Cleansing Fire
Chapter 22: Saved

It was dawn by the time Lori woke up and Magnus had cleared out the bodies of the soldiers sent to replace them. To replace her. He had gone to look for Marius but had found no sign of him. He’d seen him fall into the river but had not been in time to help him. He hoped Marius was a strong swimmer. Still, if Lori’s visions were to be believed – and so far he had found no reason to doubt them, they would meet Marius in Erya.

Lori’s brows knotted in confusion as she looked around at the signs of the fight.

“What happened? Where’s Marius?”

He rolled his eyes and went over to her, taking her hand to comfort her.

“Some of the Academy Guards found us, sent by the Steward they said. That can only mean that Balden has assumed command and Triman is truly dead. As for Marius, he was carried away by the river. Besides that, he was well when last I saw him so you don’t have to worry quite so much.”

It was quite peculiar how Lori could know the certainty of her visions and yet doubt them at the same time. She had shown him the painting of the three of them in Erya and yet she feared for his safety. It was very strange.

She sighed in relief and lay back down again, wincing as the new scars on the side of her face pulled taught. The flesh would be tender for some time – he was not as skilled at healing as he could wish to be but at least the scars were small rather than disfiguring.

“The last thing I remember is you with your hands over me, Magnus. Thank you for the healing. I hope you weren’t too hard on Marius, after.”

He rolled his eyes again and started to pack up their belongings, saddling Marius’ stallion and tying the reins to his own.

“No, Lori, I was not too harsh on him. Nothing I could have said would have made him feel worse than seeing you like that. I did force him to watch me heal you though. Perhaps that taught him enough of a lesson that he’ll control himself in future.”

She laughed a little and clambered out of her blankets.

“It was just a mistake, Magnus. Besides, I knew it wouldn’t be too bad.”

She realised she must have touched a nerve when he spun around, his eyes full of anger.

“You could have been killed you fool! How can you possibly be so dense that you would willingly get yourself into a situation like that? Vision or no vision, it was a damn stupid thing to do!”

She realised then that he had actually been quite worried about her. She reached out a hand and patted his shoulder, unsure of what to do.

“I promise I’ll be more careful in the future. Will that help?”

He nodded and, shrugging off her hand, continued to pack up. Well, there wasn’t much more she could do to apologise. It would have to do.

They were soon mounted and on their way along the road again, heading directly for Erya now. They came to the crossroads and read the guide post to replace the right arm to take.

Soon they would be in Erya and then they would replace Marius. Whatever happened after that was in the hands of the gods.