Chapter IV, Part 1: Pawns of destiny

Another day has gone by; their forth day since they left Charoden, the forth night that they were tossed to an unknown world, away from their haven.

Jacob was, as always, left a little behind Liriel. He couldn’t help but notice her grace as she walked proudly. Her slender sword, which was resting on her hip, matched her perfectly; much better than the cumbersome traditional Charodian steel that he was used to see her brandishing in the earlier years. The slim blade seemed to melt as one with her form, like a warrior that was used to it for decades; it was kind of weird to think that she had it for only four days.

On the other hand, the heavy blade that was resting in his back, hidden beneath his cloak, was exhausting him. He wasn’t used to carry so much weight. And the way they had it strapped on him, so as to be as unseen as possible and, more importantly, so that he wouldn’t be able to unsheathe it, made it only worse.

Even in the dark, his keen eyes were darting back and forth in the plains. Myriad of flowers bloomed around here; it was like an herbalist’s paradise. And he was grateful for that.

He always loved plants and flowers; it was something that was bred to him from the countless hours that he had spent in the library in his home. He was unable to wield magic, he was unable to fight with a blade; but he always prided himself for his knowledge of healing remedies.

The elders frowned upon him for his lack of strength, he had asked them plenty of times to become an apprentice healer, but they had refused him each and every one of them. He couldn’t understand why…

Yes, it was vital for a healer to have some magic ability, but that was because one could find a certain illness with magic in mere seconds, not because they used magic to treat those illnesses. He was certain, that if they trained him good enough, he would be able to find diseases and cure people even without magic. But once again, his inability to protect himself was a burden. “How would you survive long enough in a battlefield to give your aid?” they usually confronted him. What he couldn’t understand was why everything had to be about the damned battlefield and war…

He was happy today, it was through those simple plants he had found in the plains that he had somewhat cured the burn on Liriel’s hand. It was through his identification of those rare flowers that he had a slight idea, more like a guess, to where they were. He was determined to prove to all that not everyone needs to be able to kill. He would be perfectly fine if he never had to kill in his life…

Once again, his eyes drifted to the person ahead of him. He liked Liriel. He liked her for everything that the other people seemed to ignore on her, her clear eyes, her bright laughter, her calming voice, her kind heart. He liked her for she was the only one that treated him like a human and not like a defective byproduct.

He was somewhat disappointed. Four days now, and they hadn’t talked much. They used to talk everyday in Charoden about anything. But since they started on their journey they talked only about necessities. “We shouldn’t waste air”, she used to tell him. “Talking while marching will only tire us faster.”

She was seeing this trip as a disgrace, like a military duty that was demanded of her. On the other hand, for him it was salvation, a chance to get away from all this military discipline, a way to leave their shackles behind, and go on for a brighter, freer future, an opportunity to abandon all their training and spend their days with music and chatter. He longed for the day that she would, once again, start to play her flute. As he looked up in the moon, he wished for a chance to just be calm…

Once again, they stopped. It would be near midnight by now and they were walking since noon. They made a hasty camp without speaking much, and silently fell to a deep slumber.