V

Greyson didn't feel very comfortable here. The buildings here had very little or no integrity left. The streets were littered with beggars and waste, solid ground was close to non-existent and the musk of an unhygienic populous was quite overpowering. Calef lived here? It was appalling, to say the least.

Calef lead Tarrok, one of the many Fallheart equines, down a beaten path that snaked in the space between two heavily dilapidated shops. Not one of these places were functional. Greyson concluded this place existed only to keep the alms beggars out of the main city. It was cruel, but Greyson knew better than to publicly criticise his father, even if he may never truly know that it was his son spreading these ideas to the people.

Greyson never once spoke a word during the ride. He just told Calef to hold on to him firmly and that was it. Calef did as was instructed and was also silent. Once Calef gave the signal that they had arrived at their destination, Greyson halted Tarrok and allowed Calef to dismount and retrieve the satchel he'd been hauling about, probably to store and transport the stolen goods.

"You know that theivery may just get you killed some day," Greyson stated absently.

"Better to be put to death for theiving than to starve."

Greyson pondered these words a moment and chose his next words carefully, realizing he took on the tone and attitude of his mother. He couldn't help but see a bit of himself in Calef.

"Is that why you take from the town? To tend to your basic needs?"

"How else am I supposed to help feed my family? My parents slave away at the mines miles away, hardly ever here and hardly ever paid their due wages. No one will do a god-damned thing because they're to pompous and rich or too poor and frightened of angering the Duke and Dutchess."

"I know what you mean," Greyson sighed. "They can be a great pain in the ass most of the time."

What did he just say? Did he just... Speak of his parents in front of this commoner in the air of the general public? What the hell is going on with me? Why am I so laid back about this all of a sudden?

Greyson placed his hand on Calef's shoulder, and the tingling sensation rippled through his body once again. When Calef touched him back to offer support, the sensation exploded with a ferocity he'd never known. The scent of milk and honey filled Greyson's nostrils, and his legs began to feel weak. When Greyson tried to take a step, he faltered and would have fallen had Calef not reached out and caught him. The sensation exploded yet again and the sweet scent became stronger.

"Woah," Calef said. "Are you doing alright? Did one of those merchants get you or something?"

"N-no, Calef. I... I don't know what's going on. I don't feel sick or anything, but it wouldn't hurt to get myself checked out soon by the doctor."

"You can afford such a thing? If you're not direly ill, wouldn't you just be wasting money?" Calef was clearly flabbergasted at such a notion. Greyson appeared so... ordinarily fortunate. Calef knew that the healer in town loved to milk people dry if possible, which was most if not all the time.

"I'll get by. Better to waste the money now than to pay a much heftier price tomorrow." Greyson shakily chuckled.

How could Greyson say such a thing? Coin was everything in this world. The more you had, the more likely you were to survive. If you had none... Well... In a world of survival of the fittest, if you couldn't adapt, you perished. Hell, even the fittest sometimes couldn't survive in these conditions. "Have you no concept of money? You'll be bled out by the healer, she's not the most charitable of people."

"I know." Greyson now strained to speak, and was having a little trouble keeping his breath. Something was wrong, and Calef needed to act quickly.

Scooping Greyson up, he carried him down the path that lead to the Mastavius homestead and pulled Tarrok along. Greyson have no resistance, as he had now fallen into unconsciousness. Once at the porch, he left the horse and hurried inside. Calef laid Greyson on the makeshift bed, and tended to the embers of his fire before moving to check over Greyson. Sweat poured from every square inch of his body, quickly soaking him. Whatever that was plaguing him was taking hold fast.

Calef knew there was only one way left to handle this.

Despite having never steered a horse before, Calef quickly got the hang of it and became quite adept. Calef ran the horse as quickly as he could. He had no idea how much time was left, but he didn't dwell on it. He only thought about going as fast as he could.

Calef made it to the healer's home in record time. He quickly tied the horse to a pole as best he could, then ran to knock on the door.

A lady of average size, build and aesthetic appeal, answered Calef's frantic knocking. Immediately, her face becomes downcast.

"What do you want? You have quite the nerve, showing up here." Gertrude sneered.

"I know I haven't been the most upstanding person you ever met, but please help me out. I have someone in my home who's suffering and I don't have any idea how to help him. If you can read a person's energy like you say you can, you'll know for sure that I am telling you nothing but the truth."

The healer paused a moment, taken aback by Calef's behaviour. this was something that was out of character for him. It must have been serious. Still, could she trust him? She miscalculated once, and paid dearly for it. There was only one true way of finding out. "Bring me to him."

Gertrude the healer had a way of knowing what was wrong by sensing the life energy within the material body. She tried to explain it to Calef, but the young man simply hadn't the capacity to truly grasp what she was talking about.

"All you need to know is that how you act around, think of, and treat him directly has an effect on his health. Reject him too badly, and you may just end up killing him. The best thing to do is to be as close to him as you can and feed his soul positive energy when you're around. This will keep him from keening over and passing out."

"How do I do that?"

"Take the time to get to know him. The rest will develop naturally. It'll be rough at first, but as time goes on, you'll find that it gets easier and easier. I sense something heavily important about the two of you. You might be forced to stick together anyway, so you should get used to each other now."

"Where the hell is this coming from?"

"My intuition. Nothing more."

"That's hardly anything to go off of."

"Have I intentionally lead anyone astray?"

"You plunder their coin in the name of haphazard relief, at best. How is that not leading people astray?"

"I only do as I can. Sometimes, my skills are not enough. That is reality. Whether or not you accept the facts of this world really isn't of my concern. As for payment, I will require three hundred."

"You've got to be kidding! There's absolutely no way we'll ever be able to pay that back!"

"You've got until the new moon cycle in a week. If you haven't the entirety of the money paid, whatever is owed will be put under contract. You will be forced to work for the repayment of your debt."

Calef said nothing. This was undoubtedly her way of getting back at him for his misdeeds in their prior interactions.

"And one more condition. The coin you use has to be rightfully yours to use as debt alleviation. I want no part in handing stolen money or goods around."

"Understood." Calef assented, defeated. He was going to lose his freedom. There was nothing that could be done about it.