Nora opened her eyes and before Jason even realized what was happening, she had pulled out a knife from somewhere and swung it at Bjorn. Jason called out, but he was too late. There was no way that Bjorn would be able to…
Bjorn casually disarmed her without even giving her a second glance. He tossed the knife casually in one hand while simultaneously holding down the struggling girl. "You could have given me some kind of warning," he said, with a mirthful smile. "Do you think you can get her under control?"
Nora had just tried to kill him without so much as a second thought, and that within seconds of waking up. That was disturbing, but not nearly as surprising as he wished it was. What really surprised him was Bjorn's apparent apathy. Jason tried to shake off his shock at Nora's attack and Bjorn's casual indifference.
"I'm so sorry, she can be excitable at times, but I don't know what could have come over her." Jason rushed over to Nora and gave her what he hoped was a death glare. She stopped struggling, so it must have been good enough.
"You seem to have been through quite a bit lately," Bjorn continued, in his merry tone. Jason was growing more and more curious about the man. There was no way that he was as lighthearted and upbeat as he was letting on.
"We…" he stumbled over the words. "We encountered a party of demons a week back, and she hasn't been quite the same since then." Well that was all true except the timeframe.
Bjorn's expression darkened for the first time. "I'm afraid it's about that time," he said. I'm sure you've heard that the hero was reborn. Yes, there was definitely anger somewhere beneath his pleasant façade that leaked through when he mentioned the hero. "I'm glad that you were able to escape with your lives."
"Some soldiers managed to rescue us in time," he said quickly. Why had he mentioned demons in the first place?
"Hmm," Bjorn looked thoughtful. "I'm surprised there were soldiers for you to encounter a week ago. The soldiers that the hero sent out here should be arriving about now but…" Jason was worried that he would dig deeper, but Bjorn seemed to want to discuss it even less than Jason. "Well, regardless I would advise sticking to the roads when you can."
"We will definitely be doing that."
Without another word, Bjorn moved over to where Vanya lay and put his hands over her. Jason knew that he needed to do something, but what? Vanya's reaction would be far worse than Nora's.
Her eyes opened and Jason made his decision. He replaced Vanya's senses. Within the tiniest fraction of second of opening her eyes, she lay in a room of white, her ears filled with white noise.
Bjorn took a cautious step back in case she reacted the same way Nora had, and for an instant, she looked merely confused. She looked around calmly and scratched at her ears as if something was stuck in them.
"What did you do to me?!" she suddenly bellowed. She stared at her outstretched arms, and it took Jason a moment to realize what she was talking about. He has created an illusion of whiteness surrounding her and plugged her ears to boot and it was her appearance that first struck her?
"I didn't touch her," Bjorn said from where he had stepped back. "Whatever is going on I have no idea how it happened." He stepped up, but Jason called out for him to stop.
"Wait, let me try."
"Is this normal for her?" Bjorn asked, perplexed at what was going on. He had visibly tensed up.
"Nora come stand over here," Jason ordered the girl who looked even more confused than Bjorn. Jason didn't want to risk her trying something while he wasn't paying attention to her. "Stay here and don't do anything until I say ok." The look Nora gave him did not give him confidence that she would do as she was told.
There was nothing he could do about that though, so he stepped towards Vanya who was now swinging her arms through the air. "Turn me back right now you horrible…"
"Vanya," he called out, removing the noise from her ears so she could hear him. "Don't panic. You came into contact with a mana mine and this nice man here saved your life."
"Like hell he did, change me back or so help me I will rip your head off your body."
Bjorn was looking from Vanya to Jason in utter bewilderment, but Jason couldn't spare him an explanation. "Can you just trust me for once? If you would just settle down then we can talk through this and figure everything out."
"Or, you could change me out of this disgusting form and I'll consider letting you live."
"Is everything ok with your…" Bjorn began, but before he could even finish talking, Vanya dove for him.
He sidestepped her, but she must have heard his motion as one of her arms swung towards where he had moved to. Her arms were tiny compared to what they would normally have been, and Bjorn didn't bother dodging.
Vanya's arm caught him across the chest and flung him back twenty feet. He flew straight into a tree and tumbled to the ground. It was far too late now, but Jason rushed to Bjorn. There was no way he would have survived a hit like that.
He found Bjorn slumped against the tree trunk half groaning in pain and half laughing to himself. Was he crazy? No forget that, how was he still alive.
"You have some serious explaining to do," he said, standing up. He looked no worse for wear than if he had been knocked to the ground by an over excited dog. "That is some incredible physical enhancement, I…"
Vanya disappeared from where she had been standing and reappeared in front of Bjorn, another strike flying towards him. Bjorn, who now knew what to expect, braced for the hit and did not go flying this time.
Jason plugged Vanya's ears again, cursing his stupidity, and Bjorn was able to easily dodge her wild flails. "Spatial magic as well?" It looked like his friendly demeanor was starting to finally wear thin. He stepped towards Jason, and Jason took a step backwards, worried that he would reach the mana mine's boundary. "I think it's about time I ask who you really are."
Bjorn kept a wary eye on Vanya who had gone into a berserker rage against the tree now that her hearing had disappeared again. "I know it seems strange, but I can explain everything," Jason said.
That was his worst lie yet. Even if he told Bjorn the truth, there was no way the man would believe him, and Jason was growing more worried by the second. Sure Vanya was severely debilitated at the moment, but Bjorn had at least looked capable of holding his own against her.
If Jason couldn't convince him to leave them alone, which he doubted would be possible, and he turned against them, would they even be able to fight him off? Considering how powerful Vanya was, it seemed unlikely that this man could overpower her, but he didn't want to take the risk.
More than that though, he didn't want to even consider killing this man. He had gone out of his way to check on a random group of strangers in the middle of nowhere and had even offered to heal them without an ounce of hesitation. No demands for money or information. He hadn't even asked Jason his name.
If he killed, or was involved in the killing of this man, then what was he even doing? He had sided with Vanya at first because he had no other option, but the longer he spent with her, the more human she felt. At the very least, she wasn't some horrible monster that had no feelings other than murdering humans.
That was strange to think as he watched her screaming and taking chunks out of a massive tree trunk in anger, but it was true nonetheless.
"Why don't you start with your name," Bjorn insisted. His friendliness was gone, but he still seemed reasonable. A general demanding information from one of his subordinates.
"My name is Jason," he found himself saying. "The girl's name is Nora," he said, thankful that she hadn't done anything stupid yet.
"And the Tamra woman?"
"She's…" He felt something at his feet, and opened his mouth in shock. His boots were beginning to fall apart. When did that happen? He looked back up, trying to decide what to say.
He felt a small pop inside him, like a chord had been snapped.
Bjorn leaped back in horror, but it wasn't at Jason. Vanya's appearance had returned to normal, and judging by the look of pure hatred that she was giving Bjorn, so had her vision.