The Value of a Heartbeat

Of course I'm in

The day was early, around the hour of terce. A week had passed since Tomos agreed to contact the Burgomaster of Narber. Reilyn, Garrin and the five soldiers were waiting together in Reaper’s Paradise. It was well before the tavern’s open, therefore, no patrons were present. 

Linda was sat next to Nia, chatting her up. Nia, initially standoffish, had mellowed slightly and was chuckling at Linda’s humor. Catrin was humming and polishing her lance, Jac and Emyr were having a jovial conversation, Daffyd was flipping through his magic texts and making sure his concoctions were in order, Garrin was reading a small book, and Reilyn was staring down at his left hand with a frustrated grimace. 

Rena came down from the stairs, grabbed a cup of milk from the bar, and walked over to Reilyn. Sipping her milk, she also looked at his hand. “What’s wrong?” 

Shaking his head, Reilyn outstretched his arm away from Rena. Opening his hand, he squinted and called out. “Kympere kur talma, kea cadiu!” |Take your form, my blade!| From Reilyn’s palm outward, the hilt of a sword began to appear, but, as its curved blade began to grow, it fizzled into nothing. Reilyn groaned and glanced up at Rena. “I’ve been pouring over these texts.” He pointed to a couple thick books beside him titled ‘The Art of Illusory Magic’. “But I can’t seem to get this to work.” 

The Eyll girl frowned. She stepped towards the books, looking one over, then picking it up and flipping through it. Felix, who was curled up beside the books, startled and readjusted himself. Reilyn raised an eyebrow as he watched her focus on the text. “Do you also use magic?” He spoke after a few minutes of quiet. 

Rena let out a nervous laugh and set the book down. She shook her head, looking at the floor. “I can’t read, so...no.” 

“I’m sure I can teach you.” Reilyn shrugged. “If you want.” 

“Yes, please!” Rena grinned at him, her eyes lit up. 

At the table next to them, Garrin set his little book down and had turned to watch Reilyn and Rena’s conversation. He rubbed his hand on his chin, stroking his stubble, and spoke up. “You’re trying to make an illusion sword? That wouldn’t do anything.” 

Reilyn crossed his arms. “You misunderstand Let’Hal magic.” He frowned at Garrin. “As long as the one seeing the illusion perceives it to be real, it will do real damage.” Garrin squinted back, clearly not convinced. “If I can figure out how to do this, I won’t have to carry a weapon on me. And I’ll be even more versatile in combat.” The Eyll sighed. 

“Hmm.” Garrin grunted and picked up the Illusory magic tome. He flipped through it with lowered eyebrows and a pout as he tried to scan and understand the pages. “I’m not really good with all this magic stuff, but-” Reilyn looked Garrin over, tilting his head, curiously. “What if the one casting the spell also has to believe the sword is real?” 

“That actually...makes sense.” Reilyn’s brows furrowed as he paused. “When did you get so intuitive?” 

“I have my moments.” 

The Eyll leaned towards Garrin, looking down at the little book the large man was previously glued to. It was titled ‘The Complete Morgaan Wordlist’. “Why are you reading a dictionary?” 

Garrin blushed, set the magic tome down and roughly grabbed his little book, tossing it into his satchel. “I’m trying to expand my vocabulary.” He crossed his arms and turned his gaze away from Reilyn. 

A sudden bang on the tavern door echoed through Reaper’s Paradise. Everyone turned to face the sound and Linda stood, walking over to open the door and let the knocker inside. Tomos was on the other side, he walked past Linda into the establishment and gave her a polite nod. He was holding an unfolded letter in his hands, after walking over to a table he set it down near the middle. Reilyn, Garrin, Catrin, Nia, Daffyd, Emyr and Jac stood from their chairs and surrounded the large table Tomos was at the head of. Linda and Rena retreated behind the bar counter to give the group some privacy.