Accidental Healer

Enora felt on the verge of attempting a great escape.

After a little under a day she'd had zero time for herself. Everywhere she went, every conversation she had she was dogged by Durkil and Alex.

She wasn't seriously considering running of course. It would be a waste. Either one of them was enough to overpower her.

Besides, she had no intention of damaging the little trust Layton had given her.

She was in a new world afterall. Sure it hadn't been exactly the way anyone had hoped, but it was also much better then it could've gone. They were all lucky even to be alive, let alone being assimilated into the faction. It was bizarre.

There was no real way of knowing how everyone else felt about the situation since she hadn't had a moment of privacy. Her people weren't stupid. They weren't about to complain in front of these freaks. They'd seen what happened to their comrades during the raid.

She wouldn't even be surprised to find out that many of the dark elves were excited to learn what made this faction gain so much strength so quickly. That, combined with two free levels for doing nothing and having the opportunity to gain even more levels from this faction's raid?

If she knew her faction they would be salivating to align with a source of power like this.

As for her two "guards", they couldn't be more different.

Alex was reclining peacefully on a bench that he brought from town, chewing on a long piece of grass. Apparently the bench was a favorite of his, since there weren't many that could accommodate his seven foot frame lying down.

Both he and Durkil wore white cotton shirts and each left the drawstrings loose.

Enora had mostly tried to tune Alex out, and now was no different.

"So you heard we're going to have actual magic bread soon right?"

Durkil grunted.

"What? Don't Guildian's eat bread?

Enora envied Durkil's patience. He never seemed annoyed, in spite of the constant chatter.

"Probably."

Alex sat up. "Probably? You've never had bread?"

"Is it that surprising? Or have you forgotten we're not from this planet."

Apparently he had forgotten because his face scrunched up and he nodded. "So other planets don't have bread? Enora, did your planet have bread?"

Mana powered translation was strange, she heard the word and images appeared in her mind. It was slightly different but yes, in a loose context they had bread.

She fought to keep the edge from her voice. "We had bread, yes."

Some still bled through, but if he noticed, it definitely didn't show. He sighed and laid back on his bench. "Bread is awesome. We just need to get some cows and bee's."

It was clear he was fishing for her to take the bait and ask why they needed cows and bees, she didn't. Fortunately, Durkil saved the day.

He slapped Alex on the shoulder and pointed. Enora didn't even have to look. She could feel him coming—the gentle encouragement, urging her to trust him. It was so subtle, and yet it was compelling. Oftentimes when she had felt stronger presences from more powerful biases, it was natural to want to resist—that wasn't the case with Layton.

When it came to his bias it was the complete opposite. She wanted to give in, his resonance felt warm and welcoming.

She blinked and shook her head.

What was with this guy? Even when she was careful she still got caught up in the current of his bias.

Alex pushed himself up, and she followed suit. Layton was easily the shortest of the four of them, her strength stat wasn't crazy but her people tended to be tall and slender.

"Hey guy's, I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Layton was wearing his simple grey healer's robe just like last time she saw him.

She tilted her head. Did it have less gold stenciling last time?

"Not really. I was just telling these two about bread." Alex thumbed a finger in her direction.

Layton nodded sagely. "Yeah bread is great. Won't be long now before our food game gets a big upgrade."

How old was he? A few decades? Mana always made it harder to tell since aging was slower, but their world was brand new.

"Are you here to discuss the raid?" Durkil asked, all business.

Layton shrugged. "If you don't mind?"

Wasn't Layton supposed to be the faction leader here? He spoke with his subordinates like they were just as much in charge as he was. The way Alex told it, Layton had started the induction alone.

Well aside from some kind of large feline that tried to kill him but they became friends somehow. She was a bit lost on the details. So Layton had become faction leader by default, and yet his faction seemed to be flourishing. Enora had already met several people who she would've considered more worthy of the title.

But then there was her resonance. Layton was dangerous, the most dangerous person in this territory and it wasn't close. Alex claimed his cat friend was a menace but she hadn't seen it yet, she found it hard to believe it would be on the same level.

"Of course—should we leave?" Durkil made to leave, but Layton stopped him.

"Nah, you can stay. I don't have much to talk about." His attention shifted to Enora and she straightened her back. "I know we haven't been the most accommodating so far, but it's temporary."

A chair popped from thin air, he handed it to her and three more followed. Everyone sat.

"How is everything?" He asked, and she felt he was genuinely interested.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"We have nothing to complain about. Without your generosity we'd all be dead, so anything else feels like an upgrade."

He pursed his lips to the side and looked past her at the four hundred others milling about, no doubt trying to listen in.

"It's going to get better. Jared is no doubt already making plans for your territory. We don't have any major factions at our border at the moment so you shouldn't have to be too concerned with deadly threats aside from anomalies maybe." He was tapping his chair with his finger.

"As far as the raid is concerned. We still plan to give the new faction the same offer we gave you, we prefer peace. Fair warning, if they do take us up on it, that will mean sharing a territory…."

She already expected this conversation to come up. Or at least she expected the strategy, what she hadn't been sure of was if Layton intended to fill her in on the details.

"You want to know if we can play nice if we have to share?"

He smiled impishly. "I know. I'm asking a lot from you—hell, we're not even sure what's on the other side. But, yes. That is what I am asking."

It felt good to be looped in. Layton didn't need to ask, he could just drop both factions in the territory and let them tear each other apart. But he was concerned for the safety of a faction he knew nothing about.

"You have my word, we will do everything in our power. But you can't expect us not to defend ourselves."

He raised his hands defensively. "I couldn't ask for anything else."

"Now that we have that out of the way." He said leaning forward. "If they don't listen, you will have our complete support in the raid including my shields. Outside of that it's going to be up to you, just like we discussed before."

Enora could understand why Layton didn't want to commit to this fight. He was simply mitigating risk, she respected that about him.

"Anyway that's about it." He slapped his leg and stood up. "We still have a couple hours to go—I'm off to run a few more errands."

He looked at Alex. "I'm going to talk with Mischief if you need me."

So…the cat was real.

"Can I come?"

Her voice surprised even her and all three turned to stare. The truth was, she needed a break—and her curiosity had been piqued.

"Please?"

***

Enora wasn't an agility specialist—but she hadn't completely neglected the stat. Running with Layton made her feel like she'd forgotten it completely. She moved in a dead out sprint and he continually had to hold himself back from leaving her totally in the dust.

Hadn't he told her it was his shields that kept their entire ranged arsenal ineffective? How was he this fast? He moved with effortless strides that belied his healer robe.

She was hoping that he would lead her through their town. She had seen some of their progress from the clearing but there was much she hoped to explore. This wasn't the time however and they proceeded away from town deeper into unclaimed wilderness.

A thought entered her mind. Was he leading her off to kill her? Had she gone too far asking to join? The thought nearly caused her to stumble and her heartbeat quickened.

No. That wouldn't make sense, she reasoned. He could've simply killed her in the camp, there would be no point dragging her along. She tried to take a calming breath but it was difficult at this frantic pace.

She was right in the middle of a particularly gruesome scenario when Layton finally came to a sudden stop in front of a metal pole jutting from the ground.

That was strange.

"We have to wait here."

Enora glanced around. It was just forest, seemingly no different from the rest. She turned about and noticed that there wasn't just this metal pole, there were many stretching out in each direction.

Layton touched the one he stopped at. "Territory markers. It's not a big deal, it's just Mischief asked us to mark it off. When anyone enters this territory it uhhh…stirs up his—friends."

"So we just wait here?" She was taking it all in, eyes scanning for any movement.

"Yeah, we won't have to wait long. He's probably on his way now."

Layton seemed preoccupied, as if he was looking for something.

"Mischief is your friend?" She asked slowly.

"He's my best friend." He answered without sparing her a glance.

"Why does he stay all the way out here?"

He waved at her but kept his eyes on the trees. "That's a long story, but he is working on a project. You should know, he can be a lot—-"

Layton was still talking but she didn't hear it.

"Another stray?"

Enora stiffened, blood draining from her face. A voice, deep but young, entered her mind.

She dropped into a crouch. What was this?

"There's no need for all of that. I just wanted to say hello."

A cold chill ran up her spine. She spun looking for the source of the voice.

"You're going to get me in trouble…" The voice trailed off. "Great, you've spoiled it."

"Enora?" She heard her name and then feet crunching branches. "Mischief? Seriously? You're going to give her a heart attack or something."

Water began bubbling in her hand. If they were going to ambush her she wasn't about to go quietly.

"Whoah! Hey!" Layton stopped in his tracks raising his hands. "It's ok, it's just Mischief."

"He's harmless but likes to make my life harder than it has to be." He shouted at nothing in particular.

Enora didn't lower her guard. "What is this? Some kind of sick game?"

"Not anymore, no thanks to you."

Enora turned and shot a bolt of water towards the trees where she felt the voice had come from. Her attack hit nothing but air before cutting deep into a tree.

"Alright, now look what you've done?" Layton seemed exasperated, or maybe even annoyed but definitely not hostile.

She cocked her head at him. "What is going on here?"

"I knew he would do something like this—" He glared, then shook his head. "No, no it's not funny, look at her." He pointed at her.

"This is your friend?"

Layton held up a finger. "I don't care if you've been bored, no one told you to bring home a bunch of random anomalies."

Enora was stumped. Did Layton seriously not care that she had just attempted to attack her friend?

"Being like me? Oh that's rich—Just come out and apologize so we can actually have a normal conversation."

She watched the one sided conversation completely befuddled. Reluctantly, she lowered her guard. Whatever this strange interaction was—it wasn't life threatening.

Was this all an act? Curiosity and caution tumbled around in her head.

She felt him before she saw him.

If Layton was the sun on a summer day, Mischief was the moon.

His resonance was suffocating. It was calm, curious, playful. She felt hints of intense loyalty for those deemed worthy of such an honor.

She felt all of that before the wall of black fur coalesced from Layton's shadow.

Her breath caught in her throat.

She hadn't known what to expect. Alex made it seem like Mischief was just a playful housecat.

What she saw wasn't even close to that.

Lean powerful muscle bunched and coiled under sleek, jet black fur.

Looking at the two together. It was like yin and yang—their resonance near opposites in every way. Each oozing power well beyond what should be possible for their levels, no doubt the result of impressive titles.

"I'm sorry for scaring you." Mischief watched her, a playful twinkle in his bronze eyes.

"I—I'm sorry for attacking you." Enora managed to stammer.

"You mean, for attacking that tree?" He said, nodding in the direction of where she released her spell.

She looked at the tree, where a quarter size hole was oozing sap.

"He deserved it." Layton said, shoving the huge cat playfully. "Well, anyway's—no harm no foul right?"

Enora couldn't believe what she was hearing. Literally seconds earlier she had been shooting water bolts with the intent to fight for her very life—and now? Layton was behaving as if nothing happened. Wasn't he angry that she tried to shoot his friend?

She had no words. So rather than trying to understand, she just observed.