Chapter 14

Recovery was a slow and terrible affair. The hours passed like years, sometimes Talia felt nothing and other times she was boiling alive. The ups and downs were wearing on her body and her mind. Madora was eager to discuss the future of things, the way the world was spiraling, But Talia had no care for the mumblings of the old blind woman, especially when all she wanted to do was sleep.

"Your cuts are getting a lot better." Nico mused as he sat in the corner. He hadn't stopped reading his books in days, his only breaks were to eat Astor's gruel and to sleep. Talia humphed, eyeing her reflection in the old dresser mirror. From what she could tell the hideous claw marks were still quite prominent on her face, though the seeping black blood had finally ebbed to a stop. She raked her fingers across the rough scabs and wondered just how badly her eye was damaged.

"I look like a maniac now." She frowned, almost in a pouting mood. Maybe she just wanted to feel sorry for herself. She certainly looked to be in a sorry state.

"Good, now your outside can match what you are on the inside." Nico grinned at her with his usual over-cocky sneer. She flashed her teeth at him in return but said nothing. Instead she peered back at her reflection, pulling on random strands of her hair and detangling them. She certainly looked a mess.

"Appearances are shallow kids, what do they matter in the end anyway?" Madora sang from her corner. Talia eyed her again from the side but didn't bother to retort to the woman. What were looks to a blind woman? That was the real point.

"Just be glad you can't see her face, it's a real horror show." Nico sniggered. Talia threw a brush at him and he neatly dodged with a sharp laugh before settling down on her bed to continue reading.

"Bah, you've barely even started to heal girl. The scars will fade." Madora moved up and lay an ancient hand on Talia's shoulders. Talia sighed, the coolness of the woman's hands a welcome change from her hot skin, and for the comfort.

"What about my eye? Will that heal too? How can I fight when I can barely make anything out anymore. Half my visions gone... And I ain't got nothing to show for it." She looked at her hands lying in her lap with a sigh. Not a single thing to show for it. No dragon bones, no scales, nothing. From what Nico had said the beast practically started melting after it died, the likelihood of any remains remaining was low.

"In time... Perhaps. I can't say for certain, not even my foresight can show me. That is a secret the gods are keeping to themselves. And what of it? An eye's just an eye. You're more than capable of meting out suffering with just one eye. And maybe the look will help keep scum away." Madora moved back to her corner where she started to pack away her various herbs and bottles.

"Have you sent the raven to the others?" Talia turned to Nico. He nodded.

"I sent it about an hour ago so they should be meeting us on the road at dusk. Do you have everything you'll need?" She looked to the bed and mulled it over. Most of her supplies were still on her saddle with Jax.

"Yeah I think so." She could get what she needed in the next town if she forgot something.

"Good. You want me to take flight and scope around?" He offered after placing his book down. She shrugged, what could the harm be in that?

"Go ahead, but be quick we need to rest before we travel tonight." She looked out the window to see the mid-morning sun. Too many hours to wait and she wasn't tired.

"You live by your own advice then ay?" Nico called as he leapt out the window and changed into the midnight feathers of darkness. He was gone in an instant leaving nothing but uncomfortable silence behind.

"He's right now, rest is the best way to heal." Madora nagged as she finished closing her bag. Talia rolled her eyes.

"I've slept enough these past days don't you think? I'm restless, I need something to do." Perhaps riding Jax would be a good distraction, but the stern look Madora cast her way was a good enough warning. She was on a strict 'no hard work' schedule for the next few weeks. Though Madora wouldn't be following them on their travels, so she could toss that rule away soon enough.

"If you continue to push yourself healing will only crawl along. You need good rest, good food, and a lot of this..." She held up several bottles in one hand and in the other was a bowl full of some sort of salve. Talia wrinkled her nose.

"I swear to gods woman if those taste like ass I'll be cutting yours off for penance." It was a hollow threat and they both knew it but it still caused Madora to laugh.

"Peace, killer. These," she swirled the bottles in her hands, "Are made from my finest herbs and fresh spring water. They'll taste like nothing I recon, but they pack a punch. Sometimes you'll find the darkness eating away at you, when it gets to be too much swallow one down and lay flat on the ground until it passes."

"Will that really work?" Talia eyed the bottles with no small amount of skepticism as she grabbed them and loaded them into her pack. Madora waved her hand dismissively,

"A vision gave me the recipe. The voices that guide me said that it will work until you find the elves to heal you right. I'm a witch, and with that comes a plethora of knowledge and skill but I'm no elf." Talia's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. Elves? When had they come into play?

"And when am I to be doing this?" She ground through her teeth. Madora smiled, her wrinkled face growing bright with her mirth. She was perfectly content to keep her secrets, that much she knew. A seer was very rarely willing to divulge the secrets of her vision. Talia never knew why.

"After you return the dwarves home." The flat way Madora said it caught Talia off guard. Had she been mumbling about it in her sleep? Had she failed her mission? The fear made her head swim, failing her mission meant she'd fail her goddess and that was unacceptable.

"Relax kid the gods show me a lot of things. Have shown me a lot of things. I've known this day was coming for years, I've seen it time and time again. I knew that Bromyr would leave his father and his kingdom on a mission he knew very well would destroy his kingdom. But they needed to break down, they do... Need to break down. I'm sorry, these visions wear on me and past and present pull apart for me sometimes. But the future is not mine to tell, not in this." She sat again and remained quiet for a time while Talia's mind raced.

"Not even a little bit?" She ventured hopefully. How much did the witch know? What did she know of the dwarven prince? Did he even have a kingdom to return to?

"Sorry girl, but these things are not for you to know. Or anyone really." She pulled a pipe from her skirts and held it out. Talia rolled her eyes, holding her hand out and igniting it. The witch smiled and tipped the pipe at her before taking a puff.

"Then what's the point of having visions?" Talia grumbled at her before crawling back into bed and grabbing a dab of salve from her bowl and applying it to her face. Madora shrugged with a sigh,

"To be truthful I can't say. Not because I know the answer but because I don't." She puffed on the pipe again before closing her moon-like eyes and leaning back into the corner. Talia closed her eye too and tried to settle her mind some.

"So you know about the dwarves... Who else knows?" How hard would she have to work was the real question. There was a pause before Madora answered,

"No one yet. But you'll have to be careful. A lot is at stake." Talia gulped at the tone of the woman. She knew a lot more than she let on. Did she know about the dragon egg. Did she know the gods had told her she was to be the next rider? Madora had always stressed Talia out with her knowing smile and glassy eyes.

"Don't remind me." She managed to mumble at last before finally slipping into a fitful sleep.

****

"Hey.... Come on." Nico's voice floated around in her head for a minute before Talia felt a brisk shake on her shoulder. She opened her eye only to find herself nose to nose with Nico. He looked tired. When had he arrived?

"Is it time already?" Somehow her head was pounding. She was even more exhausted than she had been. Her eye was barely adjusting, the shadows were heavy and she knew the sun was going to sleep for the night. Indeed it was time to go. And she was so not ready.

"Alright, give me a minute." She groaned, pulling herself up from the bed. Her blankets fell to the floor as she placed her feet onto the floor. She cringed at the cold. Why did she have to nap? Napping always ended in terrible exhaustion. She yawned and stretched, her body shaking with the motion.

"They're waiting outside the town for us now. I'll take off and meet them while you ride up. We'll take the back roads to avoid being seen." He lead her out the door as she grabbed her bag. Once outside she noted Madora standing in the street still smoking her pipe.

"I'll be leaving you kids here. If you need me don't fear to call, those teleportation scrolls you made work like a charm Nico! Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a home to get to." She waved a hand before turning and waddling down the street. Talia watched her pull a scroll from her robes, chant a few words and in an instant she was gone in a puff of smoke.

"You seriously made her teleportation portals?" She growled blearily. Somehow it felt like five o'clock in the morning. She wished she had a nice hot cup of Dejo. That always gave her a hard spike in energy.

"Yeah, about this time last year actually. I got my hands on this forbidden book out of the libraries of Arboros that had information on how to make scrolls." He had a proud smile on his face and this time Talia didn't feel like ribbing him about it.

"Do I want to know how you got that book?" She eyed him as she walked into the stable to saddle Jax. He followed along slowly before replying,

"It's a boring story really, work based. When in the city you know?" Talia hummed to herself as she reached Jax. He looked super, his eyes shining in the growing darkness. He nickered to her in greeting before nuzzling at her neck. She grabbed at his nose and tickled at his whiskers in her own greeting.

"My sweet boy, how good you are. Such a good boy." She cooed. He stamped his feet and danced in the stall.

"You're already ready to go? Such a powerful boy." She kept flowering him in compliments as she brushed him off and set the blankets on his back. He wouldn't stop dancing even as she dug her elbow into his rump to push him.

"Stand still you oafish horse." She smiled as she cursed him. It only took a moment to cinch up the saddle and dip his nose into the headgear. As she lead him out into the stable hall to load up his gear Nico turned to watch the door. It only took a moment before they moved forward in unison.

"I'm taking to the sky. I'll let you know if I find anything, when you get to the dwarves let them know the plan." He turned to go but Talia grabbed his shoulder.

"Can they keep up with Jax? Or will I be expected to... You know?" She shrugged, eyeing Jax with the silent question. Would he even tolerate another rider?

"You were injured pretty badly. If they ask you to walk tell them to suck it up." He meant every word she knew it, but a job was a job even if she was hurt. They were the top priority and if they needed a break, she was obliged to offer Jax. Besides, she could grow to like thirty feet tall and outpace them all if she needed to. But with her head pounding in the way it was she knew there was no way she could do such a thing.

"Lets just get to the next town yeah? I will be sleeping at dawn you know. No matter how far we get." She warned him sharply before mounting up and kicking Jax into a trot. She didn't care to hear what Nico replied, he would just have to deal with it.

The ride out of town was brisk and hard on her. Jax was a wonderful horse but he had a trot bouncy enough to shake butter. Her head throbbing was not making it easier either. Madora had given her plenty of pain easing tonics to help but they knocked her out and she didn't need to be sleep-riding. Jax was smart but even he didn't know where they were going.

It only took about fifteen minutes to rid up on the group of shivering dwarves, each of them looked awfully miserable. She got a little satisfaction out of seeing them so cold and disheartened. At least then she wasn't alone.

"It's a pleasure to see you awake giantess." Floki called out first, he was the first to turn and notice her approach. She sneered at him and said nothing as Bromyr turned. She saw his face light up with glee as well as the younger dwarf, Grimor she thought his name was.

"I'd praise the gods themselves if I could remember their names right now." Bromyr called out with cheer. Suddenly their mood had changed from sullen to energized. She was almost annoyed by it, but if she were being honest the little men didn't bother her nearly as much as she let on. She actually enjoyed their thick accents and boyish natures.

"Don't bother calling to them. We've got things to do right men? Lets get going while the moons are still growing." She brushed past them and started to lead down the road. They didn't even bother to ask her questions as they followed in suit. For about an hour the silence was sweet, they marched along diligently in the quiet as their armor clinked and brushed in the dewy morning.

"Are you well Hound?" Talia would have imagined the question coming from Bromyr but this time it was Grimor who spoke. Talia turned slightly to look down the line. He was in the very back panting as he worked to keep up. He was the omega, the weakest of his pack.

"Well enough.. Grimor. Thank you." She turned back to the road before eyeing the sky for Nico only to find the trees blocking her view. She wished she could unwrap her eye and test it. Open it at least. But Madora wanted her to keep the eye-patch on until a few weeks passed. She was amazed she could even ride well with half her vision.

"What did your healer say?" This time Bromyr did speak, his deep timbre voice ringing in the dawn air. Talia frowned. They weren't friends, why did they care? It wasn't as if they knew her. She could ignore them all she wanted but was it better to ignore them or should she engage them? She sighed. Socializing was a drag.

"A lot of things. She's a psycho." It wasn't a lie. But it wasn't the whole truth. But Talia wasn't interested in conveying her condition or what she needed to do to 'heal'. She was eager to already be asleep. How much longer till dawn? She eyed the sky again. Seven hours? Yeah, about that long.

"We are eternally grateful for what you have done for us Hound. You've done something no mortal on this earth can claim to have done." Bromyr started but Talia waved him off with a weary sigh. Groveling? Wasn't a king above that?

"It's quite alright. It's a job." The words sounded so hollow, even as she spoke them. It was more than that now. So much more. And they all knew it.

"Then... Thank you for doing your job well." Floki barked under his breath. That brought a slight smile to Talia's face. That wasn't such a bad compliment. Maybe the ride wouldn't be so terrible after all.