"Are you alright?"
Tristan asked, to fill the silence more than anything. Olean who had been walking behind him with Majteer and Ava looked at him and nodded. Ava was riding Majteer again with Olean keeping a hand on the winid to make sure Ava remained there. The older woman was not awake, exhausted like Nora had warned, she passed out moments after she had appeared. Olean didn't want it at first and wanted to carry Ava in her arms instead. But, after a long argument with Majteer finally decided to put her on the winid's back. but she did decide to keep a sharp eye on them for even the slightest shift in Ava's weight.
Majteer, despite her stubbornness also appeared sullen and extremely worried about her master as she impatiently turned her head to make sure Ava was still sitting on her back. Her gait was slow and smooth, in an very odd movement of her legs that kept her back completely still. her stance speared fragile, like she was afraid to let even the slightest jerk of the terrain reach Ava.
Olean appeared cleaner now, she had wiped most of her face and limbs off dirt. her dull green eyes were alert and shifting, and Tristan saw now glow in them like he had before. the short girl walked with calm and confidant manner, like the whole affair until an hour ago had no effect on her at all. Only her appearance. Her dirty green hair was again tied to a loose bun which he realized was reminiscent of how Ava's hair was but poorly imitated. she was digging her pink fingernail free of the dark mud around their edges. a grimace playing on her face ever so often.
Then she looked down raising her hands in front of her face and twisted her mouth. "So filthy. Yuk!" She spat a black glob of spit and Tristan noticed those dark muddy edges of her teeth. Knowing what it was, he himself felt a gag coming and silently commended the girl for bearing what she did.
They walked in silence again as Olean looked forward wistfully. Tristan stared almost lost in her calmness when sh turned to him a gave wide reassuring grin. One that said everything would be alright. Without his notice a chuckled escaped him and her grin widened, if slightly. At that moment she was an image of the proud kid who had swallowed a big chunk of mud.
"Those were the most disgusting monster I have ever fought." She said with a sigh and a long stretch of her limbs.
"Have you... fought a lot of monsters then?" Tristan asked, suddenly curious.
"Mm hmm." She nodded and snuck a glance at Ava who still appeared to be sleeping on the animal. "Lady Ava and I had been hunting monsters. she is training me to become a solo Liaison... but I don't want to."
Tristan slowly looked between her and Ava and felt some of the reluctance in the girl. He wanted to say something, or at least put his hand on her shoulder in understanding. She was just a young girl, he was starting to think but the that illusion was shattered and vast expanse between them became quite clear right away. This girl was who had taken care of the nightmare that had been plaguing the entire village for a month in one night and had not a scar to show for it. He knew it for sure as he had the glimpse of her bare body as she changed into the fresh set of clothes, only black dirt on her smooth young skin.
Olean had been too quick then to be followed with normal eyes and there hadn't been any time for him to even think of admiring her. But Tristan's eyes were not quite normal, or so his father had used to say. And from what he heard from others it did seem like he saw more than what others did. He always saw a little farther, a little bigger, a little more details. It was important when he hunted, or was learning to. There, even the simplest displacement in the blades of grass could mean success of failure, and the latter always resulted in an extensive beating by his father. So even without meaning to, he took in every detail his eyes laid on. And on that single glimpse of her bare skin, under the dirt smudge and violently tatters clothes, her skin was pristine and smooth.
"But Lady Ava is always with me though when I fight." Olean's sudden words startled him that he almost forgot what she was talking about. Mention Ava's name, she looked up as if looking for her master's approval. Similar to the relation he himself had with Nowsen not too long ago. "I wasn't supposed to fight but... I thought it would attack the temple."
Tristan realized the excuse was more for Ava than him. Like asking for forgiveness after having made a mistake. but the older woman was still not awake.
"...Thank you, for what you did." Tristan said bit louder than intended but he wanted to make sure Olean heard it. That he at lease was thankful for what had happened.
Tristan himself didn't really care much for the monster-the beast of Endahar, as legendary as it was. It was Nora, Ava and also Olean, they fascinated him more. So much power in all three of them. He had thought himself special once, knowing what he knew, being the only one to know magic... Nowsen didn't count.
He wandered if Ava was a Master Wizard he had heard from his master about.
He hoped she was, if she wasn't then he could only expect what a Master Wizard would be like and the notion didn't sit well with him. A person with the power to move earth and sky did not comfort him. Even though Nora clearly could do that. Nora was much stronger than the all of them. Even without seeing her in action he would have been able to tell that. She was what Ava had been after she finally burned her magic, but instead Nora was that all the time just not as explosive. Her energy was subtle, stable and deep. It didn't crackled and pushed like Ava's, instead it swallowed with its immensity.
"Wha-" Tristan snapped his mouth shut the moment it came out and started again, "who is ...Nora?"
"It is Mistress Nora." Olean chided, offended by his casual use of her name and then looked up as he raised his hand in surrender. Her raised her hand and delicate fingers tapped on her delicate chin in thought, "Umm... she is... the Red Anchor." She said a bit helplessly and shrugged.
Tristan took a calm breathe and smiled his annoyance away. "What 'is' a Red Anchor?"
"It means she is a leader of Sharak." Olean answered slowly as to simplify what she was saying.
He blinked at the answer. But- he thought-
"So... Mistress... Nora is the Leader of Sharak?" He asked ignoring his shock. It was supposed to be Pearl, according to what he heard. Pearl led Sharak. The greatest hero in Faeraq Mae.
Olean shook her head, "No, 'A' leader." And said emphasizing the letter. "There are four anchors of Sharak. It is Mistress Nora in red, Mistress Pearl in blue and ...there are two more, Master Gold and Master Black. I... don't know their names." Said the junior member of the guild.
Nora was a leader of Sharak, just like Pearl. And there were two more. He didn't know that. he doubted even Laanimere did. It didn't change much but it certainly was shocking to know how it actually was than the rumors.
Tristan knew about Pearl, in face he was sure everyone did. It would be almost impossible to not hear about her, especially when Laanimere would never stop talking about her. And tales of the Blue Pearl reached them at times. Legendary exploits of one woman doing the impossible. Tristan, along with most adults ignored them for high tells and impossible to be true. But seeing Ava, Olean and especially Nora with his own eyes, her tales might not be all fake after all.
And slowly Laanimere's admiration was making some sense to him. He thought about her then, the girl who he never talked to before. But who in spite of that seemed to know him quite well. His chest felt warm and little ticklish as the girl's face floated in her mind. But it didn't last as he felt annoyance not his own ripping apart Laanimere's face in his mind into dust.
"So, is she your leader?" He asked seeing as Nora came to help Ava instead of Pearl.
"No, no. We are the Liaisons of Blue Pearl. Misteress Pearl is our leader." She fished something from the side of her waist, a small silver brooch that gave of a hint of blue light. It was palm size flat carving of a winged woman holding a sword through her chest, its hilt on the upper right forming an elegant triangle with the edge of her dress at the bottom and the tips of her wings on the upper left. It hummed softly in his hand. It was imbued with a magic, strong and steady. As he took it from her hand he felt something rough on the other side and turning saw a pin for attaching it to clothes.
"Then why was it her that came to help and not... Mistress Pearl?"
"Lady Ava and mistress Nora were friends from long ago." Again she glanced at Ava. "My grandfather is red though, I don't see him much."
If Pearl and Nora were both leaders, did it mean she was someone like Nora? or even greater?
He needed to know. "Is Pearl ...as strong as N-Mistress Nora?"
"No." she shook her head and the swaying her odd green dirty hair around her head, "Mistress Nora is the strongest."
And that was the end of it. It was something Tristan could believe and felt better to have Olean's confirmation. He felt Nora's strength. The vast expanse that spread from her, he felt something base inside of him telling him that Nora was to be bowed down and worshiped, to be loved. That she was also the mountain, indomitable, massive, that couldn't be moved or scaled. it was a scale he was not comfortable thinking about so he turned to Olean and forced himself to ask another question.
"What happened last night?"
Olean paused and grimaced and for a moment he thought she wouldn't answer when she let out a big but silent sigh.
"I wanted to see it... the man said it came every night, so I was waiting."
They were walking past the black fields of Mermon's, sinking their feet into ash. It was a slow track back to the temple.
"I was there too" Tristan said, "In the tower. I keep-kept watch."
"I know. I saw you. You were busy so I did not want to disturb." He thought as much and then froze as another thought hit him.
Saw him doing his magic?
He felt a sudden embarrassment instead of fear with having his secret out. "Oh, oh." He said, finding no other words at the moment. But she didn't seem to notice his hesitation and was again staring wistfully forward.