Desires of flesh, mind and heart

Keira listened carefully for the sound of an attack. She was tempted to turn back – turn back and help the woman who has been so generous; the one who risked her own safety for this unlikely group in the forest. How can she think of them as her own children, even though she hardly knew them? This type of love was new to her.

 

The assassin had to focus on their goal. Still, worry took hold of her. “Will she be all right?”

Her comrades were silent. Only the sound of crunching twigs under their feet and the swishing of their cloaks could be heard through the trees. Vangz whispered to no one in particular “She’ll be fine…she has to be…”

Cool and Keira could hardly believe what they had heard. Was the black wizard concerned?

“What did you just say, Vangz?” Keira asked. Perhaps she would change her opinion of him. But the compassionate Vangz disappeared as soon as he revealed himself.

“What? Nothing,” Vangz growled. “Big fat Halfling can take of herself, that’s all!”

Cool, previously leading the way with the torch, stopped in his tracks. “Guys, where exactly are we going?” The wizard and assassin turned to each other and wondered the same thing.

During their scramble to get away, no one had discussed in detail what they were going to do. Of course, they had to find the rest of the missing tomes, but where to start?

“Root forest,” Keira said. “My husband’s laboratory is located there.” Vangz noticed the blatant pain in her voice. Seneca, you sly fox, Vangz smiled inwardly. Attempting to recreate the stone without me, eh? And without your wife’s knowledge too.

“All right, let’s move it!” Cool chirped happily. “It’s miles away, but at our pace, we’ll get there in about two days. Not bad.”

“Not…bad?” Vangz tried his best not to raise his voice. “Two days? On foot?”

“Too much for your royal feet?” Keira mocked.

It’s not his feet that’s royal, Cool thought to himself.

“Wizards have more convenient ways of travel,” Vangz made sure to mention. He loved the idea of being more powerful than the assassin and jester. While not achieving his goal, he would vex them as a hobby.

Keira picked up a shiny white weather visible on the mossy ground. She threw it high in the air and watched it fall to the ground. Slowly. Gracefully.

“You concentrate on a place you’ve been to before,” she said as she kept her eyes on the feather in the air. “And reappear there,” she snatched the feather out of the air. “In an instant.”

“Good thing you know,” Vangz walked on, avoiding her gaze. It would be risky to apparate to the laboratory, even though he knew exactly where it was. Seneca’s wife would be suspicious. He would allow her to think he was only after the tomes.

“Jester, be useful and produce a map,” Vangz barked at Cool. The young jester walked farther and didn’t look back.

“Not to worry, my notorious friend!” he replied. “I just happen to have a trick up my sleeve!” Vangz rolled his eyes and hoped that this “trick” would be a map.

Fortunately, it was. Cool brought the torch closer to his tattooed left arm and saw root forest farther east. It would only take a matter of time before the laboratory would be found.

Cool pulled down his sleeve and almost screamed as the face of the assassin appeared next to him. “What’s that under there?”

“Rash. Cold damp forests make me itch like crazy!” Cool feigned scratching and earned a disgusted look from Keira. A chilly draft swept through the forest and blew through their cloaks. The jester’s eyes widened as a saw the assassin’s belt packed with a number of new knives.

“Where’d you get those?!” he exclaimed. Vangz, who normally kept the distance, teasingly revealed his cloak of vials and scrolls.

“Why don’t I have any goodies?!” Cool wailed. “No room in Mrs. Yaktu’s heart for her little spy, Cool.”

“Fool,” Vangz said with relish. “You were preoccupied with that stupid orb. Before I forget, fool rhymes with cool.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, Cool,” Keira was very interested in their last member, who seemed to be more than he seemed. “What’s your personal goal on this quest? I want Leon back,” she gestured to the wizard “He wants the tomes. What about you?”

“Simple,” Cool replied. He knew exactly what he wanted. “I want fame and fortune.”

“For the first time, you make sense,” Vangz grunted.

“Oh! I also want my own harem,” the jester added. Vangz slapped a hand to his forehead. What a fool.

After hours of trudging through the thick woods, they decided to set up camp. Cool took one last look at his map before concealing it with a special cream. They were close to the edge of the forest.

Cool knew they were all tired. They were all weary, and the absence of Mrs. Yaktu made them feel worse. The jester was worried himself, but would never let it show.

“Let’s set up camp here!” Cool suggested. “The trees provide good shade in this part.”

Keira took a deep breath and felt the cold wind tickle her cheeks. The scent of damp grass and mulch entered her nostrils. An owl hooted in the corner and ruffled its feathers. Everything else was quiet.

“The fluffy owl provides all the music we need!” Cool chirped enthusiastically and nudged Vangz playfully. Big mistake.

“Oh optimistic aren’t we?” Vangz growled. In a mocking tone, he continued. “And the moon shall watch over us the entire night! See? It’s smiling at us now!”

Keira sighed and huddled in between the tree’s arm-like roots. Vangz flopped on his side of the tree and was displeased with the absence of a bed. “The squishy green moss is just the perfect cushion for my aching hiney!” His sarcasm wasn’t helping. Keira and Cool started to feel as aggravated, but held their tongues. “Tomorrow we’re gonna eat mushrooms and sing around the campfire!”

The assassin, with a quick temper of her own, couldn’t save her breath any longer. “Sod off, you pathetic creature.”

“I’m pathetic? Who’s the woodland lady with her cheek against the green filth?” Vangz took off his cloak and used it as a makeshift pillow. “Damn, now I don’t have a blanket.”

“Here,” Keira flung an extra cloth to the unhappy wizard. “Now shut your royal mouth.” Vangz merely mumbled and rolled to his side.

They’ve got it all wrong, Cool thought. Sooner or later, they ought to know.

Deeper into the night, Keira was restless. Her mind wandered to her missing husband and his secrets. The stars couldn’t be seen through the thick tops of trees. As if the woods didn’t want the world below to know about the magnificence of what lay above them. Secrets. Lesallia was full of them.

She shivered against her cover and hugged her knees against her. On cold nights like this, her husband would wrap his arms around her until there was warmth for both of them. How she missed his touch. A tear trickled down her cheek. She drifted to a sleep full of nightmares.

If she stayed up a little longer, she would feel the dark wizard gingerly tuck the extra cloth around her trembling body.

-

Later in the morn, Keira was displeased to be awoken by Vangz’ vicious yell. She was about to retaliate with a throw knife, but she was unable to move. “WHAT DID YOU DO?!!” she screamed.

“Not I,” Vangz face was contorted into a snarl “Slime.”

The assassin was helplessly enveloped in moss-like goo that weakened her as she tried to struggle. Cool was still asleep, even if slime was suffocating him. Vangz shook of the remaining slime of his leg and bent close to Keira.

“Don’t move. I’ll handle this.”