War of the Wisps

“Well, I can go tell Jarn,” Peter said.

“Tell him what?” Andrew asked.

“That we’re headed to Frostlake,” Peter said.

“Not right away!” Andrew said. “Even flying, that trip will take almost a week! We’ve got to get things ready, and we’ll need to report in at Woadrok before heading to the other side of the continent!”

“It will take some time to prepare,” Anna agreed. “And I’d like to ask Jeremy a few questions before we leave, if he’s up to it.” Andrew started to relax, feeling like he had some back up for once. Then Anna continued, “But I think we should go straight to the Lake.”

Andrew blinked at her. “You don’t think the King and Queen will even be a little upset if we don’t report back in?” Andrew asked.

“I don’t know,” Anna said. “Maybe. But we need to get to Frostlake. We’re close to finding out what they really want! I can feel it!”

“Woadrok is basically on the way,” Andrew pointed out. “I’m sure if we just stopped to check in and told them that ourselves, they’d be happy to let us go on. We don’t have to risk upsetting the royal family.”

“I don’t want to avoid them,” Anna said. “But… there’s still the matter of the spy. We don’t know if Sol has sniffed him out or not.”

“What would the spy care?” Andrew asked.

“He’s part of the group taking Wisps from around the kingdom, remember. I don’t want them knowing we’ve found a lead.”

Andrew sighed. “For all we know, they’ve already been to all the ruins. They’re clearly ahead of us when it comes to the Wisps.”

“Is that any reason to let them know we’re catching up?” Peter said. Andrew glared at him.

“I know we’re rushing,” Anna said. “But I really think we need to do this.”

“I don’t think you understand what leaving ROYALTY in the dark really means!” Andrew snapped back.

“They’ll understand,” Peter said.

“We don’t have to leave them in the dark,” Anna offered. “We could send them a letter to Sol and ask him to let them know. That way, we should bypass the spy, and still keep them informed. They’ll understand its urgent.”

“Urgent?” Andrew asked.

“As urgent as anything to do with the Wisps is,” Anna said.

“Right…” Andrew muttered. He could tell there was no changing Anna’s mind. “Fine. We’ll send a letter to Sol. We’ll need to take a few days to get supplies, though. We’ll be camping a lot, and it will be cold up there, even at this time of year.”

“I’ll get started on the letter right away,” Anna said.

Andrew nodded. “Peter and I will take care of the preparations,” he said.

He waited a day before going to Lord Thornnwood to explain their plan. He thought it would be safe to tell the lord about their suspicions of a spy in Woadrok, given his son’s experience with the Wisps. When he was done, the Lord agreed they should go straight to the Frostlake.

“Thalia will not be happy,” Arden pointed out. “But she rarely is these days. But from my little Niece and Nephew? I doubt you have anything to worry about.”

“Thank you for your reassurance,” Andrew said.

“We can get you supplies once we go back to High Hill.”

“We may just get everything we can here,” Andrew said. “We haven’t gotten any new cash since we left for Prohr.”

“Don’t worry about the cost,” Arden said. “Tell us what you’ll need, and we can provide it.”

Andrew blinked. “Really? Are you sure?”

Lord Thornwood nodded. “Consider it a thank you for rescuing my son. Or, if you’d like, take it as our contribution for preventing such situations in the future.”

“I could get used to this,” Peter said.

“Don’t,” Andrew said. He turned back to Lord Thornwood. “Thank you again. We are in your debt.”

Arden waved the thanks aside. “Think nothing of it. And you won’t have to wait too long before setting out. Jeremy should be ready to return home tomorrow morning.”

“How’s he doing?” Peter asked.

“Better than we had any right to expect,” Lord Thornwood said. “Still recovering. Said he had enough of laying in bed this morning and went out to stretch his legs. Hannah went with him to make sure he’s alright.”

“So he’s back to normal?” Peter asked.

Arden sighed. “I don’t know,” he said. “He’s never been so reserved before. But… well he’s been through a lot.”

“We can ask Anna if she thinks spending a little more time with Halcyon would be good for him,” Andrew suggested.

“I’d thank you for it,” Arden said. “Though I don’t know if Jeremy will.”

“Maybe we should go check with him, first, then,” Andrew suggested. He thanked Lord Thornwood for his assistance a final time, and the two brothers went outside to find Jeremy.

He wasn’t far from the Inn. He stood next to a tree with Hannah and a soldier from High Hill. Hanna sat at the base of the tree, watching them with a frustrated expression on her face. The soldier, a boy only a little older than Peter, appeared nervous. “… up to it, sir?” the soldier was asking.

“Of course I’m sure,” Jeremy said. “Best thing for me. I need to get my strength back.”

“With real weapons?”

“Do we have any practice swords?”

“It still seems dangerous.”

“I won’t hurt you.”

“What’s going on?” Andrew asked as the brothers stepped up to the group.

“Jeremy wants to spar,” Hannah informed them. “But Jonas here is right. There’s no practice equipment for either of them to use.” She glared at her brother. “I don’t think father would be happy to find you’ve cut up one of the soldiers,” she added. The other young man blanched.

“I wouldn’t mind sparing,” Peter said. “I haven’t had the opportunity to practice in a while, either.”

“You guys are going to hurt yourselves,” Hannah said, her tone betraying no hint of sympathy.

“Peter he’s still recovering. We were just going to ask him if-“

“Oh, come on!” Jeremy interrupted. “I’m fine! I just need some exercise.”

“I know what you mean,” Peter said. “Besides, I’m pretty sure I can avoid cutting him on accident.”

“Oh-ho!” Jeremy said, grinning. “You think so? Well, I suppose I’ll try avoiding cutting you as well.”

Andrew groaned as Peter drew his sword and bowed. The soldier backed away, relieved that someone else had taken his place. He no longer seemed at all interested in stopping the fight. Jeremy took a pace back, then faced Peter. As he did, he drew two blades, one longer and the other shorter.

“You fight with two swords?” Peter asked.

Jeremy nodded. “I’ve been practicing this style. Feel like it suites me.” Then, without warning, he lunged at Peter. Andrew flinched, but Peter batted the blade away, and leapt back from to avoid a cut from the other. Then he went on the offensive.

They went a few rounds, resetting each time one managed to rap the other somewhere with the flat of the blade. Jermey won most of these, though Peter scored a few victories. Anna ran up during the sparing. “What’s going on?” she asked. Andrew explained for her, and they both sat down next to Hannah to watch the boys duel.

Ten minutes later, the two of them were sitting in the grass, breathing hard. “I should get a sword for my other hand.”

“You’re plenty good without one,” Jeremy said. “It’s not an easy style. The other weapon may just get in your way.”

“Feels wrong having nothing for the off hand, though. How’d you learn about it?”

“A foreigner from Ryukyuu,” Jermey said. “Borac hosts a tournament every year, and I try going. He was one of the combatants. Told me it was hard, but worth it if you could learn. So I’ve been practicing. Though, I think I’ve been more inventing a style than copying his. Different blades, you know?”

“It’s pretty much all he’s done the past few months,” Hanna said. “And it’s a good thing you two didn’t cut each other to ribbons.”

“Yeah, yeah. I feel much better now,” Jeremy said. He looked back up at Andrew. “Sorry about the interruption earlier. You were saying you wanted to ask me something?”

“We’ll probably be leaving tomorrow,” Andrew said. “Your father wanted to know if you’d accept any more help from Halcyon before we leave.”

“Halcyon?” Jeremy asked, looking at Anna.

“The blue Wisp,” Peter said.

“Ah…” Jeremy muttered. “He still thinks somethings off about me, then.”

“You went through a lot,” Anna said. “He just wants to make sure you recover completely.”

Jeremy shrugged. “I feel fine. I’m told you all did a lot for me.”

“Told?” Peter repeated.

“I don’t remember anything from when I was Wisp Taken,” Jeremy said. “There’s a blank space from about a week ago to the other day, where I have some vague impressions of blue light. That’s it.” He glanced at Anna. “My sister told me what happened to you before I was really awake again. Sorry, but I don’t think I can tell you what the Wisps were trying to do to me.”

Anna nodded. “I wasn’t sure. I hoped you might, but as I thought about it… Well, I’m pretty sure you not remembering is what’s helping to keep you sane.”

“Right,” Jeremy muttered, some bitterness creeping into his voice. He stood. “I doubt your blue Wisp will help much. Thank you. Really. I think I might need to be alone for a bit, though.” He walked off, back toward the inn.

Hannah stood to follow him, then stopped. She looked at the others. “He meant it. I’m sure he meant it.”

“I think he did,” Peter said. “But we do keep saying he’s been through a lot. Bet it’s getting old.”

Andrew nodded his agreement. “The best way we can him is probably to drop it,” he said.

“No,” Hannah said. “It’s to make sure no one else becomes Wisp Taken.”