language that would be appropriate- “attack you!”

  “Who are you?!” Mercedes demanded hotly.

  “I am Simone, a shaman of the People of the Plains.” Simone replied, spreading her arms wide, displaying her clothing. The patterns on her clothes were more than just designs, it identified her. Having to introduce herself to another elf was a strange thing- she’d only needed to do that with a human.

  Mercedes grimaced, her head pounding. The plains- her mind called up a map of what the humans had explored; weren’t the plains further away?

  “Why are you here?” Mercedes asked in a pained voice.

  Simone sighed, lowering her arms, but watching Mercedes warily.

  “Like you, I hunt the Pearl.” Simone admitted, and frowned in a way that Mercedes could only interpret as petulant.

  “What?” Mercedes asked, baffled. Simone just shook her head. “Food, first.” She insisted.

  It seemed as though this elf- Simone- hadn’t attacked her, as she’d assumed initially.

  “I want my sword returned to me.” Mercedes demanded.

  Simone wordlessly pointed towards the fire; her sword lay in the dirt next to it.

  “It feels... weird.” Simone remarked. “Is it a spirit weapon?” She asked curiously.

  Mercedes was used to keeping secrets, was used to dissembling to others. “”...something like that.” She replied. Simone arched an eyebrow in response, but instead pointed at the fire.

  “You should eat. I don’t know when the last time you ate was, but it’s important you build up your strength.”

  “How can I trust you?” Mercedes argued suspiciously. “You attacked me, you know.”

  Simone took her place at the fire, and cut into the meat with her knife, then raised an eyebrow, and then pulled out the skewer of meat and wordlessly proffered it to Mercedes.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Mercedes took the skewer from Simone and sniffed it cautiously.

  “It’s rabbit, rubbed with herbs.” the smaller elf offered.

  Mercedes took a cautious bite of the meat, which was piping hot and seasoned oddly. Simone pulled out another rabbit from the fire, and tore into it herself, displaying an unsurprising lack of manners.

  As Simone finished her rabbit, she casually tossed each bone into the fire indifferently. She looked up at the sky, at the moon that was glowing softly in the evening light of the sky.

  “A moon ago, I was given a vision from the spirits.” She began softly. “About my trip into the forests. I’ve been given other visions; things I needed to learn, things I needed to do.” She returned her gaze to the strange elf from the human place. “I have a responsibility.” She fumbled with the difficult word a little.

  “A ‘moon’ ago?” Mercedes asked, eyeing the grease on her metal gauntlets. They would need to be cleaned.

  Simone began explaining the phases of the moon to Mercedes, who waved it off when she understood what Simone was trying to communicate: Simone had begun her journey a full month prior.

  “So? What are you doing out here?” Mercedes asked, still suspicious. Simone hadn’t offered anything to Mercedes that allayed that suspicion.

  “I hunt the Pearl.” Simone offered simply. “I don’t know why it’s here-” she began, but shook her head, “-I wasn’t told, but I have been given the task of dealing with it.” Again, just briefly, there was a somewhat stubborn, petulant expression on Simone’s face; it seemed as if this was something she didn’t really want to do... or perhaps it was something that was forced on her.

  “What is this ‘Pearl’?” Mercedes asked.

  Simone’s face twisted into disgust. “A thing that shouldn’t be.” She remarked, the disgust in her voice palpable. “A thing most foul. A thing of the Outsiders.” She spat, and did something with her hands, similar to what Mercedes had seen with peasants, superstitious gestures used to ward away evil.

  Simone scooped a handful of dirt and scrubbed her hands with it, then dusted them off. “And you, Mercedes of the Humans?” She asked. “You are far from the sea.”

  “I said it earlier. I hunt the source of animals that have been twisted by magic.”

  Simone raised an eyebrow at that. She had no idea what ‘magic’ was, but twisted animals she could understand, thanks to the visions she’d received. “It could be we that search for the same thing.” Simone mused thoughtfully.

  Simone refocused her gaze on the armored elven woman. “Do you have a thing?” She asked. “A token? Something from one of the ... animals, perhaps?”

  Mercedes glared at Simone. “Why?”

  Simone tilted her head. “Do you always go into fights unprepared?” She asked honestly, her lips curving up in a suggestion of a smile, “Or were the wolves an exception?” she mocked lightly.

  Mercedes frowned at that, her hand straying to the stone in her pouch. “I haven’t encountered wolves before.” She finally admitted.

  Simone nodded at that, acknowledging it without offering rebuke or judgement. She wordlessly held out her hand towards Mercedes.

  The armored elf frowned, but untied the pouch from her belt, and put it in Simone’s hands.

  Simone immediately blinked a few times at the pouch.

  “What is this?” She muttered, and opened the pouch and looked inside.

  “...where did you find this?” She asked, concentrating on the contents of the pouch.

  “There was a monstrous animal- a bear- that had this in its chest.” Mercedes replied. “It fell out when we took apart the beast.”

  “A bear.” Simone mused, and closed her eyes. She frowned, still concentrating, and then nodded. “I see.”

  Her eyes opened, the strange crosses in Simone’s eyes glimmering in the firelight. “And what were you planning to do with this?” She asked curiously.

  “It’s a stone that contains magic.” Mercedes replied as if it were self-evident.

  Simone nodded, and then offered the stone back to Mercedes. “Hold on to this for a moment.”

  She got up and went to a somewhat larger pack and returned with a pouch and what looked to be a water bag.

  “Here, drink.” she offered, passing the waterskin to Mercedes. Simone opened the pouch and examined the contents carefully. She then took off her shawl and spread it on the ground, then held her hand out to Mercedes. “The stone, please?”

  Mercedes eyed Simone suspiciously. “What do you plan to do with it?” She asked.

  Simone only smiled at Mercedes.

  Mercedes passed the pouch over again, careful to snatch it back if Simone did anything to it. Instead, Simone set it on her shawl, and took up the pouch that she’d retrieved from her own pack, and gave it a shake; the things inside clicked and rattled mysteriously.

  Simone took out her spirit stick. She wasn’t very experienced in augury, and had only performed them while being supervised by her shamanic teachers. This would be her first attempt without guidance or supervision.

  The spear would keep her protected from most things while she was in her vision, but there was nothing that she could do to protect herself against Mercedes, should the other elf decide to attack her. She would be vulnerable.

  While Mercedes seemed suspicious of her, Simone wasn’t wholly convinced that Mercedes would attack her, but the possibility was there- Mercedes was someone who had been trained to attack other people.

  She would have to take the risk. She would put a risky bet on Mercedes not attacking her while she was vulnerable.

  She took out four stones, one for each of the cardinal directions- red for north, white for east, black for west, green for south- then took out a thumb-sized pouch from her augury bag. In it was a fine powder, a mix of ground herbs and certain crystals that had been pounded into dust.

  Simone produced a bowl, scooping some of the coals and ashes from the campfire into it. She pinched some of the dust and sprinkled it over the coals; tiny sparkles flashed in a multitude of colors and fragrant smoke wafted up from the bowl, which Simone breathed in.

  Spirits of Dreams and Foresight, please grant me a glimpse into your realms beyond the veil of sleep. I am lost, and seek wisdom in foresight. Simone prayed silently, the smoke already making her giddy and euphoric, and then upended the augury pouch.