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Fjord slept in a bit later that morning. He figured he deserved the rest, and he assumed the others agreed as none of them had bothered him as of yet. In just a few hours, their party would be continuing on their way to Zadash.
He dressed slowly, took the time to comb his hair and wash his face in the cold pail of water provided in the corner of the room.He still felt exhilarated from the events of the previous night, a bit prideful after their impressive victory over the terrifying beast that ruled over the gnolls. He hadn’t ever considered himself as obsessed with coinage as his other associates, but he felt quite pleased as he strapped a heavy coin pouch to his belt.
He had shared the room with Mollymauk the night before, but it seemed that the tiefling had already left. His bed was unmade and all of his belongings were gone, and so he probably went down to have an early breakfast.
Fjord was just buckling the last few straps on his armor when there were three distinct knocks at the door. He glanced up.
“Fjord, do you have a minute?” Caleb’s voice was muffled through the door, and even then Fjord could hear the urgency in his tone.
Fjord crossed to the other side of the room and opened the door to reveal Caleb, looking his normal disheveled self. He looked slightly pleased with himself this morning, however, perhaps a bit giddy.
“Mornin’,” he greeted. “We leavin’ already?”
“I believe we are leaving soon, but I didn’t come to collect you. I actually have something to show you,” Caleb explained. He stared up at Fjord but didn’t quite look him in the eyes. “Um, can I come in?”
“Oh. Yeah, of course.” Fjord stepped to the side and held the door open for him, and as Caleb entered he shut the door behind him.
Fjord was admittedly a bit curious about Caleb. The man had quite the talent for all things arcane. He had shown off his impressive skills various times in battle, weaving intricate spells and spilling knowledge about all things magical. He would be a bit jealous if it weren’t for how sweet Caleb had shown himself to be, albeit a bit socially awkward. Instead of feeling envious of Caleb’s seemingly innate abilities, Fjord found himself just a bit sweet on him.
Caleb strode across the room swiftly, his long coat shifting behind him as he did so. He stopped at the small bedside table between the two bunks in the room. It was barely large enough to fit the old lantern that was perched there. Caleb picked it up and put it to the side before reaching into his coat and pulling out a thick book.
He set it down on the small table, it’s heaviness evident in the way Caleb’s arm shook holding it and the noise it made as it smacked down onto the hardwood. The small table rattled under its weight.
He glanced back at Fjord, then nodded for him to come closer.
“I got up early today to look for some new books,” Caleb spoke as he flipped through the pages, searching for something.
As Fjord got closer, he could see just how old and worn it was. It could quite possibly be a relic, falling apart and barely held together by old stitching and strained leather bindings. Its coloration was faded, though he thought at one point in time it might have been some variation of blue or green.
“And I found this, and as I was reading I saw something that made me think of you,” Caleb continued. “And what was peculiar about it, was that as I kept reading it , it really reminded me of you.”
The old worn pages were covered in tiny faded text, and Caleb was flipping too fast for Fjord to absorb any of it. He could barely register any of the pictures depicted, and was only able to catch glimpses before the page was flipped.
Caleb made a triumphant noise and stopped flipping pages, placing a finger on one of the passages decisively.
“Coughing up seawater, strange dreams, a magical item that calls out to its user… It simply could not be coincidental,” Caleb listed as he read through words on the page. He glanced back at Fjord, a bit concerned. “I am not sure if you would still like to talk about this, but if this book is saying what I think it is saying then... holy shit .”
Caleb stepped to the side as Fjord got closer, their shoulders brushing in the limited space between the bunks. Fjord’s eyes narrowed as it scanned the text, and before he could read any of the words his eyes were drawn to an illustration in the middle of the page.
A large yellow eye stared back at him, seemingly bright despite the faded nature of the text around it. The eye was still, and yet Fjord could almost imagine it blinking at him, narrowing as a loud booming voice echoed in his mind.
“What? What is it,” Caleb asked. Fjord figured his face must’ve gone pale or something, because Caleb was suddenly looking very concerned.
Fjord took a step back and shook his head. “It ain’t--”
“I understand that this is difficult to speak about, but this passage is frankly a bit worrying,” Caleb said, though Fjord was barely listening. In fact, he felt a bit too nauseous to do anything but sit down on the bed behind him. His knees practically buckled when his legs brushed the stiff sheets.
He could practically taste the saltwater rising up in his throat, he suddenly felt parched. He must have blacked out for a few moments because when he was aware of himself again, Caleb was holding a wet cloth to his forehead and offering a glass of water.
“Are you alright,” he asked. He looked a bit nervous standing there, as if out of place.
“I could go get Jester if you need-”
“No, no. I’m fine, I promise,” Fjord said adamantly. “I just-”
“You reacted to something on that page,” Caleb finished for him. “I’ll be honest, I am incredibly curious as to find out what the hell is going on with you, but I really don’t want you to start choking up seawater again.”
Fjord chuckled dryly. “I appreciate the concern for my well being.”
Caleb smiled faintly. He put the cloth to the side and then placed the back of his hand against Fjord’s forehead. His hands felt clammy, or maybe that was just the moisture from the cloth.
“Well, you don’t look so pale now, so I suppose that’s good.”
Caleb took a step back and looked Fjord up and down, his eyebrows pinched with worry.
“I said I was alright,” Fjord said, forcing a smile. “Now, I don’t rightly know what just happened, but it… sure was something’.”
“You could say that again,” Caleb nodded. He glanced over at the book on the small table, it’s pages bared to the ceiling. “Did you recognize something from the reading?”
Fjord hesitated. He could lie, though he wasn’t sure what good that would do at the moment. He was confused and terrified and frankly, at a loss for what was going on. If anyone could help him figure it out, it was Caleb.
“The picture,” he replied. He cleared his throat, and took the glass of water from Caleb’s hand. He took a few sips hesitantly, then chugged it, tasting salt. While that was a bit concerning, he tried not to think on it too much and continued. “The eye, I- I saw it in my dream.”
“When? The night you coughed up all of the water?”
“Yeah.”
Normally, his dreams never stuck with him. This one was just so prominent in his mind, as if it wasn’t just a vision produced by his subconscious. He could still remember the exact feeling of the cold saltwater filling his body, the flecks of gold in the creature’s eye that watched him. The tremors in the creature’s voice and the way the it sounded like the ripples of water.
Caleb hummed and walked back over towards the book. He traced his fingers over the pages, eyes scanning. Fjord watched, and after a few moments Caleb looked back at him.
“Your sword- you got your powers after you found it, correct?”
“Yep.”
“And you found it after your accident out at sea?”
Fjord pursed his lips, but nodded. He lowered his gaze. “I still don’t want to talk about that.”
“That is fine,” Caleb said. “I understand if you don’t feel comfortable. I still don’t know you quite that well and it is obviously personal.” He paused, then spoke a bit quieter, as if to himself. “Perhaps one day.”
The way he said it made Fjord’s stomach flip strangely, but before Fjord could think about it too much Caleb was talking again.
“This book is about a particular form of magic, magic that is not innate to the user, but instead
from a supreme immortal being with unimaginable knowledge and power,” Caleb explained. He looked back at Fjord, brow furrowed. “Fjord, do you know what a warlock is?”
~~~
Before Fjord could really even process the question, the two of them were interrupted. Jester and Nott had come to inform them that the party would be leaving soon and if they didn’t eat breakfast now nobody would be willing to stop to get them anything.
Caleb had sighed and told Fjord that they would talk later, and he grabbed the book before leaving with Nott on his heels. Jester had given him a look, then wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“What were you two talking about,” she asked once they cleared the room.
“Nothin’,” Fjord said. “Magic stuff. He said he’d train me a bit.”
Jester gasped, her eyes alight with excitement. “Ooh! Exciting! You will be a shoe in for Solstrice, won’t you, Fjord?”
~~~
“Do you see anythin’?”
“He can’t hear you,” Nott piped up. She had one of her hands braced on Caleb’s arm. “If he sees something, he’ll tell us.”
Fjord stared at Caleb, just a bit freaked out by his blank stare.
They had just left one of their stops on the way to Zadash. They had easily dealt with the town’s Gnoll problem, and were now happy and fat with quite a bit of gold to their names. Fjord, Caleb, and Nott were taking their turns riding in the wagon whilst the others walked alongside it.
“How does he do that?”
“I don’t know exactly,” Nott shrugged. “I think Frumpkin is um… a familiar, I believe, is what Caleb said.”
Fjord nodded. “Do you have to have a hand on him or somethin’?”
“Oh, no. But it makes him feel less vulnerable, knowing someone is there,” Nott explained. “We have a code for it. If there is danger, I will squeeze his arm twice. If there is no immediate danger, but he needs to come back, I squeeze his arm three times.If he says something, I squeeze his arm once to tell him I heard him.”
Fjord nodded. “He really is powerful, ain’t he?”
“Yeah! And a really good teacher,” Nott said, beaming from ear to ear. “Did you see the magic I did before?”
“I did. It’s quite impressive.”
“Yours is very good too,” Nott said. “Your sword is really cool. Caleb doesn’t have anything like that.”
“I see something up ahead, in the fields to the left. It looks big, it’s heading towards us,” Caleb reported. He was talking a lot louder than necessary, nearly shouting. Most likely a product of him being deaf.
Fjord watched as Nott’s lithe fingers squeezed once around Caleb’s arm. She looked up at him with a faint smile.
“He’s so great, isn’t he?”
Fjord smiled. “Yeah, he is.”
~~~
“I’ll take first watch,” Fjord offered, and nobody in the party offered any protests. They built up a small campfire, and they all spread out around it.
Fjord propped himself up against a thick tree trunk, eyes glued to the fire’s light. Everyone seemed to have fallen asleep after half an hour, and so he was startled when he heard someone clear their throat behind him.
He clutched at his heart and turned to see Caleb standing there, clutching the book to his chest. The fire just barely illuminated his features, the light catching beautifully on his red hair.
“Sorry, did I frighten you?”
“Just a bit,” Fjord chuckled. “You don’t wanna sleep?”
“No, I figured we could finish our conversation from earlier, if you wanted,” Caleb offered, though he seemed to be hesitating. “Or not, if you feel uncomfortable or--”
“No, no. Trust me, I wanna get to the bottom of this even more than you do,” Fjord assured him. He tried to smile reassuringly, then patted the ground next to him. “Here, take a seat.”
Caleb sat down gingerly next to him, and Fjord scooted over a bit so they had an equal share of the tree trunk. The bark scratched at the exposed skin of his neck.
“So, uh-- you should probably read this book for yourself,” Caleb said. He started flipping through the pages again, finding his place faster than before.
Fjord didn’t look at the picture at first, he had to prepare himself. This time, looking at the image did not prompt any salty taste or nausea. The eye looked haunting all the same, making his chest tighten with paranoia.
“But, for the sake of brevity, I believe that this creature in the picture is your patron and is giving you these powers,” Caleb explained.
Fjord blinked. “Shit, I- I suppose that’s obvious, but I still wasn’t expectin’ that.”
“A bit shocking, I can imagine,” Caleb nodded. “Patrons are normally incredibly mysterious, which is why I’m assuming that parts of this passage are scribbled over.”
As Caleb’s finger traced the portion he was referring to, Fjord’s brow furrowed. The text was indeed removed, covered in layers of paint and ink, messily scrolled over and over until the page was permanently damaged and unreadable.
“Shit.”
“A lot of the book is like that, it is not just your little section,” Caleb said, as if it was some reassurance. As he flipped to the next page, his arm brushed Fjord’s.On this page as well, there were multiple sections where the text was removed. “So, whoever wrote this book must have included information unfit for our eyes.”
“Huh. That’s… scary.”
“Yeah,” Caleb huffed. He shut the book and set it to the side. “What is worrying me is that some of the patrons listed in this book are very obviously good and evil. Yours, however, was one of the ones without clear cut morals.”
“I mean, I ain’t gonna turn all villainous just cuz of some sword and its powers,” Fjord said, even if the words felt like they didn’t carry any meaning. They were an empty reassurance for himself, not for Caleb.
“Yes, but these beings are so incomprehensible that I have never heard of them before, not once, and most of this book doesn’t include any real information about them and their abilities,” Caleb said. “If it is as powerful as it seems… then, well, surely it can take over the mind of a mortal quite easily.”
“I ain’t that easily controlled.”
“I am not saying that, what I am saying is that this… patron of yours is incredibly powerful and influential.”
Fjord sighed. He scrubbed over his eyes and groaned into his hands.
“So, what do you suggest I do then, Caleb?”
Caleb didn’t reply right away. Fjord looked over at him, watched the way Caleb’s eyes followed the faint light of their campfire.
“Honestly, I am not completely sure. If I were you, I would take the chance,” Caleb replied. “This patron of yours could… could make you the most powerful being in the universe.”
Fjord’s eyes widened. “Wow.”
“Yeah, wow,” Caleb laughed. He looked over at Fjord, sweet smile on his lips. “You know, I do not know what your patron has taught you yet, but perhaps I can help you get a bit of a headstart, so you can really impress them.”
Fjord smiled back. Caleb’s eyes were gorgeous, a bright frosty blue that was somehow soft despite its piercing color. His stomach flipped every time Fjord got a chance to look at him.
“I would really like that.”
They stared at each other for just a bit, a thick tension hanging in the air in the short space between them. After a few moments, Caleb cleared his throat and glanced away.
“I suppose I will sleep now, and we can… do some training later.” Caleb retrieved the book that he had set down beside him, and handed it to Fjord.
It was heavy, just as Fjord thought it would be. The leather felt like powder in his fingers, and he felt that if he pressed too hard the book might turn to dust.
“You can read through as much of that as you want, just don’t damage it. It was expensive.”
“Alright,” Fjord nodded. He opened the book to the first page.
Caleb, instead of getting up and returning to where he had originally set up for the night, shifted a bit until he was settled in by Fjord’s side. Fjord tried to focus on the book, but couldn’t help but notice their close proximity.
Before long, Caleb was snoring lightly. Fjord was a good thirty pages into the book when Caleb’s head shifted onto his shoulder, and Fjord’s stomach fluttered in the sweetest way. He had to bite his lip to keep himself from squeaking embarrassingly, and took a few deep breaths before continuing with his reading.
~~~
Fjord held his breath. His heart was hammering in his chest, thudding so loudly that he swore the beasts that were hunting them could hear it.
There was more than one creature, too many for them to handle. Something dog-like, worse than the gnolls and far larger. They hadn’t anticipated for the creatures to put up this much of a fight, and the party had gotten split up mid-battle and were forced to flee.
Fjord could hear the growls and barks in the distance, the faint shouts of his companions. He hoped that they were all together and that he was the only one who was off on his own.
He’d ended up hidden in a small, shallow cave. Its entrance was surrounded by a small, green pond that he had trudged through to find his hiding place. He could hear the creatures above him, stomping around on the loose dirt and stones above, catching his scent but unsure of where he could be.
He cringed at the sound of one of them howling, and then another one following in suit. They ran off in one direction, he believed to the east towards where he had last heard from his companions.
It had gone quiet for a while, and then Fjord heard a shout and the sound of twigs breaking. There were footsteps above him, quickly approaching. They weren’t anything like the beasts that were following him, though he could hear the howls of those close behind.
The footsteps got closer, and closer, until they were right above him but they kept going and Fjord watched as a figure jumped out from above him, falling into the pond before him and collapsing into the filthy water. Fjord blinked-- the figure was Caleb.
“Caleb,” Fjord hissed. Caleb started to stand, stumbling as his heavy cloak now soaked through weighed him down.
Caleb glanced back, and his eyes narrowed as he peered into the darkness of the cave. Fjord could hear the creatures approaching, they were nearly upon them.
“Wh-who?”
Fjord stepped out from the cover of the shadows, and reached a hand out to Caleb. “C’mon, hurry up.”
At the sight of Fjord, Caleb quickly hustled into the cave. He ducked under the vines that were growing over the mouth of it, nearly getting caught in them. He nearly collapsed into Fjord’s arms.
“Hey, you alright?”
“I’m not dead,” Caleb replied. He was panting, and looked up at Fjord with worry. Parts of him seemed to be slightly damp from the pond water.“I got cut off from the others.”
“But they’re all together,” Fjord asked.
Caleb shrugged. He was talking just a tad too loudly for Fjord’s liking, caught up in the adrenaline and obviously a bit ticked off. “I didn’t see. I was too busy running from those fucking dick-”
Fjord slapped a hand over Caleb’s mouth and pulled him further into the darkness of the cave. Fjord shushed him quietly, as above them the stomping of many feet rumbled.
Caleb glanced up as Fjord did, eyes wide. They waited, hoping the creatures would lose interest, but it seemed that they were keen on staying close.
“I think they can smell us,” Fjord whispered, as quietly as he could. Caleb nodded, and then reached up to remove Fjords hand from his face.
“Probably,” he nodded. He still stayed close to Fjord, pressed into his chest as his eyes stayed locked on the ceiling of the cave. He bit his lip.
“I think I’m going to look through Frumpkin,” he said.
Fjord raised an eyebrow. “You sure?”
“I can see where the others are. If something happens, just squeeze my arm twice and start pulling me whatever way we’re running. I’m practically useless in the dark anyway,” he said, just a bit of bitterness sneaking into his tone.
Fjord nodded. He wrapped one of his hands around Caleb’s arm. “Alright.”
Caleb’s eyes went blank almost immediately, rolling back in his skull as his body went frigid. Fjord didn’t really want to look, but he felt obligated to do so, too worried that if he looked away that something might happen to him. In his worry, he pulled Caleb a bit closer.
Caleb was gone for quite some time, and he hadn’t made any reports about anybody’s whearabouts. Fjord hoped that he did find them, but was just trying to stay quiet.
The growling and wet breathing of the beasts above kept Fjord on edge as it was. He was fairly sure one of them was going to jump down eventually, find the two of them there and devour them. These creatures were quite large, and in packs were nasty to fight against. He was significantly injured himself, and whilst Caleb was catatonic he also realized that he had received quite the gash up his chest.
He looked over it with a furrowed brow, examining the wound with worry. The gash seemed so large, he wasn’t sure how Caleb hadn’t noticed. Or maybe he did, and that was why he was clutching onto Fjord so desperately.
It seemed like ages before Caleb came back, gasping quietly and nearly collapsing onto Fjord. He steadied himself and blinked, as if trying to clear something from his eyes.
“What did you see,” Fjord asked quietly.
“They are fine, they killed quite a few and were able to escape. I made sure Nott saw Frumpkin,” Caleb said. “Jester wanted to come back for...for you, but Nott told her you were with me and that we would be alright. I don’t know how Nott could have known that, though, so she must be lying.”
“Well, if it got Jester to leave,” Fjord shrugged. Relief had flooded his chest, loosening the places where his muscles had tensed with worry. “Was Molly alright?”
He had gotten injured in the fight, had gone down right before they were forced to retreat. Jester had healed him, but it didn’t really mend the nasty chunks taken out of Mollymauk’s leg.
“Jester was carrying him,” Caleb replied with a chuckle. “She is quite strong.”
Fjord nodded. “She is.”
Caleb took a deep breath. He had yet to look up at Fjord, his eyes cast downwards between them. Fjord supposed it wouldn’t matter if Caleb was looking at him anyway, it was darker than all hell down here and humans couldn’t see in the dark. Even the moonlight leaking into the cave didn’t give them any light, not this deep inside.
Caleb seemed to realize, suddenly, how close he was to Fjord and how his fingers were still digging into his forearms. He took a step back, starting to mumble an apology.
Now, that just wouldn’t do. Fjord placed a firm hand at the small of his back and pulled him closer again.
“No, it’s alright,” he mumbled. “It’s kinda cold, you’re warm.” He tacked that bit on at the end, like some sort of excuse for his behavior and the way he was holding Caleb closer.
Caleb looked up at him now, and the look on his face was mildly perplexed and unsure, verging on nervous.
“I assure you, Caleb, I really really don’t mind the touchin’,” Fjord said softly. His thumb was stroking Caleb’s back through the thick overcoat. He probably couldn’t feel it, but Fjord continued anyway.
Caleb nodded then exhaled quietly. “Alright.”
“Did you see any of those other… things?”
Caleb nodded. “They’re still lingering. They are smart, hiding from us so we think it is safe to leave our hiding place.”
“Well, I guess we can’t leave then.”
“I guess not.”
They settled in for the night, uncomfortably against cold, damp stone. They were pressed together though, which made it just a bit more bearable. Fjord had an arm over Caleb’s shoulders, holding him close whilst Caleb rested his head on Fjord’s chest. It probably wasn’t the most comfortable, what with his armor in the way-- but Fjord didn’t feel safe enough to remove it for comfortable slumber.
“I’ve slept in worse places,” Caleb had whispered as his hand found Fjords thigh. He was tracing his fingers over a gap in his armor.
“As have I.”
He was reminded of the hardships of being out at sea, and despite the glory that came with it, cringed at the thought of it. This was far better than that, though, what with Caleb pressed into his side and their quiet conversation echoing through the small cave. He tried to focus on all of their points of contact, the tingles of heat left in the wake of Caleb’s fingers as it traced designs against his leg.
“I don’t think I will sleep very well.”
“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. I’ll keep a lookout.”
“That isn’t fair for you,” Caleb said. “I can hear just fine, and I can see outside of the cave.”
“I’ll take first watch then, then wake you up” Fjord offered.
Caleb didn’t reply verbally, but instead shifted so that his head was piled in Fjords lap. Fjord took that as a surrender, and waited until Caleb’s breathing had evened out before reaching over to play with his hair.
Despite the vibrant red coloring, Caleb’s hair was considerably tangled and greasy. He really didn’t bathe often, but Fjord couldn’t really find any part of him that wanted to complain about it. Jester was exaggerating about the smell, it was barely noticable. Fjord figured B.O. was natural enough, and maybe Jester just wasn’t so used to traveling with a bunch of sweaty people.
Fjord didn’t wake Caleb up to take watch as he had promised. Instead, he had fallen asleep himself an hour or two in, exhausted from the day’s battle and escape. He had been holding his eyelids open fairly well, but as the adrenaline left his system he found them drooping and impossible to keep open.
He woke up to Caleb shaking him, his voice in his ear, no longer whispering.
“Fjord? Wake up.”
Fjord opened his eyes and had to bite back a smile. Caleb was kneeling just to the side of him, leaning on top of him with a hand braced on his shoulder, gently shaking him awake.
It was bright outside now, the light streaming in from the sun entangling with Caleb’s hair. It must have been the perfect angle or something, because Caleb looked like he was being illuminated by some sort of divine light.
Fjord almost said as much, the word angel at the forefront of his mind as he blinked the sleep from his eyes. He didn’t, despite how he wished he could.
Instead, one of his arms snaked around Caleb’s back and pulled him a bit closer.
“We safe?”
“Yes, I checked before you woke up. There are no signs of those creatures, they must have left at daybreak,” Caleb explained. His eyes kept lingering on Fjord’s face, just below his nose. Fjord wondered if Caleb was looking at his lips. “Frumpkin found the others in the forest, they are coming to find us. He’s leading them here.”
“That’s good. All of them there?”
“Molly is absent, but the others are there, yes. Perhaps his wound was worse than we thought,” Caleb said. “Now come on, we must go meet up with them.”
“Are you alright? I noticed you were bleedin’,” Fjord asked. He glanced down at Caleb’s chest where a claw had ripped through his shirt and skin. “Is it serious?”
“Purely superficial,” Caleb assured him. “It stings a bit, but Jester can probably fix us both up.” He turned his head slightly, out towards the mouth of the cave. The light caught his profile perfectly, a thin aura coming off of him in some sort of heavenly display.
Fjord couldn’t help but gently cup his cheek, feeling the rough facial hair under his fingertips. Caleb froze, and Fjord shifted his fingers to his chin to turn his head and pull him closer.
He leaned forward to meet him, breathing in the same breath as Caleb as he shifted closer.
“Stop me,” Fjord whispered, their lips inching towards each other.
Caleb instead tilted his head and leaned in the rest of the way, their noses brushing as their lips pressed together. It was soft and sweet, Caleb’s lips were warm and chapped and Fjord melted into the embrace. The hand that wasn’t under his chin wrapped around Caleb’s body to pull him closer, and Caleb went with it. Caleb’s hands found purchase on Fjord’s shoulders, slipping under his armor to feel the warmth of his skin. His fingers were cold and they sent a shiver up Fjord’s spine.
Fjord wasn’t sure how long they kissed for, but when Caleb finally pulled away he found himself chasing his lips.
Caleb chuckled, then shook his head. “I can hear them coming.”
Fjord listened, and sure enough, he could hear Jester’s voice echoing through the forest in the distance. Fjord sighed and leaned his forehead against Caleb’s, mirroring his smile.
“We’ll continue this later.”
“We will, I assure you.”
~~~
The walk back to town was a long one. Apparently the rest of their party had lost their wagon and their horses, and so they made the trek back on foot.
“We honestly should have kept going instead of stopping for the night,” Jester said as she skipped along with them. “The town was only a couple of miles further. They had lots more medical supplies and could take care of Molly.”
“She showed them the ears, and the town said they hadn’t ever seen a creature like it,” Beau reported. “I feel like this area has quite the dog problem.”
“And fiend problem,” Nott said. She was practically glued to Caleb’s side, standing a lot closer than normal. “We found a few undead ones.”
“I wonder if this is all connected,” Jester mused under her breath. “I mean, this cannot be coincidental, you know?”
“I agree with that, Jester,” Caleb nodded. “These creatures are smart, too. They were trying to lure us out by hiding.”
“Wow,” Jester hummed. “That is crazy. I am so happy that you were both able to hide better than they could find you.”
The forest was far prettier during the daytime when they weren’t being chased by dog-beasts. The trees were tall but thin, green leaves growing more towards the middle and top of the trunks. The ground was littered with needles and pine cones, grass seemed to be sparse.
They were able to make it back to the road before dark. They walked along, bunched close together, constantly scanning their surroundings, waiting for ambush.
Caleb decided to look through Frumpkin just as the sun started its descent. Everyone urged him to do so.
Caleb had turned to Fjord before he went blind and deaf.
“Here, can you hold my hand? To make sure I don’t trip or run into something?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Fjord took Caleb’s hand in his own, and watched as Caleb’s eyes rolled back. His legs moved along, and Fjord decided he would be paying more attention to making sure Caleb didn’t trip than to watching his surroundings like the others.
“So, Fjord…” Jester was standing to the left of him, Beau just on the other side of her. “What did you and Caleb get up to while you were hiding?”
Fjord blinked, very aware of Jester’s mischievous tone. Her words seemed to get the attention of not only Beau but also Nott, who was now looking over from Caleb’s right side.
“Not dying,” Fjord replied, which was not a lie. The kiss happened in the aftermath of the hiding, and a simple kiss was nothing to get all excited about. Even if he could still feel the ghost of Caleb’s lips against his own, and kept thinking back to the way the light clung to his hair. Well, maybe he could get excited about it, but it was none of the others' business.
“Ahuh,” Jester hummed sarcastically. She looked over at Fjord, smirking. “You are holding his hand.”
“So he doesn’t trip and fall.”
“That is usually what Nott does,” she replied.
“She does have a point,” Nott piped up. She peeked out from around Caleb, the porcelain mask over the bottom portion of her face just a bit disturbing. “Normally he asks me.”
Jester gasped. “Are you jealous?”
“Not particularly,” Nott shrugged. “Caleb’s hands are nice to hold, but they are kind of sweaty.”
Jester looked back at Fjord. “Are his hands sweaty?”
Fjord looked down at their fingers intertwined. “Kinda.”
Jester giggled. “A stinky and sweaty man.”
Beau piped up then. “Listen, Fjord. If you and Caleb are… y’know… that’s great! That way, if shit goes down, you have another person that really likes you enough to have your back.”
“I would hope that he would have my back anyway,” Fjord replied. “And that you, Beau, would have my back, even if we aren’t… y’know.”
“Oh I do, I do,” Beau hummed. She looked up at the sky where Frumpkin was fluttering overhead. “I’m just… y’know.”
Fjord blinked. “I really ain’t sure if I do know anymore.”
“Oh, of course you do,” Jester said, grinning. “Everyone knows, y'know?"
Fjord groaned. “Are y’all fuckin’ with me on purpose? Is this what this is?”
Caleb’s hand shifted in his own, and Fjord glanced over at him. He blinked his eyes then looked around at the others, eyes no longer fogged over or rolled back in his skull.
“I see the town ahead. It’s very close,” he reported. “No creatures from what I saw.”
“Oh! Wonderful,” Jester grinned. She clapped her hands together. “We found this wonderful bakery in town, and they had the best donuts! We should stop by and get some, and get one for Molly.”
“Did y’all stop to get donuts before comin’ to see if we were dead or not?”
“Well, we could not leave without breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day!”
They continued bantering as they approached the city, the light of day quickly leaving them in the dark. Nobody seemed all that bothered anymore, what with the lights of the city illuminated in the distance.
Fjord looked over at Caleb as the sun was dipping below the horizon, it’s last streaks of light catching in his hair. Caleb smiled softly, far brighter than the sun’s dying rays. He squeezed Fjord’s hand gently. Fjord squeezed back and mirrored his smile.