Page 55 of Horns & Heart
He gave me another withering look.Either that, or Vergis had a very bad case of resting bitch face.“There might be human mages, sure.Total waste of magic if you ask me.Still, conduits like yourself don’t just happen if there’s no other magic around.”
“Ah.”
We sat in silence for long minutes, sipping tea and soaking up the heat of the fire.Vergis didn’t appear to be very cold, and judging by the sunlight I could see slanting in through the windows, it was definitely nicer here than in that other monster dimension.
The idea of exploring tickled my brain, but that would mean getting up and doing, like, anything.I didn’t feel up to that particular challenge at all.Vergis, too, seemed happy enough to just sit here in silence and ignore me.
“They’ll be okay, right?”I asked when I could take it no longer.“Nokim and Lissir.Fellisse and…Ink.They’re going to be okay, right?”
Vergis pinned me with his slit-pupiled eyes, just staring for so long that I began to doubt he would answer at all.
He tilted his head minutely.“You actually care for him, don’t you?”
“For Inkiri?”I pulled the blanket tight around my shoulders and glanced at the flames.“Yes.It’s been a weird two years, okay?But even before then, I never met anyone like him.I don’t know that I’m in love with him, maybe not yet.But, like, I think I’m definitely in the process of falling for him, you know?I want to fall for him, I really do.”
When I looked up at Vergis, I felt stupid for having said all that.His dagger stare didn’t much help, but I couldn’t unsay any of it.I didn’t want to.
“They’ll be fine,” Vergis said after a long time.His voice wasn’t soft exactly, but less sharp.“They have guns and know how to use them, and they’re all competent fighters.”
“But you said those cola—Koa Esher have magic?Could they have done anything to hurt our guys?”
Vergis snorted.“Our guys?More like your guys.But no.Magic doesn’t work that way.You sacrifice life to get it going, sure, but it’s a balancing act.In magic, nothing weighs heavy enough to simply take a life.It’s one of the most basic rules.”
“Oh.That’s good, then, right?”
“Sure.On top of that, the Koa Esher can only do so much.Again, inbreeding.You’d think it was obvious.Then again, maybe they forgot how to live differently.”
I nodded and sipped my tea.Before I could ask Vergis another question, he got up and headed out the door, leaving me alone with my own thoughts.
