The Novel's Sidekick

Q: What's buried in King Alberan's biography?

A: The Prophecies of Return.

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The camp was in better shape than we had hoped, at least from the outside, with the door broken. Inside, we found two big holes in the ceilings, causing the temperature of the camp to be no better than outside.

Splinters of wood spread around the room, as a thin layer of snow already covered the ground, and then we found the body.

I gasped for breath. William didn’t open his mouth once about what he did here, but I was prepared for anything. However, seeing the scene made me shiver. Oh, it isn’t just the cold.

Shailyn moved closer to the body, covered in a layer of snow, while I stayed behind, eyes drifting all around to find any clues. Noyar stayed with me, watching over the captive. There was some evidence of the battle that transpired before; the charred walls and the holes in the ceilings. The pungent smell of dark magic in the air—winter covered it most, but anyone with little keen senses could make out the wrongness.

However, all in all, it didn’t appear to be an all-out battle. That meant William likely assaulted the elderly knight in a sneak attack, playing ally. Well, after how he made him swallow poison, I expect nothing less from this warlock.

“He’s dead,” Shailyn said, checking the heartbeat and then opening the eyelids. She shook her head, glaring at William. “An hour ago, at best.”

My aunt bowed her head down, left palm bringing the right to clasp together on her chest in prayer, and Noyar did the same, while I moved towards the middle of the room, where a few flasks, a burner, and various ingredients were tossed around.

They were Yeriel’s stuff; however, the girl was nowhere to be found. But it seemed she managed to concoct her cure before William assaulted them.

"Shailyn," I said, motioning to the sick woman in bed, wrapped in a blanket. Even though she was probably cured of the Winter’s Decay, she would die of the cold if she stayed here like this.

Shailyn nodded and went to accommodate Lord Kirien’s wife while Noyar bound William to the side, searching for his possessions.

"We can't stay here much longer," I said, and they both acknowledged. Since William knew about this place, other of his associates probably did too. They would probably attack here, searching for us or William.

Without troubling others, I went upstairs to check the other rooms.

My search was fruitless, as most rooms were the same as when we left. I collected my other bag that I had stuffed under the bed, as well as anything useful that could be found to come down.

Shailyn studied the sick lady. 'Blood and ashes, she looks awful, and it isn’t just because of her injuries and afflictions.’ The betrayal and the deceased pinned her down even further. Meanwhile, Noyar had laid down everything she found off of William, and it seemed his eye was really blinded for good.

I thought it would be fake since William didn’t seem that discontent about it, last time we talked.

Noyar removed the bandage to check before bandaging again. William grunted in agony while Noyar did that, which was, of course, a good thing. Since the warlock could feel pain, he would talk.

Getting near them, I crouched down near the stuff Noyar brought out of the Warlock. First was the amulet; it’s a simple artifact in the shape of a finger-sized figure bound to his bracelet—could create a shield around the possessor, providing enough spirit energy. It's simple but effective, and it’s quick too. Something like this must have cost a fortune.

Next were two notebooks: one seemed for taking notes, and the other was stuffed with a lot of pages extracted from different books—those two would need deeper examination.

There were a few vials of meds, drugs, and detoxifying potion, so he really came prepared to betray us. Why hadn't I recognised him from the book?

My wondering stopped as I held onto the next item. It’s an iron spike like a hairpin, which could be dangerous enough to kill a normal person. However, against an adept practitioner, it's like a child's play.

I stared back at William, who was also looking at me and at the spike. It would be a child's play if the practitioner, who was prepared for it, but it seemed William was not as prepared and thought he won, but in the end, paid his right eye as a price.

“Do you know what it is?” Noyar asked, noticing me taking extra time on the hairpin.

“It’s Yeriel’s,” I answered truthfully, “a sympathetic item. I think it’s through this she managed to get away.”

It seemed there was something that couldn’t be changed. In the book, Yeriel accidentally blinded someone in self-defence with the hairpin, and here it's likely a similar case.

Sometimes, a small trick is all you need. Well, that was a pleasant revelation. Now I just have to find her before others can.

“I’ve got to find Yeriel,” I said to others and myself, standing up, intending to leave.

“Slow down,” Shailyn said, approaching us. “Look at your state; you’re in no condition to do anything other than resting.”

“But Shailyn—“

“No buts,” Shailyn said, even though she seemed weaker than I, her voice held authority. “I know you’re worried for your friend, but going alone in such a state would only cause disaster for us. Think logically for a second.”

“Aunt, I think I can do it,” I said, clenching my jaw.

"Can you really?" Shailyn challenged, and then shoved me in the chest with a light push. I staggered on my back, but managed to stand back in time. Well, I did use the suit to assist me; however, the display was enough.

“I’ve never trained my physical body, nor used my full strength,” Shailyn said, clasping on my shoulder, “look at yourself, nephew. I’ve failed to comprehend the level of danger of this mission, and led so many of you into mortal danger. Manas help me, I’ll be damned before I’ll let you go on your own when you can’t even stand up properly.”

Shailyn then went silent, eyes darting towards the corpse of Lord Kirien. Her fingernails dug into her palm as she grunted in frustration.

‘She thinks it’s her fault,’ I thought, and touched her on the shoulder with my good palm, clasping. "It isn’t your fault." I tried to console her. "Lord Kirien knew of the danger, but still chose to come along."

As for the danger of this mission, even I, who have more knowledge, failed to comprehend. A single, unknown piece put everything in disarray. If only I could see through William’s mask earlier, but that was almost impossible. 'That guy deserves the name Oscar better than me. He got every one of us fooled.’

"Look at you two," Noyar said, staring at the two of us. "One consoling the other, while both headstrong, that it’s their fault."

“Eh,” I uttered, as my mouth hung open, lost for words. Was I blaming myself? Kind of, but I knew I couldn’t see through Willam’s mask. Perhaps it would be different if I didn’t wander alone to search for the cavern and got beaten up so badly.

“What’s done is done,” the Lady Knight said. “We’ve lost men, good honourable men.”

William, who was silent all the time, snorted, with evident contempt in his eyes. I felt like smacking him in the face. Though so far we only found Lord Kirien’s corpse, there were about a dozen warders with us. Who knew what he did with them?

Noyar ignored the warlock. “We had no way of knowing there was one rat among us. So, blaming ourselves would do little good. What we needed to figure out was how to approach the situation from here."

And I thought she's a woman of few words. Well, she did spoke little, but when she did, she's effective with her words.

“Noyar is right," Shailyn said, "We have to decide, and we have to decide fast. We all need rest, but this place is not safe. We need to depart. However, finding any suitable spot in this weather would be very difficult. Even getting to the other camp would take half a dozen hours, at least in our best condition. We may even have to camp outside, but--"

“Aunt, I think I have a solution for that.”

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Edited by Mysteries (yes, your truly handsome, dashing alpha male editor is back.)

Proofread by kqwxz.

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