David Bishop and the Mystic of Creation T.C. Crawford (icecream ebook reader txt) 📖

uncle, whom I had loved and held much respect for, was one of these people. He refused to leave his family farm after the war, and he became bitter with his old age.”

Reingard looked down as he finished, clearly still hurt by the past.

“I see…” said Erin, and feeling the topic was a sensitive one, she decided to change the subject.

“So, once we reach the end of the tunnel, what’s our next destination?” she asked.

Holzer looked down and examined the map closely before answering, “Well, if the village is still where the map indicates, we should be reaching the small mining outpost of Ashmire.

“It was formed during the First Age when the Southern Kingdom first started its expansion north towards the mountains. Once they discovered the rich mineral wealth within the rock, particularly the salt mines, they established Ashmire and it became a bustling little mining community. It prospered for generations, creating some of the wealthiest families within the Southern Kingdom, although most chose to leave the town for the capital city – leaving the mining businesses to be run and operated by the locals while they benefitted the most from the profits.”

“How do you know all of this?” asked David, fascinated by the sudden apparent knowledge of what he had previously misjudged as an uneducated foot soldier.

“I told you, my family is from the South. I know a lot about its history, although most of it is secondhand knowledge passed down by my pa” he answered.

As Holzer finished his explanation, Tyrius finally returned from his exploration and informed the others that there was indeed a large underground freshwater spring not far from their campsite. He led Reingard and Holzer to the waters and had them refill their canisters for the night before rejoining them by the fire and helping himself to some tea, bread, and meat.

When he was finished with his meal, he instructed the companions to rest for the night while he took first watch and they each began setting up their bedrolls.

It wasn’t hard for David to fall asleep – the darkness was deep and the silence was even deeper, broken only by the light crackling of the fire and the incessant drip of water from the cave ceiling as it splashed onto the surface of the lake in the distance. No evidence of any life, other than moss and the occasional insect or bat, had been seen or heard throughout their day’s journey through the darkness – and this thought was extremely comforting for David as he lay on his back with his eyes closed. It meant no threats would sneak up on them during the night, and he was completely okay with that.

***

David was roused sometime in the early morning, or at least he suspected that was the time, as he had no real idea of what time it actually was. He sat up and stretched before thanking Reingard for the watch and preparing for his hopefully uneventful shift.

As he sat in the dark, watching the embers of the fire slowly dwindle away, his eyes remained watchful towards the outer edges of the illuminated circle. Tyrius had set his staff in the middle of the camp, allowing it to provide a radius of soft mystical light for the others to see while on watch. David wondered what other spells Tyrius might know and told himself to remember to ask him during the coming march to see if he could teach him any potential tricks.  With this thought came the sudden painful reminder that his powers had been inaccessible ever since the Defiant One had been released from his prison.

David began to wonder more about the sudden disappearance of his powers, and how it was connected to the return of the Mystic of Destruction. Were they even connected? If so, would he ever get his powers back, or were they gone for good? That thought sent a shiver of fear down his spine and the little hairs on his neck tingling. Without his powers, he wouldn’t be able to stop the coming invasion and the world of Hurea would be doomed.

He would be useless, like he had always been, and David was not ready for that feeling to return full-time, not after he had felt the incredible power of the orb and the confidence that came with it.

He decided in that moment, that no matter what happened to his powers, he would never let it determine his own sense of worth again. He knew he was more than just his connection to the orb – after all, the orb had chosen him for a reason before he had its power. He would instead focus his energy on improving his fighting ability, so that orb or not, he would be prepared to fight alongside his friends and able to protect the people he had come to care so much about. People like Erin.

He looked over to where Erin was sleeping and marveled at how peaceful she looked. He longed for a day when they could truly experience peace together without having to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. A day when they could look to the future with certainty, or as much certainty as anyone could in times of peace. He knew long life was not a sure thing, even without war and threats of extinction on the horizon.

As he dreamed of the possible future he and Erin could have together once the Defiant One was defeated, he noticed the others begin to wake.

Deciding it was time to get up and break camp, he went to fetch some water from the spring in the pot for tea while the others fought off their weariness and began preparing for the long hike ahead of them.

When he returned, everyone was up and enjoying a small helping of biscuits that were starting to slightly harden. Erin tossed him one after he set down the pot and Tyrius got the fire going once again to heat the water