Robert noticed that the high elf woman had been growing steadily more erratic recently. He wasn't sure why the change had occurred, and frankly he didn't really care. The only thing that worried him was what she could do to Ryo or Beth. If she went on one of her violent outbursts, he felt he could handle it, and while Ryo had been through such things before, Robert didn't want him to experience it again. Beth, however, hadn't experienced such hardships, and wouldn't survive such treatment.
"All right, that will be it for today, lad." He said, relaxing his stance.
"Thank you, Robert." Ryo replied, bowing his head.
"Aye, no problem, lad." Robert replied, giving the lad a smile.
"Beth asked me to send you over to her, when you were finished here." He added, pointing towards the garden.
"Okay, see you later!" The lad responded, before turning around and running off.
Robert watched as the boy made his way toward the cabin, before turning around and heading towards the woodpile. The lad had been working hard ever since they had gotten to this damned forest. Ryo was probably the ideal student, whom anyone would be happy to teach. Not because the lad was talented or anything, but because of the effort the boy put into learning every little thing. He never complained and just tried his best and, if he made a mistake, he would earnestly fix it. Robert was proud to teach someone like Ryo and tried his best to be a good teacher.
He made sure that every lesson was tough for Ryo, never holding back because of the lad's age or experience. Beth would often remind him in private that Ryo was still only a boy. Robert could understand her concerns, but he never stopped being so demanding of Ryo. The reason for this was because the boy's enemies would never go easy on him. It was important that Robert do this now, so that the lad could survive out in the world.
"He will do amazing things when he escapes here." Robert murmured to himself, picking up his axe once more.
Under the pretense of looking for firewood, he would often explore the nearby area, looking for ways to escape. He couldn't go too far, for fear of rousing the suspicions of that damn woman. In his searches he had come across several runes marked on trees around the clearing. Robert didn't know what they were, but guessed they were probably magical. This was verified when he brought it to the attention of that woman, and she ordered him not to touch those trees.
Of course, she didn't go into any details about what the runes did, but he could guess. He didn't know much about magic but had worked with a few mages over the years. Whenever they would camp they would ward the area using similar runes, so that others couldn't sneak up on them. Robert wasn't sure how it worked, but if an intruder came, it would warn the mage. But they could also be mage traps that would activate if you touched them. Whatever they were, he would need to account for them in his escape plans.
Robert also closely watched the coming and goings of the high elf, making note of her extended periods of leave inside of the cave. The reason he was doing this was to try and ascertain if there was a pattern to any of it. Sadly, the woman's schedule seemed as erratic as her personality and, even after a year, he couldn't really find much of a pattern.
The biggest problem standing in the way of their escape was when she finally left the cabin, she just went to the cave. It was far too close by for them to get far before she caught up with them. He also needed to figure out a way to get the control rod and slave papers she kept hidden away. Robert guessed she would either keep them locked up in her room, or down in the cave. When he tried to ask Ryo about it, the lad could say nothing. Probably because that woman had ordered the boy not to say anything.
Robert assumed it best to think of her as a powerful mage and plan around that. She didn't cast magic that often, and he also didn't know how to judge her strength. The problem with trying to judge a mage was they could be as thin as a twig and yet still have the power to level entire cities. It was best to overestimate her abilities and be cautions, than to underestimate her and put everyone at risk.
The one thing that seemed hopeful was that the high elf had the same temperament as most mages he had met. The power they could wield always went to their head and made them overconfident and arrogant. They believed their magic made them untouchable, and that lowly soldiers could never harm them. He had witnessed a few mages be utterly shocked when a simple spear went through their belly. Robert would try to use that arrogant attitude of hers against her.
It was his belief that once they made it to one of the bigger towns or cities, she would surely stop chasing them. The reason being that he still believed she was hiding from someone powerful. If she made too much of a ruckus, or ventured too far afield then she risked alerting whoever was looking for her. He remembered, from when they were still in the caravan, that the capital wasn't too far away. If they could get on a ship and head south, they wouldn't need to worry about the high elf anymore.
To pay for their travels, Robert planned to take some stuff from the cabin, pawning it off as they went. If they could get their hands on any magical stuff, they could make some easy coin. For now, however, all he could do was wait and keep formulating his plans. Pushing those thoughts aside, he focused on the task at hand. The woman had ordered him to chop more firewood, which he didn't understand. There was already plenty of it stacked up, so he didn't see the need. But it wasn't a hard task, so it didn't bother him too much to oblige.
***
Three weeks had passed since the mistress invited him to learn forbidden magic under her. During this time, the mistress had tried various ways to convince him to learn these forbidden arts. Every time he would try to push it off, asking her for more time to think about it. Ryo wasn't sure why he was given a choice, and why the mistress didn't just force him into it. He desperately wanted to talk to Beth and Robert about it, but couldn't because of the mistress' order.
There was a burning curiosity in him to know what forbidden magic was. Admittedly, it was tempting to just accept the mistress' offer to learn about it. Ryo had grown to love learning about magic and how it works, and now there was a chance to learn even more it was difficult to refuse. The only reason he hadn't relented so far was that he had a nagging feeling deep down that something was wrong. There was still so much he didn't know about the mistress and magic.
After seeing that her efforts in convincing him weren't working, she left for the cave without saying a word. A week passed after that before the mistress returned late one night. He expected her to want to lock herself in her room for one to two days as she usually did, before calling on him, but that didn't happen. On the second night she left her room and went about her business, ignoring Ryo. She even canceled his magic lessons, stating she was too busy with her research.
At first he wasn't sure what was going on and he'd never expected her to act like this. With all the free time he had on his hands as a result, he trained all the more thoroughly with Robert and helped Beth with the garden. Although he was a little anxious about the mistress' sudden change in attitude, there was nothing he could do. Plus, he was kinda grateful that he could spend so much time with Robert and Beth.
"It's just strange to think carrots could be black." Beth remarked, shaking her head.
"I swear, on the island they are black as night." Ryo insisted, pulling up a carrot from the ground.
"I wish I could see them." She said, taking the carrot from him.
"Do they taste the same?" she quickly added, as she brushed the dirt from it.
"I didn't taste a difference." He replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"Ohhh, that's so interesting!" She beamed, holding the carrot close to her chest.
Ryo was happy to see Beth in such a cheerful mood. Working alongside Beth was always fun and brought him a peace of mind that he couldn't get anywhere else. Seeing her tend to the garden so passionately made him temporarily forget about all his worries. Although he had never really cared about plants in the past, working with Beth had changed all that. It was as if her love and passion for plants had somehow rubbed off on him, but only a little.
"Anyway, how is your training with Robert going? Are you doing okay? Do you feel it's too much for you?" She bombarded him with questions, before stopping to look at him.
"No, I enjoy training with Robert. I've learned so much and I think it's really fun." He answered, trying to reassure her.
"Hmmm…" Beth was about to say something before a scream stopped her.
AAAAH!
"That sounds like Robert!" Ryo shouted, jumping to his feet.
"What's going on!?" Beth asked, quickly getting up as well.
Both of them ran as fast as they could towards the source of the screaming. They ran past the front of the cabin and turned the corner to where the woodpile stood. There they found Robert kneeling down, his back towards them. At that moment, the world around him seemed to turn grey and time slowed to a crawl. Ryo's body froze in place as his eyes became fixated on what lay next to the old man. There on the ground, in a pool of blood, was Robert's arm.
"Gods be damned!" Robert yelled.
"Robert!" Beth screamed, running to the old man's side.
Robert turned towards them, and Ryo could see the old man was in a great deal of pain. Panic gripped his heart as he saw the amount of blood that covered the old man. He had seen blood countless times before, but this was different. Seeing Robert like that caused his mind to go blank, as he just stood there watching.
"What's with all the screaming out here?!" A familiar voice barked.
Turning around, he saw the mistress turn the corner, eyes filled with rage. She walked up to him, as if she was about to punish him. Before stopping right in front of him, before looking past him. That's when Ryo's mind could finally process what was going on. Robert would bleed to death if something wasn't done soon! But he didn't know any healing spells! But the mistress probably did! She could help!
"P-please… help!" He pleaded.
The mistress furrowed her brow and stared at him, as if she was about to kill him. Then a slow smile formed on her face before she nodded. Making her way over to Robert, she picked up the severed arm. After examining it for several seconds, the mistress chanted a spell over it. Thin black smoke swirled around the arm, before disappearing under the skin.
The skin and muscle bubbled and sizzled before falling off, forming a pool of black sludge on the ground. Now, the only thing left in the mistress' hand was pure white bones. She examined the bones before walking over to Robert, kneeling down beside him. She held the bones up to Robert's wound, then chanted another spell.
Ryo watched as green smoke came out from the mistress and into Robert's wound. The old man's face softened, as if the pain had stopped. The wound slowly healed as the bones fuzed together. Finally, the skin healed around the protruding bone, as the green smoke dissipated. The mistress once again examined the bones, before turning to Robert.
"Try moving it." The mistress ordered, gesturing to the arm.
Robert looked at Beth, then Ryo, then back toward the mistress before nodding his head. Ryo wanted to step forward and say something, but bit his lower lip instead. The only reason the old man was alive was because of the mistress, he had only been able to stand there watching him bleed out like an idiot. This was a chance to finally help Robert, and he had failed to rise to the occasion.
Ryo watched as the old man slowly raised his now skeletal arm up. The fingers twitched a little before slowly forming into a fist. The sight of the bones moving caused his jaw to drop as Beth covered her mouth in shock. Robert just looked at the hand in wonder, as if not able to comprehend what he was seeing. The mistress nodded, a sly smile forming on her face, before she stood up and walked back to Ryo.
"O-uh, coming!" He replied, running to Robert's other side.
When Ryo touched the old man's skin, it was ice cold. He could also see that Robert was barely hanging on, he looked so exhausted. The two of them worked together to get Robert into the cabin and up the stairs. They then put the old man into bed, and lay blankets over him in a desperate attempt to warm him up. Ryo and Beth stayed by Robert's side until he stopped shaking. That's when he remembered the mistress wanted to speak to him.
"Beth, I got to go talk to the mistress." He mumbled, looking at the old man sleep.
"It's fine, Ryo, I'm not going to move until you get back." Beth said, wiping the sweat away from Robert's forehead.
"Thank you." He replied, getting up.
He took one last look at Robert, before turning around to head downstairs. Walking past the kitchen and down the hallway, towards the mistress' room. Ryo stopped in front of the door and thought about what he should say to the mistress. Naturally he had to thank her… but he didn't feel that was enough. Before he could think of anything, the door opened.
"How is your friend?" She asked, looking down at him.
"U-uh, h-he's fine." Ryo stammered, surprised to see her.
"Good, I'm glad I was in the cabin. If I hadn't been here, he would have probably bled to death." She remarked, crossing her hands across her chest.
"Y-yes, thank you, mistress." He mumbled, giving her a deep bow.
It was true, if the mistress had been in the cave, Robert would likely have died. The twisting pain his heart had felt earlier came back anew as he thought about what could have happened. He just kept replaying it all over and over again in his mind. Why did he just stand there and watch, why didn't he do something? Why was Beth able to move forward, while he felt his legs were sinking into the ground? All the questions and thoughts haunted his mind.
"I don't know if you should be thanking me." The mistress remarked.
"W-what do you mean, mistress?" He asked, looking back up at her.
"I don't know restoration spells and given the circumstances, I was forced to use forbidden magic." She clarified.
"But…" He tried to say, before being cut off.
"I'm sorry to say but you friend will not know peace again, because of my actions." She stated, shaking her head.
"What…?"
Ryo was a little confused about what she was trying to say. Robert was alive thanks to her magic, so who cares if it was forbidden magic or not? He didn't think the old man would mind much, since he was still alive.
"If a mage or someone from one of the temples finds him, they will try to harm him." She explained, giving him a stern look
"What?! Why?!" He blurted out, without realizing it.
"As I said before, people hurt what they don't understand." She said, shrugging her shoulders.
"But Robert's done nothing wrong, mistress!" Ryo insisted.
"I know that, but you did nothing wrong, and the elders still forced you off the island, didn't they? If it wasn't for the rules preventing them from killing you, I'm sure I don't have to tell you what would have happened." She countered, furrowing her brow.
But why did it really matter? That magic saved Robert's life, so how could it be wrong? As long as it could save someone's life did such things really matter? Ryo just couldn't wrap his head around why such a thing could be forbidden. Maybe it was just like the mistress had said, and people were just afraid of it out of sheer ignorance after all.
"I hate to do this, but I'm just trying to protect myself. I order you not to talk about anything we just talked about." She ordered, pulling out the control rod from underneath her robe.
"Yes, mistress." He answered mechanically, giving her a slight bow.
"Go, your friend seems like the type that won't ask for help." She said, putting the control rod back.
"Thank you, mistress." He replied.
"Take these next two weeks to make sure he is doing all right. I will stay in the cabin, in case anything happens. Then, after those two weeks you and me can discuss the future." She instructed, closing the door behind her.