The Demon Lord and his Hero

Syryn walked out of the door carrying his black shell in hand. They had a guest waiting for them. 

"Artemus, you're here already!" Syryn happily greeted the anti mage. 

Rowan stepped out right behind him smiling at the dark-haired anti mage. He had been wanting to leave Coop island and now he finally could. 

The anti mage had a faint look of surprise on his face. He'd seen the hot cup of water and knew that the duo had just abruptly left the house. He had waited for them but hadn't expected Syryn to walk out of thin air. 

"I'm ready to leave this place," Rowan announced to Artemus. "I hope you've got a ship ready for departure." 

The older anti mage nodded. "I need to rest a while before we board. I've had a few sleepless nights because of Robin's little enterprise." 

The pale man had taken up the most comfortable seat in the room. Leaning back on the headrest, he pressed his fingertips to his temples and rubbed them. 

"Shouldn't you rest on the ship? There might be some disgruntled folks looking for you." 

Syryn went back to boiling some water. Conversations and rest were always better while sharing some hot tea. He could see the tiredness on Artemus' face and felt like he could do with some calming brew which he had none of. Plain tea had to do. 

Give him the potion in your bag labelled 12. A revitalisation potion would do him a world of good. 

[What does that do?]

It restores his energy.

Syryn checked in his satchel and found the potion labelled as mentioned by the sage. 

[Do I give him the whole thing?] 

Ask him. He'll have a better idea about how much his body needs.

"Hey, Artemus, take this," Syryn held out the potion to the man. "Do you know how much you should drink?" 

"Thank you, and yes I do. I'll need another one if you have more."

While Syryn dug in his bag for more potion, the anti mage uncorked and began drinking the potion that Syryn had handed him. For fear of being poisoned or given an adulterated potion, the anti mage had avoided any and all potions that had been offered to him. It was the reason he was still bruised, injured, and tired. Even the food he was given had been screened by feeding it first to a dog that was owned by Jorah. 

"The ship is waiting at the harbour but I feel safer here," Artemus said after emptying the flask. "Let me sleep for half an hour and I'll feel better."

Rowan's presence was the reason that the anti mage felt he could sleep without any fear. There weren't many people that Artemus could trust this way. Syryn was one of the few he trusted but the mage's unpredictability meant that Artemus had to keep one eye open and couldn't completely let himself be relaxed. 

"There's a bed through that door. Rest as much as you need to," Rowan told the older anti mage. 

_____

It was very early in the morning and the sun still hadn't shown its face. Three men discreetly boarded a ship at the harbour. Not long after their arrival, the ship began to set off with its sails open to the wind. 

As per usual, the cabins were small on the ship. After some negotiations, the biggest room aboard was bought off by the blond anti mage. Syryn was invited to bunk with him and the man gratefully accepted the invitation. Artemus took the cabin right next to theirs. Syryn's potions had revitalised his energy but he still needed more sleep. Thus, his cabin remained locked all day. Artemus slept from morning to evening without even showing up for a meal. 

Rowan and Syryn had spent the day reading in their room. They weren't familiar with the crew and so preferred to keep to themselves. This time, Rowan didn't even have to show his face when pirate ships appeared because the ship they were on had been marked with the Queensmen's protection. 

It was almost dinner time when Artemus came out of his room looking neater than when he had gone in. A bath, change of clothing, and grooming his hair had done wonders to his already very attractive looks. He came across Syryn who had a fishing rod in his hand and was leaning beyond the railing of the deck. 

"What are you doing?" He asked with some confusion. 

"Fishing. Can't you see?" Came the reply. 

"I didn't know you could catch fish at night this way." Artemus wasn't a fisherman. He felt no shame in admitting his ignorance about it. 

"Well, I didn't either. Rowan said I could so here I am." Syryn's eyes were drooping, bored from waiting for a fish to bite his lure. 

"I see. But why are you fishing?" 

The mage yawned and adjusted his posture, leaning further against the railing. He was ready to give up on the fishing. 

"The cook served a vegetarian dinner," Syryn sedately replied. "And I told him that I wanted to eat fish but they only have salted dry fish. I had a craving for some fresh seafood so here I am. I say it's dumb not to carry a few barrels of fresh fish even if you're going on a long journey. Or some chicken you know. They can lay eggs. Why not even take a piglet to kill later? Why does everything have to be salted?" 

Artemus didn't particularly care about food while on a journey. As long as it wasn't poisoned, he was willing to eat whatever they had. It was only after he was inducted into the Sanguine that the man became this way. Long months of travelling through uninhabitable biomes had taught him that sustenance and availability of it were more important than taste. Despite owning dimension spaces that could safely store food, the anti mages had been trained to make do with less just in case they found themselves without access to their resources. 

"They probably have eggs," Artemus replied after some thought. "I'll go ask."