Darkness and Hellfire

Chapter 31 Just Isaac Is Fine…

Isaac and Lenna had to stop to rest many more times than Lenna would have had to had she been by herself. Isaac was still recovering and they had to juggle his recovery with how much water they had. They only had enough water for five days if they were careful with it. Isaac didn’t have the luxury of being careful with his. His body had a lot of blood to remake after all.

At one of their earlier rests Lenna took Isaac’s backpack and moved all the water and his rope onto hers. She made sure his water was easy to get to without her having to take off the pack so Isaac could drink while they hiked easily. The extra weight was not helping Isaac go any farther before he needed to catch his breath.

When she had done this Isaac could only nod in thanks as he gulped air from just a short climb. Lenna had the map and was making sure they stayed on the right path. There were many offshoots and side tunnels but the one that they were going through was very well traveled.

At a later rest stop Isaac had stopped to relieve himself and grumbled about not having anything to wipe with. Lenna threw him a white, gold embroidered, thick, handkerchief. “How much does this cost? I’m not gonna wipe with this.” Isaac responded while examining it.

“It’s self-cleaning. That’s what it’s for.” Lenna responded off handedly.

Isaac stared at it in shock. “Wait what?! They make cloth that cleans itself?! Wait. Why isn’t your shirt self-cleaning?”

“It’s not cost effective. It’s cheaper to have slaves wash clothes.” Lenna answered.

“Huh. Learn something new everyday.” He said and walked around the corner. “Well, I guess everything is new to me huh.”

A few hours into their trek they stopped to sleep in a small alcove. Lenna leaned against the wall, making sure to give Isaac enough space to lay down, and kept her eyes scanning both ways down the tunnel. “Wake me when it’s my turn.” Isaac told her as he buried himself under his blanket and cloak.

“No need.” Was Lenna’s short reply.

Isaac sat up and squinted at her. “What do you mean? You need to sleep at some point.”

“Elves don’t need sleep.” She replied. It was technically the truth. Elves didn’t need to sleep as long as they spent enough time resting and in meditation. This was how Lenna had survived her solo adventure without being eaten in her sleep. Lenna however had only allowed herself a few hours of meditation at a time, hence her exhaustion when they first met.

“What? Aria sleeps all the time.” Isaac shot back. He wasn’t convinced Lenna wasn’t trying to pull his leg or something.

“Sleep is better for recovery. Meditation and rest is enough otherwise.” Lenna continued without looking back at Isaac.

“So, like you can just stay awake forever?” Isaac asked doubtfully.

“If I’m careful.” She replied.

Isaac narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re not just saying that so you sound cooler or something are you?” Isaac had to ask this question because he could totally see himself doing something like that.

Lenna finally turned around and met his eyes. She tilted her head in thought. “Why? What good would that do?” She simply couldn’t understand the worth of such a course of action.

“Uh… never mind… I’m going to sleep.” Isaac disengaged and laid back down. Isaac was happy that he finally had someone to travel with but his companion was strange. He felt almost like her whole personality was that she was a knight but whenever he felt that way he would catch a glimpse of something else hidden under it.

Lenna was confused. Nothing Isaac did or said ever made sense. She wasn’t an adolescent boy trying to sound stronger than he was. She was a paladin. A warrior of conviction and might. She didn’t have to try to brag about being stronger than she was. She knew that she was in the top ten percent of strongest mortals in the Innerworld. She was trained, bred, to be a warrior. Was he doubting her strength?

She shook her head and closed her eyes. She focused on her hearing as she relaxed and fell into a deep meditation. ‘Am I traveling with a child?’ Lenna’s own thoughts pulled her out of her meditation. ‘Is the reason he asked that because it was something he would do?’ She blinked in shock at the potential realization. ‘Lua help me.’

—

Isaac awoke to metal on stone. Then boot steps. Then the drawing of a sword. And finally a squeal of agony from some unholy creature of nightmares. He sat up quickly and looked around. Lenna was nowhere to be seen. He crawled a few feet to the end of the tiny alcove and peered out.

What Isaac saw was the silhouette of a set of full-plate and at its feet a spider the size of him. Lenna turned around to head back to her post and Isaac saw her flaming sword for a moment before the flames died out. His eyes adjusted to the darkness and he looked at her, taking her in. Then his eyes went to her sword and then the spider. He was still a little groggy.

“You can sleep for a bit longer. Unless you want to continue now?” Lenna asked.

Isaac rubbed his eyes and yawned. “Let’s continue for a bit. Maybe have a shorter day today?”

“Alright.” Lenna acknowledged and moved to grab her self-cleaning rag. Isaac slowly packed up his bedroll and blanket while Lenna cleaned her sword and grabbed some rations for them to have for breakfast.

“How long does that thing take to be clean again?” Isaac asked her.

She finished wiping down her blade and stowed the cloth. “It depends. Blood? An hour. Dust? Twenty minutes.” She replied.

“That’s so convenient. Anything else like that?” Isaac asked hopefully.

Lenna nodded and handed Isaac some food after he stowed his bedroll and blanket. “A tooth brush. And something else.” She told him and then removed her faceplate so she could start eating.

“A toothbrush?! Was there one at the general store and I missed it?” Isaac said crestfallen.

“No. There were no magic items in that store.” She assured him. “Can you pull two hundred gold out of thin air? So you can buy one at Safeharbor. That place should be big enough to find one.”

Isaac opened his Inventory and looked at his rapidly dwindling funds. Then he looked down at the ground. “No.” He said crestfallen. “Unless I can buy one for…” He counted up his coins and converted it all to gold in his head. “ … forty eight gold and ten coppers”

Lenna opened the pocket she kept her coin in and counted it up. “I have a platinum piece and seven silvers. I owe you almost all of it for the rations and my part of the room.”

“I’m not counting. If you are going to be protecting me then I need you fed, rested, and healthy.” Isaac replied not leaving anything up for debate. “I can’t even pay you. If anything I owe you money.”

“No. I owe you two life debts. You owe me nothing.” Lenna retorted firmly. Isaac felt like she could have made the chimera turn around and leave if she told it to with as much unrelenting will as was in what she had just said.

“Well… Anyway, I’m not counting.” Isaac responded. The two finished breakfast and then continued their journey.

—

Lenna and Isaac were walking side by side down another tunnel when Isaac had a thought. “How about I lead? My steps are silent and I can just disappear if there is anything dangerous ahead. Also I might be able to get the drop on some of the weaker creatures.” He said to her.

“No. How can I protect you if you are that far from me?” She countered.

Isaac put up a finger. “Firstly. My patented ‘disappear and run away’ method of dealing with my problems hasn’t let me down yet.” He raised a second finger. “Secondly. The most dangerous monster I have ever faced came at us from behind so you should stay in the back to fight whatever sneaks up on us.” He raised a third finger. “Thirdly. I’m not afraid of what I can sneak up on but what can sneak up on me so putting you between me and whatever that is just sounds like a good idea.” He raised a fourth finger. Then he took a deep breath and cocked his head. “Okay I don’t have a fourth reason.” He admitted after a few silent seconds.

Lenna had just been staring at him while they walked. “You said you didn’t remember anything? Who taught you combat tactics? Most children or scholars would want me in the front, to protect them from whatever we’d stumble across. You want to use me in the most effective manner, not the one that feels the safest. Who are you, Lord Wexler?”

Isaac stopped walking and just stared off into space for a moment. “Who am I?” He whispered to himself. She was right. What he had said made sense but it didn’t feel as safe as hiding behind her. He was best used as a scout with his great stealth and the ability to slip away from almost any engagement. But how did he know this? Who was he that something like this was ingrained into him like speaking or knowing what a spoon was?

Lenna put her hand on his shoulder after he hadn’t moved for fifteen seconds. He barely blinked. “Lord Wexler?” She asked, concerned.

He was startled and shook his head while taking a deep breath. “Uh… Just Isaac is fine… I… I don’t know who I am. No, who I was. After I was reincarnated I became who I am now. I remember changing some of my features and I gained this magic.” He swirled shadows around his fingers. “Here I am Lord Isaac Wexler. The Dark Mage of the Innerworld.” He nodded to himself. “That’s what matters.”

Lenna removed her hand from his shoulder and just listened. She was gaining insight into the man being the childishness, jokes, and unsubtle side glances. Under the mask he was a man lost in a world he barely understood who had spent half of his waking moments either fighting for his life or recovering from one such fight. Even if he did enjoy the thrill of mortal combat he still needed to acclimate to this new world.

Isaac cleared his throat and hardened his resolve. “Whatever happened before I died doesn’t matter. Only what I decide to do with this second chance matters now.” He said more to himself than to Lenna.

“Walk with me until you’ve cleared your head. Then, Isaac, I will let you lead by thirty feet, no farther. You are still my charge, even if you are a scout.” Lenna made clear that although he was her boss, it was her job to keep him alive, and that meant that her word was final when it came to his safety.