PreCursive

  “Where the hells have you been?” Azarus s me over the top of the crate he was carrying. “Haven’t seen ya in days.”

  I shrugged at the dwarf who was currently helping to load up on. I had just wandered up to join my usual travel group to find that they were in the process of pag up. All of the usual suspects were in attendance. Azarus and Renauld were helping to load the st few remaining crates of gear and supplies we o get underway, while Grey was tending to the horses. Honoka and Sylvia were sitting up on the driver’s bench, seemingly studying a scroll.

  It was early m, and all around us, the Army of the Uprising was getting ready to roll out. It was time to begin the campaign to take Elderwyck. I’d been busy with the Noe division, so I’d missed most of the build-up over the st few days. There were only st-minute checks and loading to be do this point, and it looked like most of the Army was just waiting on the word to move out. Once again, our personal wagon was smack dab in the middle of the Order forces.

  As I was making my way here, I had expected the Army to be smaller than it had been on the drive to Helstein. My uanding was that there was going to be a force left behind by the Uprising in order to hold it against possible attacks. However, I was surprised to see that the gathered forces were rger.

  Much rger.

  It looked to me like we had absorbed nearly the majority opposing force that had greeted us. I guess the iion of them into our own forces had been why we’d stalled iein for two weeks. If so, I hadn’t been there for those discussions.

  I caught Sylvia’s eye when she looked up, causing us to exge a knowing gnce. She and Grey, at least, knew what I had been up to. I cleared my throat. “Well, Grey assigned me some work within the Order finally,” I said, setting up the cover that Hook had arranged for me. “With Honoka, actually.”

  Grey and Honoka both looked away from their tasks at that. Grey had a small smile on his face, while Honoka just rolled her eyes at me.

  You know, now that I thought of it, the only people here who weren’t in on the secret were Azarus and Renauld. Were they really so untrustworthy that I couldn’t tell them? Still, I had my rey had apparently even approved my new cover.

  It was time to start building it.

  Suys.

  Azarus sat his crate on the lip of the wagon and then wiped his brow of sweat, all the while shooting me an incredulous look. “The hells could ya be doing with her?”

  “Watch your tone, you bearded oaf,” Honoka said warningly. “If you must know, I have the boy running errands for the Healing Corp.”

  Renauld poked his head out of the covered wagon at that, his ears upright in attention. “What? I haven’t seen you around, Nate.”

  I shrugged, but Honoka answered for me. She rounded in her seat to fix the Gnoll with an evil eye, causing him te back. “Oh, been sg enough that you keep an eye on every errand boy I have running about, eh?” She asked menagly. “Sounds like someone o spend more time ing the tents and wagons.”

  Renauld wilted, but nodded his head defeatedly. Puy. There was just nuing with Honoka sometimes. I felt a little bad for the Healing Corp, with a harpy like that running them.

  Wait.

  I was going to be joining the Healing Corp soon. Well, at the very least 'w' for them. Soon, I’d probably be the victim of Honoka’s incredibly short fuse. I may not have actually been running around on Honoka’s orders, but the cover that had been decided on for me was inteo be real. Honoka had agreed through messages with Hook to take me on as a provisional Healer’s assistant, both to give me some practical medical knowledge and to test out the full capabilities of Aetherial Melding when it came to first aid.

  Hook had been very, very ied when I had described the impromptu, half-panicked surgery that I had doo save Walter’s life, ba Addersfield.

  You know, that had probably led to this cover.

  I actually didn’t mind it. Way back when I was still scrambling to acquire the other Professions, I had chosen Surgery as my Fleshcrafting option for a reason that still held true today. I had always fantasized about magically willing away all of the injuries and disabilities that car crash had left my dad with. Aetherial Surgery may not be full on Healing, but it was at least something.

  While my c was woolgathering, I just shrugged at Azarus and summed it all up in a few sentences. “You remember how I wanted Surgery ba the day. This is just the ce to do a little of that.”

  Realization stole across Azarus’s broad features, causing him to nod at me. “Guess we’re both goin’ to be pretty busy from now on.”

  He was right. I’d be busy with both the Healer’s Corp, and the Noe Division. While he had been taking oy of work with the smiths of the Army.

  Honoka snorted, standing up from the driver’s bench after exging a quick hug with Sylvia. “Speaking of being busy, I o go back to the Healer’s se. , you zy sod.” She said to Renauld, who just sighed but nodded resignedly.

  My eyebrows rose at that. “Wait, you two aren’t going to be traveling with us anymore?”

  Honoka hopped down from the driver's seat. “No, now that I’ve taken up the reigns of the Healing Corp officially, I o stick with them to make sure it doesn’t all fall apart. Gods know those idiots couldn’t tell their ass from a hole in the ground sometimes.” She grumbled, before fixih a look. “e find me when the host stops for the night. We o talk about a few things.”

  As Honoka stalked away, Renauld gave me a quick, apologetic smile. “She’s right. We’re surprisingly busy for not having fought yet. I’ll still bed down with you guys, but for now, I o stick with the other Healers. I’ll see you ter, okay?”

  As Renauld scurried to catch up with Honoka, I felt a surprising wave of sadness roll through me. It felt like most of us were being pulled in different dires by the demands of the war. Venix was still atose, Azarus was busy helping arm the Uprising, Honoka and Renauld o keep the Army alive, and Grey was busy helping lead it. I didn’t even know if I was going to be seeing much of Sylvia soon. We may have both been apparent Noe Agents, but from what Hook had said, she had some kind of long-term assig.

  We were drifting apart.

  That was life, I suppose. Even here in magical fantasy nd.

  I wasn’t the ter of the universe, after all.

  …………………………………………

  It wasn’t long before the horn souo signal for the host to move out. All around us the Army of the Uprising got underway with shouts, snaps ns, and the marg of boots. Uedly, it was just Sylvia, Azarus, and I here at our usual wagon. Grey had o leave as well, g a desire from the leadership to be at the front of the host with the Prince as they departed Helstein.

  Azarus was in the back, audibly sn away, while Sylvia and I sat on the driver's ben a mirror from our departure from Silvercrest. Once again, Fade was resting iween us, this time napping as well. The young wolf had been run harder than I think he’d ever been in his life, over the st few days. I didn’t bme him for being exhausted.

  However, with it only being Sylvia and I at the wagon, that gave us a ve excuse for that versation she’d promised. I felt a sudden sense of embarrassment roll over me, remembering Fade’s transted words from the other day, but I stomped down hard on it before my cheeks grew red.

  Instead, I cleared my throat to catch her attention. “So…”

  “Yes?” Sylvia said, lifting her head from the scroll that Honoka had left me. The Sculpted woman raised a single silvery eyebrow my way.

  “How long have you been, you know,” I made a gesture c my entire face with an open palm. “With them?”

  “Ah,” Sylvia said, rolling her scroll up aing it aside. “I’ve been a member for some time now. I had been w with them since before Father was captured. In fact,” She said, smiling at me. “Do you know, my mission to find him was assigo me by Hook?”

  I hummed. “Is that so? Then what you’re saying is,” I returned her smile, taking a risk as I did so. I y my free hand over her own and squeezed. Sylvia’s smile softened as I did so, her haurning the hold. “That we owe him our…unique meeting.”

  “You could say so,” Sylvia said softly.

  We were silent for a moment. I let my hand drift down to our clutched hands and decided to take a bigger risk. If a damned wolf was exasperated by our dang around each other, then I ’t imagine how our other panio. “You know,” I started slowly. “I don’t have much experieh…this.” I squeezed her hand again.

  Sylvia’s own gaze drifted down to rest on our linked hands. Her silvery Mithril fingers ghosted over my own golden ones. “her do I,” She said quietly. Her gaze rose to meet mine. “Nathan…I…,” Sylvia visibly looked like she was struggling for words, growing more frustrated by the sed.

  Time to be blunt.

  “Sylvia, I care about you,” I said directly, my emerald green eyes on her ohire blue. “I would say that I care about you a great deal. I don’t know if I say that it’s love,” Sylvia was visibly shocked at the word, while my heart started beating faster at my own forwardness. I could have slowed it manually, but I didn’t want to. “But what I do know is that I care about you more than a mere friend should.”

  “I…,” Sylvia trailed off once again, looking lost and overwhelmed. We had been dang around each other on this subject for weeks now. I think that whatever was growiween had reached a tipping point after I had saved her at Caer Drarrow. Sihat time, we’d been growing bolder in baby steps, trying to unicate how we felt in small gestures.

  But the time for that ast.

  Sylvia must have felt the same, because I could visibly see her will firm on her face. She let go of my hand, causing my heart to momentarily drop. However, it soared once again when said hand drifted up to cup my cheek delicately. Sylvia smiled at me fondly. “I, too, feel the same way. I simply…I don’t know how to properly unicate that. By now we’ve been through enough that I believe I uand you, Nathan. And from that uanding has e affe.” She giggled, in a manner I had never heard from her before. “I-I don’t know what to do now, Nathan.” In her nervousness, she looked at me in almost desperation.

  I reached up to csp her hand in my once more. I smiled broadly at her, feeling bolder than ever. “I think I do,” I said, more fident than I’d been in some time. I used our csped hands to pull her closer to me, making my iions clear from my stare. Sylvia’s eyes widened momentarily in panic, before resolve filled them. Her eyes fluttered closed as the distaween us lessened.

  I let mine drift shut.

  Our lips met.

  Hers were pleasantly cool against my own. In the bay mind, I was incredibly relieved at how lifelike they felt. I couldn’t deny that I’d thought of kissing Sylvia before, and had feared that I would hate it. But no, they weren’t the stiff and unmoviallic fabrications that I had dreaded they’d be. Instead, they were nearly indistinguishable from the human lips I’d felt in the past. Hers had just the right amount of softness, give, and flexibility to make kissing Sylvia a pleasant prospect. The only way I could distinguish them from a normal human woman was the ess and oisture.

  God bless magic.

  We separated, both of our eyes drifting open. The two of us alternatively chuckled gled at the high that it seemed we were both feeling. Sylvia sighed, and scooted closer to me, sandwig Fade even closer between our two bodies. She y her head on my shoulder and rexed. I snaked a hand around her shoulders, enjoying the tact.

  “We’re busy people,” I said, breaking the silence. “And we’re in the middle of something pretty important. I don’t know how much time we’re going to have to ourselves, until the war is over. But…” I smiled down at Sylvia fondly. “I think we’ll have enough time to explore this at our own pace.”

  “I would like that, Nathan,” Sylvia said softly, meeting my eyes once more. She returned my smile. “I would like that very much.”

  From iween our thighs, I heard a surprisingly awake Fade let out a particurly self-satisfied sounding chuff.

  Alright, I let you have this one.

  Good boy.