The Lord of Veins | Shadow Slave

Hours of walking would have been arduous enough, but carrying an entire person made it exponentially worse. Yet Zerin didn't complain. Nor did the man walking ahead; he carried the girl on his sole good shoulder, swaying with every unsteady step into the deep snow.

The entire journey passed in silence. They silently agreed to conserve their energy instead of wasting it on words.

As they approached a looming rock formation, Zerin spotted a wide opened that cracked upon its side. He suspected it might be their shelter, and his guess proved correct. 

Entering inside, the air smelled of dust and carried a dull chill, but it was better than sleeping in the trees. The cavern was deceptively spacious, its walls lined with scattered supplies. A few bedrolls left unrolled, and a cold unlit campfire sat at the center.

The man turned, watching Zerin take a quick look around the place. "Set her down here." He gestured toward a bedroll near the fire and carefully placed the girl he carried onto it. 

Zerin followed suit, gently laying the blonde-haired girl near the campfire. "Are they okay?" he asked, his eyes glancing down at the blonde-haired girl with a bit of familiarity. 

"They'll wake once there's warmth," the man said. "Those creatures are called Kaldrmanes. They immobilize their prey with ice."

Turning to Zerin, the man added, "Can you start the fire? I'm not in the best shape."

Zerin nodded and began unpacked what supplies was left in his pack. The sun had finally emerged, allowing him to access his treacherous pack.

As Zerin worked, the man sank onto a larger bedroll---clearly his own---grimacing as he smiled.

"You came prepared, huh?" 

Zerin looked over his shoulder. The man's pale face twitched in pain despite his attempt at humor. "What's your name?" the man asked. "I'm Evan." He struggled out of his coat, wincing as he freed his arm.

"Zerin," he answered after a moment, coaxing the fire to life.

"Zerin? That's unusual." Evan exhaled.

He then summoned a small blade from his soul sea and began slicing his shirt down the middle.

Zerin furrowed his brow. "What are you doing?" he asked, looking at the man's arm that was clearly broken at the shoulder, heavily bruised and purple.

"Basic first aid. You don't know this?" Evan paused, incredulous. "What academy did you go to?"

"I wasn't enrolled into an academy. I was trained under a Master." Zerin casted his gaze back to the fire, which began licking hungrily at the dry wood.

Evan raised an eyebrow. "What kind of sleazy Master wouldn't teach you first aid? And how many cycles ago did you arrive in the Fractured Peaks?"

Zerin agreed with his former question, Cael definitely wasn't the best Master when it came to teaching, but Jerika didn't teach him first aid either, but he did only have a few lessons from her, she was rather busy...

Zerin hesitated, deciding to answer his latter question. "A few weeks, maybe," he replied

Evan let out an exasperated sigh. "A few weeks? You don't even know how to count days here? How the hell did you survive five months in the Dream Realm?"

The weight of this reveal stuck like a hammer. 

Five months?

Zerin froze, his eyes blinking in disbelief. The silence that fell his weak exhale was so stark that the faint sound of snow sliding off the rocks outside seemed deafening, even over the crackling fire.

"Time flies, regardless the realm you are in." Evan said, breaking the silence as he tightened his sling. "Thats why you track your days." 

He reached down and tossed Zerin a cloth. "You're a bloody mess. There's a pot near the fire. Heat some snow and clean yourself up. I've got spare clothes you can wear."

Zerin caught the cloth and moved outside, clutching the pot. As the icy air stung his face, his thoughts finally caught up with him.

"Five months..."

Setting the pot down in the snow, he muttered under his breath, watching the steam rise from his exhale. "Impossible..." 

But the creeping unease in his chest said otherwise. From what he could recall, it had been no more than six weeks since he entered this realm. What had happened to those missing months? His mind flickered back to the day it all occurred in brief details—the day he unleashed that creature imprisoned in stone—then to the darkness that followed and then a creature of the same kind struck him. Beyond that, there was nothing.

Four months of emptiness. 

He clenched his fists, then he exhaled, relaxing his fists. 

"Let's just cleaned up." 

***

Zerin dipped the cloth into the boiling, grimy water, scrubbing away the dried blood to his face. Anything was better than being coated in muck and gore. 

He stripped off his bloodied tattered jacket and shirt, then his pants discarding them in a pile. The warm, wet cloth dragged across his goosebumped chest, wiping away layers of grime and blood. His body felt foreign, weakened and gaunt---proving the months spent starving, and the time he had lost.

Eventually, he finished cleaning himself. Evan, showed courtesy, keeping his back turned as Zerin cleaned up and got dressed in fresh clothes. For the first time in weeks---no months, Zerin felt a semblance of comfort. 

"Thanks, for the clothes," Zerin muttered, adjusting the jacket and smoothing out his new pants.

"The least I could do, and they were spares for the girls anyway," Evan replied, swatting the air dismissing his thanks. 

He turned back to Zerin, his hammer dissolving into sparks as it vanished into his soul sea. 

By the fire, the two girls lay bandaged where needed, their unconscious forms huddled near the flames for warm. 

Zerin kept his distance, settling closer to the cave's opening, his gaze fixed on the light snow fall that just began. 

"You weren't aware of what happened, were you? Evan asked, his voice steady but probing. 

Zerin turned towards him.

"Your reaction made that clear." Evan added.

Evan pressed further. "Does it have anything to do with your aspect?" 

"I'm not sure," Zerin admitted.

"You should figure it out. I don't want to worry about you attacking us."

Zerin recoiled slightly at his words. "That was the first time that ever happened." Zerin snapped. "Besides, I won't be staying here long." 

Evan smirked faintly. "Braving the Dream Realm alone? Another thing your Master didn't teach you. You can't survive the Dream Realm alone.

"You don't need a Master to know surviving alone is a bad idea. It's common sense." 

"Then use it," Evan quipped with a chuckle.

"But suit yourself. I'm not about to fight you over it." Evan said dismissively but then added, "One thing, though---stay until they wake up. I can't defend them right now." He gestured to his injured arm.

"Three days," Zerin relented after a moment. "I'll be here for three days, then I'm leaving."

Evan blinked in surprise. "They should wake in a few hours. But fine, three days it is. You'll need supplies for your journey anyway."

Zerin nodded. "I just used the last of my wood for your fire and I have no food. I'll need to gather more.

"Where are you going if you don't mind me asking?" Evan said.

"To find someone." 

Evan nodded, "A friend? Fair enough, but how will you find this person?

Zerin pulled out his tattered jacket from the pile, fishing out a parchment, now with faint bloodstains. "I found a map that shows the gate's location." 

"No way!" Evan's excitement broke through his exhaustion. He stumbled toward Zerin, eager to see the map.

Zerin confirmed, folding the parchment before Evan could touch it. "We're close, I'll let you copy it before I leave." 

Evan's shoulders relaxed. "Thank you. Really. Those girls could have died back there, and you didn't have to help. I hope you find your friend."

Zerin settled down near the fire. "He's alive," he said with certainty, before closing his eyes and diving into his soul sea.