"You idiot!" Snowcloud looked at Arran with tear-filled eyes. "I thought you had died!"
Arran didn't respond. She had repeated variations on the same words at least a dozen times in just the past half hour, and by now, he understood there was nothing he could say that would make a difference.
When he returned to the castle, he had expected her to be angry, even furious. What he had not expected was for her to hug him while nearly crying her eyes out.
In Arran's view, this was considerably worse than anything he'd been prepared for. Her anger, he could weather. But this, he had no idea how to handle. It was clear his absence had hurt her, and that she had spent the weeks he was gone in worry, fretting that he had died or been captured.
He had apologized, of course, but it seemed an apology wasn't what she wanted. As for what she did want, Arran had no idea.
Part of him blamed Stoneheart for the situation. The novice had followed Arran's instructions to the letter, not telling anyone about Arran's involvement in the battle — not even Snowcloud. Instead, he had merely told her that Arran had another task to fulfill and that he did not know when Arran would return.
This was not at all what Arran had intended. Snowcloud was one of the few people who already knew about his Blood magic, and he had expected Stoneheart to understand that there was no harm in informing her about the battle.
But it seemed the tall novice wasn't big on independent thought — or maybe he just feared messing up again.
Elder Naran hadn't been of use in soothing Snowcloud's worries, either. The man had disappeared not long after Arran and Stoneheart departed, and when he finally returned, he had locked himself away in his quarters, not allowing anyone to disturb him.
That left Tuya, and she had been worse than useless.
Rather than comforting Snowcloud, Tuya had mused about all the glorious and dangerous battles Arran must be fighting while he was gone. Arran's prolonged absence, she had said, could only mean he had been sent after a particularly formidable foe.
All told, Snowcloud had been convinced Arran was in mortal danger, and now that he was back, her reaction was a forceful one.
"You should have let me know," she said after a time. By now, she had calmed down, and although her eyes were still red, she was no longer crying.
Arran nodded, knowing that she wasn't wrong. He should have instructed Stoneheart to inform Snowcloud that he would be delayed, but only because he was hunting the remnants of the defeated army.
But he hadn't, and there was nothing he could do to change that now.
For a few moments Snowcloud was silent, and Arran seized the opportunity to change the subject.
"I brought you something," he said, handing Snowcloud a void bag that the herbs he'd received in the village.
Snowcloud accepted the bag with a curious frown, then took a few moments to inspect its contents. As she did, her eyes went wide with surprise. "Where did you get this?"
"I saved a village from some attackers," Arran said. "The villagers gave me the herbs in thanks. Is there anything you need among them?"
Snowcloud nodded, looking slightly puzzled. "This has one of the few ingredients I still needed," she said, knitting her brow. Then, she looked up at Arran. "You saved a village? From what?"
"It was attacked by a group of soldiers," he replied. "I stopped the attack."
A deep frown appeared on Snowcloud's face. "Tell me what happened." With a thoughtful look, she added, "From the start."
Arran did as she asked, telling her about the battle and everything that followed. He didn't bother to hide anything — Snowcloud was his only real ally in the Shadowflame Society, after all.
He had expected her to be surprised when he got to the novices' involvement, but she merely gave him a pensive nod, then told him to continue. From what he could tell, it seemed like she'd already considered the possibility.
Finally, he got to the events at the village. At this, her eyes finally went wide with shock as she listened.
"You did what?!" She looked at Arran in astonishment.
"I gave them some Body Refinement techniques," he repeated. Hurriedly he added, "But only ones I created myself. I didn't give them the Shadowflame techniques."
She shook her head. "Don't tell anyone about this."
"What I did, was it forbidden?" Arran asked, an uneasy feeling now rising in him. He had little knowledge of the Shadowflame Society's rules, and even less of what would happen if he broke them.
"Not forbidden, exactly," Snowcloud replied, her expression complex. "But most villages and towns here can go centuries without ever seeing even a single mage. With an entire village learning Body Refinement, the balance of power in the region will change completely."
"It changed the moment the army was scattered," Arran replied. "The soldiers who escaped will make sure of that. I just gave the villagers a chance to survive."
He already understood that his actions would have consequences, but even so, he did not regret his decision. Perhaps he had been more eager to help Riverbend because it shared a name with his hometown, but the fact of the matter was that after the army's defeat, the region would see many more Body Refiners arise. And the more of them that didn't follow the Blood God's cult, the better.
"I suppose we'll see the results in a few years," Snowcloud said with a sigh. "But right now, there are other matters to worry about. After what you brought me, I only need two more ingredients, and getting them will require some travel."
"Two?" Arran frowned, somewhat disappointed. He had hoped Snowcloud already had all the ingredients she needed. "What are they?"
"I still need dragon blood and a spirit crystal," Snowcloud replied. "And both of these things will be difficult to acquire, even if we have luck on our side."
"Dragon blood?" Instantly, Arran's eyes went wide.
"And a spirit crystal," Snowcloud confirmed.
"Dragons exist?!" Arran looked at Snowcloud in wonder. "Actual dragons?!"
While he had a dragonbone bow, he had learned that dragonbone was just a kind of wood. And although Elder Naran was called 'the Dragon,' that was obviously just a nickname. That actual dragons like those in the stories from his childhood really existed came as a shock to him.
"They exist," Snowcloud said with a nod. "And we're going to kill one. But first, we will have to travel to the remains of the Eidaran Empire, to find a spirit crystal."
"How are we going to kill a dragon?" Arran ignored what Snowcloud said about the spirit crystal, more interested in learning about dragons. "Are they as strong as the stories say?"
"They're strong," Snowcloud said, her voice calm, "and killing one will not be easy. But for the moment, we should focus on the spirit crystal. Finding one will be difficult and dangerous, perhaps even more so than killing a dragon."
Arran nodded absentmindedly, his thoughts still filled with the idea of seeing actual dragons. The spirit crystal, by comparison, seemed uninteresting — just another ingredient for Snowcloud to collect.
"When do we leave?" he asked, suddenly eager to depart. Although he had only just arrived at the castle, he was now anxious to continue the journey, knowing that there would be dragons at the end of it.
"Tomorrow," Snowcloud replied. "We leave at dawn."