For a second, Leah froze. She blinked in surprise - almost imperceptibly, but I noticed. That expression, normally so serene and calculated, wavered for a fraction of a second. Then her lips curved into a brief smile, and she let out a low laugh. It was real. No sarcasm, no pose. A short, light... sincere sound.
"You're strange," she said, her laughter still stuck in her throat, her eyes watching me as if I were some rare types of creatures that she didn't know whether to study or avoid.
"And you... you're terrifying," I retorted, without thinking too much, but not as an insult. It was almost a compliment. And she took it that way.
Silence settled between us for a moment. But it was comfortable. And then, at the same time, as if it were rehearsed - which it wasn't - we said:
"Thank you"
Before I could say anything, she interrupted me. But what she said - or tried to say - didn't come out of her mouth, as people usually do. Instead, her words came straight into my mind, telepathically.
"(Just for the record, you're a swordsman. Of course you'd be stronger than me in some ways)" Her voice echoed straight into my mind - soft, firm, impossible to ignore. "(Now that I've shown you mine, can you show me yours?)"
For a moment, it felt like we were doing something intimate. I sighed. I held out my hand to her, like someone handing over a bear's paw.
"Here, take it. And just to be clear... if you decide to get into my head, you should know that you won't find any more cockroaches there. They were devoured a long time ago - by bigger things. Much bigger. And infinitely more dangerous. Some of them are still around, by the way. If I were you, I'd think twice before poking the sleeping thing."
She gave a slight smile, her attentive eyes roaming over my palm with an almost intimate curiosity. Taking advantage of her attention, which was fully focused on my hand, I took the opportunity to ask the question that had been on my mind:
"How long did I lie there?"
"One night," she replied. "You have interesting skills. There were no such items in the catalog."
(Of course there weren't. I created these 'tricks' myself. The magic of the self-taught: everything done on the fly, in practice... and, of course, out of necessity. Nothing fancy, nothing pretty, just efficient) I thought, with that discreet pride that always accompanied me.
She gave me one of those strange looks - silent, full of meaning, the kind that says more than any well-rehearsed sentence. Her eyes... one yellow, the other green. A hypnotic contrast, almost uncomfortable, so intense. And that smell - fresh, kind of sweet.
And she blushes so easily... (So cute it makes me want to tease her more) I thought, noticing the slight blush that rose to her cheeks - a small detail, but one that somehow took me by surprise.
After these thoughts disappeared from my head, I realized that she had decided to change the direction of the conversation - not least because the first thing she asked me was my name. And, honestly, I swore I'd already said it.
"By the way... what's your name?" she asked, snapping me out of my reverie.
(...Wait, I didn't introduce myself?)
That says a lot about me. I probably only think of myself. Not exactly something to be proud of.
I didn't react. I hadn't expected that question. It was strange, because I'm usually the one who asks questions, who tries to understand others... I'd never stopped to think that someone might really want to know about me. Maybe I spend too much time stuck in my own head, always apart, and that's not exactly something to be proud of.
I took a deep breath, trying to clear the lump in my throat, and only then was I able to answer.
"Remy" I replied, letting out a slow breath, feeling my shoulders finally relax after all the tension I hadn't even realized I'd been carrying since she'd shown up. It's strange how the mere presence of someone can move me, even when the conversation has barely begun.
As soon as I answered her question, I decided not to waste any time and sent mine straight away, leaving no room for uncomfortable silence:
"And you're... Leah, right?"
She nodded, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
"When's the next expedition to the dungeons?" I asked, already thinking about what awaited me.
The question slipped out before I could think too much, a mixture of need and hope that I couldn't disguise.
"In three days' time," he replied firmly. "We're going to the front line."
Three days? Good. Not much time to prepare, but enough time to disappear without arousing too much suspicion.
"Good to know. Then it's time for me to get out of here."
She looked at me with a puzzled expression. I smiled back.
"Oh, you didn't hear that, okay?"
She held my gaze for a few seconds. Then she just shrugged.
She turned and walked away.
I felt... strange. Offended, perhaps? Did I say something wrong? Possibly. It happens quite often. Normally, I don't mind. But... for some reason, this time it did matter a little.
Maybe I sounded rude. Maybe I was. But... deep down, wouldn't it be better this way?
Distance. It always ends up being safer for others.
Me and my philosophy of life tend to cause more problems than any lasting benefit.
I sighed, sank into the pillow and gave a slight mental command:
(Control, wake me up at two in the morning)
I felt my body's subtle response accepting the command. One of the few things that still obeys me without asking questions.
I closed my eyes and let the darkness lull me to sleep. Sleep came quickly, as if the world was silent for the first time in a long time.
***
I carefully got out of bed and opened the window. The cool night air welcomed me like an old friend, and I took a deep breath with pleasure. The moon hung high above the tower as if it were watching it. Its shadows cast menacing silhouettes across the castle courtyard.
Down below, a patrol was making its rounds. The dry sound of armored boots echoed on the cobblestones, in an almost hypnotic rhythm.
I studied the routes, analyzed the weak points. I found ways to escape the siege of these walls.
The main gates are locked. Break them down? A bad idea - the alarm would wake even the dead.
The walls are about twenty meters high. Jump over? Only if I were a parkour deity.
To open the gate, you have to activate a runic formula... which I have no idea how to use.
But... the tower built on the wall has windows with openings. Perfect.
Like protrusions in stone. You can climb up there. Up one side, down the other.
And then: freedom.
I felt a smile form without me realizing it. Escape. At last.
I inhaled the dark mana and spread it over my body. Like last time, my features changed subtly. That state of saturation made me unrecognizable - Leah didn't even know who I was until I spoke to her.
My vision became surprisingly clear, but the colors disappeared, and across the palace grounds, a delicate dome appeared, as if woven from a web of light. What on earth was that? A signal spell, perhaps?
I noticed that there were holes in this web, and one of them was exactly on the path I was planning to leave on. In this state, magic revealed itself - interesting, no?
I jumped out of the hospital's third floor window, feeling the cold night air hit my face as I fell. I approached the wall with quick, precise steps, making two firm jumps until I reached the base of the tower. I began to climb the arrows, those small openings in the wall made for defense, feeling every irregularity of the stone under my hands and feet.
The darkness enveloped me like a dense cloak and, strangely, the space around me seemed to dissolve, becoming both vague and malleable, as if reality were flexible - almost fluid.
I couldn't clearly see the ledge I was supposed to stand on, the dim light wasn't enough to reveal any details. But, guided by a mixture of instinct and hope, I reached out in the dark and, to my surprise, managed to get a firm grip. It almost felt like a miracle - as if the night was conspiring in my favor.
After reaching the top, I sat down to rest, steadying my hands on the tower so as not to lose my balance. From that point, the night view of the immense medieval city opened up before me, dazzling and silent under the glow of the moon.
I counted more than a hundred towers scattered across the horizon - the abodes of the continent's most powerful wizards. Some peaks were adorned with huge crystals that glittered softly, wrapped in delicate webs of spells that seemed to pulse with an ancient and mysterious energy.
The sight left me dry-mouthed, fascinated and anxious about what was yet to come.
I forced myself to look away from the glittering crystals that adorned the tower and began to carefully descend towards the city. But when my eyes returned to the tower, frustration hit me: there were no gaps on that side - no openings, no passages that I could use.
I stood there for a moment, trying to understand. Why on earth would they have built loopholes facing only the palace, as if protecting only that side, and not the outside? It made little sense. It was as if they had planned the defense incompletely, or perhaps with some intention that I still didn't understand.
I took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the situation. I had no choice. I would have to improvise - and quickly.
After turning off the pain, I used "body control" to split some ribs into their components and grow four bone pins - two in my palms and two in my heels. It took almost two minutes; even with "control", healing bones isn't quick.
I inhaled more mana, concentrating it in my hands. With a powerful blow, I drove one of the pins into the wall. After recovering more energy, I repeated the movement with my other hand. Then I did the same with my feet. I descended with the lightness and care of a poison dart frog - those colorful and dangerous little amphibians that live in the tropics came to mind.
Finally on the ground, I sat down next to the wall and let the tension escape from my body. In a few minutes, everything was back to normal.
(I need to eat something) was the first thought I had, now free of any obligation.