Mercedes watched what Simone did carefully, warily.

  The barbarian- no, Simone- began some ... ritual that Mercedes didn’ understand- all she knew was that Simone was radiating magic much in the same way that the fire radiated heat.

  Mercedes had been tested for magical aptitude; all elves were, back in Degan. And while Mercedes could sense magic, she lacked some essential component to actually manipulate it as a mage would. She could see Simone was doing something, but as to what it was...

  She thought back to when Simone had grabbed her, giving them both a splitting headache. What had Simone done? She’d used magic... and somehow learned how to speak with Mercedes better.

  Magical power swirled around Simone in ever-thickening bands, and for a moment, Mercedes could see that spectral fox, sitting next to Simone. It glanced over at her, and its mouth opened, as if it was laughing sardonically at her.

  Simone upended the contents of her pouch over the shawl, and began examining the contents, a piece at a time. The thick, oppressive sense of magic faded away, and Simone seemed pensive.

  “...what are you doing?” Mercedes asked, a touch of wariness coloring her curiosity. There was also restraint; she’d been taught not to disrupt a spell being cast in the face of disastrous consequences.

  Simone’s first response was to explain the augury ritual, but Alteima’s voice seemed to ring in Simone’s head: “A lesson, my acolyte: A shaman doesn’t reveal all she knows. That is one of the first lessons in wisdom.”

  Simone began picking up the contents of her spirit pouch, absently gathering up her long hair and tossing it over her shoulder.

  “Tomorrow, we head north.” Simone replied instead, and then rubbed the side of her head, an exhausted expression crossing her face briefly.

  Mercedes tilted her head to the side. “Why should I travel with you?” She asked, a touch defensive.

  Simone glanced at Mercedes, the crosses in her eyes glimmering in the evening light. “For answers.” Simone replied, and Mercedes subsided, though her expression was clouded with doubt.

  Simone moved over to the fire, and tossed a pair of larger pieces of wood on.

  “We should get some rest. Tomorrow will be busy.” Simone offered.

  “Hold on, I don’t recall agreeing to ‘we’. You haven’t answered any of my questions.” Mercedes objected.

  Simone paused, frowning. “I have.” she replied, irritation in her voice.

  “Not to my satisfaction.” Mercedes replied. “What did you cast on me?” She asked, hand reaching for her sword. She didn’t feel like she needed it, but wanted it nearby anyway. Just in case.

  Simone rolled her eyes and prodded the fire with a stick, causing sparks to swirl towards the heavens. “I learned your language.” She replied simply, and then tilted her head. “You seem to have learned mine, as well.”

  It suddenly occurred to Mercedes that Simone had switched tongues, but she was still able to understand the smaller elf. A bolt of pain stabbed in her head, causing her to wince.

  “What else does it do?” Mercedes asked warily.

  “Gives a splitting headache, apparently.” Simone complained acidly. She paused. “If it’s bad, I can mix some herbs to take care of the pain.”

  There didn’t seem to be any deception in Simone’s words, so Mercedes relaxed a hairsbreadth.

  “Herbs? You mean medicine?” Mercedes asked, thinking about a mortar and pestle grinding herbs together. Simone nodded.

  “I’d like that.” She admitted, but switched tracks. “That fox- that thing-” She demanded, “What is it?”

  Simone blinked at Mercedes, the shock obvious on the smaller elf’s face.

  Her head tilted to the side. “It’s... a spirit.” She offered carefully.

  It took a moment for Mercedes to realize that Simone was baffled at Mercedes’ response. How could Mercedes not know of spirits? There was a subtle sense of condescension there, too, as if Mercedes had revealed herself to be a particularly stupid sort of elf.

  Mercedes pressed her lips together, strangling the retort on her lips.

  Simone noticed this, however. “The world, with all its delights and terrors, exists.” She offered. “Spirits are a part of it. Ancient, wise, curious... fickle.” She paused, wanting to say more, but holding herself back, remembering Ash’s complete inability to believe in spirits. “It’s strange to me that you don’t know of spirits.” She finished instead.

  A dozen or so retorts flickered through Mercedes’ mind, but instead of saying them, she instead replied, “My people venerate the Goddess.”

  Simone’s head tilted, confused. “What’s a ‘goddess’?” She asked, and Mercedes choked.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “How could you not know about the Goddess?” Mercedes asked, incredulous. “She created the world and everything in it!”

  Simone gave her a nonplussed look. There was a lot she wanted to bring up as a rebuttal- the Great Disaster she’d learned about- that terrible fireball that had blotted out the sun and destroyed so much, the advent of the Outsiders into the world- where was the Goddess in all of that?

  She let it go, however. She leaned towards Mercedes. “What sort of People are you?”

  Mercedes gave Simone a confused look, but understanding followed quickly on the footsteps of confusion. To Simone, elves were People.

  “My...” She began, searching for the right words, “People are on the other side of the ocean.” She replied. “We live alongside humans.”

  Ash had tried explaining to Simone that humans lived on the other side of the ocean, but Simone hadn’t believed him. The People of the Sea had said that the ocean was limitless and vast, and there was no way to cross it.

  Maybe he wasn’t telling her stories?

  She rummaged in her pack and pulled out her herb bag, selected a handful of seeds that did wonders for headaches, pulled out a small mortar and pestle, and went to work.

  “We will need hot water.” Simone advised Mercedes. “They can be swallowed without, and it ... sort of works that way... but it’s most effective when drunk hot.” She smirked. “It also tastes horrible, so prepare yourself.”

  Mercedes gave Simone a skeptical look, but pulled out a small pan from her pack. “If you have water, I can boil it.” She offered.

  Simone nodded, and offered her waterskin.

  “So what is north of here?” Mercedes asked, after the pan had been put in the fire. “Did the spirits tell you?” She asked, unable to keep her skepticism from her voice.

  Simone shook her head. “It doesn’t work that way.” She explained patiently. “Spirits are fickle, they don’t tell everything, and they don’t explain themselves. We are meant to discover, explore, and learn on our own. They will not hold our hands for us.” Simone replied, eyeing the ground seeds with reluctance. She wasn’t lying about the taste. It was truly repugnant.

  Simone often refused to take them when hurting, preferring the pain to the awful flavor, but if she were to offer the remedy to Mercedes without taking any herself, she might be suspected of poisoning the armored woman.

  Simone sighed, and then glanced at Mercedes. “What about your ‘goddess’?” Simone asked. “Does it-”

  “She.” Mercedes interjected quickly.

  “-does she have any advice?” Simone finished, and then sifted the powder from the stone bowl into the metal pan. She stirred the mixture, and watched the liquid turn a muddy brown.

  Mercedes shook her head. “The Goddess... does not speak to us often.” She admitted reluctantly. Her nose wrinkled at the smell coming from the pan.

  “That smells... strange.”

  Simone nodded, and awkwardly lifted the pan from the fire, and poured some of the contents into her cup.

  “...it’s best to drink it quickly,” She advised, “but the taste will persist.”

  The brew struck the tongue with bitterness, sharp and uncompromising. Simone’s gorge wanted to heave, but she forced herself to take another swallow, and then another. She had to drain her cup. The aroma of the roasted seeds raced up her nose, making her want to choke.

  She lowered the cup and made a face as the bitterness lingered on the tongue, even as her chest warmed and her head cleared.

  “Ugh.” She grimaced.

  Mercedes watched Simone drink the strange brew, choking and grimacing all the way to the end. She eyed the remainder of the liquid in the pan dubiously.

  The scent was unique, somewhat... earthy? Nutty? Smoky? She couldn’t adequately describe it. She poured the remainder of the liquid into her cup, and cautiously took a small drink. The flavor matched the aroma, and there was a mild astringency.

  Certainly, it was bitter. Simone seemed to think it was horrible, but... it wasn’t that bad. Mercedes took another drink, trying to identify the flavor.

  If there was a complaint she had, it’s that the drink was unbearably gritty. She frowned a little and tossed the last of it back, struggling to swallow the gritty remains.

  She eyed Simone curiously, even as her headache faded.

  “It wasn’t that bad.” She offered. “Kind of... flavorful, actually.”

  “Ugh. Not you, too.” Simone muttered. “I can’t stand it.”

  “It would be better if the gritty stuff was removed.” Mercedes advised, but Simone shrugged and gestured at the forest around the two of them.

  “I didn’t bring a cloth to strain it... and I hate the stuff, anyway. If I could have avoided drinking it, I would have.” Simone made a disgusted face.

  Mercedes snorted. “So how do we handle watch?”

  Simone gave her a baffled look.

  Mercedes smiled slightly. Simone was kind of cute in how expressive she was. “Who stays up and keeps guard, while the other sleeps?” She explained. “We can take shifts, if you like.”

  Simone blinked and looked at Mercedes as if the question hadn’t even occurred to her.

  “The spirits will protect us.” She replied simply.

  Mercedes rolled her eyes reflexively; Simone frowned at that, but pointed at the spear that stuck in the ground, point up.

  “As long as the spear doesn’t fall over, no animal in the forest will even notice we are here.” Simone explained, and then grinned. “It even keeps the mosquitos away.” The small elf stood up, and pointed to three separate locations.

  “There are spirit marks drawn there, there, and there. That’s the boundary. As long as we stay in the boundary, and as long as the spear stays upright, we’ll be fine.” Simone paused. “It’s not perfect, but it’s fine for the night.”

  Mercedes glanced around her, skeptical, but Simone simply rearranged her shawl, lay down on the ground near the fire, curled up into a little ball, and appeared to go to sleep, just like that.

  “I think I’ll stay up, regardless.” Mercedes muttered, and settled herself in to keep watch.

  After a few minutes of looking out into the woods, she felt movement behind her. She spun, her chain skirt rattling against her plate armor, only to see that enigmatic, ethereal fox swirl itself around Simone and lay its head down on the sleeping elf’s.

  It eyed her silently for a moment, then faded from view.

  Mercedes grimaced and sheathed her sword- she didn’t even remember drawing it.

  She took her seat at the fire, and muttered, “I’m trusting you. A little.” She made sure her sword was close at hand, and then closed her eyes.

  She was asleep in seconds.