Golden Blood -- Ch. 10

Chapter Ten - Jay

Solan didn't fly with Mailliw and I on his back for long. It was less than an hour before he landed, explaining with embarrassment that we were too much weight for him and his injured shoulder. I could now see that the arrow had been removed, and the wound wrapped with strips of cloth. Mailliw must have done it before the two of them came out to rescue me.

I tried to ask Mailliw what had happened to those soldiers, but he waved off my question, saying that he'd explain later once we reached a place to camp. I had to suffer my curiosity in silence as we trodded on, walking further and further South. Finally Mailliw decided that it was time to stop, and the three of us settled down under the leaves of some trees.

We gathered a bunch of sticks for a fire, but instead of the traditional flintstone method, Solan was able to light the wood with a burst of flame from his mouth. As soon as the campfire was dancing high and we had all settled down, I turned to Mailliw to demand answers. He held me off for awhile longer, advising that we get something to eat first. In the excitement I'd forgotten all about my hunger, though it had gnawed at me through the hours we'd been walking. Solan offered to catch us some prey, and soon we were watching a large hare simmer over the fire. Solan had caught another small animal for himself, and was happily tearing the unfortunate creature apart.

"Well, are you going to tell me what happened yet?" I asked, looking to Mailliw.

Mailliw stared at me silently, the firelight making the small scar on his cheek gleam. "What do you want to know?"

"For starters, what was that flash of light and what happened to all those soldiers?"

Mailliw sighed. "I get the feeling that you won't believe me, so instead I guess I'll just show you." He held out one of his gloved hands with the palm pointing upward. I watched, bemused, as he clenched his fingers.

"What are you-" I cut off suddenly, as Mailliw's hand had begun to glow. A bright yellow light was pouring out from between his fingers, as if a star had been caught in his outstretched fist. Mailliw held the light there for a moment, then turned and threw it at a nearby tree. The energy shot out of his hand like a streak of lightning and crashed into the tree with the crack of splintering wood, leaving a dark burn mark behind.

I stared in astonishment. "What was that!?"

"Magic," Mailliw replied nonchalantly, settling back down.

"Magic." I repeated, waiting for him to elaborate. When he didn't, I leaned back with a sigh.

Of course it was magic, Solan piped up. How can you act sceptical about magic when you yourself can use it?

That part caught me off-guard. What?

"Telepathy is a kind of magic." Mailliw explained. "A rare one. Telepaths can only communicate mentally with other telepaths, which is why you were the only one who could hear Solan."

I supposed it made sense, but who ever heard of magical humans? Tales had long been passed in our Kingdom about magic; an ethereal energy that lay at the command of certain creatures. Humans had never been part of that group, though it was said that dragons could sometimes use it. Since dragons were viewed as our enemies, magic had automatically become something to be feared in the old stories.

Telepathy is a gift known to be most common among my people than any other, Solan elaborated. They use we telepaths for messengers. Advanced telepaths can exchange words from very long distances without barely any strain.

"A skill I don't have, as you noticed earlier," Mailliw pointed out. I remembered when I had been heading back to the village and he'd called out with telepathy to stop me before he had been in sight. It had hurt. "Any real telepath could have called out that distance without any pain at all."

I shifted my gaze to him. "So what are you then? Some kind of magician and telepath combined?"

"Telepathy isn't always a standalone ability. My telepathy isn't very strong anyhow." Mailliw explained. "I noticed when we first met, though, that you have the capacity to be a very strong one."

"Really?" I perked up a little at this. "Does that mean I'll be able to shoot light out of my hands and stuff?"

Mailliw shook his head. "Doubtful. If you were a mage instead of a telepath, I'm sure your abilities would have manifested by now."

"Well, how do you know so much about this then?"

Mailliw paused. "… Experience."

"That isn't much to go on." I narrowed my eyes at him. I waited for Mailliw to explain further, but he simply sat there, watching me. To be honest, it seemed kind of suspicious. Maybe I had been rash in agreeing to travel with he and Solan--a person I had only met yesterday, and a dragon that had crash-landed in my village.

Kraasua, please speak in telepathy as well. Solan said, jolting me back to the present. I cannot understand your human language.

Sorry, I apologized.

Mailliw looked at me. "It might be easier if you used telepathy as you spoke, like I am doing."

"Well, how does that work?"

Mailliw thought for a moment. "It's very simple. You already know how to communicate telepathically. It's sort of like making a connection between your mind and the person you're talking too, right?"

I nodded.

"Just make that connection as you speak, and try to convey the meaning of your words through your thoughts at the same time."

"Hello." I tried it out, surprised at how simple it seemed. Solan nodded from where he lay by the fireside.

I understood that.

"…That's pretty cool," I chuckled despite myself. Mailliw got up and retrieved the rabbit meat, handing me a piece. It wasn't the greatest thing I'd ever tasted, but it was delicious after so much walking. Neither Mailliw nor Solan seemed to be big talkers, and we ate in silence. I looked at the two over my food. If I had to guess, I would say that neither of them was used to being around other people. Interesting.

"So, where exactly are we going?" I asked, testing out my new telepathy-speech technique.

"South, as you know." Mailliw responded. "We'll swing out a bit west as we go, so that we don't get too close to the dragon territories at the seaside. We can't go too far west, though, or we'll end up bordering the human cities."

"Well, what's down there?" I was beginning to get nervous about all of this. "Is it just wild land?"

It is dragon land, Solan replied, looking at me.

"That's not too comforting," I sighed. "What should I do? How long am I going to be travelling with you two?"

I am going to the Southern lands, Solan said. They are quite a ways from here.

I looked at Mailliw, but he only shrugged. "I was planning to accompany Solan as far as I saw fit. I'm always travelling, and at this point it doesn't really matter in which direction."

I frowned. "Are you always travelling in the wildlands alone?"

"I tend to stick around the Northern dragon lands and Southern human lands, but I've been pretty far into dragon country before."

"I see," I looked at him. Mailliw was answering all of my questions, but at the same time it felt like he wasn't telling me anything. I still knew nothing about him--where he came from, why he could use magic, and more importantly, why he'd even bothered to rescue me. It seemed foolhardy to be travelling with someone like that, but then again, I didn't really have another choice. Soldiers from the army were after me. Mailliw seemed to know what he was doing, and he had saved me after all.

I still didn't trust him though. As we rested for a moment longer in the firelight, I made a silent promise to myself not to let my guard down.

After our brief stop by the fireside, we put out the flames and went on walking. Walking seemed to put less strain on Solan's shoulder, but the going was much slower for all of us. I imagined we must have looked like a strange crew--two humans, one with a sword, overshadowed by a black dragon with a bandage on his shoulder. We travelled in unnerving silence for the most part, though I managed to have a few silent conversations with Solan. Mailliw was off in his own little world.

It was hours later when the light finally began to leak from the sky. My legs were sore from all the walking. Mailliw finally suggested that we settle down for the night, and scouted out a sheltered area beside a small cliff. Solan stretched out contentedly in the grass, and Mailliw offered me a thick blanket to sleep on.

We built another camp and another fire, and instead of bothering to hunt for food, Mailliw offered me some bread and cheese he had with him. The fact that he had so many supplies suggested that he was used to camping out in the wild, which reminded me again how little I knew about him.

The night was cool but not unbearable, and I settled back onto my blanket without a word. If I closed my eyes, I could almost convince myself that I was back in the village… camping out on the deck of the boat, maybe. I could just about feel the swells gently tipping the boat, and hear my father snoring at the other end. I opened my eyes to slits and the illusion was shattered. We were lying overtop thick grass, not a boat, and the flickering fire showed that the one snoring was Solan, not my father.

The fogginess of sleep was creeping up behind my eyes, and I watched dully as Mailliw doused the fire and went to his bedroll. The exhaustion of the day finally set in and I found myself drifting away, into a dream of boats and soft black oceans.