Mystic

Chapter 11

They traveled the next few days, heading towards their target. They were heading further south, and though it was subtle, even Taryn could feel the slight increase in warmth every night. Of course, Neve much better appreciated the colder weather, but she seemed to be holding up alright. The biggest problem was that it was much easier for her to run out of energy when using her magic. Though no matter, they were still fairly far north, so as of right now, everything was fine.

Part way through the day, the group had arrived at their destination, setting up camp less than a mile from their desired city. Neve had gone to scout the town from the outside, trying to gage it's actual size and how many prisoners she thought would be there, if there were any, and how easy it would be to drive the Southern Soldiers out.

To spend one extra night planning, they decided to wait until the next evening to actually invade the town.

Neve returned roughly an hour later, detailing everything she could find.

"It's not super big. There's one guard tower, which is where I'm guessing they're hiding the prisoners, but considering last time we pulled this off, that might not be the case. It's a decently sized city, though it is on the smaller side. I saw a few northern merchants out and about from above the walls, which means there are probably some Northerner prisoners being kept somewhere in the city."

"Is it too big to force any Southerners out?" Taryn asked.

"It's not impossible, but it would be safer to focus on a prisoner rescue mission since this is Andre's first time freeing a southern town, and he's still injured."

Taryn nodded. "Anything else?"

"Not for now,"

"What am I going to do?" Zeph asked, chiming in on the conversation.

"You'll be keeping watch and guarding our horses,"

"That doesn't seem very fun," Zeph muttered.

"It's the safest option for you right now, okay?" Andre said. "Maybe when you get a little better with a sword,"

"Alright," He said, somewhat content with Andre's answer.

"You want to start learning now?" Neve offered, gripping onto the handle of her sword.

"Really? Right now?" Zeph asked, his eyes beaming at the thought.

"Sure. You won't be ready by tomorrow, but it'll be a start."

Zeph glanced back towards Andre, waiting for his approval. Andre nodded and Zeph smiled, running towards Neve. "Is that sword going to be too big for me?" He asked as they walked into the woods.

"We'll make it work," Neve replied before they were out of earshot.

Taryn sat down on a large boulder, which had cemented itself into the dirt. She pulled out her sword, beginning to clean it. "Are you excited for tomorrow?" She asked.

"That's one way to put it," He said, sitting down next to her. "I'm just still injured, and if anyone catches me, I don't think I can summon an earthquake to break me out of prison."

Taryn laughed. "Relax, you'll do great." She paused her cleaning, staring at herself in her reflection. She glanced up, staring into the thick of the pine trees surrounding her. "When we first met, Zeph said you were immune to magic. What did he mean?" She asked, her head turned towards him.

Andre shrugged. "Spells, enchantments, they don't work on me."

"Nothing?" Taryn said.

"Unless it interacts with something physical, like Neve's magic does with water and ice, it does nothing to me."