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When Dusk came to, the first thing he noticed was the pain. He could feel the burning sensation shooting up his right arm all the way to the tips of his fingers. Each breath caused his chest to ache. Gingerly he lifted his left hand and touched his chest. The gem was still there sitting against his skin, but the rope was completely burned away. The flesh around it was inflamed and painful to the touch. He tried to lift the gem away, but it seemed to be stuck. He tried to get his finger under one of the edges, but it seemed as if the skin had swelled around it. Starting to panic, he clawed at the gem, trying to get it free, crying out in pain.
“Stop! What are you doing?” he heard Lex cry. The man was at his side in an instant, pulling his arm away from his chest. “It won’t come off, I already tried. Calm down. You’re already hurt bad enough.”
Dusk stopped struggling, letting his left hand fall to his side. He opened his eyes to darkness and tree branches reaching overhead. Gartha was high above, blocking out half the night sky so that only a few stars twinkled through the branches. The air was cold, but nearby a small fire sent waves of warmth over his left side.
“What happened?” Dusk asked weakly, realizing how dry his throat was.
“You don’t remember?” Lex replied, putting a water skin to his lips. Dusk took a few mouthfuls, savoring the coolness of it.
“We were being chased and... we tried to cut the ropes. There was... fire?”
“I don’t know how you did it, but it was miraculous to behold,” Lex began, looking up at the night sky. “I heard you cry out and as I turned to look, you straightened up and you held your hand out. It was covered in flames. I thought you had been shot with a fire arrow. You made some sort of motion with your arm and the fire leapt from your hand, slicing through all the bandits and then severing the bridge. It was incredible!”
Images began to flash through Dusk’s mind as he connected the dots. He could remember the fire and watching the bandits fall to their deaths. He could still see the man in the black cloak, wreathed in flame on the other side of the chasm, staring at him with an intense gaze.
“Were we followed?”
“I don’t see how. That gorge went on for miles and that was the only crossing. Even if there was anyone left to come after us, they’d still be trekking around it.”
“How long was I out?”
“A little less than a day. I carried you north as far as I could, but I had to rest. This morning I carried you again, but we’ve not yet made it back to the road. It shouldn’t be much further off,” Lex looked back to the campfire. “You’re burned pretty badly. If you can walk in the morning, we need to get you to a healer. Maybe they’ll know how to get that rock off your chest.”
Dusk turned his head to the side, glancing down at his right arm that burned so terribly. It was wrapped in cloth so that he couldn’t see it. He tried to move it and found that the muscles still obeyed his command, but the pain of just twitching a finger was unbearable.
“I still don’t understand what happened,” he said quietly. “Where did the fire come from?”
“I’ve been thinking about that. I’m afraid to say I haven’t come up with an explanation. Well, any reasonable explanation. But for now I think you should rest. We’ve got a long journey ahead of us. I won’t know how far the next town is until we make it to the road.”
Lex pulled the satchel over and pulled out a small lump of cheese. Unwrapping it he broke a few small pieces off and handed them to Dusk. Chewing took more effort than he thought, but it tasted good and his stomach thanked him for the sustenance. He started to realize how little he had eaten over the past week, even with Rami’s help. He thought back to the gentle giant of a man, how much he had wanted to save him and give him a second shot at life. Images flashed through his mind of Rami face down on the ground, surrounded by blood. He felt angry as he looked over to Lex, but it quickly subsided. Lex was the only reason he was still alive. If he hadn’t swiftly dispatched Rami, both of them would be dead. Life seemed a lot more harsh in some ways on the outside. At least when he was in the mine he knew where he stood. Even as he laid there he questioned everything about himself, but one thought stood out in particular.
“Why did you drag me all the way here, Lex?” Dusk asked suddenly. “You could have just left me. You have everything you need.”
Lex turned away from the fire and looked back to Dusk. For a moment he was silent.
“I keep forgetting what kind of life you’ve lived. It’s so hard to even begin to wrap my mind around what you must think and how you see the world.” He smiled gently and turned back to the fire. “I brought you here because you saved me on the road. I told you I owed you a life debt and I still do.”
Dusk started to protest, but Lex held up a hand to silence him.
“All I did was carry you here. Maybe if I get you to the village before infection sets in we can talk about being even,” he chuckled. “I know we haven’t known each other for more than two weeks, but I consider you a friend. I would have helped you even if there was no debt to be repaid.”
Dusk stared at the side of Lex’s face illuminated by the flickering flames. What did he mean they were friends? He thought back on his life, wondering if he’d ever been friends with anybody. He thought maybe Nine, but they’d only known each other a few days. Talking and building relationships was strictly forbidden in the mines. He’d never gotten a chance to know any of the men. Either they were too tired at night to speak, or too hungry, or they were being shipped off soon. The men were rotated on purpose to stop any real connections from forming.
But then he thought of Ox and the night he brought him the blanket. It was a small gesture and neither of them knew each other well, but it was generous. Ox and Dusk had known one another for years and exchanged a handful of words now and then. Ox always had a pinch of salt for the meal of anyone who looked to be having a bad day. Maybe that made them friends. The other slaves had each other’s back by staying silent, but it wasn’t the same. Ox had gone out of his way to be kind, sacrificing his own comfort for the night so that Dusk didn’t freeze to death.
As Dusk drifted through his thoughts he realized that the only voice inside his mind was his own. He glanced down, making sure the crystal was still attached to his chest. He tapped it once lightly, but heard nothing. It was strange, but he was almost lonely without it. He wondered who it belonged to and why it had gone away. Could it have belonged to its owner?
“Could dragons talk?” Dusk blurted out.
“What?” Lex laughed, rocking on the ground. “Where did that come from?”
“I’m just curious. Since we saw that mural I’ve been wondering about them. You said they were man killing monsters, but that picture was much older than your books. He didn’t look like a monster to me.”
“All that free time being cooped up in a cell gave me plenty of time to think about that and many other things we saw there. I can’t make a lot of sense of it, but if that mural was representative of the truth, there are a lot of things that have been recorded incorrectly.” Lex sighed, resting his chin on his knuckles. “And yes, I believe the dragons could talk. I seem to recall something about the villagers ‘hearing their terrible voices’ coming down the valley. Although I always assumed that was just some flowery language for a roar.”
“Do you think they still exist?”
“Not anymore. It’s been centuries since one was seen in Ditania,” he sighed. “No, I think men killed them all off after they began to attack people. I can’t imagine a creature that large could be hiding or flying around without anyone noticing for hundreds of years.”
“You’re probably right.”
“Why the dragon questions all of a sudden?”
“I–” Dusk stopped for a moment. He’d almost said I’ve seen one, but stopped himself before it came out. “I’m just curious. You told that story about the three kings and I haven’t heard a lot of stories in my life. I liked it.”
“I’ve got plenty of stories. I had quite the collection of books at home.”
“You must have been very wealthy.”
Lex froze, but relaxed after a moment. “My parents were... are well off. But that’s not the sort of life I want to live.”
“Why not?”
“When people have money,” he heaved a great sigh, “their lives aren’t their own. There’s a lot of responsibility you don’t want and obligations you don’t care about.” He turned back to Dusk, “I’m out here searching for freedom just as much as you are, but my shackles,” he held up his wrists, “are invisible, and made of fine embroidered silk. I hate them.”
Dusk watched the hard expression on Lex’s face tighten as he turned back to the fire. He picked up a stick and poked at it, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up—”
“Don’t worry about it,” Lex waved. “I’ve never wanted for anything in my life except a spare moment for myself. And maybe the ability to make my own choices. It’s foolish for me to even complain in your presence. I barely have an inkling of what you’ve been subject to and I already know that I have no suffering to compare it to.” He stopped for a moment. But just as Dusk was about to speak again he said softly, “Get some rest. We’ve got a long walk tomorrow.”
Taking the hint that Lex was done talking, Dusk turned his head back to the stars. He watched Gartha imperceptibly glide across the heavens until he slipped back to sleep once more.
***
The next morning dawned bright and clear. Dusk’s right arm was still burning with pain, but the cold of the night must have driven some of it away because it felt better than the previous night. He even found it possible to wiggle his fingers without cringing too much. Without the use of his right arm and the dull pain in his chest he found it hard to bring himself to a sitting position, but after a few failed attempts he finally succeeded. Lex roused from his sleep as Dusk took his first few steps. To his surprise it didn’t hurt to walk, only to do most everything else. Still he found it refreshing to be off the cold ground and moving around once more.
After a quick breakfast, Lex took all the burden on himself, shouldering the pack and Dusk’s weapons along with his own like a mule. Looking to the sun and turning themselves north, they set off through the woods, trudging through the underbrush. They both knew there was a clear path to The Break and they steered far from it on purpose. If by some chance the remaining bandits had made it around the chasm, the first place they would search would be the trails to the road. Dusk and Lex both agreed it would be best to find the road quickly, but keep out of sight as they made their way west.
Before midday they reached the road and stopped briefly to rest. Dusk was already feeling considerably better. He thought maybe the movement and the increased blood flow helped combat some of the pain and stiffness from his body. It was getting easier to breathe deeply. As they sat under a tree just inside the woods, he lifted a hand to touch the gem. To his surprise it didn’t hurt to touch. Daring to go further, he poked at the flesh around the edge of the stone. It was no longer swollen and painful. He pulled the cloth aside to see that while the skin was still red, it had pulled away from the edges of the gem and seemed as if it was healing very quickly. It puzzled him for a moment, but then he thought the cool late autumn air must have been helping. Still it seemed odd. He decided he would keep an eye on it and maybe have Lex look at it when they stopped for the night.
The landscape was hilly as they continued their trek, always keeping the road to their right as they marched westward. It wasn’t long before they saw the towers of Alamond off to the north once more.
“It looks like the bandits took us backwards a bit, but there should be a town a day or so from here,” Lex said as he pointed up at the towers. “I almost wish we could go back there and look around some more.”
“Maybe you can someday,” Dusk responded, looking out over the treetops at the vine-covered towers.
“Maybe.”
A cold wind blew, taking with it any warmth the sun might have provided and causing them to pull their oversized clothing closer for warmth. The hours passed by mostly in silence, only a few words here and there between the pair of them. As the sun took its position in the western sky, heading towards the horizon, Lex called out to Dusk that they should find a place to bed down for the night.
Dusk had found the pain in his body growing less and less all afternoon and he was beginning to grow concerned at the seemingly rapid recovery. He sat himself down on a fallen log while Lex went to find firewood to get them through the night. They had nothing besides the shirts on their backs to keep them warm and unfortunately they were extremely thin. Once he was out of sight Dusk pulled the cloth away from his chest and looked down. He gasped in surprise as he saw untouched, flawless skin surrounding the gem. There wasn’t even the slightest hint that it had been a terrible wound the night before. He reached his hand up and placed his fingers under the edge of the crystal. Pulling slightly, he felt a small amount of pain, but the gem wouldn’t budge. It was as if it was attached to the skin itself or even the bones underneath. He felt afraid to pull any harder, worried to cause more damage to himself.
Looking down at his unmarked chest, another thought occurred to him. He wiggled the fingers of his right hand painlessly beneath the cloth. Pushing it further, he squeezed his hand into a fist, but still there was no pain. He was pleased it didn’t hurt, but worried with what that might imply. He’d seen men in the mines with infected wounds that became so gangrenous that they no longer felt the pain, although that usually took longer. Fear and morbid curiosity got the better of him and he unwrapped the blood stained cloth slowly, expecting to see the skin stripped clean down to the muscle.
Instead he saw a perfectly intact arm, just like it had always been, but it didn’t look like his own anymore. The skin was fresh and pink, like it had regrown in the past day, but lighter than the rest of his body. The tattoo on the underside of his forearm was no longer stark, but fuzzy and blurred, almost like it had spent many decades fading in the sun. Moving his gaze up towards his wrist and fingers, Dusk was surprised to see large white patches on his skin that seemed to glisten in the fading light. They didn’t look like infection as he turned his hand over to stare at them. With his other hand he ran his fingers across them. They were hard and smooth although they flexed with his skin, not hindering his movement at all.
He was admiring them when he heard footsteps approaching through the forest behind him. Quickly he wrapped the cloth back around his arm, tying it tight so that Lex wouldn’t see his sudden and miraculous healing abilities.
“Arm doing okay?” he asked, tossing an armful of wood down on the ground.
“Still hurts a lot,” Dusk lied, making sure to keep the arm limply hanging at his side.
“I double checked the map and there should be a village less than a day from here. Hopefully they have a healer that can see you. I’m worried about infection.”
“I took a look at it while you were gone... it doesn’t seem like it’s infected. I cleaned it with fresh water.” It felt bad to lie to Lex.
“You’ve got a stronger constitution than me. I could barely stand to look at it to begin with. See if you can get this going and I’ll find more wood,” he said gesturing to the pile of wet branches he’d collected.
“I’ll do what I can.”
By the time Lex came back with more, Dusk had the fire well on it’s way. He was impressed that a man with one hand could use a tinderbox, but Dusk shrugged it off, saying it was nothing.
The night came on quickly as they settled in around the fire. Dusk lay on the ground at the edge of the fire, staring up at the stars. He remembered all the times he’d wanted to see the sun again when he was trapped in the long night of the past ten years, but he’d never thought of looking at the stars. There was never time to look and the slave house had no windows, but now he gazed as much as he could. He wasn’t sure which he liked more as he watched the twinkling in the vast expanse above him. Looking over to the pockmarked surface of Gartha another bright shine caught his eye.
A breathy inhale escaped his lips and caused Lex to glance over. He followed Dusk’s line of sight up into the sky.
“The Crystal Moon is out late tonight,” he said casually.
“I love watching it,” Dusk replied quietly.
“Maybe I’ll tell you the tale about it sometime.”
“There’s a story?”
“There’s always a story.”