Chanyeol laid Sehun down in the grass near the roadside, just behind where Suho held onto their horses and Jongdae stood surveying the carcass of the third bear. Baekhyun and Jongin crowded around the noble boy, silently examining him for any wounds or injuries, although it appeared to Xiumin that Sehun was more shocked than anything else. 

The mage was the last one out of the tree line, and he couldn’t help notice Luhan’s face of wonderment when he returned. No matter what Jongin might have said, Xiumin knew Luhan thought he’d be gone. He also knew that instead of running, Xiumin was stalking wordlessly up to the templar like the stupid apostate he was, and… returning the staff. 

The templar accepted it, all without a spoken word. His expression was kind of funny, however, and Xiumin had to smirk. That drew Luhan’s concern.

“What is it?” demanded the templar, offended. He stared at the staff newly placed in his hand. “Where’s the trick?” 

Xiumin smiled. “There’s no trick. You said I could retrieve this if we got into trouble, we did, and now I’m returning it.”

Luhan still looked suspicious. “So you are… Does, does this mean you will also come with me to the Circle Tower?”

“Are you asking me nicely?”

“I…” Luhan couldn’t finish the thought. For all that Xiumin seemed to be playing a game, there wasn’t anything truly ‘nice’ to his tone of voice. He spoke deliberately, as if Luhan’s word was law whether he asked the mage or not, and Xiumin enjoyed confusing him, letting him think that may be so.

Perhaps the templar was as stupid as Xiumin had first thought him, but Xiumin had no intention of walking sweetly into the Circle Tower. It was Luhan’s misfortune that pity moved him to leave the mage unbound. If they kept this up, Xiumin would have Luhan believing they were equals and that Xiumin could be trusted, when Luhan had no business trusting him. He’d slip away long before they got to the north beacon of Lake Calenhad. Perhaps, since they were going to Redcliffe first, there would be his opportunity.

“Xiumin!” Baekhyun was calling him, while Luhan had yet to speak. There was still a bit of a crowd around Sehun, although Chanyeol was starting to usher them all backwards to let the boy have room to breathe. Jongin stood off to the side with an extremely worried expression. Alistair prowled around the tree line sniffing for whatever had nagged Sehun. 

Baekhyun looked rather calmer now as Xiumin approached. 

“Did he say anything?” asked the mage.

“Nothing that makes sense,” said Jongin. “Best we can make out, he was backing up to avoid the bear and something grabbed him.”

“And, we still don't know what,” Baekhyun concluded. He and Xiumin exchanged that look again. 

“You suspect the person or creature that's been following us though?” Luhan had not stayed back, nor could he stay out of the conversation.

Chanyeol looked up sharply from the ground, and unfortunately Luhan's voice carried in the wind and even Jongdae and Suho heard him speak. Their faces ranged between mildly intrigued to terribly alarmed. 

“And, here we go again.” Baekhyun sighed and strode off to explain the situation as best he could. 

Xiumin knelt beside Sehun on the grass to examine him himself. He'd started to fuss already over Chanyeol's mothering and that was the best sign yet that he was going to be okay. Unlike Chanyeol though, Xiumin was gentler and Sehun actually let him touch his face, arms and parts of his body, or at least he did so with less scowling. Until Xiumin accidentally brushed along a spot on Sehun's right side below his armpit. Sehun made a face, like Xiumin had hit a bruise. The mage and Chanyeol both froze.

“May I?” said Xiumin, pulling at Sehun's untucked shirt. 

The boy nodded, vaguely embarrassed. 

Slowly Xiumin scrunched the fabric up revealing a pale stretch of skin. There, just along the edge of his ribs was a mark. No bruise, as Xiumin expected to see. Instead, Sehun's skin bore the mark of a hand print. It was neither large, nor tiny, but it had the definite shape of a human hand. It was grey, as if the skin marked by it was starting to decay, although oddly enough it was already beginning to fade. Sehun squirmed, craning his head trying to see what it was that had Chanyeol and Xiumin so fascinated, and when he finally saw it, a torturous gasp echoed from his lips. Xiumin winced, tugged the shirt back into place before it drew the others' attention, and he sent Chanyeol a warning glance.

“Just dirt, probably,” he said quickly. “And it's already rubbing off, Sehun. No need to worry.”  

Sehun acted like he didn't want to believe it, but Xiumin could sound persuasive when he wanted to. He soothed the boy's bangs and smiled like a healer. He'd always had a great bedside manner, although restorative powers were not one of his specialties.

“Should we make camp here?” Jongin questioned Luhan when Xiumin stood up again. “We need the rest. Chanyeol will want to skin the bears. This is as good a place as any unless...” he trailed off and stared pointedly at Sehun. 

“I think it's fine,” said Xiumin. “As you say, it's as good a place as any. Plus, our dinner's already lying on the ground. We'll eat good bear meat tonight.”

It should have bothered Luhan that Xiumin was becoming a sage of wisdom within the traveling party. Most everyone including the templar himself were already deferring to the mage’s insight concerning people. That had happened naturally and seamlessly along the way. Luhan almost  flattered himself that it had something to do with how Xiumin treated Luhan, his should-be captor, with a cautious respect. At the very least he treated him more as an individual, on par with the other humans [elves and dwarves] in their party. To Luhan, he was more reserved than he was with Sehun for example, but the level of respect the others now had for him was incredible, and it was only growing with time.

The latest occurrence with the creature following their group, and Baekhyun and Xiumin’s joint rescue of Sehun, pushed things over an even higher pedestal. Xiumin was now the leading expert of the hand print on Sehun’s side, and the only reason Luhan knew of this was because Xiumin had told Jongin, and the warrior had been open enough to pass it onto Luhan. They were now discussing the matter discretely on the other side of the fire with Baekhyun, soft enough that their most candid observations would not be overheard by Sehun. The boy sat mostly by himself, more sullen today than when he’d been dressed as a girl, and Luhan took compassion on him. 

“Hungry?” he said for way of introduction. He sat down beside him, although Sehun did not look up. Chanyeol was still overseeing the task of skinning the bears with Jongdae, and Suho had surprisingly shown an aptitude for roasting the newly fleshed meat. 

Sehun grunted. Luhan suspected that was as much as an affirmative as he would share.

“What’s the first thing you want to do when we get to Redcliffe?” Luhan changed the topic abruptly. That seemed to pique his interest. 

“Sleep in a real bed for a night.” Sehun smiled.

“The inn there isn’t quite as comfortable as the ones you are used to, but it’ll do.”

“You’ve been there?” The boy actually turned his head towards him.

“Once, about a year ago. When I was just transferred to Ferelden. I was part of an from the Circle Tower to Redcliffe and back again. Nothing fancy.”

Sehun hummed to himself, mulling over something in his head Luhan couldn’t read. Then he asked, “What’s the Circle Tower like?”

Luhan shrugged, surprised. “It’s drafty. Like any other castle I guess. And it’s situated on an island in the lake so it’s pretty cold and—“

“No, I mean like for mages.”

“What?”

“You… you’re taking Xiumin there. I just wanted to know what it’ll be like for him.” 

“Oh.” Luhan had no immediate answer. “It’s… nice, I suppose. Never a dull day. There’s lot of things for mages to do and…” Sensing Sehun displeasure, Luhan quickly cleared his throat and hastened to explain. “I mean, it’s not a prison like people think it is. Sure we watch over mages, but it’s for everyone’s safety, including theirs.” 

“But what if he doesn't want to go?”

“He… I… he needs to go though,” said Luhan stubbornly.

“For everyone’s safety,” Sehun repeated, like he couldn’t really agree. 

“Yes.”

They let the matter sit for a moment, Sehun quietly reflecting while Luhan discreetly looked around to make sure Xiumin wasn’t suddenly sitting close enough to have heard. He wasn’t though; he and Sehun’s two protectors were still deep in counsel. Sehun followed his gaze.

“I don’t want to go to West Hills either,” he said then. 

“How come?”

Sehun shrugged. “I don’t know why I need to be there. I just wanted to stay home.” 

With that part at least Luhan could agree. He hadn’t wanted to leave Nevarra either. He hadn’t wanted to be sent as a mere teenager into the Chantry, not to read the Chant of the Light and become another 'brother' as he'd originally thought, but to learn fighting and work his way into the Templar Order. It wasn't a life he would have chosen for himself, but not many in this world got to craft their own destiny.

He tried to share this with Sehun. Luhan got as far as being sworn into the ranks and then receiving a directive to report to Lake Calenhad, and how upset he’d been with that decision, when Sehun scoffed loudly.

“And now you go about telling others where to go.” 

Luhan held in an exasperated sigh. So Sehun would probably fail out of any military order; it was probably a good thing he was born to the noble class, even if he was conceived at the wrong time in the wrong bedchamber. He’d do very well abiding by his conscious, wherever his conscious happened to fly. That was the problem with the upper classes — they were very good at giving orders for things they wanted done, but not enamored of being told to do things. Nor did they understand the people whose lives were spent doing what others ordered, if those goals did not happen to line up with their own ideals.

He didn’t try to argue with him now though. It wouldn’t have done any good and in any case, the real matter they were discussing, Xiumin, hadn’t yet shown a sign that he was trying to run off. Not since his self-botched attempt during the bandit raid several days ago. Perhaps he had nothing better to do than stay with the party. Maybe he really had decided to go with Luhan to the Circle. Or maybe he thought he could stray whenever he felt like it, or that Luhan wouldn’t be able to stop him from going. Maybe Luhan would let him go anyways…

“Are… are you two hungry?” 

Luhan startled and looked around. When standing, Suho stood about as high as Luhan’s rib cage, but for now he actually had to look up at the dwarf who hovered above him with a portion of their dinner. Not only bits of meat, but several bowls of sloppy gruel soup. 

“You cooked this?” Luhan asked, and he smiled while he accepted the bowls for both him and Sehun. “Thank you. Will you sit with us?”

Sehun looked hesitant at Luhan’s offer, side-eying the dwarf suspiciously, but he didn’t oppose it entirely. Chanyeol was headed to the others with similar foodstuffs, and Jongdae was still playing with his knives beside the carcass of one of the dead bears. 

“Thank you,” said Suho as he plopped down. 

They ate in silence, and Luhan was surprised the gruel didn’t taste only of dust. It seemed their dwarf knew what herbs to collect to make food taste edible, and though it wasn’t much, it was the best meal Luhan had had since he left the Circle Tower. 

“Were you a cook with the uhhh…” Luhan hesitated to complete that sentence, and Suho looked just as nervous. Ever since Jongin’s pronouncement that the man could stay with them as far as Redcliffe, he’d effectively if unofficially announced a truce upon Suho’s involvement with the smugglers. 

“With the… Carta?” Suho squeaked out in the end. 

No one had argued with Jongin. If Luhan had been a real soldier, and not just a Chantry military lackey — really Sehun should praise him for this — Luhan might have felt obliged to hand Suho over to the authorities just as he was with Xiumin. Yet, he had other matters to attend. 

“Yeah,” said Luhan.

“No, not really. It’s just something I kind of learned along the way. I’m not good with… fighting, or dealing, or… lying. So, I just kind of followed and did whatever I had to.”

Jongdae interrupted them before Luhan got a chance to ask how Suho had ended up with the Carta. The assassin certainly had a knack for appearing around people without warning. 

“Hey, good food, friend.” He had served himself and he squished himself cozily into a place around the fire beside Suho. The dwarf was learning to contain how uncomfortable he felt around the assassin, but his fear was still there, just simmering. 

Luhan tipped his head but didn’t say much. Another truce they’d accidentally agreed upon, having an assassin in the party, but Jongdae’s fighting skills had been absolutely essential, and he was rather good-natured in general.

“So I’m guessing we’re the uncool group tonight, huh?” 

“What do you mean?” asked Luhan.

“Well, I mean look at us here… them over there. It’s obvious we’re the outcasts. No offense to the boy of course,” Jongdae quickly apologized to Sehun. 

“Speak for yourself.” Sehun would not take his apology.  Luhan did not point out that either that he, a reputable knight was here as well, while his apostate sat with the warriors. 

“Say, what are they doing over there anyway?” 

“Probably planning complicated maneuvers to keep me safe in the future,” said Sehun with a petulant sigh. 

“Oh, from whatever it was that tried to run off with you? I guess you don’t know who it was?” asked Jongdae.

“Obviously, I do not,” Sehun grunted, faster than Luhan would have thought possible. 

“Didn’t see him very well, is that it? Oh well, good thing you have a strong band of men protecting you. And then turning their backs on you while you sit with the uncool crowd. Hey, at least Luhan’s mostly respectable. You must feel safe with a templar sitting beside you.”

Sehun practically sneered at the man. Luhan guessed it was his way of dealing with unease, although Sehun had almost been kidnapped earlier. However he needed to deal with that, Luhan wouldn’t fault him too much. He did, however, keep more than a keen eye on their surroundings as the sun went down, just to be safe. Until they got to Redcliffe he considered Sehun just as much his charge as he did Xiumin. Luhan wondered, just when had he became so concerned for other people. He was usually so good at sticking to the plan laid out for him, and this leg of his journey was not part of the plan.

Before it became too late, Jongdae insisted on starting another round of weapons training. After assuring everyone that he was completely fine, Sehun agreed to taking up a pair of spare daggers and, under Chanyeol’s watchful eye, he copied and followed Jongdae’s movements with a zeal Luhan hadn't yet seen on the boy. 

Luhan laid himself up by a tree, back resting on the trunk with his arms folded. Baekhyun was happily scribbling something into a thin unbound journal, and where he picked it up was anyone's guess. Suho was still completely no good with daggers and it certainly didn’t help that Chanyeol glared at him every chance he got.

“I still don’t know why we allow this,” the two-handed warrior cried out after one particularly harrowing experience when Suho accidentally flung out his hand and let go one of the blades. After ducking to avoid being hit, Chanyeol finally had enough and decided the dwarf had absolutely no business trying to fight like this.

“You’re right,” Jongdae callously agreed with him. Chanyeol looked confused that he would even say that. 

“I know! But... huh?”

“Daggers are no good for him. I think I know what'll work better though. Chanyeol, why don’t you teach him how to use a sword? He’s got arm muscle. He could swing a larger weapon. A mace perhaps? Why don’t you show him?” Chanyeol looked at the assassin like he'd gone mad. 

“Absolutely not! You’re not going to distract me from watching over Sehun. That- that’s not your job!”

“Chanyeol, friend, believe me I’d much rather watch over Suho,” Jongdae winked at the dwarf, “But, alas! The weapon chooses the warrior, and he’s not destined to learn my craft. This one on the other hand...” He demonstrated Sehun who was holding his blades with a lot more precision than even two nights ago. There was mixed, casual pride in his eyes, but then his eyes shifted back to Suho. “Yes, it’s a pity. Teach the dwarf. Then maybe he won’t fall over his own feet while trying to distract a bear. Hmm. Yes?”

Jongdae smiled so winningly that it struck Chanyeol speechless. Amazingly though, he agreed.

“He’s going to kill that man one of these nights,” said a soft voice a little while later, chuckling near Luhan’s ear.

“Who's killing who, Jongdae or Chanyeol?” said Luhan. 

“Perhaps we could bet on it, but my vote is on Chanyeol hyperventilating out of pure frustration alone.” 

Xiumin sat by him, legs crossed as he rested forward on his elbows, and Luhan let the sounds of the forest and their fire, and the metal from the practice grounds wash over and between them. Every night for nearly a week he'd sat with Xiumin, and he suddenly realized that, bad meals aside, he would actually miss this in some capacity.

“We’ll be in Redcliffe in two days probably,” he told the mage.

Xiumin was silent.

“So maybe they’ll both live until then,” Luhan continued. 

Xiumin hummed encouragingly.

“Or perhaps we’ll all get eaten by bears, and then there won’t be anything more to fuss over.”

The mage’s soft laughter was music to his ears. “I think if bears are the worst thing we come across again, we’ll be fine.” 

Luhan started yawning and looked around for their bedroll. Alistair was sleeping on it, and he didn't have the energy yet to disturb the animal. “What’s worse than bears?” he asked.

“Hmm, more bandits? I mean, more than three or four bandits like we've been getting. A giant bear?” Xiumin suggested. He clasped his palms together, thinking about more options. “Werewolves? How about a giant?”

“There aren’t any giants in these parts.”

“So they say. What about giant spiders though? Or maybe we should just get ready to face a dragon? This is the age of the dragon, you know. I hear they've woken up, and they like to hunt.”

Luhan laughed. “Us fighting a dragon? That’ll be the day. Nobody is equipped to fight a dragon.”

“Perhaps. Although I hear it can be done. Okay, so no giants or dragons. What’s worse than giants or dragons though? Mages?” 

Luhan drew in his breath, knew Xiumin was waiting to see how or if he would answer. A tricky question from the tricky person he was discovering Xiumin to be.

“Not all mages are scary…” he proposed slowly, and Xiumin nodded. 

“Good, good,” he said softly. Then, even lighter under his breath, and Luhan hadn’t known that was possible, he asked, “How about… darkspawn?”

That night, and for several nights after, Sehun would dream about that ordeal. Being frightened and panicked, not remembering how to use the weapons in his hand, and doubting they'd have any use against a bear as well. How he'd backed up to get away, found himself cornered by a tree and not knowing what to do. 

Then something had grabbed him, pulling him to safety, taking him away. Something that seemed no more than whirl of shadows, but it had a corporeal feel. He'd had no time to protest, not when it was tugging him out of the line of the bear's attack and deeper into the forest, a hand under his armpit, a matching one on the other side and, Sehun hadn't shown them where the other mark had been. The one beneath his knee where, when Sehun had panicked and dropped to the ground, he had been picked up and carried away. Before he was laid down in the grove by the fallen tree and left there. 

Had the person, the thing, meant to leave him? Or was he startled by Baekhyun's and Xiumin's sudden pursuit? Sehun didn't know. But in his dreams his kept searching out for the face of the creature, and in his dreams, just like in the day, he couldn't see past the swirling grey robes of whoever carried him, head shrouded and body covered except for the ashy hands that held him. 

Xiumin wouldn't confirm what the hand print on his skin had looked like, and within minutes it was already faded, but the touch and the feel remained, even if they were no longer visible. Would Sehun die now? Did he have the taint? Or was Blight sickness no more than a rush of adrenaline, fear, and uncertainty? He didn't feel like death. Scared and mystified, perhaps, but not like death. 

CODEX UPDATED: 

Handwritten journal entry written in a sloppy hand, indicating a youthful author who obviously perished before completing his note.

**My mum used to tell me that Bears were evil little blokes, who ate bad little Ferelden Children when they wouldn’t listen to their parents. I believed her, she was a scary one my mum was. But here I sit, writing about bears when I am out here looking for one of the dreaded creatures. I can’t think of any other way to prove my love for my dear and lovely and precious fair lady then to deliver her a bear pelt. I saw her, I did, on the road towards Redcliffe, her hair long and beautiful. A bit manly, sure, but nothing some good ale can’t fix. The lady, not the bear. I hope catching one of these roary beasts will make her mine. Maker’s breathe, I don’t even see why I am writing this down, I – just heard a roar. Mum would think I was so brav~

Here ends the entry, blood splattered on the binding.

“Baekhyun, what are you doing over there by the bear? We’re supposed to be leaving now,” Jongin called over his shoulder to the elf who was bending over suspiciously next to the carcass.

“Nothing, nothing. I’m coming now. Just leaving a little poetic vindication.” 

3,888 words

I almost forgot to post this chapter today. Didn't you guys luck out lol. 

Not to make anything a little creepy, but oh look - something a little creepy! So what're your theories now on what/who took Sehun? And also, show of hands of people who think Xiumin will be waltzing nicely into the Circle Tower? Anyone? 

**Guest writer cameo: London_Calling, for the codex journal entry. I'll note this here, and not in the glossary, but anytime a CODEX comes up, it's just a roll call for letters, scraps of paper, journal entries, etc. There'll be more to come in future, some real, some... not so real. ;) Our Baekhyun does have a taste for fiction some times. 

One more time:

• Luhan - Human, templar warrior, one-handed sword and shield
• Xiumin - Human, mage, apostate, borrowed/stolen mage staff
• Baekhyun - Elf, rogue archer, scout
• Chanyeol - Human, warror, two-handed greatsword
• Jongin - Human, warrior, one-handed sword and shield
• Sehun - Human, bastard but of noble birth, dual-wield-in-training
• Jongdae - Human, Crow assassin, dual wield
• Suho - Dwarf, Carta smuggler/lackey, two-handed-mace-in-training
• Something with grey, ashy hands.
• Alistair - Dog

See you guys next week,

♡ Rosie