A Mysterious Man
Jason barely felt the gut punch of walking through the barrier for the third time. Even his calf wound didn't slow him as much. He had no idea what kind of person would be riding out here, but whoever they were, they certainly wouldn't react well if they saw Vanya.
He found her and Nora still lying exactly as they had been. Hopefully turning off the mine would be enough to bring them back to normal. He scooped up the box and reached for the center lever, but faltered.
What had the sparrow said? The dial on the right could adjust the area of effect? He reached for that instead, having to use his pinky because of how small the box was. As soon as he touched it, he felt a rush of sensation.
He could sense the barrier! That made things easier. He spun it to the left and felt the edge of the barrier slowly retract towards him. Now if he could just get the size right…He stopped when the barrier reached him.
He could still feel the extra mana, courtesy of the sparrow not stealing from him. Jason was so amazed at his success that he nearly forgot why he was in such a hurry. He passed over Nora who wouldn't cause any concerns, instead focusing on Vanya.
He couldn't just make an illusion, he needed to shapeshift her just in case. Hopefully the amount of mana he had left would be enough. What could he transform her into? He didn't have time so he imagined her transforming into…
He couldn't help choking up at seeing Mina's form lying where Vanya had been. It already felt like it had been a lifetime since he had seen her. She…
"Is anyone there?" called out an unfamiliar voice.
Jason tore his eyes away, transforming himself into the mason from the town. Hopefully, the rider would just pass them by. He didn't want to deal with this, and it could prove deadly for whoever this man was if Vanya woke up while he was still here.
"Hello, is anyone there?"
The guy was persistent if nothing else. This didn't seem like the kind of area where any sane traveler would poke his head into someone else's business, but that wasn't stopping him. Jason heard the sound of him dismounting, and braced himself for what might come. He wouldn't have to fight this guy would he?
No, there was no way. He had shifted Vanya so there would be no need for this traveler to…How was he supposed to explain the fact that both of them were unconscious?
The man had stepped into the trees, and Jason could see no other options. "I'm over here," he called, emulating the mason's voice. It was so much easier, even with this relatively small amount of mana. "Please don't hurt us." The traveler stepped out, giving Jason his first good look at him.
He was tall and ruggedly handsome with several days of stubble over a face that looked like it was begging to be shaved. His clothing was ragged, though it covered him completely and seemed baggier than it should be. Was he hiding something underneath? He gave off an undeniably formal air despite his appearance.
"No need to be alarmed. I thought I saw someone over here and felt it was my duty to make sure that everything was fine." His voice made it seem like whether or not things here were fine had yet to be determined.
"It's just sir," Jason added, hoping that was the right word. "My wife and daughter seem to have fallen sick."
"Out here?" the man asked skeptically. "There aren't many people that would go off the road out here." He stepped forward, keeping Jason within his sights, and noticed the woman and girl lying on the ground.
"You're a long way out from Tamra, I assume you're headed there and not away" he said with a chuckle.
Jason grabbed onto the word hoping it would get him out of this a little easier. He had heard it was better to go along with whatever people assumed. "Yes that's right," he said, forcing a small laugh. "How did you know?"
He looked at Jason, cocking his head. "I've only been once myself, but I doubt even most of the farmers out here would fail to recognize someone from Tamra."
He seemed to take Jason's hesitance as trepidation rather than the confusion it was. "I'm sorry, let me introduce myself. My name is Bjorn, and I come from Selevar. I don't mean to pry," he said gently. "Do you have any idea what happened to them?" he asked, pointing at Vanya and Nora.
Jason shook his head, not wanting to bury himself any deeper by making something else up.
Bjorn looked up at Jason waiting for his assent before he reached down and touched Nora's forehead. He pulled back almost immediately, and Jason tensed, preparing himself for what he hoped wouldn't escalate any farther.
He couldn't have sensed Jason's magic could he? He had only shifted Vanya so there would be nothing to feel from Nora would there?
"I thought that all the mana mines had been recovered," he said. He looked shaken, but not particularly worried. "My arrival is far more fortuitous than I had imagined. Do you know anything about mana mines?" he asked, crouching down next to Nora.
"They suck people's mana away, right?" Jason said, glad that something the sparrow had said was useful. "I don't really know much else," he said truthfully. "Are they going to be ok?"
"They'll be just fine," Bjorn assured him. "It's just lucky that I was here. I and everyone else in the kingdom was confident that all the mines had been successfully recovered, but it seems that wasn't true." He stood up and began pacing through the area.
"Typically anyone affected by a mana mine would recover quickly once the effect went away, which this one obviously has. However, for some reason it is continuing to force their mana out before they can recover it despite having been deactivated. I'd heard that it is theoretically possible, but it's so rare for us to fail to recover a mine like this."
Jason stood awkwardly, as Bjorn wove through the area. He was obviously looking for the mine that was now in Jason's pocket. He wouldn't be able to tell that Jason had it would he?
"I thought it was impossible for a mine to deactivate on its own. Did you happen to come across some sort of metal contraption? It would have been rather small. All the mines look different so I can't give you much more than that, but it would be obvious if you found it."
The man was just mumbling to himself at this point. At least he didn't seem to have any idea that Jason held what he was looking for. "Will you be able to help them," Jason asked. He didn't have to feign worry. He had assumed that everything would go back to normal if he got them away from the device.
"Yes, they aren't in any danger anymore," Bjorn said, still searching. "It would just be best if I could find the mine itself before I heal them. We wouldn't want it switching back on while I work," he chuckled. "It wouldn't be the end of the world, but it would certainly slow me down and then I'd have to heal all three of you."
Jason didn't know how to answer that, so he watched in silence and let the man continue his vain effort.
It wasn't until he had conducted a considerable search that he finally returned to Jason. "It's disturbing that I can't find the mine. Can you describe in as much detail as possible the chain of events and general timeframe?"
Jason didn't have the confidence to stray too far from the truth given the situation. He told Bjorn that he had been upriver refilling their water. His wife and daughter had wandered away from him a short distance and had disappeared. He tried calling for them, but there had been no answer and he had eventually found them lying here.
"And how long ago was all of this?"
"I'm not sure of the exact time, but no more than an hour," he said truthfully.
"And no sign of a guardian?"
Jason mentally floundered. He knew about the guardian?! Maybe he should have mentioned it? But no, there would have been no way to explain his escape without revealing too much. He decided to feign ignorance.
"Guardian?"
"You would know if you had seen it," Bjorn continued unperturbed. "Actually, you'd be dead more than likely, so it's better you didn't. I wonder…"
Bjorn gave a look of concentration and reached out into thin air. The small silver orb appeared in his hand.
"How did you do that?" Jason asked, incredulous at the ease with which he had found it.
"You just need to know what you're looking for," he said with a laugh, avoiding the question. "Let's just hope you never have the misfortune of figuring out what it is."
Jason wanted to push more, but he also didn't want to look too interested. Bjorn would be expecting him to be worried about his family. "Will you be able to help them now?"
"Don't worry, they will be just fine, I'll do it now." He reached towards Nora and put his hands above her. "It isn't anything particularly difficult," he said conversationally. "It's just that you would need someone who can use energy magic, and those can be hard to come by all the way out here." He gave another lighthearted laugh.
He's trying to put me at ease, Jason realized. If Jason's story were true, then he would be worried out of his mind at his family collapsing out of nowhere for no visible reason. Even knowing what he did, Jason couldn't deny that the man's words were comforting. He obviously had experience dealing with situations like this. Who was this man?
Before he could ask, Jason heard Nora take in a deep breath and saw her open her eyes.