Behind the Tales

by Aurora Peppermint

  Then a faint movement against Martus’s fingers. It felt too feeble and too slow, but it was there, and he pressed his fingers harder to the spot, praying he wasn’t imagining it.

  “That’s it, just stay alive. Please stay alive. I panicked. I would never hurt you. I shouldn’t have cast it. Just breathe. Make it beat for me. Please.” Martus’s forehead collapsed onto Hal’s and he sobbed. But through his tears he kept pressing down in the same spot. The movement came again, Hal’s skin jumping to meet Martus’s fingers.

  Martus pulled his head back, forcing himself to focus on Hal, wiping his tears away with his free hand. Then he placed a hand on either side of Hal’s face, trying to feel breath rushing from his mouth. If he was just breathing… if his heart was just beating. If he was just alive.

  But he couldn’t tell. Maybe he was breathing, but not hard enough for Martus to be sure, and he couldn’t have his best friend be only maybe alive. He’d come to get him back and he would, even if that meant dragging him back from the brink of death.

  There were cuts on Hal’s chest. Some of the villagers must have gotten their swords under him. They stained Martus’s hands with blood while he tried to push life back into Hal. There wasn’t any magick left in him for the moment, but he was a big brother, and he knew what to do when someone wasn’t breathing. Push down on their chest with his hands, check that they were breathing every few pushes. Once they were breathing, check their pulse. Once you figured out the pulse was regular, that was when you pulled your magick out again.

  “Come on, Hal. You’re alive, just breathe, breathe.” Martus prayed under his breath to anyone who would listen. Sweat beaded at his brow and tears slipped from the corners of his eyes. He ignored both, and eventually they bled together into a salty mixture that slid down to wet the collar of his shirt.

  He paused his pushing to discard his coat when it began to feel too constricting, putting everything he had behind trying to make Hal breathe again. There were little gusts past his lips every now and then, and every time Martus watched for them to even out so he knew he was breathing regularly. And every time he was forced to keep pumping to get him to breathe just enough to keep himself alive. How long could this go on? Surely it had to work soon.

  “I’m not giving up. Come on, I’m here with you. We’re getting you back, together. I’m not letting you die here.” Hal would come back to himself. He needed a helping hand, and he needed to hear Martus’s voice, but once he knew how hard his friend was working to keep him from slipping away, there would be no way for him to give up. “You just breathe, okay? Come back, wake up, please. Please, please, please.” The longer Hal went without his breaths evening out, the more desperate Martus became. He sped the pace of his hands even though he knew he wasn’t supposed to, and he let more tears slide down his cheeks.

  The more desperate he got, the less he cared about his own well-being. When he pushed magick into Hal’s chest, through the opening in his lips where he was just barely breathing, Martus’s vision got blurry. His own breaths stuttered to a halt for a long moment in which he was sure he would die right at his friend’s side. His body swayed, and he almost fell forward.

  Then he caught himself, brought himself back up, pushed magick on magick on magick forward despite what it took out of him.

  If it helped Hal, it was worth it.

  Then finally, when he was unable to produce any more magick, he reached up to check Hal’s breathing again, and what he felt made him weep. Loud, messy tears staining his cheeks like the blood from Hal’s chest stained his hand.

  There were a few warm breaths in a row against Martus’s hand, and he let out a teary laugh of relief. He knew Hal wouldn’t have died, couldn’t have. Not from magick like Martus’s; he was much too strong for that. He’d made it through much worse. He had been trying, even if Martus hadn’t been able to see it. Everything was going to be fine. They’d made it out.

  “Oh, oh good. You’re alive. You are.” He laughed wildly, gripping Hal’s face. “You made it. I knew you would.”

  Now he just had to wake him up.

  Chapter Ten

  HAL HAD a whole slew of injuries from when he’d been transformed. Cuts on his leg, his arm, a few on his chest and back. His face was bruised and swollen, his nose bloody. Martus was grateful he was alive, but just being alive didn’t mean he was healthy. For now, quite the opposite was true. Without his bags, there wasn’t much Martus could do about any of it.

  He sat at Hal’s side for what felt like a lifetime waiting for him to wake up. He checked his breathing every now and again, applied pressure to his wounds, but there was nothing else he could do to speed his recovery. As it got darker and the buildings around them smoldered away to ash, the fire dying down, Martus started thinking about getting Hal somewhere for the night.

  The village was probably safe. He doubted any of its inhabitants would be returning this soon, but it wasn’t going to be comfortable for them to sleep on the ground, and obviously there was no inn from which to rent a room anymore. Martus tried to recall what the map had looked like the few times he’d glanced at it, but if there were any other towns nearby, he couldn’t recall them. Admittedly, he’d left most of the mapping to Hal since he was the expert.

  “Martus?” Lost in his thoughts, Martus almost had a heart attack when he heard Hal’s croaky voice. He jumped, immediately turning his attention back to him and taking his hand.

  “Hal! How do you feel? Do you need anything? I can’t believe you’re awake! I was so worried about you!” Martus resisted the urge to grab Hal and hug him as soon as he sat up. It probably wouldn’t be very pleasant on either of their wounds, as much as Martus wanted to hold him to confirm that he was alive and awake. Especially after being so terrified for so long that he wasn’t going to make it. “Can you remember what happened?”

  “Ugh,” Hal groaned, rubbing the palm of one hand against his head. “I feel like I just got beaten senseless and almost died. I… remember someone grabbed El, and I tried to stop them. But I couldn’t. Then I just… I got so angry. That’s all I really remember.” Hal frowned, looking around at the burned buildings surrounding them. “Where is she? I didn’t hurt her, did I? Martus, please tell me I didn’t hurt your sister.”

  Hal reached out to grab Martus’s wrist, his eyes flicking back and forth across his expression quickly. They were wide, worried, and Martus was quick to assuage his fears.

  “You didn’t hurt her. Hal, you would never hurt her. I really think you had more control than you think.” That might not hold up quite as well when they had to make their way home and Hal saw all the bodies, both human and animal, that were strewn throughout the forest. “You didn’t hurt anyone. You hurt some buildings, burned some trees, but I think all the villagers got away safely. I followed you. I got here not long after you, I think, and I got them to go away. They hurt you more than you hurt them.” Martus gestured to all Hal’s cuts and saw Hal visibly relax. His shoulders slumped, his eyes fell closed, and he let out a huge sigh of relief.

  “I’m sure I deserved it. Thank you for stopping me. I had hoped it wouldn’t happen, but at least I didn’t do too much harm. These people will have to rebuild their whole village, though. That… it’s so unfair. I wish I could stay and help them. Show them I’m sorry.” As he stared at the building, Hal’s eyes watered, his voice soft.

  “They would crucify you.” Martus wasn’t going to paint a nicer picture of how the villagers felt about Hal, because all it would lead to was him taking risks that Martus wasn’t willing to let him take. “The best thing we can do for these people is go home. Elsaben went with Mel and Fitzy. They’re taking care of her until we get back. I want to be home, Hal. I’m sure you do too. Can we leave?”

  It would be reasonable for Hal to say he didn’t have the energy, that he wanted to sleep awhile longer before they left. Martus was desperate to get back home and back to his sister, however, and he could only hope Hal was looking forward to sleeping in his own
bed as much as Martus was. Hal cared about Elsaben almost as much as Martus; he would probably want to get her back too.

  “Yes. Of course, I’m sorry. You weren’t waiting for me to wake up for long, were you? You should have just dragged me by the ankle.” Hal smiled weakly, pushing himself off the ground with a groan. Martus rushed to his side to help him up. Hal waved him away, however, his expression falling after a second. “Are you sure you want me to come home with you? I don’t want you to be in danger. I don’t know how much control I have right now.”

  “You’re fine. There is absolutely no one I want at home with me more than you at this moment. Once we get there, the job’s over, no one’s coming after us. You’re safe. I’m safe. Elsaben is safe. The only reason you transformed before was because you were trying to protect my little sister. I’ve done worse in an effort to do the same thing. I have complete faith in you.” While Martus spoke, he placed a hand on either side of Hal’s face, tilting his eyes up to meet his. Truly, he didn’t think they were in any danger from having Hal around. If he turned into a dragon to protect them, then there was no one they’d be safer with.

  “I hope you aren’t making a mistake.” Martus wasn’t ready for another argument, so he was relieved when Hal smiled softly and shrugged. “I’d be lying to say I won’t be happy to get home after all of this, though. Do you think Geraldine will still pay you even though Fitzy’ll be getting home before us?”

  Martus hadn’t even considered that between the help they’d gotten from Mel and him not actually bringing Fitzy to Gerdy she might not pay him. But he truly thought she would still pay. Especially when she saw the state he was in after the little mission to rescue her son. Either way, it was the last thing he wanted to think about right now.

  “I think she will. She understands I still did the job, I’m sure. Anyway, I’ll take another job if I have to. We have a home, and we’re all alive. That’s more than I can hope for anymore.” At the end of the day, Martus felt it was too much to assume even one of them would be alive, let alone all three of them, as well as Fitzy and Mel. He was relieved, nonetheless. “Let’s get going for now. We can worry about being paid once we get back home and have some time to sleep because we choose to rather than because we’ve been knocked unconscious, hm?”

  “That would be nice. I’m ready to leave when you are.” Hal glanced around, before frowning. “No horses, I’m guessing?”

  “No. We’ll have to walk the whole way. I’m sorry. We don’t have our bags either. I have some money, so if we get too tired on the way home, we can always stop and get a room.” Martus would prefer to walk all the way there, but he knew it was probably farther than he thought. It might be completely impossible for them to just keep walking all day and all night, especially with the state they were in. That being said, the sooner they left, the sooner they would get home.

  THEY ENDED up only stopping to take one nap on the way, and they just settled down by the side of the road and slept in the grass. By the time they got tired, it was the middle of the day and the sun made it a warm spot to have a rest. Hal wanted to push through the trip as much as Martus did, but it came to a point where neither of them could take a single step more, and they’d just had to stop.

  On the upside, when they woke, fixed each other up with a bit of healing magick, and got back on the road, both of them were completely rejuvenated. It would have been an easy trip, had it not started raining when they were about an hour out from the city.

  “Oh, wonderful! As if the trip couldn’t have gotten any worse!” Martus took his coat from his shoulders to hold it over himself and Hal until they could run under the tree line. The road they were on was one he’d walked many times, he knew exactly where they were, and they’d be home in the blink of an eye if they kept walking. If they waited out the storm, he wasn’t sure. Sometimes it only rained for an hour, sometimes even less than that, and it cleared up as quickly as the rain had come. Sometimes it rained for days on end.

  “What do you think, Hal? Should we risk our health to walk back through the rain or wait?” Martus could live even if they did just brave the rain. They might both end up catching a cold, but once they were home he’d welcome the excuse to lay in bed for a few days straight.

  “I’m ready to be home, honestly. I’m sure Elsaben is anxious to see you. We’ve been through worse this week than the rain. I know a bit of a quicker way back, I think, if we’re planning to head right into the city. I saw it on one of my maps a few weeks ago, but I think I remember it well enough to get us there.” Hal peered around for a moment before pointing to a small footpath that led in the direction of the city, slightly off to the right of the main road.

  “Then lead the way.” Martus grinned, holding an arm out and half bowing. Hal’s interest in maps and atlases had been a surprise, but since then, Martus had realized he truly was incredibly knowledgeable about them. If he thought he could get them home a bit faster, his word was good enough for Martus.

  “Do you think…?” As they started along the path, Hal spoke up, but he seemed to be having trouble finding the exact words. “Do you think it will be safe for me? To be around Fitzy and Mel, I mean? They must have seen me change and… they have every reason to be frightened. I would just rather stay away than cause a scene.”

  Martus didn’t feel the need to fill Hal in on the argument about his transformation that had gone on between himself and Mel. He didn’t think she would hurt him, or tell anyone else about what he was.

  “They may be a bit afraid.” Hal’s face fell at Martus’s words, and he nodded sadly. Quickly, Martus reached forward to take his hand. “They won’t hurt you, I really don’t think so. Mel knows that all you’ve ever done was help me and her. Fitzy couldn’t possibly care less, I don’t think. If you prefer to go back to the house while I get El, you can.” Before Hal could make a decision one way or another, Martus squeezed his hand, adjusting his tone to be a little softer. “I would prefer to have you with me, however.”

  Hal stayed quiet for a moment, but when he looked down at his feet, Martus could see him smiling a little to himself. He deserved to feel confident and wanted, and Martus would be pleased if he could assure him he wanted him around.

  “I can come into the city with you. If they seem like they aren’t pleased to see me, I’m sure I can find something to occupy my time.” Hal squeezed Martus’s hand gently as he spoke, and even cast a small smile over at him.

  “After this whole ordeal, I’m taking you out for a few drinks when we do get to the city.” Martus laughed, rubbing his free hand over the back of his neck.

  “You might do better to take me to the bookshop. I don’t know how well I’d be a fit for the pub,” Hal admitted with a grin, a slight flush appearing on his cheeks.

  They discussed all the fun things they’d do to unwind when they got home as they walked, and the rain was almost completely forgotten. The gloom and darkness it brought with it was replaced by light laughs and rosy cheeks, the two boys thoroughly enjoying each other’s company despite the soft twinges of pain every now and again.

  Eventually, the weather seemed to adjust to their moods, and as the first rays of sun started to peek through the clouds, they rose to the top of the final hill on their way home. Looking down, they could see their city, bathed in sunlight, and there was a harmonious sigh from the two friends as they made their way down to Chetsville.

  Chapter Eleven

  THE BLACKSMITH shop was closed when they got there, so Martus decided to check the pub for Mel and Fitzy, and if they weren’t there, he’d go straight to Gerdy’s house.

  It would have been almost impossible for him to guess what he would see when he walked in.

  The whole town seemed to have packed into the tiny building, and all of them were drunk off their asses. Fitzy, miraculously, was the only one who wasn’t. He was sitting off in the corner with Elsaben on his knee, and the whole rest of the table was filled with swooning women and, to be fair, swooning men. />
  “Ah, the man of the hour!” Fitzy rose to his feet as soon as he saw Martus come through the door, and the crowd parted like he’d cast a spell on them to let him get to the boy’s side. “These two good men were the ones who brought me back to you all. Buy them a few rounds, why don’t you?” The crowd erupted in screams and claps, half of them rushing over to Martus in a mob. Fitzy turned toward him with a wink, passing Elsaben into his arms and dropping a coin purse larger than any Martus had seen before in his life into one of his hands. “That’s from my mum. I may have convinced her to sweeten the pot a little from what your deal was. You got me back and took care of my sister. Speaking of which.”

  “Glad to see you two made it back alive and not all… murderous.” Mel fixed her gaze on Hal with the last word, but she didn’t press the topic any further, which Martus was grateful for. He saw Hal relax at his side when she changed the subject. “Mum’s thrilled that Fitzy’s back, of course. But I had a bit of a talk with her, and she wants him to make an honest living, not get into trouble like this. She doesn’t want him losing any more fingers, basically. So next time you get a job, if you like, you have two people who’d be happy to help you with it.”

  “Mel makes it sound like this was all my idea. She’s seen what she’s missing out on and she’s itching to get back at it. Just without being a horrible criminal again.” Fitzy smirked, bumping his shoulder against his sister’s.

  “Oh, shut up. You’re one to talk, being a drunken gambler and all.” Mel crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. But she couldn’t hide her smile.

  “Shh, don’t let my adoring fans hear. Who knows, they might stop wanting to constantly harass me. How would I survive?”

  “Oh, you love it.” Mel shook her head, before turning her attention back to Hal, Martus, and Elsaben, who had been watching the two interact in interested silence up until that point. “Anyway, Fitzy got a party in his honor, and he passed it along to the two of you. Everything’s being paid for by someone, so enjoy it.”