Young Writers Society

Kazimor nodded with a grin, and found himself spacing out again for a moment as he, again, started to think about the other things Derik had said about his magic. He couldn’t really remember much, aside from the fact that Derik was pretending to not have magic for the guards, and that he’d ended up in the cell because he was looking for the guy who took Marcus.

Oh.

That clicked.

With his eyes widened in sudden urgency, he turned to Derik.

“The bald bastard!” he said. “Where is he? Did we get ‘im?”

"No." Derik sighed and shook his head. "Getting arrested fucked us both. I was so close to getting him this time. But we are gonna get him. You and I. We just gotta... figure out how to get what we need. It's not going to be a short haul. We'll need food, supplies, horses, weapons..."

Kazimir’s eyes drifted towards the distant city, which he could see peeks of down the hill, over the tops of trees.

“Yeah,” Kazimir muttered. “And they took all my shit, too...”

"It was really shitty, honestly," Derik commented. "I wasn't lying when I said I didn't break any laws. I was just looking for the bastard and the guards thought I was peeping and arrested me for... harassment I guess, I don't even know. And you said yours was... a grudge?"

Kazimir waved his hand dismissively.

“Meh,” was his answer. “Long story. I’m more interested in getting on the road as soon as possible. Think we can risk running back in? I don’t think I’ll be getting my armor back, or my weapons, but I have some back at home. Home is just... a few days away, though. Which means we might lose Marcus entirely. He could still be in Foxville for all we know. Or, if baldy was looking for a quick getaway, he would’ve gone through the west district and come around and up through the north gate, I think. If he’s looking to sell Marcus, he might find connections up there. As fucked as that is.”

Derik cringed sympathetically. "What's the nearest town that direction that's not Foxville?"

Kazimir hummed.

“Gartan,” Kazimir said. “That’s the nearest human town. But there’s a harpy settlement that’s closer. Lith... Lib... L-something. I forget.”

Derik hesitated. That one was on him. He didn't know this realm anywhere near well enough to know where things were -- or how long they'd have to travel to get there -- without his map. "How far?"

“We could make it to the harpy folks before sundown if we booked it now on foot,” Kazimir said. “But harpy folks don’t seem to like me much. I mean, they like mages more than regular humans. So maybe they’d like you. But I don’t know. They don’t seem to like me for some reason. So uh, maybe you can do the talking.”

Normally, Kazimir would fake confidence on this. But he was more concerned about getting to Marcus as soon as possible, so if that meant admitting he needed some help with social skills, so be it.

Derik narrowed his eyes slightly. That sounded like there was some backstory there, and he wanted to ask about it to be sure he wasn't about to get himself tossed in prison again for walking into a town with Kazimir. But they didn't have many options. Derik wanted to keep going before the scent got too cold. "Let's go, then."

“Oh!” Kazimir said. “Yeah, yeah, okay. Follow me.”

He started running.

So that's what he meant by book it. Fine. Derik sighed then sprinted after him.

Kazimir felt his body protest. Mostly his head, which had what felt like it has a pretty sizeable bump on the back of it now, and his leg. The needle had gone pretty damn deep, and though it was a small puncture wound as far as the entrance size, he knew it’d pierced through a lot.

Well, he could feel as much. But he’d been through much worse, so he could tough this one out.

He glanced over to Derik, who seemed a little tired still. He said he couldn’t use his powers if he was tired.

He slowed his pace just a little to better match Derik’s.

“Hey,” he said. “Are you still worn out from the rock and prison thing?”

“It’s. Heh.” Derik was *exhausted*, there was no denying that. He was trying though. And he didn’t want Kaz to think he was weak. “I had to Transport us to get us away from the guards. And, yeah, that takes a ton of energy. So I’m still drained from it. But it’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

Kazimir slowed abruptly to a stop.

“Waitwaitwait wait wait,” he said. “Hold up. You transported us away from the guards? Holy, shit, man. Are you okay? That sounds like a lot. It’s a lot, right? I don’t know how your power works but that sounds like a lot.”