YP – B3:QtNoWLM – Chapter 41 (Chapter 138)

161 Days Until Mystery And the Uncertain End (part 3)

Zeydar stood in the center of the room. He was surrounded by the eyes of those who watched and the words of Evester’s father. Night was fast approaching and they needed to know if they had another night or rest or not. They needed to know if they had to flee or not. Zeydar was the only one who would be able to tell them. Zeydar tested his magic in his staff twisting it about his hand, sending his magic pulsating through it, feeling it in a way that he did not need, knowing he had control again, but also knowing that the magic was beginning to sting him. 

How his skin itched. His hands twitched. His heart beat accelerated. The noise in the room swelled. The air on his face prickled. He burned and when he saw Evester, his heart stilled.

Upon fully understanding what had happened, Zeydar had apologized to Evester. Evester had shaken it off like his wrist was not bruised in the the yellowing purple coloration shaped as Zeydar’s hand print. Evester had said nothing of it, and had only smiled at him, as he did not then. Evester was as focused as Zeydar had to be. He had then dedicated himself to focusing on control so that he could do the spell that would guide them forward. He had to focus on not hurting them or anyone around them.

Eyes to the wall, Zeydar stepped forward to the most recent writing.

Staff to the wall, Zeydar outlined the words that took up much of the wall. The iconic words that had sent the world into a frenzy. He closed his eyes, cast the magic, and looked for tracks. There were traces of a people in the room, from the way the magic showed it to him. One person had to be Evester’s father, days old and growing feint. He then searched around them. Any signs of Aralax, of a threat, of them having to flee, and finding none.

“I can track it.” Zeydar announced, stepping back and turning to Evester who had been right on the estimate on how old the writing was.

“Right now?” Evester asked not wanting to stay there for too long. Not wanting to lose the trail they finally had.

“We can sleep tonight, but will have to start out tomorrow morning if we want the trail to stay strong enough.” Zeydar answered, seeing the relief in the faces of those who wanted to sleep. “I will put up all my barriers and defenses shortly, but for now we are safe.” The news sounded good to everyone in the room. “Bad news is that there are multiple paths.”

Zeydar had noticed it when he had done his magic. He had noticed the multiple paths in different directions, each with varying degrees of dating. Perhaps if Zeydar was better, and on his dose of Dreams, he would have been able to narrow it down. Asking him to do that then, when his skin was beginning to burn? He couldn’t do it without going mad.

“Multiple? How?” Evester asked.

“Someone else was here before we arrived.” Zeydar answered. “Multiple someones actually. Aralax were one. They are gone, and then there was other human signatures. I don’t know which one is Evester’s father.” He should have been able to. 

If he were sober he would have been able to. If he had been Dreaming he would have been able to. This version of himself was nowhere like his fully induced state of control, and even further from his truly controlled state of sobriety. He was no good for anyone like this.

“Then we track as many as we can.” Kim suggested. “For now we sleep.”

“Kony, let’s go lay out the traps.” Zedyar agreed walking towards the door. Before he could leave Evester stopped him.

“Don’t over exert yourself.” Evester had his good hand on Zeydar’s shoulder. There was a look about him saying that Zeydar could trust him, and how Zeydar wanted to do that. However, with each passing day, he knew he was becoming more and more of a liability. Yes, he had magic, but his magic could hurt them, and it was abundantly clear.

Zeydar needed to fix it, but how?

“As long as we don’t get into a fight with the Aralax, I think we should be fine.” Zeydar removed Evester’s hand, remembering then what sort of relationship they were supposed to have. They were supposed to be team mates not partners. Supposed to be allies nothing closer. Supposed to be apart, because Zeydar needed them to be apart and Evester was only in it for the thrill.

Zeydar left the house with Kony to prepare the spells to protect them for the night. 

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