The Foolhardies 81 Touched With Fire

Finding Luca snuggled next to a sleeping Pike like they were resting on some hidden beach without a problem in the world was exasperating.

I wanted to yell at them to give me back the hours of anxiety I'd experienced since coming back to the Fayne.

This irritation was probably why I didn't hesitate to cross the shallow pool between us—despite the sensation of cold water clinging to my knees—and stomp up to their tiny island intending to rough them up. But then I saw them covered in wounds and my annoyance immediately evaporated. The cuts and bruises covering their arms and faces reminded me that they'd been running for their lives.

Waking Luca up with a splash of water to the face would have to be enough. And I won't lie, it was.

Luca sputtered to consciousness with wide eyes and a scream on his lips. Then he saw me and the yell of "Wa~~ah" transformed int "D-dean?"

"What's up, sleepyhead," I grinned.

His jerking woke Pike up too. But she hadn't screamed in fear. Nope. She'd reached inside her vest and pulled out a small shadowblade dagger which sprang to life in her hand. The blade's charred edge was soaring up to me before halting midway after Pike realized who she was about to attack.

"Sorry, Commander, I didn't know it was you," she said in a lyrical accent that reminded me of the Irish peoples of Mudgard.

"Not a problem, Pike," I said placatingly.

To my right, I'd watched from the corner of my eye as Ashley drew her s.h.i.+eld ready to block the accidental attack. It really was nice to have a s.h.i.+eldmaiden along for these kinds of adventures.

I dropped to one knee, feeling the wet mud between my fingers as I pulled my brother into a sitting position. I didn't have the energy to joke about how he stank of earth and dried blood. It wasn't the time.

"Let's get you back in the game." I pulled out a minor healing potion from one of my belt pockets and offered it to Luca. "Bottoms up."

"T-thanks…" Luca took the vial and drank it greedily. He wiped at his mouth after he finished.

The effects of the healing potion were immediate. Not all of them, but some of his more minor wounds began to close as if the reddened tissues that had been pulled apart were slowly st.i.tching themselves back together.

Unfortunately, the potion I'd given him wasn't enough to heal his more serious wounds. There was a large gash across the side of his armor that was already dark with dried blood. His left arm was also sporting a nasty cut that was still trickling blood down to his hand.

Beside him, Pike only looked slightly better than he did. The potion Ashley gave her had healed more of her injuries. Still, I could see a tear in her left wing. Probably why they'd crashed in this area.

"What happened, Luca?" I asked. "Why didn't you make it to the fallback point?"

Luca grimaced as he leaned forward to speak to me. His wounds were probably still hurting him.

"They came after us… even with Shaqs and Edo keeping a lot of them at bay… they really wanted to get me," Luca said between quick breaths. "I-I blacked out while we escaped."

Luca looked sideways at Pike with a grateful expression. His hand reached out for hers. Their fingers locked together.

"They would have… caught me… if Pike didn't rescue me," he insisted.

The short-cropped brown-haired pixie blushed at Luca's praise. She kept her eyes diverted away from him.

I rolled my eyes at their obvious display of affections but said nothing. I would store this embarra.s.sing moment for later use when the situation called for some heavy teasing.

"But you guys escaped the campsite… are you saying they kept pursuing you afterward?" I pressed.

Instead of Luca, it was Pike who answered in her lyrical accent, "They continued to chase us, me and Luca. We barely lost them when they would appear in front of us suddenly. It was like the Wild Hunt itself was after us."

Pike glanced up at the cavern's ceiling.

"We're lucky we crashed just outside this place… and I was able to drag Luca inside and hide here," she continued.

Her eyes focused on the pool of water behind us, and I understood why she looked so grateful. Pa.s.sing through the running water must have masked their scent. It would have been hard to pick up again unless they had something that belonged to either of the two. You know, something like the broken sword hilt in my pack.

I remembered the scene I saw with my Eagle Sight, the name I gave Fool's Insight's newfound power. Pike with Luca in her arms had changed course to avoid collision with an unseen obstacle.

"Why would they insist on coming after you, Luca?" Ashley asked.

Luca pointed to me. "They wanted Dean."

"T-they wanted me…" I repeated. Of course, they would. I caused an upset in last night's battle. They'd want my head for that. "You're saying they thought I was you?"

That was a stretch. Apart from our flaming red hair, Luca and I didn't really look alike. Me and my fair skin resembled mom too much. Luca with his tanned skin looked more like dad. But I guess our enemies wouldn't know the difference. After all, Luca was in-charge when Aura and I left for Mudgard.

Luca shook his head, easily destroying the theory I'd made in my head.

"They knew I wasn't you…" he insisted. "But they knew who I was too. The brother of the boy touched by fire."

"Touched by fire?" Ashley and I repeated at almost exactly the same time.

"That's what he called you… the boy touched with fire," Luca continued. "He said he wanted to meet you."

The boy touched by fire—it was an interesting nickname, but what did it mean exactly? Was it because of my flaming red hair or my closeness with Aura who used fire magic? Or was there an entirely different reason? These questions floated at the top of my mind until Ashley's question disrupted my thoughts.

"He, who?" Ashley asked, to which I added, "Who is he?"

Luca shut his eyes as if he were trying to remember something just out of reach from his mind's eye.

"A thin elf with long, braided silver hair and a silver mask covering the top part of his face like Aura's," Luca explained.

Luca grasped my tightly onto my arm with his free hand. "Dean, this guy… there was something different about him… it made him really intimidating."

"Was he more like Azuma or Darah?" I asked while pointing out the two people in the Fayne who intimidated me more than any other.

Luca shook his head again. "N-no… It wasn't about martial skill or anything like that…" Luca's eyes darted between me and the mud below him. "He made me think of you. That's how he felt… like you."

The sound of lapping water and the soft grunting of swiftharts were all the sound you could hear after Luca's confession. And it was a while before anyone spoke. Thankfully, Pike was more worried about getting Luca to Berrian as quickly as possible rather than stress over a new enemy who Luca claimed felt like me. Whatever that meant.

"Shouldn't you provide them with some first-aid?" I asked.

Ashley shook her head. "I used up all my supplies earlier when I was helping Berrian tend to our wounded."

"Does he even have enough spells to heal these two?" I pushed.

She shrugged. "He's rested enough. Should have regained enough mana for one or two healing spells." Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Ashley was the first to move. She gently helped Pike to her feet and half-carried her through the shallow pool and up to her swifthart. Then, after climbing in after her, she ordered her squad to get ready to move out.

Luca and I spent a few more seconds longer on the mud bar before I helped him to his feet and half-dragged him to my swifthart.

Luca looked up at my mount's face. "I-is Jade Shadow okay?"

He was referring to his own swifthart which he'd already given that cool name to, reminding me once more that he, like dad, was a Star Wars fanatic. I was more of a Marvel guy myself.

"He's fine. Saw him back at the fallback location with our other herd," Ashley answered from atop her mount, one hand on the reins and the other wrapped around Pike who sat in front of her. "You can see him as soon as Berrian heals you."

I helped Luca up to my swifthart and then followed after him. As he was taller than me—and no I didn't say that out loud—he was in the back seat.

"Oh, yeah," I pulled out his broken broadsword's hilt from my pack and pa.s.sed it to him. "Found this lying around."

"d.a.m.n… you think Zarz can fix this?" he asked.

"Sure. A bit of glue and duct tape should fix it right up," I said jokingly.

Luca sighed. "I don't suppose you can give me an advance on my salary so I can buy a new one?"

I laughed lightheartedly. "Dream on, little brother."

The last thing I did before ordering our search party out of that cavern was to take one last look at the pool in the back, thanking it in my mind for helping my brother out. My next thoughts strayed back to Luca's story—to the words the enemy used to describe me, "The boy touched by fire."