Sylven studied his hand. "It looks like the grass has fused with your skin. How do you feel? Does it hurt?"
"It feels like I'm wearing a glove," Cyrus said.
Sylven glanced around, then dug a fist sized stone from the dirt, and handed it to Cyrus. "Here. Try squeezing this as tightly as you can."
Cyrus closed his hand around the stone, a grin spreading across his face as it cracked beneath the pressure. "Gods above… I can crush stones with my bare hands."
"It seems your magic has more than one use," Sylven said. He rubbed his chin. "How much of your body can you cover with the grass?"
"Let me see," Cyrus said. Warmth swirled through his body as he fixed his gaze on the grass. As his skin began to tingle, the emerald blades twisted further up his hand, until they reached his wrist.
Sweat began to bead along his brow as he strained to grow them further. His muscles burned, twitching from the effort, before finally, the grass fell away, fluttering back to the dirt. Cyrus slumped back against the tree, panting for breath. The runes along the bronze band glowed faintly in the night.
"It seems that's as much as I can do while I'm still wearing this bracelet," Cyrus said. "Should I try taking it off?"
"Not yet," Sylven said. He returned to stirring the pot. "It looked like that took a lot out of you, and you should probably let your hand rest."
Cyrus glanced down with a frown. Faint red lines remained where the grass had been, and his skin still burned. "It'll be a while before I'm able to properly use this."
"We have plenty of time before we reach the Altier," Sylven said, pouring the soup into two bowls. "With how quickly you're progressing, I doubt it'll take you very long to master it."
"It becomes easier each day," Cyrus said. He rubbed the pendant beneath his tunic. "I may not remember who I was before all of this, but it's clear that this magic was a part of me."
"Then you should do your best to learn as much about it as you can," Sylven said. He passed Cyrus a bowl and a wooden spoon. "Who knows, you might even remember something."
…
Late into the night, Cyrus watched as the fire crackled and popped, the flames curling around the snapping logs. Sylven laid on his leather mat on the opposite side, his lean face twitching as he rolled onto his back. Cyrus squinted as the glow of the fire caught on a jagged scar, which ran down the back of Sylven's neck.
'I wonder how that happened,' Cyrus thought. Yawning, he grabbed another few logs, and tossed them into the fire. A shower of sparks launched into the air, before being carried away by a breeze.
Cyrus watched them swirl away, before glancing towards the night sky. A blanket of silver clouds covered the moon, which hung at the center of the sky. 'It's only been a few hours. There's still at least one more before my shift ends.'
Sighing, Cyrus rested against the elm's knotted trunk, and scanned the forest line. His eyes grew heavy as he stared out into the shadows. He fought to keep them open, but each passing minute pulled him deeper and deeper into sleep.
As he finally gave in, a twig snapped in the dark. Cyrus jumped to his feet, and kicked Sylven. "Hey, wake up."
Sylven grunted, glaring at Cyrus through squinted eyes. "What was that for? If it's my turn to keep watch, you could have just told me. You didn't need to kick me."
Cyrus held a finger to his lips. "No, it's not that. I think there's something out there, watching us."
Sylven rolled to his feet, the pale blade of his sword reflecting the light of the fire. Cyrus glanced at the empty scabbard beside his mat with a furrowed brow.
"How did you… Nevermind. Look, there, across the stream. Do you see that?"
Sylven scanned the bank, then narrowed his eyes. "I do. It seems we have a guest."
He waved his hand towards the fire. "Serifel, Acilfur."
A stream of flames rose from the charred wood, and shot towards the stream. As the fire crossed the water, a yelp echoed through the trees, followed by an explosion of light. Cyrus shielded his eyes, but caught a flash of smoldering fur as a four-legged beast darted back into the woods.
Sylven lowered his hand. "Looks like I got it. Come on, let's go see if we can figure out what it was."
Cyrus grabbed a flaming log from the fire, and they made their way over to the stream. Cyrus stayed on their side as Sylven jumped across and knelt in the mud.
"Hold that branch up. I can't see anything," Sylven said. He surveyed the bank as Cyrus raised his makeshift torch.
"There are prints over there," Cyrus said, gesturing down the opposite bank. "I spotted them earlier, while I was collecting water."
Sylven glanced down the shore. "Those look like wolf prints. If I had to guess, it's probably what we saw."
They walked the shore a few meters before they stumbled across a section of the ground that was scorched. Sylven frowned, and knelt beside a black puddle, stretching out his hand.
"You shouldn't touch that," Cyrus said. He eyed the puddle with a wary gaze. "It looks like the stuff that was dripping from the boar's tusks, which had driven it mad."
Sylven pulled back his hand. "Thanks for the warning."
Cyrus lifted the branch above his head. A broken trail of plants and weeds ran jagged off into the forest, but there didn't seem to be any sign of the wolf returning. "I can't believe it got this close to us, and didn't attack us. The boar I ran into had lost all rationality."
Sylven scanned the bank, then pointed towards the tracks, which ran back and forth. "It looks like it tried to, but it couldn't cross the stream."
Cyrus frowned. "It doesn't look that deep. Do you think it was afraid?"
"Perhaps," Sylven said. He jumped back over. "It's worth looking into."
As they returned to the camp, Cyrus pulled his cloak tighter. "Do you think there are more out there?"
"I believe so," Sylven said. He gripped his sword. "I'll keep watch, so try to get some sleep. We'll be setting off first thing in the morning. I'll feel better once there are some walls between us and the wild."
"I don't know how much sleep I'll be able to get," Cyrus said, nervously laughing. "Who knows what else could be out there."
Sylven nodded. "Who knows…"