Meroan Sea

Every piece of magic had its price. This was something that he had been taught constantly since he began to study magic. Normally, the price consisted of mana and the feeling of physical exhaustion if pressed, but Magi's Bane was different. It overwhelmed your body with mana and exacted a toll in the form of lifeforce and the body's inevitable reaction to a foreign substance.

Thus, he found himself emptying his stomach over the edge of the Flying Dwarf. His group had managed to find a captain that didn't ask questions in the middle of the night. The dwarf seemed as trustworthy a patron as they were going to get. Still, he worried. In their tired and weakened state, the dwarf could easily turn them over and for a generous reward too. Furthermore, Danaira had refused to join them, going her own way. That had hurt more than he was willing to admit. He had thought there was camaraderie between them and her as fellow escapees from the games, but he had been wrong.

"By the Creator, I feel as if my insides will be the death of me," he groaned.

"Are you alright Ant?" Lir offered a towel acquired from one of the crew.

The pair managed to escape with their lives. Lir could not ascertain the scent of Ada Capet, yet such a powerful spellsword's emanations befouled the air from afar. The Empire still pursued them, but perhaps travel across the sea could cover their trails. Lir hoped that Syakh could be safe enough for them to recuperate, regroup, and for her to explain the full details regarding her escape from the Capital to Antius.

Now, her focus lay in Antius' recovery. The Magi's Bane continued to purge his insides, and she could only imagine the pain that engulfed his insides. She read that after the physical pains came the visions that distorted the world around them and played tricks on one's mind like the dark arts.

The great mage Rillinor Oadren created Magi's Bane out of random chance, or so legend had it. With the aid of an alchemist whose skill laid in elixirs and whose name disappeared from records, the two of them crafted a potent brew that amplified the inert power of a mage.

Nature exacted its toll for such power by taxing the individual. She could see him sweat without end as he became both delirious and lucid.

"Oh, I'm fine. The Magi's Bane is just taking its price. Nothing to worry about," Antius told Lir with a slight grin. He groaned as he felt his stomach empty itself once more. He sighed as he accepted the towel, wiping the sweat from his face.

"I'm starting to see them, you know. The phantoms. Every man and woman I have killed in these short years," he told her. He closed his eyes, willing himself not to pay attention to the dwarf with the scorched face or the dark-skinned warrior driven through his chest. He opened them again and they vanished. It was going to be a long night, he decided. Still, he knew that he had to pay the price for the use of the elixir and he was not going to complain when he had to pay that price.

"Just don't let the others see me when it gets bad. I don't trust them enough to let them see screaming my head off. Not like I do you," he told her. He tried not to put more weight on the side of the ship. Falling off the side of the ship was the last thing he needed.

"Still, we made it. I was glad to leave that place at last," he told her, trying to grin again.

Despite his lightheartedness, Lir only showed concern. Weeks of running had made her slow to joke and quick to look behind herself twice.

Of the allies Antius had made at the colosseum, only the one named Caspian chose to continue with them. The bulky Sivyne gladiator woman, Ya'weh, and her companion, the girl named Zoni, parted ways with them. Despite Lir's suggestion that they continue along to a place where the Empire had no jurisdiction and power, the two gladiators refused. As much as they would have preferred to live out the rest of their lives in a solitary existence, they felt they had much more to do.

Peace was not something they could ever accustom themselves to they said.

"Come Antius, you must rest."

She took one of his arms over her shoulder and helped him to their cabin.

28th Breh

The four-masted ship, Galibrensis, rolled along the waves of the Meroan Sea, which crashed and unfolded, a simple song. It had left Opynonias weeks ago and, at least in three days’ time, should make for the port of Khi’ir soon.

It had been years since Iyoka set eyes upon her homeland of Syakh. The Taokhari mercenary knew she would not have time to take in the sights or visit relatives or friends. She had her mission.

Bring back the boy.

She knew he was no longer a boy, but a grown man. They stood apart by only six years. Dhaxi used to have them spar each other. He would always stammer. When he absolved his mind of reluctance toward fighting a girl, she would always win. Iyoka remembered how he possessed a childish infatuation for her when they were younger. Dhaxi whipped any such thoughts out of his mind and dispelled the notion from ever budding. Since then, she realized that he avoided her for his own sake.

Since then, the two of them almost never spoke so as not to invite suspicion from Dhaxi. Nothing but cold acquaintance came between them. As they grew, they separated further until they became people entirely different and unknown to each other.

Since the day he acquired, or rather, discovered his abilities with flow, Dhaxi invested more of his time and efforts into training the boy. A push in one direction gave way to a pull from another, neglection of her and the other people. Iyoka would have done the same herself if only to make herself a few ducats richer.

Now, she was three ducats poorer than when she first boarded the ship. No matter, bringing him back would grant her a few crowns, especially for the work that lay ahead of her.

She would have to move fast. She stepped aboard only a few days after Huo got aboard his ship. If the Flying Dwarf still sat in port in Khi’ir, then she could ask the captain where the boy went. That was her first lead. Her second lead would be to comb the city, where would a runaway slave go in Syakh? She wondered. She felt curious, it seemed out of person for Huo to simply up and leave.

Yet, the champion bout gave way to security gaps which let him walk out freely and make for his freedom. Iyoka felt envious that he had the gall to try such a thing. More than that, she felt displeasure at herself for not doing the same thing, she had a chance as well.

But, money was money and Dhaxi rewarded her well to retrieve him. It was a contract, she had to honor that at least.