Gifted

I woke with the sun, the pale light diffusing from the snow-laden clouds hanging in the sky like a woolen coat draped over the world. I couldn’t hear anyone else around, but that wasn’t a surprise since the bedroom I shared with my mother was on the third floor. The thick wooden floors muffled sounds incredibly effectively. While they might occasionally creak in a particularly violent storm, they would prevent me from hearing anything going on in the kitchen, common room, or Grandfather’s office.

I rubbed my tummy through my warm, woolen clothes and remembered the food the night before. Mother hadn’t let me have much of the pork and gravy, instead feeding me mostly mashed vegetables, but the little I had gotten my grubby little hands on had been delicious! Whatever else I had to say about the old codger, at least he had good taste in food.

With great care, I slowly climbed out of my cot and slid down the side of it while maintaining a death grip on the wood. Partially because I didn’t want to fall, but more importantly because I didn’t want to alert anyone I was awake. The first task of the day was working on my Path of Sneaking. As my feet touched the floor, I was thankful that the woolen clothes I wore covered them. They muffled any sounds I might make.

With the first step of my escape completed, I began the slow crawl towards the door that was slightly ajar. Mother always did that so she could hear my crying, and that meant I could let myself out without too much issue. However, I had to go slowly. If I rushed, my knees would thump against the floor and alert someone to my presence. Each knee shuffle and hand movement had to be slow and careful. I was the Silence!

I was as careful with the door as I was with my movements, easing it open inch by inch until there was room for me to squeeze through comfortably without touching the door or the wall. I had learned that lesson on a previous foray. That time I hadn’t opened the door as much as I could for fear of it squeaking and then bumped it with my bum on the way through. The slight squeal had been enough to alert my mother and end my plans before I even really got started. Being sneaky meant not taking any half-measures!

Reaching the hallway, I continued my slow progress until I was at the top of the stairs. My memories of another life, and running up and down stairs like they were nothing, were in stark contrast with my experience now that I was Sebastian. Stairs were like mountains, and right now, I was staring down a steep slope.

Turning myself around, I began to slide down backwards ever so slowly, one step at a time. I caught my chin on the third step before getting into a rhythm. Left leg down, right leg down, left arm down, right arm down, repeat ad nauseum. The repetition was soothing even if it felt like it was taking forever. When I reached the second floor, I had to quietly crawl past the bannisters, ignoring the wooden railings that had been placed against them to prevent my tumbling through the gaps, and repeated my descent again.

I was already tired by the time I had reached the first floor, but my tiredness was secondary to my success and the sweet, sweet feeling of my numbers going up. It was my third attempt at a silent descent from my room and my first success!

Path of Sneaking went up by another three steps, while my Path of Crawling went up by one. A notification flashed in the corner of my vision and I pulled it open in my excitement!

Path Unlocked! Path of Climbing (0/10)

The new Path took me to the full ten Paths I could work on. Which made me wonder what would happen now if I unlocked another Path? I hoped nothing bad, but I still couldn’t ask anyone. I was looking forward to being able to talk and when I could slowly start dribbling in questions instead of, you know… just dribbling.

With the first part of my plan a resounding success, I continued to sneak through the house. I thought I was doing well until I heard my grandfather’s voice.

“Penny, Sebastian is just outside the kitchen.”

That old codger had yelled the words from his office, a room I had yet to see the inside of.

A moment later, my mother swept in from the common room and scooped me up.

“Did you get down here all by yourself, my baby boy?” she cooed worriedly as she inspected me for bumps and bruises.

None on me, Mum! I got down the stairs swiftly and silently! Well, at least silently!

That didn’t explain how the old codger had noticed me. Could he see through walls? What kind of magic was that anyway?

My musings were broken when there was a furious knock of someone pounding on the door. The noise didn’t abate, and my mother followed closely behind Grandfather as he rushed to see what was the matter. From behind my grandfather’s back, I watched as the doors were flung open, and a ragged group of people rushed inside carrying something. It was chaos, and I was finding it hard to follow what was going on as I was jostled about by the sudden movements of my mother as she made way for the people and then followed them into the common room.

I finally got to lay eyes on the cause of the commotion. There were five of them. Three humans, and unless my eyes deceived me, two humanoids I would call elves based on their almond-shaped eyes and longer, pointed, lobeless ears. They were all bloody and bleeding, the red mixing with a yellow ichor that clung to their leather armour and emitted an acrid smell that irritated my nose.

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“He’s been bitten by a Giant Eyeless Spider,” yelled the female elf as she half-clung to the human man who was lying on the table, a white froth upon his lips.

“Penny, fetch your antidotes,” Cornelius stated in a firm voice.

I was plopped down onto the rug as my mother ran from the room in a swish of blue fabric. Quickly making my way to a nearby chair, I hauled myself up so I could see what was going on.

“What happened?” Cornelius demanded, his tone firm.

“We’re from the Farwalkers Guild,” answered the other elf, this one a man. Even beneath the blood and ichor, I could see his likeness in the female. Golden blond hair that fell to his neck was held back by a leather band. Dark brown leather armour covered the elfs sleek form as he looked at the frothing human with amber eyes. “We took the job to clear a Rift up here from the Adventurer’s Society, posted by the Wardens of Ajinport.

“Our plan was to arrive here at the outpost yesterday, scout out the Rift, and determine what enemies we expected to face before resupplying and cleansing the Rift. Instead, we found signs it had already turned into a Breach on the way here. The spiders’ nest was obvious, but it looked like it was just Fluted Forest Spiders and a couple of Giant Spiders. We hadn’t expected that the Rift had a Champion within when it Breached.”

“Fucking Eyeless, body must’ve been the size of an Earth Drake,” muttered a shorter female human.

“So, it was a Rift from the Echoing Depths Dungeon in Helenica?” grumbled the old man. I didn’t understand most of the words he just used, but I was getting the gist. Listening in was also improving my Linguistic Path. “You defeated the Champion?”

“We did,” said the elf with a nod as his sister started to sob on the convulsing human on the table. “Thomas jumped in front of Vianola to protect her as she took the shot that killed the beast. We ran here straight afterwards. The poison has been working through him for at least four hours.”

I watched as Grandfather nodded. “Eyeless Spiders aren’t fast eaters. They like to enjoy their food over multiple days as the bodies slowly putrefy, drinking them bit by bit. He’s not beyond saving I think, though he’ll likely spend months recovering unless you intend to pay for a high-end antidote.”

“Do you have one?” Vianola demanded, the elven woman standing up from where she held the fallen Thomas.

“No. My daughter brews a little but she is a novice. Her antidote will help slow the progression, and I will do what I can to restore the tissue, but the energy for the healing will come from your friend, and he doesn’t look like he has a lot to spare. We’ll keep him here until he’s well enough for the trip back to Dinalby or Ajinport. Unless one of you wants to go buy the high end antidote and return with it.”

My mother chose that moment to rush back into the room with a small glass vial that was still bigger than anything I could hold. I watched as she handed it to my grandfather. He pried open the wounded man’s frothing mouth and poured in no more than a third of the vial. Then he pressed his hand against the man’s chest. I expected lights, I expected runes or something to appear. Nothing did. If the old man was doing anything, then I couldn’t see it or feel it.

My distress must’ve been visible on my face as my mother scooped me up from where I stood in the chair having a stickybeak and cooed to me.

“It’s alright, Sweetheart.”

I’m fine, Mum! I thought, It’s the guy who got himself poisoned you need to worry about! Save him while showing me what Grandfather is doing!

But I felt nothing, saw nothing. In a world of magic, so far, I was blind to it.

Whatever Grandfather did, the man settled and when they wiped away the froth, there were no new white bubbles to replace them. I may give the old codger a hard time, but at that moment, I was proud to know him.

“Before you go to sleep tonight, give him another third of the bottle. The final third tomorrow morning. I’ll do another round of healing after each one. Just come and find me when you’re ready.”

“Will he live?” Vianola asked with a voice tinged with worry and fear.

“He should. He seems strong. The poison was deep in his tissue, and it’s not going to be easily cleansed. He’s weak enough that if we try and purge it all at once, he’ll likely go into shock and die. But if he makes it to tomorrow morning, he’ll live. You’ll have rooms of course, so you can get him comfortable and have a little privacy. Though I would suggest making use of the bathroom to clean up.”

The adventurers grunted their agreement, and the other two humans helped Vianola pick up the wounded Thomas. Mother quickly went to the desk to fetch them a key, and then they carried the wounded man up to the second floor, while the final elf remained.

“Don’t see too many elves working for Guilds based out of Ajinport,” commented the old man now that the room was mostly emptied.

I was placed down on the rug while my mother left the room, only for her to return a moment later with rags and a small pail of water to clean up the mess on the table.

“That is true,” agreed the elf. “I am Keryth. My sister, well, you saw how she feels about Thomas. She joined to be close to him, and I joined to keep her safe.”

Cornelius kept his gaze on Keryth for a moment before he gave a nod of assent.

“You killed the Champion from a Breached Rift; did it have the Trophies with it?”

“It did not,” Keryth admitted. “They’re still out there somewhere.”

What’s a Trophy? I thought, And why can’t I be big enough to go find it myself!?

Life as a baby just wasn’t fair. But the scene I had just witnessed had put a couple of things in perspective for me. This world was not a safe place, but apparently, with risk, came rewards. I was more than willing to take some risks once I was a little bigger! Growth spurt don’t cheat me now!