//------------------------------// // 10 Some quiet days // Story: Holy and Hellish brothers // by NinjaTurtle //------------------------------// Chapter 10 Some quiet days --------------------- Charles --------------------- For the next few days, they travelled uninterrupted. The ponies, Charles and his brother had got to know each other over the course of the trip. They learnt more about the pony world and its rules as they travelled. Charles had been meaning to learn about the other races but found himself picking the rune book up more often. He was getting more familiar with them and his mind swirled with ideas and questions. He had many working runes and planned to make more and more. Harry practiced curses. It was something he could do accidentally but it was easily controllable. He gave small curses to random stones, like how Charles would rune them. Harry kept some but Charles had no idea what they would do. The path ahead had, gradually, become more worn. This meant it was used regularly and that meant that they were getting close to the coast. Charles could almost smell the fresh, sea air. He couldn't wait. They had passed through a town on their journey. It was a small, quiet and peaceful trading village with simple wooden houses. The citizens were nice, if a bit overly so, but they had things they needed. They hadn't stayed long, only buying food and some new clothes. They were simple robe's of fabric that felt better than their tattered, dirty and worn clothes. The only problem they had while in the village was Harry accidentally cursing a stick. Meh, it's just a stick. They'll be fine. The group had continued East and, by Charles's estimations and guesses, were about a day or two from the coast. Ruby and Quill pulled the cart a bit faster the closer they got, trying to complete the deal in the time limit. Due to the free time the brothers had since they didn't need to pull the cart, they hung with each other more often. In Charles and Harry's spare time they talked, practiced magic or learned how to fly. The magic 'lessons' were easy, as they just practiced with some spells and created new ones. Flying 'lessons' were a bit harder. Both boys had the basic up, hover and down, but they still hadn't got moving left, right, forwards or backwards yet. Without someone to teach them, the boys had to learn through trial and error. They were getting there slowly. Charles was currently sitting inside, reading the runic book. He had an idea he wanted to try but it would take some time and quite a few stones. He had most of the runes ready for it, but not the other things needed to complete his project. If the ponies held their side of the deal, Charles planned on giving them his project, otherwise, this would be one of the best things he would ever do. He committed the runes to memory. So far he had read about the 'find me', tether, golem, battery, memory, enhancer and storage runes. With so many more to learn, he felt that the ideas he had now were only the beginning. Harry was laying on his bed with the species book in one hand. His other hand flexed and wriggled as shadow magic snaked around his fingers. It was weird but it showed just how far they had come with their magic. --------------------- Harry --------------------- Have you sorted the spells and curses out? Yes. They have been sorted. Can you start teaching my mind flight? It would help. I can teach you subconscious, but you will still need to learn how to do it in reality. And what about increasing magic reserves? It has increased 10%. More practice will improve this. Is there a way to make the spells more efficient? Yes, but it will take more time and focus to cast. Harry's mental conversation with the demon continued, adding more things for the demon to do. He found it helpful as it could help organize memories and helped him understand things his mind usually would just ignore. He hadn't told Charles of it yet, just in case he did something. He still didn't want to since it had been a great help. But he knew that Charles would find out, somehow. Ignoring those thoughts, he went back to reading while the demon did whatever it was supposed to do. He was reading about the Griffins since that was where they were heading. While Harry never liked reading, since it was boring compared to playing online, it was one of the only sources of entertainment aside from talking and practicing. Charles was below, reading the book he stole. Harry couldn't figure out what was so special about that book, but Charles seemed fascinated with it. He would spend a good hour or two scratching at stones. Whatever he was working on seemed complicated. He made a set of four runes, then put them away. He was already finishing his second set and looked like he'd make a third. Because of the awkward silence and boredom, Harry decided to ask "What the hell are you doing? ". Charles was broken out of his trance and looked up from his book. "Oh, just making more runes. " he said. "Why? We have magic, isn't that enough? " Harry asked, confused why Charles liked runes when he had magic. Charles sat there for a moment in thought. He answered "I don't really know. I just like the feeling of something I made working, instead of just having something easy do it. ". "Well, what are you working on at the moment, then? " asked Harry. "Just a little project. I'm carving some battery runes at the moment. " he said. "Why would you need batteries? ". Every time Harry asked a question, Charles' answer would just make more questions than they answered. Charles held a smug smile. "I'll tell you when you see it. " he said. "And when would that be? " Harry asked. "When the time limit expires or when we arrive at the coast. I checked the time limit. It ends sometime tomorrow morning. " Charles said. "So, which will come first? " asked Harry. Charles shrugged. "Depends. Do the ponies still want to be walking during the night again or not. ". Harry shrugged. "I don't know. Assuming they do? ". "Then the ponies will get there first and you'll be doing the night watch. I felt knackered after holding a light spell for that long. " Charles said. "What do you mean? I used hardly any power when I did it, and my flame was brighter than your light. " Harry said. "My magic just didn't feel as strong last night. But when I use the translation spell in the morning, I feel hardly any loss of power. " said Charles, raising a hand to create a simple light spell in front of him. Charles then sat up. "Maybe our powers are related to day and night or levels of light. " he suggested. "Maybe. Does it really matter? " Harry asked. He couldn't really find how that could be useful. Charles looked up at Harry. "Yes, it does. If we exploited this, we could be more powerful together than we normally would. " he said. "Yeah, but why would we need to be that powerful? " asked Harry. "Because, as much as I would like to avoid it, we're most likely going to get into many more fights. I just want to be prepared. " Charles reasoned. Harry couldn't argue that. They had been in the new world for less than a week and had already been transformed into an angel or demon, banished from a country and been attacked by raiders. And it was guaranteed that that was not the last of it. --------------------- Quill --------------------- He trotted next to Ruby as she pulled the cart. He knew that the shores were close and it wouldn't be long before they made it there. Not long before he could go...somewhere. He hadn't quite figured that part out yet. Ruby was walking at a slow and steady pace. She had been pulling the cart for the last three hours and hadn't wanted to stop. He knew she wanted to be done with the deal as soon as possible, but she was a unicorn and wasn't made for such physical work. "Hey, Ruby. Do you want me to pull? " he asked. He knew the answer already, the same one he got the previous times he asked. "No. I'm fine. I can keep going. " she repeated. "But you've been pulling the cart for hours. Aren't you tired? " Quill asked. "No. I'm fine. " she repeated. "Shouldn't we get one of the humans out here to help light the path? It'll be getting back soon. " he asked. "No. We're fine. I can use my magic. ". "Fine. I'm going to sleep. Wake me when you want to swap. " he said as he slowed down, letting the cart pass. As the back of the cart passed, he stepped onto the stairs, opened the door and went in. The humans were having a conversation with one another and occasionally laughed or chuckled. It sounded familiar but so alien at the same time. Whatever they were talking about was apparently more important than him since they barely looked at him before continuing to chat. He ignored them as well as he laid on the surprisingly soft rug. He closed his eyes to nap. It felt like minutes had passed before he opened his eyes to the younger human poking him. "Hey, your swapping. Get up. " he said. He stepped out before Quill could respond. Laying behind him was Ruby, asleep. He got up and stepped out. It was well into the night and, with the only light being the moon, quite dark. The flames of the humans' magic provided the only bright light. "Come on, let's get going. We might just reach the coast before the morning, I think. " he said. Quill perked up at this. He would soon be free again. He hurried up, got the harness on and pulled. He didn't pull too fast and to rattle the cart too much, but he was walking at a higher speed than normal. "Woah, calm down a bit. It's still a long walk. " Harry said from besides Quill. "Yeah, I know. The quicker we move, the sooner we'll get there. " said Quill. "But you can't keep this pace up all night, can you? Slow down and pace yourself. You'll walk further. " said Harry, adjusting the fire light in his paws. Quill ran this through his head, then shook it off. "So, are we really going to get to the coast by morning? " Quill asked. "According to my brother, yeah. If so, he said he'd have to hold his side of the deal as well. So you and Ruby will get the reward from Charles. " said Harry. "Cool. What's the prize? Is it some awesome alien tech or something? " he asked. Harry chuckled. "Nope. I don't know what he has in store, but it involves runes apparently. ". Quill looked confused. "Runes? We were told in school that they were kinda dangerous and rare. Hardly anypony knows about them. " he said. Harry looked at him. "Really? We just st...found it..., so we thought that they were somewhat common. " Harry said. "Nah. It was how magic used to work for non-unicorn ponies. But when the three tribes joined together, they weren't needed anymore. That's what we were taught in history class. " Quill said, reciting the lessons from memory. "Huh, cool. Charles seems fascinated with them. " Harry said. "Really? I mean, he does look like the type of pony…". "...person…" Harry corrected. "...person...to be into that. It looks way too complicated to me. " Quill said. "Yeah, that's Charles. He likes science, math and stuff like that. He said it's because he likes facts over anything. If it can be proven and explained, he'll accept it. " Harry said. "Oh. That sounds smart. " he said. Harry scoffed. "Yeah, he thinks that too. He knows that, most of the time, he's right and likes to prove it whenever he needs to. It's annoying. " Harry said. The two talked and walked for most of the night till they got tired. They pulled over and entered the cart, trying not to wake the sleeping pony or human. Harry climbed onto the top bunk while Quill laid on the floor. They were both out for the count not long later as they slept the rest of the night.