“Hello,” he started quietly. She got the impression that he was trying not to disturb Matt, who sat nearby with his nose in spell books again. “How are you doing?”
Anna opened her mouth to say she was fine, but then closed it. She needn’t keep up appearances about this whole thing with him. If they couldn’t be honest with each other here, they were even worse off.
“Worried,” she confessed, frowning.
He nodded. “About anything in particular?”
After a moment, she admitted, “Everything but you, really. You’re the only one who can take care of yourself in this. The rest of us are hopeless.”
His dubious expression suggested he didn’t agree and she felt glad that he didn’t contradict her. She needed to believe it.
“I take it you aren’t planning to heal anyone with prayer,” he remarked without judgment.
“I doubt I could,” she admitted.
“Since you’re in a new reality, can you pretend and go through the motions of communing with these gods in case it turns out to be real? It won’t be the first surprise on this quest.”
She looked into the pile of burning elves and ogres. He had a point there, and while the carnage had made her guard drop, she wasn’t ready for that. “Maybe, but not yet,” she admitted.
He leaned toward her, remarking, “Not to rush you, but you’re a little short on time.”
She knew what he meant, that they’d reach the castle and trouble tomorrow, but in looking at the pyre, she realized they might all be short on time in a different way if they were all killed. Companionship for her friends made her lean against him for comfort, missing the days when he would joke with her. Everything had become serious and it seemed like all of them were changing. Eric put one arm around her.
Up in the tower, Ryan happened to look down just then and felt an unexpected pang of jealousy. He turned back to his sword, which stood point down before him as he sat on a bench, the hilt in his hand. Tomorrow he’d have to use it and he reminded himself of the reason – to defend himself and his friends so they wouldn’t end up in a funeral pyre on a strange world where friends and family would never know what became of them. He resigned himself to the coming violence and would pray for forgiveness tonight before it even started. Seeing the elves in mourning, he realized his second lesson with the lance wasn’t going to happen tonight and he hoped to never need it.
As he sat lost in thought, he didn’t notice Anna climbing up to him until she sat down beside him. They exchanged a look before both turned their attention over the dark forest, the looming mountains a darker black against the night sky, two of the three moons visible overhead. Not for the first time, Ryan stared at them bleakly for what they were – a reminder that they were far from home.
He seldom forgot to wonder what Daniel was doing back on Earth, but for the first time it occurred to him that Daniel was probably worried what had happened to him and the others. After all, it wasn’t like Ryan to not check in. A search had likely started right away but not mattered. It wasn’t like anyone would find them.
“Are you ready?” Anna asked quietly as he put away the sword.
He glanced at her, having wondered the same thing about her. “Are you?”
“Not really, no. I’m hoping I won’t be needed.”
He nodded slowly. “I couldn’t agree more.”
“There’s nothing I can do to help anyone,” said Anna, “so I feel kind of useless. I can’t exactly heal people here.”
He looked out over the woods. “Don’t be so sure. Magic works here, and they believe in it. So do I, in fact. I’ve seen it now, and we’ve heard the stories Matt’s been telling of his magic training. If magic works and people believe in it, it stands to reason that faith-based healing works, too, since they believe in that. No one’s lied to us about anything. So far.”
She nodded reluctantly. “Maybe, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be able to do it. And I’d have to believe it first, which I don’t see happening anytime soon. I wish I had at least basic medical supplies like on Earth.” After a moment, she added, “You know, there are people who believe in faith-based healing back home, too, but it doesn’t work there.”
Knowing they were tiptoeing around her atheism and politely avoiding an argument about that, he asked, “How can you be sure?”
She frowned. “Well, I suppose I can’t be, but do you really believe that it works on Earth?”
He opened his mouth to say yes, then closed it. “I don’t know. I’ve thought about taking Daniel to one of these guys, but they wanted a lot of money, which to me meant it was a scam.”
“Right,” she said.
Suddenly something occurred to him. “Wait a minute. If you could learn to heal people here, you could do it on Earth and heal Daniel!” He stood up in excitement. “Think about it. We know magic works there because the Quest Ring worked there, so it stands to reason that healing works, too. You just have to learn how and then you could heal Daniel!”
They stared at each other silently. “But Ryan–”
“No! No buts!” He grabbed her by the arms and lifted her to her feet. “It will work! I know it!” His excited shouts turned the attention of those in the camp to them. “How could I have not seen it earlier? That’s the reason I’m here. You’re here. It all makes sense
