-The 10th Gospel; The divines reigned over the world. And they lauded their achievements across the land. With time the people started to face a divide. Some wondered why only humans were divine. Others were just glad that they had someone to watch over them. Slowly this changed, and the 13, who were hand-chosen, felt that this was a matter the humans needed to solve for themselves.-
Ashra took the bandage off Rennish head carefully. The wrap would be washed and saved for later use. She moved his hair with one hand and looked at the cut. It was healed enough now to stop the bleeding. It had been red and tender for a very long time. They hadn't been able to get all the splinters out of it so it took longer to heal for that reason.
Rennish was nervous that his body wasn't going to heal after a while. He still wasn't used to being injured. He had forgotten the pain long ago when his memories of being human had started to fade.
"You are lucky that it's healed up so nicely," Ashra said rolling the bandage back up to tuck away for cleaning. "Whatever you surprised could have done you much more harm." She scolded.
"I know, You sure we shouldn't worry about bandits?" Rennish asked. He hadn't told them about the message, but he wasn't convinced that the message wasn't a trap of its own somehow. Rennish was sneaky when he was alive the first time and his cowards instincts told him something was off.
"Nothing of value was stolen. The only thing missing is Erust's jacket. I am sure if it was someone you probably startled them and they attacked because you are human. Remember, most humans in this part of the world are slavers." She smiled. "It was fight or flight, you just got both this time. They were probably wearing the jacket to stay warm and didn't have a chance to put it back."
Rennish smiled, "Thank you for cleaning it for me," he said. "Was Erust mad when you told him it was gone?"
"No, he said it was just a jacket and there would be others." She put everything back in the medical box and put it back under the cart in its storage space. Once she was sure it was secure she put the latch back on the door to the area under the cart where dry goods stayed.
Rennish sighed. The changes in Erust concerned him. When he was still Ed he had more compassion. Erust was still a nice guy, but different. Maybe Ed had given up and decided he like being Erust more? He was married after all. Trying very often to start a family, and had mostly everything his previous life had lacked.
He shook his head and decided it was just a change brought on by the attack. It had to be. He thanked Ashra and walked across a small clearing to where Erust was sitting practicing his skills. "Any improvement?" Rennish said. He took his teaching much more seriously now. Erust needed to be better able to guard himself if another attack came. Or if this new divine spirit they were headed to meet was malevolent.
"Yeah, watch this!" Erust said excitedly. Erust put both hands out with his palms up. He breathed in just a little bit and Rennish watched the air around him begin to frost up quickly. The ice turned into a shield. Then for just a split second it shimmered and turned into glass.
Rennish smiled. "That's better, you are getting the hang of exchanging elements but your transformation needs to speed up. How big is your sphere of influence? Put your hands on the ground and see how far you can make flowers grow."
Erust nodded and put his hands on the ground. He breathed in once and then pushed down on the ground. Almost instantly green grass and dandelions formed around him. Rennish looked at the circle and took an educated guess. It had to be around 10 feet. That was better than before. Previously he was only able to get his mana solid out to about 5 feet.
"Good, good, okay don't push it. You are still absorbing energy slower than you used too. I want you to focus on absorbing. Meditate, if you have to. The more you bring in the faster it will start to recharge on you. Like stretching a hole in a shirt."
Erust laughed. "That seems too simple but okay. I will try it. No meditating while I am driving the cart though."
Rennish put his hand on his forehead. "Yeah, let's not have you accidentally make the cart fly or something."
"We made it out of the forest already. How long until we reach the first town?" Erust said.
Rennish thought back to that morning when he had looked at the map. Erust kept the magical one in his bag so he was doing this old school. The large map was more accurate anyway this far south and with villages spread so far apart.
"Probably another 2 days," he said, trying to be reassuring. The extra 3 days it had taken to get through the forest threw him off. He knew how far the Lloras would go on their own on average but they seemed to be moving slower. He didn't want to give too much hope. Otherwise, he guessed they would have been just a day away at this point.
Their next goal was a small town at the mouth of the river that ran through the Glass Capital. The city marked the last trading port before you headed south. Their goal was to make it into the Ice lands before winter started back up. The rogue spirit that was becoming its own god was up in the mountains according to the rumors they had heard along the way.
They needed to sell some things off and pick up another load headed south. The plan this time was to take a boat along the coastline to get off at the town nearest to the edge. They hoped this would eliminate more time lost in forests.
"Do you think you will be ready when the time comes?" Rennish said as Erust got up and started walking back towards the cart.
"Oh, I have tricks up my sleeve. And the attack left me more motivated than ever to get this all done!"
Erust smiled as they came into view of the cart. Ashra was putting up their lunch supplies and getting everything packed back up. Erust smiled, the attack had surprised him, to think that the oracle was evil! His only goal now was to eliminate the spirit in the south and then to turn his attention towards the oracle. He needed to seal or dismantle it or something. A power that great, it stole his body from the gods, put him into creation, and was trying to use him to destroy the gods themselves. The ego of the oracle made Erust shiver in revulsion. He had never been religious but that was more than he had expected.
Rennish watched as Erust shivered and wondered what he was thinking. This wasn't like the old Ed. Rennish put his hand on his waist and felt his bag of instruments. When the time came, if Erust turned could he deal with him?
"The boys are back. Are you two done and ready to get on the road?" Ashra asked. She was plucking bits of grass from her fur where it was sticking around her legs. "The forest is trying to reclaim me if we stay here any longer."
"Yeah its time to go," said Erust. "We should hit the port town soon."
Rennish walked to the front of the cart. "I will drive. You two rest up. Erust you should meditate and try to concentrate on bringing in more power. You should be a limitless pot if you try hard enough."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I need to be prepared."
After everyone got back into their normal places Rennish urged the animals back onto the road. He admired these two little creatures. They seemed to never tire. They had the weird habit of walking in their sleep. One of them would doze off while it walked and the other would do the guiding. This was one of the main reasons why they were used for this type of travel.
They moved across the countryside. They were out of the main forest now but the occasional tree still popped up. The road moved a lot less uniformly now though and it gave Rennish something to focus on. The rode like this for several hours before the sun started to set. Rennish felt a hand on his back and turned his head to look into the back.
Ashra's head was in the flap that separated them. "It's our turn. Erust wants to make the city by morning if possible. He thinks we will be cutting it too close to winter if we wait any longer."
Rennish nodded, "Fine by me. I was getting tired anyway." He smiled and handed the reins over his shoulder. Ashra stepped through the opening and seated herself next to Rennish. When he was sure she had the cart he turned around and crawled through the opening into the back. Erust was sitting the back waiting for him to get all the way in.
"Okay, now it's your turn to rest Rennish," Erust said tossing him a pillow. "Get some sleep. Hopefully, we will reach the town by sunrise."
Rennish nodded and put his head down on the pillow. It felt nice to shut his eyes in the fading sun. He was hungry. He thought back to the days when they had endless sandwiches in the desert. This was a different kind of trip. He did miss the times when the old Ed was more conversational.
Rennish got himself comfortable. He hung his feet over the edge out the back of the cart. He didn't fit when he was stretched all the way out. He closed his eyes and put his arm over his head to block out the sun. The exhaustion of driving for 12 hours was catching up with him. He closed his eyes and felt himself drifting off. He felt sleep coming over him, a large bump in the carriage surprised him. When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the cart. The change of scenery shocked him awake.
"Slow down Rennish." Said Golliad. "Just a friendly check-in."