"This shouldn't be here," the courier repeated. "I came to gather material, but I found… this thing." He gestured toward the dead bear's body.
Luke stepped toward the man, Elena not far behind. She wiped the frost from her blade before storing it.
The group looked down together at the carnage. A clean cut had produced much blood, coating the surrounding area as it poured out. The man rustled through his bag looking for something.
Where the bear's head used to be sat a small black talisman, radiating off it in droves was black mana.
"I've seen a ton of dead monsters and animals, but never this," the man explained. "I regularly collect samples, and this one is strange. I've never seen a creature emitting that kind of aura."
Luke and Elena stared at the talisman embedded in the bear's organs and muscle tissue, neither able to take their eyes off it.
"What the hell is that thing?" Luke asked, panic in his voice. "Why is that black mana pouring out of it… it looks evil," He shivered once as he watched the coruier.
Elena realized she had been holding her breath. "I've never seen… anything like that before…" she said, her breath still catching. Her heart started to beat faster the longer she looked.
"Hey," Luke said sharply, snapping Elena back to solid ground.
"What does it mean, Luke?" she asked. "The guild seemed worried when we said something was wrong in the dungeon. We aren't in the dungeon… this is inside a regular monster." She continued panic still apparent in her voice.
The words rang in his mind as he started to think deeper. He sat down, murmuring to himself until tears formed. "Elena, what if what Norman said is really happening?" he asked. "What if the world is about to face another threat?"
"We can't do anything stuck on this escort mission," Elena said. "Jarret, we're picking up the pace. Try to keep up."
Elena and Luke gathered their supplies and waited for Jarret to finish assessing the bear. He picked up his pack and joined them.
"Sorry, I needed to make sure I wrote down every detail. I was even able to chip off a piece of the talisman for research," he explained.
"I didn't think of that," Elena replied. "Will your report be sent to our guild?"
"Yes," Jarret said. "All the research I do is shared with the surrounding cities and guilds. I'm kind of a big deal."
The group looked back at the man in shock. He was who he said he was. How had they not recognized it sooner? They glanced at each other.
"Why would the guild have us escort Jarret Harth?" Luke asked, urgency in his voice. "He was partially responsible for predicting the last cataclysm."
"Probably because it was supposed to be an easy mission," Elena said, poking Luke with a stick. "Probably because this guy didn't tell them."
The man raised his hands in protest. "I told them who I was," he said. "They decided to stick me with you guys to avoid suspicion. If they sent out a platinum ranked guild team, it would attract attention."
Luke thought for a moment, then asked, "What are you carrying? What are we protecting?"
Jarret tapped his bag lightly. "Medicine. I bring supplies to the village from your city. I make this same trip quarterly."
Elena tickled the back of Luke's knee with the same stick. "Well, we aren't going to get anywhere sitting and talking. Let's walk and talk."
Luke shot her a quick glance before nodding. They moved on and continued their journey, not running into anything out of the usual.
"I'd say it's a good time to stop and set up camp for the evening," Luke said. "Jarret, can you handle setting up your own tent?"
The man nodded and started to assemble his tent, quickly putting cloth over wood and arranging a makeshift bed.
"Elena, mind giving me a hand?" Luke asked as he started putting theirs up.
"No problem. I wouldn't want you hurting yourself now, would I?" she teased.
Luke's face flushed hot as he tried to reply, but the words never quite came out. They finished setting up and ate, talking about the doctor's research. Luke took any moment he could to steal a glance at Elena.
She looked beautiful on a normal day, but tonight, under the night sky and the embers of the fire, she looked especially ravishing.
Elegant and majestic. Until she talked. She went on and on about staying in the dungeon forever.
As the night grew late and the fire dimmed, they went to sleep. Jarret in his own tent, and Luke and Elena sharing theirs. They could only afford one.
Another night of forced proximity. At the inn they shared a large bed. In this tent he could feel the heat radiating off her body and smell her hair, freshly washed the night before.
He could feel the heat rising in his chest as it tightened. Unable to say anything, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.
"I can feel your heart racing," Elena whispered into the silence. "What's got you so worked up?"
Luke opened his eyes and turned toward Elena. For a split second he was nose to nose. Too close. He immediately rolled over and muffled a response. "I'm just thinking about that bear," he lied.
Elena understood he was anxious and, without thought, tucked herself against his back, her cheek pressing into him, trying to ground him in the moment.
"Don't worry so much. I believe in you," she said, her voice vibrating through him. "We make a pretty good team. I trust you to have my back."
With that, Luke calmed down. His thoughts stopped racing, and he was able to manage one sentence.
"Thank you. I was spiraling again, wasn't I?" he asked.
That night came and went like any other, without issue, soon to be followed by another adventurous morning.
Luke relished the thought of staying with Elena and growing their power together.
Moments after the exchange, the camp went completely quiet, and Luke finally fell asleep.