out of his chair and weaved himself between the stunned patrons towards the injured man. Coming to the man’s side Ashton dropped to his knees and closed his eyes, looking to the sky. His childish features relaxed and he spoke soft words then in Prayer to his Goddess, and opening his eyes looked down to the man who lay before him. Lightly grabbing the man’s protective hands, he peeled them back to assess the damage. Several people who had gathered around him, including the twins, gasped at the sight. The man's jaw was broken and ripped wide open spurting blood, his nose almost completely detached from his face. Ashton composed his face to one of un-terrified concern. He lowered his own hands above the man's face leaving a breath of a hair between himself and the man's mangled features. Chanting something nearly inaudible Ashton’s features seemed strained with some unseen exertion. Yellow and white light began to glow at his fingertips slowly, steadily encompassing his entire hands. With each repetition of his chant the light increased in intensity. Sweat beaded on Ashton’s forehead, and his body began to tremble lightly. He chanted louder and louder though his words were incoherent, something foreign. The light from his hands now encompassed the face of the injured man, and Ashton’s body shook more violently. Almost as if a cold wind blew down the young healer’s spine his body shuddered as the magic took him over racing through his blood. Ashton’s body was consumed in light for a moment as he regained control over the power that coursed through him. As if struck with an arrow he suddenly stopped chanting, his eyes popping wide open, he grinned in the direction of the twins then went limp falling to the floor. Ashton lay, eyes wide, breathing shallowly, still grinning at the amazing sensation coursing through his blood. The injured man lay next to Ashton, lying in a pool of his own blood. The man looked up at the faces around him, mouths wide open in wonder or horror, and he couldn’t be sure which. All the man knew was that most of the pain in his face had abated and the ringing in his ears had vanished completely. Not knowing how to react, he put his hands back up to shield his face, try to stop the blood. There was no blood, not now. Reaching up to touch his face he found with his blood stained fingers that his face had been completely and utterly restored. The guests all stared at the man on the floor and the boy beside him speechless. Only Garret and Seth reacted. They raced to their fallen friend and reached down each grabbing Ashton under an arm drug his limp form through the crowd and rested him in a chair. Garret shouted for some water, and a moment later the barmaid came hustling to their side with a large mug of clean water.
Long moments passed as Garret tried unsuccessfully to make Ashton drink the water. Ashton just sat there propped in the chair, a crooked grin on his face, eyes wide open oblivious to the world outside his own mind. The injured man had since regained his feet and was towering in front of Ashton with a look of unsurpassed gratitude lighting his face. The barmaid too was standing nearby incase the boys required anything further. The bar keep had come around the bar and was standing behind the small crowd, easily looking over their heads at the comatose boy. Ashton Blinked. The crowd froze. His lips settled into a straight line. The crowd still refused to move; now most of them stared at him with anxious faces their eyes wide. Ashton took a deep breath and shook his head as if to clear it of some invisible fog. The crowd roared a cheer like the boy had just slain a dragon.
The rest of the boy’s evening was filled with people approaching to congratulate Ashton. It was obvious that this made him more than a little uncomfortable, and often he replied that it was his Goddess that performed the healing, using him as her vessel. After the common room had cleared out a bit, with locals returning to their homes, and travelers retiring to their rooms, the twins finally had time to ask Ashton the questions they had been dying to ask for the last few hours. Garret started in on him first with questions about his limitations, could he restore an amputated limb and the such. These Ashton quickly pronounced were beyond his ability for the time being; however with proper training it was possible he could someday achieve such feats. As it were however, the miracle he performed here in the inn this evening was pushing his luck, testing his boundaries. It wasn’t that the power blessed to him was limited, Ashton had explained, it was his ability to control it, his ability to bend it to his will and do his bidding. The Goddess supplied the power, but it was left to him to wield it properly. While explaining all this to Garret, Seth sat silently, absorbing the information and had only one question for his friend.
“What does it feel like?” He had started, then thinking to clarify his question better continued with. “I mean what is it like when your Goddess feeds her power through you. It almost seemed that you were enjoying yourself while performing, and then when you finished healing the man it was like you were drunk or something?”
Ashton thought about the question for a moment, pondering the best way to explain it. Unable to find a perfect comparison, tried to explain as best he could.
“Well, I guess you could say that it feels wonderful to channel her power. It is kind of like a drug I guess, you feel it throughout your entire body like it is surging through your blood. It’s the best feeling you could ever imagine. For me it is like I can actually feel Lorentia’s love like a physical thing pumping through my body. It’s hard to explain really.”
Seth nodded in response taking the answer as it was. Perhaps if given the chance he could someday ask other magic users if they felt the same way.
The boys decided to get some rest, so they could get an early start in the morning. They found their room quickly, and unlocked the door. They clamored inside, piling all their packs in a corner. It was a small simple room all made with the same stone as the exterior of the building with a desk and two beds. Being that it was an interior room there was no window, only a small lamp that hung off a peg in the wall. Seth was quick to give up his place in a bed for the night, as it was obvious that Ashton was quite drained. Ashton argued that he should sleep on the floor being as the twins had been the ones to pay, but both of the twins squashed his argument and so it was decided. Both Garret and Ashton undressed and climbed into their beds. Seth pulled his blanket from his pack and curled up on the floor, his back against the door. The Trio was quick to find sleep this night. None tossed or turned, all exhausted from their long day. When morning came, none would remember having any dreams. It would be a peaceful night.
Chapter 3
Ashton was the first to wake, and was unsure if he should wake the twins or let them continue to sleep. He got out of bed, and while getting himself dressed, accidentally knocked Seth’s sword over with a loud clatter. Both twins sat up looking around. It took them a moment to remember where they were, and both of their gazes settled on Ashton who stood frozen, a sheepish grin on his face.
“Sorry ‘bout that guys” He said to them sincerely.
“No problem.” Garret replied still groggy. “We needed to get up early anyhow.” He added clearing his throat.
All three of them got dressed then and grabbed their equipment. They headed back out the door of their room, and down the hall to the common room. The hall was empty but voices could be heard already from the common room echoing down the stone hallway. They made their way back to the familiar room to be greeted by several faces they had seen the night before. Looking around Seth caught the eye of the barkeep behind the bar and the large man smiled and waved them over. Nudging his brother and Ashton, Seth relayed the unspoken invitation. The three of them made their way to the bar and seated themselves, where the night before, Ashton had performed a miracle of his chosen deity. The barkeep approached them from across the stone bar, a smile still on his face, and greeted them with his loud booming voice. He thanked them, his eyes on Ashton, for their help the previous night, and graciously offered them breakfast “on the house.” The boys happily accepted, and the barkeep turned and disappeared through a large door behind the bar. The three companions looked at each other in wonder. They sat for a while quietly; taking in the room now lit with the morning sun, and realized it was quite a cheery place. Garret and Seth looked around, comparing this inn to the very one they had been raised in. The inns really had little in common, besides the fact they both had a bar in the center of the common room and a kitchen past that. Other than those two facts, the two inns were hardly comparable. Garret, still looking around, noticed that many of the inns patrons were looking at them, speaking in whispers and muffled tones. Some of them pointed towards the bar when they spoke, some of them simply jerked their heads in the boys’ direction. Thinking that Ashton’s acts last night must have spread through the town and these were people come to see the healer, Garret looked to Ashton to see if he had noticed as well.
It was immediately apparent that Ashton had noticed, his head hanging low to hide his face, and his cheeks burned crimson with embarrassment. Seth too was looking at Ashton, with a look of pity on his face. Meeting eyes
