Chapter 1

It was a long, but uneventful journey for Rohea, Puccar, and Maes. Rohea dutifully completed his stretching exercises every morning before they broke camp, and found his strength and health recover incrementally. Maes joined him in the morning stretches, and also practiced the sword movements that Rohea had previously taught her. Puccar watched her practice with interest, but did not say a word.

When they were halfway to Yaklo, they made camp for the night. They started a small fire a short distance from the road, and were roasting some fish that Puccar had caught from a nearby stream. A low rumble first caught their attention, and Rohea and Puccar immediately stood up and scanned in the direction of the sound.

"A carriage approaches," Puccar said, pointing at a small figure in the distance.

The carriage grew bigger as it got nearer to the party. The horses appeared haggard, as if they had been on the road without rest for many days. As the carriage approached their camp, it slowed down and finally came to a stop a short distance from their campsite.

Rohea and Puccar spread out slightly, and placed their hands on their sword sheaths. Rohea gestured to Maes to stay behind him. Maes appeared slightly miffed but complied.

The man driving the horses of the carriage turned his head to face them, but remained motionless otherwise. The door to the carriage opened, and a well-dressed man stepped out.

The well-dressed man called out, "Hello there, travelers!"

Rohea raised his hand and replied, "Good evening to you! How goes your travels?"

The man put his hands to his sides and walked closer to them. He said, "Not very well, I'm afraid. We are traveling to Riloo. My wife is deathly ill, but the doctors of our town say that there is nothing more they can do. I heard that there is a healer in Riloo, but I fear my wife may not survive the remainder of the trip."

"I am sorry to hear that," Puccar said.

Rohea and Puccar glanced and each other and nodded.

"You are welcome to join our camp for the night if you'd like," Rohea said.

The man thought for a short while and replied, "Yes, we would like that. I want to get to Riloo as soon as possible, but the horses need a rest."

The well-dressed man walked up to Rohea and Puccar, and outstretched his hand.

"I am Ridas. That is my servant, Garren," he said, pointing to the man on the horse. "My wife Nyier is in the carriage. Garren!" he called. "Help Nyier down. Some fresh air will do her some good."

"Yes sir," Garren said, dismounting the horse with practiced ease. He walked to the carriage and gently rapped his knuckles. "Mistress Nyier, I am coming in to help you down from the carriage."

Without waiting for an answer, Garren climbed in. A short moment later, he emerged from the carriage back-first, carrying a woman in his arms.

Maes gasped when she saw how frail Nyier looked, even from the distance. Nyier was completely limp in Garren's arms, and as Garren approached the group, Maes could tell how ashen Nyier's skin looked.

Ridas nodded sadly. "Nyier is deathly sick, she has been getting worse in the last few days."

Maes approached Garren and Nyier, and glanced at Ridas. Maes touched Nyier's arm and pulled back quickly.

"She is burning up!" Maes exclaimed. "Come, we must give her some water."

Garren brought Nyier over towards the campfire, while Maes took out her water pouch. She lifted Nyier's head slightly and poured a little water into Nyier's mouth.

"You must swallow," Maes spoke softly to Nyier, but there was no response.

Ridas said, "She hasn't been able to eat or drink since yesterday. When we just left our town of Hayr, she would wake up for brief periods and drink a little water. Now..."

"At this rate, she won't survive much longer. She needs to drink something, especially when she is burning up like this," Maes said.

Rohea went up to Ridas and asked, "How long has she been sick?"

Ridas replied, "I don't know for sure. I returned from Wolle about a week ago, and Nyier was already sick then. But it was nowhere as bad as now. She was tired, but she could talk with me and help out around the house. We thought that it was probably a minor illness. Over the last few days, she got much worse, and I sought the help of the doctors in town. They gave me some herbs, but it didn't help. Instead, she seemed to get worse. The doctors said there was nothing more they could do, and one of them told me about the healer in Riloo that might help."

"How did the doctor know about the healer?" Puccar asked.

Ridas was quiet for a while. "I don't know. I didn't ask. I immediately set off for Riloo with Garren."

"Garren," Rohea called. "Do you know any more about this illness?"

"Garren was travelling with me from Wolle," Ridas quickly replied as Garren laid Nyier gently down on the ground and approached the group.

Garren shook his head. "I don't know any more than what Master Ridas has said."

As the four men talked, Maes knelt down beside Nyier, placed her hands over Nyier's forehead and closed her eyes. The soft white glow enveloped her hands and slowly spread to Nyier's face. It crept downwards and encompassed the entire body.

Ridas noticed the glow and gasped. "What is she doing?"

Maes ignored him and continued focusing her concentration on Nyier.

Rohea said, "You were looking for a healer, weren't you?"

"Thank the gods!" Ridas said. "Will Nyier be alright?"

Rohea shrugged. "We will have to wait and see."

After a short while, Maes removed her hands from Nyier's forehead and placed it over Nyier's stomach. She closed her eyes again, and for a short while, the glow around Nyier seemed to increase in brightness. Maes suddenly plopped forwards and placed her head on Nyier's stomach, sobbing quietly.

Ridas rushed forwards towards Maes and Nyier. "Is it too late? Is Nyier gone?" he asked urgently.

Maes shook her head. "No, Nyier will be alright."

"Why are you crying then?"

Maes looked up at Ridas, her eyes red and filled with tears. "I'm afraid your son did not make it."

"M-my son? I don't have a..." Ridas started, and stopped. He put his palm over his mouth. "But she didn't say a thing about it."

"Maybe she didn't know," Maes offered.

"What will happen to her now?" Ridas asked.

Maes pulled herself up. "Nyier should recover from her illness. I've neutralized the sickness in her body"

"She'll recover now?" Ridas.

"Yes, Nyier's body will heal by itself, now that the sickness has been removed," Maes explained. "Was anyone else sick in our town?"

Ridas thought for a while, and replied, "I don't know. I'd only just returned from Wolle."

Rohea asked, "From what you told us, the doctors seemed to give up on Nyier rather quickly. Could they have seen similar situations in town?"

Ridas shrugged. "It's possible. I'm just relieved that Nyier will be alright. Thank you healer!" he said to Maes.

Maes replied, "I'm sorry I couldn't save both of them."

Ridas walked towards Maes and said gingerly, "It's alright. My wife is what matters. We can have more children in the future."

Maes nodded.

Ridas looked at Maes and asked, "Are you the healer from Riloo? I'd thought the healer was a man."

Maes gave an angry look at Ridas. "Are you saying that women can't be healers?"

Ridas stepped backward and quickly continued, "I meant no disrespect! It's only that the doctor said 'he' when referring to the healer."

Rohea said, "It's best that you keep this to yourself. We don't want the mages to catch wind of this."

"I've heard that the mages hunt healers. Why would they do something like that?" Ridas asked.

Rohea replied curtly, "Who knows why mages do anything?"

At that moment, Nyier gave a weak cough, and everyone in the party turned. Nyier's skin still looked ashen, but it was beginning to have a pink tinge to it. Nyier slowly opened her eyes and looked around.

"Ridas?" she called weakly.

"I'm here, Nyier," Ridas replied, sitting down beside her and holding her hand. "Everything will be all right, now."

Maes offered her water pouch to Nyier. "You must drink, your body needs water."

Ridas took the water pouch, and gently poured some water into Nyier's mouth. Nyier drank a few mouthfuls before she started coughing.

"That should be good for now," Maes said. "She will need some food, as well."

Puccar took one of the fish that was roasting over the fire and offered it to Ridas and Nyier.

"Thank you," Ridas said. "All of you have been very kind to us."

Puccar smiled. "You are very welcome."

The next morning, Nyier was looking much better, and Ridas offered some coins to Maes for her help.

"No, I cannot accept it," Maes said. "I was only doing what needed to be done."

Ridas said, "I will always remember your kindness."

"Where are you headed now?" Rohea asked. "Back to Hayr?"

Ridas said, "I will continue to Riloo. I have some family there that can help me take care of Nyier as she recovers. What about you?"

Rohea and Puccar looked at each other, but did not say a word.

"We should head to Hayr," Maes said. "There may be more people like Nyier who need help!"

Rohea nodded. "It is on the way," he said. "What do you think?" Rohea asked, looking at Puccar.

"We must help those in need," Puccar said. "Let us head to Hayr then."

Ridas looked thoughtful at their statement, but did not say anything.

The group said their farewells and parted ways.

"Are you sure we can trust Ridas not to tell the mages?" Puccar asked once Ridas' carriage was out of earshot.

"Maes just saved his wife's life," Rohea said. "I don't think he would knowingly cause us harm. In any case, he does not know that we are heading to Yaklo."

"Aren't we going to Hayr?" Maes asked.

"Yes," Rohea replied. "But only for a day or two. The soldiers at Yaklo need our help as well."

"I agree," Puccar said. "Perhaps Nyier was the only one that was sick."

Maes kept quiet and continued on her way.

The next morning, while Maes was practicing her sword movements, Rohea mentioned to Puccar, "Maes could do with some sparring practice, would you be so kind as to spar with her?"

Puccar nodded. He retrieved his sword and shield from his horse and approached Maes. Maes turned to face him, and dropped into a defensive stance.

Puccar chuckled and said, "It's good to be defensive, but sometimes you don't want to show your hand too early."

Puccar adopted a neutral stance, with his right hand lightly gripping the sword. "Like this, I'm ready if you attack, and yet, I can jump into an attack, like this!"

With that, Puccar suddenly launched himself forward towards Maes. Momentarily stunned by Puccar's swift motion, Maes brought her shield up a little too late. She was unable to block the full force of his attack, and her shield flew off to the side.

"See, now you've lost your shield," Puccar taunted. He tilted his head towards the shield. "Go ahead, pick it up again, I'll wait."

Maes cursed softly to herself as she bent down to pick her shield up. She strapped it to her left arm, and checked the straps carefully to make sure that it wouldn't come off again. She turned towards Puccar and copied his stance.

"Good," Puccar said. "You're learning. Now, come and attack me."

Maes slowly circled around him, taking one step at a time. She suddenly turned her head to the side, as if looking at something standing beside Puccar. Puccar started to turn his head in response, and Maes lunged forward with her sword.

Puccar swiftly took a step to his left, and pushed Maes past him with his shield.

"Good!" Puccar said. "But not good enough."

Rohea chuckled. "Good try, Maes. But I learned that trick from Puccar."

Maes grinned to herself, happy to have received compliments even if the attack was unsuccessful. Maes and Puccar continued dueling for some time, with Puccar easily fending off Maes' attacks, and offering useful advice.

Maes was all sweaty and losing her breath. She continued gripping her sword tightly, and glared at Puccar.

"That's enough for today," Rohea announced. "Great work, today," he said to Maes. "And, thank you, Puccar, for helping me train her."

Puccar smiled and replied, "It was my pleasure. She shows promise, with more training she could one day surpass you. Me, on the other hand..." He grinned.

Maes approached Puccar and clasped his outstretched wrist. "Thank you for sparring with me Sir Puccar."

The trio packed up their belongings and continued on their way towards Hayr. As they were about to mount their horses, Maes asked Rohea, "What if there are many more sick in Hayr and a few days isn't enough to help all of them?"