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[tabitha42]

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 13

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

Saff could hear nothing but the ringing in her ears, and could see nothing but Gale collapsed face-down on the ground ahead of her. Across from them, Halsin was also out cold on the ground, bleeding from a wound in his side. Wyll was desperately trying to patch it up while Karlach tried to help as much as she could without touching either of them. Saff barely even registered them though, she could focus only on Gale. Desperately she tried to get to her feet, but pain ripped through her leg from the arrow and she fell to the ground again. With no other choice, she began to drag herself towards him, leaving a trail of blood smeared on the ground behind her. 

As she got closer she saw sparks flickering across his body, and when she finally reached him she saw he looked deathly pale. 

“Gale…” she whispered, barely able to speak. She reached out, her hand shaking as she placed it on his shoulder. 

An electric jolt suddenly shot up her arm. She gasped and snatched her arm back, but was relieved to see the shock also woke Gale, whose eyes snapped open. He gasped for breath, unable to focus for a moment, before his eyes finally fell on her. 

“S-Saff…” 

His voice was rough and his breath ragged. A weak smile came to her lips, glad to see him awake, but the fear in her eyes over all that had happened, and over whether their injuries would be too much to recover from, was clear to him. He tried to reach out to her to comfort her, but could barely lift his arm. Instead he slowly inched his hand towards hers, until finally he lay it on hers, gently squeezing it. Her eyes flicked to his hand and she gently squeezed it back, before she looked back to him and they held each other’s gaze, taking comfort in each other, their fingers slowly intertwining. 

There was a light from underneath him as the marking on his chest flared and a jolt of pain shot up both their arms. They pulled their hands away instinctively and Gale gasped as he rolled onto his back and clutched at his chest, sparks flickering between his fingers again. Saff watched in fear, wanting to help, but unable to move. She’d been getting weaker and weaker as blood continued to seep from her leg, to the point now that her vision was starting to darken and her ears ring. She tried to speak, but the last of her strength was draining and she could barely keep her eyes open. A whispered hint of his name was the last thing on her lips before her eyes slowly fluttered closed…

Suddenly the pain receded and she saw a golden light as her eyes snapped back open. As the light died away she saw Gale again, still lying in front of her in pain, but a wide smile now on his lips as he saw her wake up. His gaze then moved up to something behind her. She looked round to see what he was looking at, and was relieved to see Halsin now awake and sat up, the last vestiges of the healing spell he’d just cast on her shimmering on his fingertips. He, too, was in a pool of blood, a hastily-made bandage wrapped round his side. He was clearly exhausted, using the last of his magic to heal everyone as best he could. He looked to Gale and began to cast the spell again. 

“No, don’t,” Gale stuttered, struggling to speak. “It won’t help. Don’t waste your magic on me. Heal someone else.” 

“What is happening to you?” Halsin asked, frowning as he watched the orb flicker along with the sparks of static. 

“I will… explain later…” he replied, wincing. “I need to deal with it… myself. Please. Heal the others.” 

It was quickly decided to heal Saff’s leg first. Halsin warned her that he likely wouldn’t be able to heal it fully, but he would do what he could with what little magic he had left. Wyll readied himself to pull out the arrow and Halsin to heal her immediately afterwards. The pain would only last a second, he promised her. 

Halsin was right - it only lasted a second before he healed the worst of the wound, but the scream that left her lips as the arrow was ripped out would haunt Gale as he watched her crying in pain. By the time it was done she was shaking and trying to hold back her tears. The wound was no longer a danger to her, but it still hurt like hell. 

For a moment the group sat there, exhausted, battered, dazed… until finally Karlach broke the silence as she began to laugh. 

“What’s so funny?” Wyll asked, looking at her in shock, feeling it was rather inappropriate to start laughing at such a time. 

“We did it,” she said, a smile on her face as she looked at him. She then looked to the others. “We did it!!” She pumped her fist in the air in celebration, and Halsin found himself starting to laugh as well. 

“That we did. I can hardly believe it. I thought for sure we’d be overrun,” he said, looking over all the bodies that surrounded them.

“Those fuckers couldn’t get through us!” Karlach said proudly, thumping her chest.

“We still need to get out of here,” Wyll reminded them. “There’s still all the goblins outside. I don’t know about you all, but I don’t think I could face another fight right now.” 

Karlach seemed up for it, but the others definitely weren’t. 

“There might be another exit,” Halsin suggested. “It’s a large temple, I’m sure if we search we’ll find something.” 

“Let’s have a rest first,” Wyll suggested. He knew they couldn’t stay here long, but they all needed to recover some energy before they could head off again. The others were quick to agree, even Karlach. 

“Are you sure I can’t do anything to help you, Gale? Magic isn’t the only healing I can offer,” Halsin asked after a while. Gale had managed to sit up now, along with Saff, though he was still hunched over, wincing occasionally as the orb flared. 

“I’m quite sure,” he answered. “Though if you come across any magic items while we’re here, they would be of great help to me.” 

Halsin frowned. It seemed an odd time to be asking for loot. 

“He eats them,” Karlach said to Halsin, as if that explained everything. 

“I do not eat them,” Gale said quickly, sounding almost a bit offended. “I… consume them. Absorb them. I do not eat them.” 

This only served to confuse Halsin more. Gale sighed, knowing he’d need to explain it all again. 

“I have a condition that requires me to absorb magic to sate it. Related to this marking on my chest. If I do not absorb magic, it starts to feed on my magic. And if I cast a spell powerful enough that it leaves me no magic to spare…” 

He gestured to himself, implying that what was happening to him now was a result of casting too powerful a spell. 

“So if we find you a magic item, you’ll be ok?” Karlach asked. 

“I sincerely hope so,” Gale answered. “I have not dared cast such a powerful spell since acquiring this condition. I do not entirely know the side effects.” 

“So we can’t rely on sudden thunderstorms every fight?” Karlach asked, a bit disappointed, a bit jokingly. “I wouldn’t count on it,” Gale replied. 

“Shame, you took out at least a dozen goblins alone with that! Would make our lives a lot easier,” Karlach joked. He chuckled softly, though it quickly turned to a cough. Halsin looked at him in concern, still contemplating his ailment.

“I must say, I’ve never heard of such a condition,” Halsin admitted. 

“I always like to keep my companions on their toes,” Gale joked, though there was a sadness to his tone that they all picked up on. 

“So, a magic item and a way out?” Karlach said, standing up. “I’m going to start searching. I’ll let you know if I find anything.” “I’ll come with you,” Wyll decided, standing up too. 

“As will I,” Halsin added. “If there’s anyone here that’ll know of secret exits, it’ll be the rats. I’ll ask around.” 

He might not have had any healing magic left, but he could wildshape a few more times. With a flash of magic the elf was gone and a rat stood in his place, which then scurried off. 

“I hope he remembers we can’t all become rats,” Wyll joked, half expecting Halsin to tell them he’d found an exit that only a rat can fit through. 

Wyll and Karlach headed off into the temple, leaving Saff and Gale together once more. He might have offered to join them, but he certainly wasn’t going to leave Saff on her own, and with her leg injured it was best not to make her do any extra walking. More importantly, he recognised the distant, fearful look in her eyes - she needed someone to help her through this.

She sat hugging her legs with her knees against her chest, resting her head in her arms. She’d been very quiet, saying almost nothing, just staring into the distance. 

“Saff?” he said softly, shifting a bit closer to her. “Are you alright?” 

She looked over at him, and he saw the tears in her eyes. Combined with the bruises and blood splatters that marked her face, it broke his heart to see her like that. He knew he probably didn’t look much better - the fall, along with a few good hits from goblin clubs before he’d managed to take them out, had left him feeling rather worse for wear. But right now, Saff’s wellbeing was more of a concern to him than his own. 

He wanted nothing more than to reach out and hug her… maybe he could, as far as he could tell the sparks had died down. The orb still wasn’t very happy, but he didn’t think it posed any threat to her now if he were to touch her, unlike earlier. 

Carefully he shifted next to her and put his arm round her shoulders. She leant into him, grateful for the comfort, resting her head on his shoulder. He looked at her sadly as he saw her close her eyes and the tears escape and slowly run tracks over the bruises and dirt on her cheeks. 

Gradually, the tears began to dry up and he felt her slowly begin to relax against him, the tension in her muscles finally starting to fade. He gently stroked her shoulder with his thumb and leant his head on hers. After a moment he lifted his hand, almost hesitantly at first, and gently rested it on hers as he had done earlier. He didn’t see it, but a small smile came to her lips as she put her other hand on his, intertwining their fingers once more. It was a good thing she had her head against his shoulder and not his chest - he wouldn’t want her to hear how his heart raced right now, to have her in his arms like this, holding her hand. He didn’t know, of course, that her heart was racing too. 

Behind them Karlach nearly ran back into the room to proudly proclaim to have found an enchanted dagger, til she skidded to a stop after seeing them both like that. She was behind them luckily and they didn’t see or hear her, so she breathed a sigh of relief to have not interrupted the moment. Carefully she stepped back, making sure not to make any noise, and decided to try again in a bit. 

Unfortunately for them, while Karlach didn’t interrupt them, another flare from Gale’s chest did. He tried not to show it, not wanting to stop the moment, but Saff noticed the way he tensed up, the small gasp of air he inhaled. She sat up, looking at his chest in concern as he lowered his arm from her shoulders. 

“Fuck… we should find you an artefact, we shouldn’t just be sitting here,” she decided. Before he could object she stood, but the moment she took the first step she cried out in pain and fell back to the ground as a wave of pain shot up from her leg and washed over her whole body. 

“Gods, Saff!” he gasped, quickly shifting next to her again. She clutched at her leg, unable to stop the tears that fell from the pain. He put his arm round her again and felt her shaking, almost unable to breathe. He held her and tried to comfort her as they waited for the pain to subside. Eventually her breathing steadied and the shaking died down, though her voice still wavered as she spoke.

“Ok… maybe… I should just be sitting here…” she said, managing a small smile. Gale chuckled softly, relieved to see her making a joke. 

“Let the others look,” he said softly to her, gently putting his hand on hers again. “We can stay here.” 

She almost felt a bit giddy at those words… or maybe that was the blood loss. Whatever it was, she took his fingers in hers again, squeezing his hand. 

“I can’t stay here forever. Gotta walk eventually,” she said, wondering how the hell she was going to get out of here. 

“We’ll find a way to get you out. I’ll carry you if I must,” he said, only slightly joking. She sat up and looked at him, though stayed close enough that his arm remained round her shoulders. 

“Oh, you think you could carry me?” she challenged, a bit of a smirk on her lips. Gale was not exactly the strongest person in the group… though she did quite like the thought of being carried by him. 

“You think I couldn’t?” he challenged back. She chuckled softly. He could always make her laugh, even at times like this. It warmed his heart to see her laugh, despite the tears on her cheeks. He let go of her hand and for a moment she looked at him in surprise as he did that, til she realised what he was doing. Gently he wiped the tears away with his thumb, his hand lingering there as he tenderly caressed her cheek. Their eyes met again in the most intimate moment the two had shared. Saff felt her heart skip a beat at his touch, the way he looked at her and held her, how close they were. Gale felt the same, his heart racing, amazed at how, despite the blood and the bruises and the dirt, right now, she was the most beautiful, breathtaking person he’d ever seen. He wanted to tell her that carrying her wasn’t the only thing he could do for her. He could do so much more, show her things she’d never seen, give her everything she deserved, all to see her smile…

Again, the moment was broken as the orb flared, shooting pain through his body. He quickly took his hand away and clutched at his chest, cursing the orb both for the pain and for always flaring up at just the wrong time. 

Then he felt her hand rest on his against his chest and opened his eyes to see her watching him with a look of concern that slowly turned to a warm smile. 

“We’ll find you an artefact,” she promised softly, “then we’ll see if you can carry me,” she challenged playfully. Maybe the orb hadn’t quite ruined the moment, after all. 

She finally shifted back from him and looked towards where the others had gone. 

“Has anyone found anything?” she called out, her voice echoing down the corridors. “Gale’s getting worse!” 

“Yes!!” they heard Karlach’s voice call back, moments before she came bounding into the room proudly holding a dagger. Wyll and Halsin followed in after her. “I got this! I think it’s magic?” 

She came over and handed it to Gale, who smiled as he took it. 

“Magic indeed. I can feel the Weave radiating off of it. Thank you, Karlach,” he said, before closing his eyes. Again they watched as the dagger began to glow, the purple light streaming into the marking as it shone brightly, before the dagger itself disintegrated and the light faded. Halsin was amazed, having never seen anything like it. 

“Ahh,” Gale sighed, feeling the orb begin to calm in his chest. Though it wasn’t as calm as it usually was after absorbing something.  “Hmm… it hasn’t quite had the same effect as the first item. I guess casting that spell really has angered it…” he said, thinking through what might be causing this different reaction. “Nonetheless, I feel a lot better for it. Thank you.” He then looked between Halsin and Karlach. “And you see? Absorbed, not eaten.” 

“Indeed… a fascinating display,” Halsin agreed. “Well, with that done, I have some good news - we’ve found a tunnel that leads outside. The spiders were kind enough to tell me about it after we released them. It looks like it should be big enough for you all, but… it might be a squeeze.”

“Better than going out the front door,” Gale decided. “Let’s give it a go.”

[tabitha42]

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 12

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

“That’s… a lot of goblins,” Saff whispered in fear as the group looked down at the camp from the nearby vantage point they’d found. 

“A lot of goblins to fuck up,” Karlach said with an eager grin. 

“Can I suggest we don’t run in all spells blazing?” Gale said firmly. “If there’s any way we can get in without having to fight our way in, I would much prefer that option.” 

“There’s goblins guarding the gate over there,” Wyll said, pointing towards a group of goblins in the distance. “That implies to me that, if we can get past them, the others will think we’ve been let in.” 

“Or they’ll think we’ve killed them and will turn on us…” Saff murmured. 

“Let’s at least go up to them and see if we’re able to talk to them,” Gale decided. “If they turn on us there’s only a few of them, we should be able to take them out. Then we can decide what to do from there.” 

Miraculously, the plan worked. Wyll managed to convince the goblins they had an audience with one of the leaders and soon the group were walking unhindered into the goblin camp. Saff hung back with Gale while Wyll and Karlach took the lead. She was incredibly nervous - she could just about handle a fight with a few goblins now, but a whole camp? She was terrified. 

The air was thick with smoke and various unpleasant smells, as well as the sounds of goblin revelry. They all grimaced at the sight of it, except Karlach, who seemed quite into the idea of a goblin party. Still, they convinced her there was no time to waste in joining in the festivities, and talked their way inside. 

“So three leaders to take out,” Wyll said as they headed into the great hall of the temple. “A goblin priestess, a hobgoblin and a drow. The guard said the drow’s at the back, so guess we’ll have to find the other two.” 

“Think we’ve found the first one,” Gale said, nodding up at the female goblin on the pedestal in the centre of the hall, blessing goblins as they lined up in front of her. 

“Let’s go!” Karlach exclaimed as she reached for her axe. 

“Let’s not ,” Gale interrupted quickly. “We’ll alert the whole temple. Maybe we can take out the other two in a more subtle location. That way we don’t have the entire goblin horde to fight on our way out.” 

Sadly the others weren’t in much better positions. The hobgoblin had his own audience as he tried and failed to cast speak with dead on a mind flayer (Gale was quick to point out what he was doing wrong, and Wyll was quick to point out they maybe shouldn’t hang around in case the mind flayer outed them as being infected on the ship rather than being the ‘True Souls’ they were posing as) and the drow, while a bit more out of the way, still had an uncomfortable number of goblins around her. 

They decided to continue searching the temple. They still had to find Halsin after all, and maybe they’d get lucky and find some other way to take out the leaders. They found and freed an adventurer from a torture rack, turned down the offer of a once-in-a-lifetime torture experience, helped Volo escape and came across an imprisoned goblin that refused to convert to the Absolute. They eventually made their way downstairs to find a group of goblins throwing rocks at an imprisoned bear. They didn’t really expect that telling the goblins to stop doing that would result in a huge fight, but when the bear managed to escape its cage, they were left with little choice. 

Wyll and Karlach wasted no time diving into the fight, shouting battle cries as they charged in. Saff tried to stay back, but they were surrounded. She summoned a firebolt to try to defend herself against the three goblins that charged at her, but was only able to slow one down as the other two reached her…

A sudden gust and crack of thunder blasted from behind her, throwing her attackers back into the far wall, leaving rolling static across their skin as they slumped to the ground. She felt the wind tug at her hair and clothes, the spark of electricity around her, but was left safely on her feet rather than blasted into the air with the others. She turned to see Gale behind her, sparks dancing on his fingers. He wasted no time and grabbed her arm while pointing to a platform at the edge of the room. 

“Up there! With me! Now!” 

More goblins stood between them and the platform, charging at them, weapons raised, but that didn’t matter - Saff knew exactly what Gale was telling her to do. With a synchronised gesture and incantation, they both reappeared in a swirl of magic up on the platform, narrowly avoiding the weapons that came crashing down on the spot they’d just been stood in. 

Gale caught Saff again as she stumbled, but the nausea faded quickly this time, and the two turned back to the fight. Wyll and Karlach almost looked like they didn’t need any help, til two worgs were released from their pens. With the advantage of the high ground Gale and Saff were able to rain fire down on them, but they weren’t invulnerable up there. Arrows flew up at them, most of which they could dodge, but not all. Saff felt one catch the side of her arm as it whistled past and could feel blood dripping down under her sleeve, but with the adrenaline of the battle she barely even noticed the pain. 

The goblins decided arrows weren’t the solution and changed tactics, running for the ladder that led up to the other side of the ledge they were stood on. Gale only realised what they were doing as they began to climb, and quickly ran over, kicking the ladder down with the goblins on it. As they hit the ground Karlach and Wyll finished them off, finally leaving them with just the bear. They prepared to fight, til the bear suddenly reared up, and in a flash of magic, an elf was standing there instead. 

And what an elf. Tall and muscled, glistening with sweat and blood… Gale might have got a bit jealous of the way Saff was staring at him, if he hadn’t been so busy staring at him himself.

“Pardon the viscera. One should cherish all of nature’s bounties… but goblin guts are quite far down the list,” he said as he wiped himself down. “You aided a bear without knowing if it would savage you? A true friend of nature! Or perhaps a lunatic. Either way, I owe thanks. I am the druid Halsin.” 

“ You’re Halsin?” Wyll said, a mixture of surprise and relief. “We came looking for you. Thank the gods you’re still alive!” 

“You did? I must say, I didn’t expect anyone to help. Unless…”

The conversation continued while Gale and Saff looked for a way to get down from their platform. The ladder had been an unintended victim of Karlach’s rage as she chopped at the goblins that were trapped underneath it after it fell, and they hoped to save as much of their magic as possible for the fights rather than using it for things like this. Eventually Gale carefully lowered himself down, grunting as he dropped down to the ground, before holding his arms out to catch Saff as she did the same. 

Sadly they learnt Halsin wasn’t able to remove the tadpoles, but he was at least able to give them another lead in their search for a cure - Moonrise Towers. First thing’s first though - they had to kill the leaders and get out of there. Gale hadn’t been thrilled with the idea of Halsin joining them in his bear form if it meant they were to start a fight everywhere they went, but he couldn’t deny that having an extra team member would be pretty useful right now. Halsin healed them of any injuries they’d suffered during the fight, and together the group set out their plan of attack. 

They decided to try to head for the drow first as she had the fewest goblins around her, but they would mostly have to follow Halsin’s lead while he was in bear form as he might not be able to make himself follow them. He also advised that if anyone was critically hurt he could transform back and heal them, but probably only after the battle was finished. 

Soon their plan was ready and they decided to loot the bodies for anything useful before making their final preparations and heading out. 

Saff knelt over a body, idly fiddling with a dagger it had on it, but her mind was elsewhere. She feared the upcoming fight - the few goblins in here hadn’t exactly been an easy fight, and there were so many more out there. Her arm was now healed, but she could still feel the blood that had seeped onto her sleeve. A stark reminder that, had she been stood just a few inches further over, she’d be dead now. All it took was one arrow…

She was taken out of her spiralling thoughts as someone knelt down next to her. She looked over and saw Gale looking at her in concern. 

“You ok?” he asked softly, having clearly seen her getting lost in her own thoughts. 

“Y-yeah. I’m just… nervous…” she admitted, her voice shaking slightly. “This is gonna be so much bigger than any fight we’ve ever done. There’s so many of them… even with Halsin, are we really going to be able to face them all?” 

He looked at her sympathetically, understanding her fear. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous himself. 

“It will be a difficult fight, for sure. But if we’re smart about this I believe we stand a chance. Remember - let the others go in first and get the goblins’ attention. Then there’s plenty of ledges and rafters for us to get to and stay safe, out of the way of the fight while still able to attack. Stay close to me - I’ll protect you.” 

He put his hand on her shoulder as he said the last words, and once again she felt her heart flutter. He had a habit of doing this to her, a certain tone he spoke in that took her breath away. Sometimes it made her feel excited, or flustered… right now though, it made her feel safe , which she desperately needed if she was to be able to face this fight. She nodded, still nervous, but slightly more confident that they might stand a chance. 

Ahead of them, the rest of the group were gathering.

“We ready to fuck up some goblins?!” Karlach shouted excitedly, raising her axe. Gale and Saff stood and joined them, reaching for their staffs, while Wyll readied his rapier. Halsin prepared his weapon too, morphing into a bear in a swirl of magic, then led the charge out the room. Gale and Saff shared one last look, before running out with the others. 

The fight was immediate. The goblins just outside the door were swiftly taken down before they even knew what was happening, but those further away jumped to battle as soon as they heard the commotion. Saff followed Gale’s instructions and teleported up with him to a ledge in the rafters where they had a bird’s eye view of the fight below. 

The pair of them focused on taking out any goblins that tried to break from the fight and run to alert the others. If no goblins were doing that, they took out ranged attackers like archers that the others couldn’t as easily get to. From their platform they were safe as the battle below unfolded, and soon the first group of goblins were dealt with. 

Gale and Saff stayed in the rafters, using their vantage point to scout the best place to attack next. They found a secluded group of goblins, told the others where to go using the tadpole connection, and soon they were taken care of too. 

They continued like this and for a while it was all going quite well… until one of the goblins managed to reach a war drum. None of them had even noticed it there, hidden round a corner, til they heard the sound echoing through the whole temple. 

Dread fell over them as the goblin horde descended. They tried to clear out as many goblins as possible before they all arrived to stop themselves getting overwhelmed, but they soon found themselves swamped by goblins. Then just to prove that things could still get worse, the leaders appeared, incandescent with rage. 

Gale and Saff tried to keep the goblins off the others while they focused on the leaders, but it wasn't easy. Halsin was finally knocked out of bear form, but that did at least give him the opportunity to give some much needed healing to Wyll and Karlach, who were taking a battering. Gale and Saff remained untouched as most of the fighting had been focused on the ground, but now goblins began to turn their attention towards them. 

Arrows started flying past them, clattering into the wall behind them. Goblins were filling the room now, and Saff could feel the charge of magic in the air as Gale began to channel more powerful spells. 

“Detono!”

A clap of thunder down on the ground swept through a whole group of them, taking them all out in one go. She looked over to Gale, seeing sparks flickering between his fingers. He cast another, and another group fell. She began to see how he must have looked in battle before the tadpole reduced his magic. How powerful he must have been…

She didn’t notice the fire arrow that flew past until it exploded as it hit the wall behind them, throwing her from the ledge in a blast of fire and sending her plummeting, dazed and defenceless, down to the ground. 

The arrow caught Gale by surprise just as much as it did Saff. As he fell he instinctively cast featherfall, but he didn't have time to check if Saff was in range. All he could do was pray that she was. 

The spell had little time to take effect and he hit the ground hard, but not hard enough to cause injury. Quickly he looked around for her, but soon started to panic when he couldn't see her. Then he saw the goblins descending on him…

On the other side of the ledge, Saff smashed through a wooden platform and hit the ground hard. Her head spun and her body ached, and as she forced her eyes open she saw the battle in front of her. Halsin, back in bear form, tore goblins to pieces while others tried to attack him from behind or jump on his back. Karlach and the drow leader were locked in battle, almost seeming to dance together between their attacks and dodges. Wyll finished off the hobgoblin then charged for the goblin priestess. She couldn't see Gale anywhere…

Then the goblins noticed her. Her eyes widened as they began charging towards her in an attack. Scrambling to her feet in a panic she tried to cast Misty Step once more to get to the high ground, but her magic failed. Falling back to simpler spells she raised her hands to cast Shockwave. This one succeeded and she managed to blast them back before they reached her, giving her just enough time to try to scramble away from them. 

Gale ran through the piles of bodies, the area round him a sea of static. He saw Karlach finally embed her axe into the drow's chest, letting out a battle cry as she did so. He saw an Eldritch Blast from Wyll that ended the priestess. He saw as they both ran to help Halsin as he was ripped once more back into elf form. But he didn't see Saff…

Then he caught sight of her, running from the goblins as she desperately threw firebolts back at them. His heart stopped as he saw an arrow suddenly pierce the back of her thigh, sending her falling to the ground with a cry of pain. Everything seemed to slow down as he saw the goblins, now with nothing to stop them, descending on her, ready to rip her to pieces…

His hands seemed to move on their own, the gestures for a spell that used to come so naturally he didn't even think about it now as he began to cast. He knew the orb would react badly to this, but that didn't enter his mind right now. All he knew was he had to act. Static once again sparked at his fingertips as the Weave built up inside him, ready to be unleashed.

“Harures!” 

Lighting burst from his fingers and streaked across the room as his voice echoed with the thunderclap that split their ears. Bolts of electricity tore through the goblins, jumping between them in a chain. Saff screamed as the goblins on top of her were suddenly fried by the lightning, then slumped down around her, their corpses smoking. 

The lightning disappeared and they were left in silence, just the crackle of static and the charge of magic in the air. Saff’s eyes met Gale’s for just a second… before the mark on his chest flashed angrily. He gasped in pain, clutched at his chest and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

[tabitha42]

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 11

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

Saff awoke to the sound of movement outside and the sunlight filtering in through the fabric of her tent, but it wasn’t today’s potential adventures or even Gale that was the first thing on her mind. 

It was that dream. That impossibly handsome figure, telling her to embrace the powers of the tadpole. Just a dream, surely… though there was something different about it. 

She put it out of her mind and tried to focus on other things. The lessons had helped for sure, but she wondered how useful they’d be when it actually came to a real battle. Would she just choke and freeze up again? She really hoped not… she was excited to travel with Wyll and Karlach at least, far more than she had been about Lae’zel and Astarion. Wyll and Karlach were both lovely, she’d spent ages last night talking to them both and she was sure they’d be more understanding than the others if she were to struggle in a fight. She hoped so, anyway. 

At breakfast she learnt she wasn’t the only one to have such a dream. They all did, and were all given the same advice - the tadpoles could give them powers, and they should embrace them. Lae’zel, of course, immediately rejected it as an Illithid trick. Gale and Astarion were shocked to find they both had the same opinion and thought they should embrace the powers. Eventually the group agreed to at least wait until they understood the powers more before making any decisions. 

With breakfast done it wasn’t long til they were off. 

“So, how far to this grove?” Karlach asked. They’d agreed to go there first and see if Dammon could help with her infernal engine. 

“It’s about an hour’s walk,” Wyll answered. “We’ll see if we can get any more supplies while we’re there, too. Then we’ll head to the village. I think we should search west of there for the goblin camp, it looked like there was more goblin activity in that direction.” 

“Were there any survivors in the village?” Gale asked, but Wyll regretfully shook his head. 

“Not that we could find. Goblins looked like they’d been there a long time. Best we can do for the villagers now is avenge them.” 

“Poor bastards,” Karlach muttered. “Probably not the only ones, too. Whole area seems to be swarming with the little fuckers.”

“That’ll end once we take out the leaders,” Wyll said confidently. 

The walk to the grove was largely uneventful, but luckily the conversation with Dammon was not, and infernal iron was added to their list of objectives. The group split up for a bit to ask around for any information or leads on the whereabouts of the goblin camp, as well as to gather whatever supplies they’d each need. 

As Saff headed back to the rendezvous point she spotted Gale sat on a low wall in the corner of the grove. He was hunched over and at first she thought he might be looking at something, but as she approached she realised it looked like he was tired or even in pain. She increased her pace as she headed over, growing concerned for him. 

“Gale?” she asked. His head snapped up in surprise as he heard his name. 

“Oh, Saff! Got everything you need?” he asked as he stood up. 

“Yes… are you ok?” 

“Yes, yes, fine. Just a bit tired. Didn’t sleep well last. I blame that dream, couldn’t stop thinking about it afterwards,” he said as he led them back through the grove. 

“Can’t believe you think you should use those powers…” she murmured disapprovingly. 

“If we’re going to be stuck with these tadpoles anyway, then we might as well use any advantage offered to us. But I don’t deny the logic in taking a cautious approach. I just hope we keep an open mind about it.” 

“I’ll keep an open mind, but it’s going to take something pretty convincing to make me give any more of my mind to the tadpole than it already has.”

“If you don’t wish to use it no one will force it on you. But if we can ascertain it will be safe - or, at least, safe within reasonable expectations - then I will consider it myself.” 

She glanced at him for a moment in concern. She didn’t want to lose any more of his mind to the tadpole, either…

They reunited with Wyll and Karlach and soon were off. They headed westwards towards the village, the conversation mostly dominated by Karlach talking about how excited she was about potentially being able to touch people soon. Though Saff was growing ever more concerned as Gale was being uncharacteristically quiet and even starting to lag behind a bit. 

Suddenly she was given something much more urgent to be concerned about as an arrow flew through the air and embedded itself into Karlach’s shoulder. She growled and pulled it out, looking in the direction it came from. A group of goblins came running out from their hiding places, hollering as they descended on the group. 

With a battle cry and a flare of fire, Karlach grabbed her axe and ran towards them, ready to cut them to pieces. Wyll followed, rapier ready, diving into battle with her. Gale cast the first spell, a firebolt straight into the side of one of the goblins. For a moment, panic began to grip Saff’s heart again… but this time, she was ready. Going through the now practised movements, she summoned a firebolt of her own, chose a target, and threw it. 

The fight barely even lasted a minute, but by the end she was exhilarated. Adrenaline pumped through her thumping heart, every sense alert. She’d never felt so alive. She knew not to get cocky - this had been an easy fight - but she still couldn’t help but look over at Gale with a big smile, proud of herself and hoping he felt the same. 

Her smile disappeared when she saw him. Wincing and clutching at his chest, he coughed and gasped in pain. 

“Gale!” she cried, terrified he’d been hit by an arrow. She quickly looked for wounds to try to heal, but didn’t see any. In fact, he looked totally untouched… then, to her surprise, the tattoo on his chest began to glow. 

He gasped again, seemingly racked by more pain as the tattoo glimmered, and stumbled to the side, catching himself on the wall of the bridge they were on and sitting on it before his legs gave way beneath him. “Is he ok??” Wyll called as he and Karlach ran over to them. “I have a healing potion!” Karlach said quickly as she pulled it out of her pack, but Gale held his hand up to stop her and shook his head. 

“No… that… won’t help…” he wheezed, his breath ragged. 

“What’s happening? What do you need?” Saff asked quickly. She considered trying to heal him, but if a healing potion wouldn’t help, she didn’t see how a spell would either. 

“I need… magic,” he said after a long pause, unsurprised by the confused looks on their faces. “Magic items, to be precise. I… I need to absorb the… Weave inside…” 

The tattoo’s flickering continued, unabated by his attempts to calm it. The three of them looked at each other, putting aside the confusion and questions for now and just doing as he asked.

“I don’t have anything,” Wyll said quickly, looking hopeless. 

“Me neither,” Karlach added. “There must be something round here…” she glanced round, hoping to spot anything that might help. 

Saff turned from them back to Gale, then began taking the locket off from round her neck. 

“No, Saff…” he whispered. He knew what that locket had come to mean to her - a symbol of her first victory as an adventurer. Not in battle, but achieving something just as heroic - saving a child’s life. She’d not taken it off since she got it. 

“We don’t have anything else!” 

“But it’s important to you…” 

She pressed it into the palm of his hand and closed his fingers around it, holding his hand in both of hers as she met his eyes. 

“You’re more important to me,” she said firmly, holding his gaze for a moment, before letting go of his hand and stepping back to let him do whatever he needed to do. 

For a moment he couldn’t act, left in surprise by her touch, the way she’d looked at him, the sincerity in her words…

Another wave of pain through his body snapped him back to reality. He closed his eyes and lifted his hand to his chest, then the others watched in awe as a bright, purple light seeped through his fingers and into his chest. The tattoo shone brightly now, the light stretching all the way up his neck, seemingly fed by the magic from the artefact. As he opened his hand the locket itself disintegrated into light, flowing into him, then finally it all stopped and the light disappeared. 

“Aahh…” he sighed, feeling the pain fade away, then finally opened his eyes and looked at Saff. “Thank you, Saff,” he said sincerely. 

The three of them stared at him with wide eyes and open mouths. 

“What in the HELLS was that?!” Karlach gasped in shock.

“I've never seen anything like that before…” Wyll whispered. Saff just remained quiet. 

“Ah, yes, I'm sure you all have many questions. You see, I have this… condition. Very different to our tadpoles, but just as deadly. The essence of it is this: I must find magical artefacts and consume the Weave within,” he explained. The three continued to stare at him, dumbfounded. 

“You… consume Wave??” Saff managed eventually. He nodded. “I… I didn’t know such a thing was… possible…” 

“Yeah, I saw a lot in my time in the Hells, but didn’t see anyone doing that,” Karlach agreed. 

“It is not a common affliction, true. In fact I would wager I’m likely the only one to have ever faced it. Which has made understanding and researching it quite difficult.” 

“Wait, so you don’t even know what it is??” Saff gasped. Everything he said just made her worry more. “But… how did you get it? Or have you had it your whole life?” 

“No, not my whole life. And I do know what it is, but trying to find a way to cure it is what has proved difficult. For now all I know is I need to consume magic to keep it at bay.”

“So what is it?” Saff asked. He felt their eyes on him, waiting for an answer… but he couldn’t face going into it right now. Not yet. He sighed and looked away sadly. 

“The consequences of my mistakes…” he said quietly, a deep sadness in his voice. A quiet hung over them as they pondered the meaning of his words, til Karlach broke the silence. 

“Well, if you need magic items, we’d better start looking! We’ll start with those goblins, never know what they might have on ‘em!” 

Finally, Gale managed a smile. 

“Thank you,” he said to her. “Thank you all, for understanding. I know I ask a lot with few answers in return, but please… know that your trust in me is well placed.” 

Wyll smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. 

“We look out for each other here,” he promised him, then turned to Karlach. “Let’s check those goblins. Saff, stay with Gale and make sure he’s alright.” 

She nodded, but couldn’t manage a smile. Karlach and Wyll headed off to check the goblins, leaving the two of them alone together. “You alright?” Gale asked, seeing how clearly worried she was. 

“Are you??” she said quickly, rather surprised he would ask her that after what had just happened to him. 

“I am now, yes. Thanks to you,” he said with a smile, but she didn’t return it. She looked away, a pained look on her face. 

“Saff?” he asked, watching her for a moment, before she finally turned back. 

“You said… deadly…” she almost whispered as she looked back at him. He realised now there were tears in her eyes. It pained him that he couldn’t comfort her without lying - it was the truth of his condition, after all. 

“Only if I don’t get the artefacts I need,” he said, hoping that might offer some comfort to her. 

“And if we don’t find any? Magic items aren’t exactly common…” she asked nervously. 

“Then… I will find some other solution,” he said, sincerely hoping that was true. Unfortunately he knew the chances of finding another solution after he’d been searching for one for a year was… unlikely. It seemed Saff sensed that too. She looked away again, her lip shaking as if she was trying not to cry. 

“Saff, it’s ok,” he said softly, putting his hand on her arm. “We’ll figure this out. I’ll be fine.” 

She looked back at him, sniffing slightly as she tried to blink the tears away and take comfort in his words. Still, she had so many questions. 

“Is this… related to your blood?” she asked after a moment, hoping he wouldn’t find her questions too intrusive. He didn’t rebuff her though, he just gave a solemn nod. In some ways she was glad she knew a bit more about that now, but in other ways she felt like she knew even less. Her eyes went down to the tattoo again. It was calm now, but it had seemed almost… angry, before. 

“Is it the tattoo? It was glowing, and the Weave passed into it…” 

“Ah, that’s not a tattoo,” he said, lightly brushing his fingers over it. “It’s… well, I’m not sure what I’d call it. A marking, I suppose.” 

Slowly, without even thinking about it, she raised her hand and gently touched it as well, moving her fingers across the purple swirling lines. Now it became very clear it wasn’t a tattoo - the skin was indented slightly where it was marked, and she could feel it was definitely warmer than the rest of his skin. 

Gale’s breath caught in his throat as she touched him. He wouldn’t let anyone else do that, that’s for sure. He too could feel the orb’s warmth emanating from the marking - it always felt like that for a while after absorbing a dose of Weave. Though, he wondered, was it slightly warmer than usual as he felt her fingertips brushing over his skin? 

“Sorry,” she said quickly, suddenly pulling her hand away as she realised how intrusive that had been. 

“It’s ok,” he assured her. “In fact, you’re welcome to study it. If you have any insights at all, I’d love to hear them.” 

“That might be easier if I knew what it was,” she said, looking back up at him. She regretted saying that though as the pained look came back to him and he looked away slightly. “Sorry, if you don’t want to talk about it-”

“I do,” he interrupted. “Just… not right now. But I promise, I will tell you. When I can.” 

She nodded, partly glad he wanted to tell her, but also worried about what could have been so bad he couldn’t bring himself to talk about it. 

Meanwhile, Karlach had been watching them from the end of the bridge, getting distracted from her job of searching the bodies. 

“Find anything yet?” Wyll called to her as he dutifully got on with his job. 

“Oh, uh, no! Not yet!” she quickly called back. Wyll stood up from the goblin he’d been searching and gave her a knowing look. 

“How are they?” he asked, stepping over the bodies to join her looking over at Saff and Gale. 

“Just talking. Poor Saff… she looked devastated.”

“Can hardly blame her. I’m worried about him too,” he said softly. They watched as Saff gently touched Gale’s chest, leaving him looking a bit flustered for a moment. 

“That light seemed to go into his tattoo. I’m starting to think I’m not the only one with some maleficent thing in my chest,” Karlach theorised. 

“You could be right. Hard to say though, he didn’t tell us much about it. ‘The consequences of my mistakes’... wonder what he did.” 

“Hah! Gods, he does like being dramatic, doesn’t he? But I suppose wizards can be a bit like that, dramatic and mysterious.” She watched as he and Saff shared a long look together. “Saff seems to like it, though…” 

Wyll couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“You’re not wrong there,” he commented.

“They are cute, aren’t they? Our two wizards.” She then looked at him suddenly as she realised something. “Ooh wait, is this why you had her stay with him while we came to loot the bodies??” 

“They looked like they could do with a moment together,” he said casually with a small shrug. He then headed over to meet Saff and Gale, who’d now stood up and were heading across the bridge to meet them. 

“Sorry to say, no magic items,” he told Gale as the four regrouped. 

“Unsurprising for goblins, I suppose,” Gale said, glancing at the bodies. “Oh, before we go any further - I must apologise to you all for not bringing this up sooner. I had not expected the cravings to come so soon, nor so suddenly. It is usually a build up over a number of days, rather than a single morning. Hopefully we will be granted more time before I need another.” 

“Indeed. We’ll be sure to put any magic items we find aside for you,” Wyll promised him. 

Gale said his thanks and the group continued, venturing into the village and beyond in search of the goblin camp. 

[tabitha42]

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 10

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

The group shared stories of the day as Gale cooked dinner. It turned out the goblin hideout had been rather more difficult to find than they’d expected, and instead of finding it and taking out the goblin leaders, they’d instead found Karlach and taken out a few fake paladins on her behalf. That wasn’t to say they hadn’t slain any goblins, though - a goblin-infested village was now significantly less infested. 

After hearing the full story of the gnoll the group decided it was best to stick with having four people on the road so that three people could stay camp, seeing as camping here was clearly more dangerous than they’d hoped. There was talk of possibly moving the camp, but that was decided against for now. When it came to the decision of who was to stay at camp tomorrow, the initial choice had been Gale, Astarion and Lae’zel, til Gale had insisted his arm was fine and that it was only fair to swap someone out rather than give him two days in a row at camp. Shadowheart swapped out in the end, and so Saff, Gale, Wyll and Karlach were to seek out the goblin camp tomorrow. Or, as Lae’zel hastily reminded them, a safe way to the mountain pass. 

Saff approached Gale as the group began to wind down after dinner and return to their tents to prepare for the next day. He looked up and smiled when he saw her. 

“All ready for tomorrow?” 

“Not even slightly,” she joked. Though she felt a lot more ready now than she had last time she’d set out. “I… wanted to thank you. For offering to come,” she said after a moment. She really didn’t like the idea of facing a fight again without his help and guidance.

“You’re more than welcome,” he said softly, in that tone that always made her feel giddy. But she had to check this was the right thing to do. 

“Are you sure you should come, though? Your arm-” 

“My arm is fine,” he insisted, holding it up and rotating his wrist around. “Perfectly able to cast spells, thanks to you and your healing. On that subject, I wanted to ask you something.” He put down what he was doing and turned to face her. “Would you be ok with the others knowing? I didn’t mention it earlier in case you weren’t comfortable with it. I know you said it is not a skill you’ve been able to do before, nor did you entirely know how you did it. I wouldn’t want to put any undue pressure or expectations on you until you’re more confident in this skill.” 

“Thank you,” she said with a smile. This was actually the other thing she’d come to ask him about - she’d noticed when asked how his wound wasn’t worse given what they’d seen in the vision, he’d mostly brushed the question off by saying it was just luck. “I guess you’re right… I wouldn’t want them expecting anything I can’t do…” She already felt bad enough about that happening with the goblins at the grove, she didn’t want them now expecting her to be able to heal then not be able to. “You think I’ll get better at it, then?” 

“Well, I certainly hope so, it would be an invaluable skill to have. It’s hard to say though. I know little about primal magic… but what I do know is that practice makes perfect. If you get the opportunity, it’s always worth trying again. Not that you need me to tell you that, I know you will anyway.” 

“Oh do you now? You think I can’t resist practising a bit of magic?” she teased. Gale chuckled, but shook his head. 

“Not, not that. I think you can’t resist helping someone in need,” he said, rather to her surprise. 

“What makes you say that?” she asked, thinking she hadn’t done anything particularly heroic or selfless since meeting him. Or ever, really. 

“Because it’s true. Since I’ve met you you’ve always looked out for people and wanted to help them. You stood up for Arabella. You voted for helping the tieflings. You even offered your neck to Astarion. And, of course, you pulled me out of that portal, and blasted that gnoll off me, and healed me up…” He looked at her with a smile full of warmth and fondness. “I think if you saw a friend get injured, you wouldn’t think twice about trying to help them.” 

She hadn’t really thought of herself or her actions like that, but when he put it that way, it made her feel pretty good about herself. Still, she didn’t entirely agree with all of it. 

“I think anyone wouldn’t think twice about helping their friend if they were injured.”

“True, but most people would think twice about offering their blood to a vampire.” She shifted a bit awkwardly. 

“I did think twice about that. I thought many times about that before I said it. But he needed it, and it’s not his fault. It was the right thing to do.” 

For a moment he didn’t reply. He just smiled as he looked at her, seemingly lost in his own thoughts…

“What?” she asked with an awkward laugh as she saw him staring at her. 

“Sorry, nothing,” he said quickly, clearing his throat. “Do you need any help preparing for tomorrow?” 

“Oh, I don’t think so, but I’ll shout if that changes.”

From across the camp, red eyes watched as she turned from Gale and headed back to her tent, noticing as Gale’s gaze lingered on her. Once she was back at her tent, Astarion headed over. 

“Evening, darling,” he greeted in his usual suave drawl. 

“Evening,” she answered, turning from what she’d been doing to talk to him. 

“I wanted to apologise for interrupting earlier. I had only intended to find you both to tell you we were back. I hadn’t expected to come across such a… tender moment,” he said in a tone completely lacking in any sort of remorse. 

“Hmm… is that really what you came here to say?” she challenged. His fake look of remorse turned to a smirk. 

“I also wanted to ask if you found anything else out about the curious case of Gale’s blood.” 

She sighed deeply, somewhat wishing they’d stayed on the other subject. 

“No, I didn’t,” she answered simply, turning to continue sorting through the camp supplies the group had returned with. 

“Really? He didn’t say anything?” 

“Nope. Nothing.” 

“Did you ask him?” 

She didn’t answer. He watched her curiously for a moment, observing her expression and body language. 

“Why didn’t you ask him?” 

“It’s clearly private. If he doesn’t want to talk about it, he doesn’t have to.” 

“You can get lessons in magic off him, darling, but you need to get lessons in lying off me.” 

She stopped and turned to glare at him. 

“Oh don’t look at me like that. For once I’m telling the truth,” he said innocently. “Now, why won’t you ask him?” 

“Leave it, Astarion,” she said bluntly, turning back to the camp supplies once more. He watched her a few more moments. 

“You’re afraid of the truth, aren’t you?” 

“Please, just leave it,” she insisted, pointedly not looking at him, trying to focus on what she was doing. She didn’t want to have this conversation, and she hated arguing like this. She just wanted it to end. 

“Alright, alright, as you wish,” he said, holding his hands up and taking a step back. “But I stand by what I said before.” 

She glanced back at him and his expression and tone finally shifted to something heartfelt. 

“Be careful with him, darling.” 

He turned and walked away, leaving her with her thoughts. She sighed deeply, hanging her head, unsure what to do. 

Later that night, Gale crouched by the riverside gathering water when he heard footsteps behind him. He stood up quickly and turned to see Astarion approaching. 

“You’re up late,” Astarion commented. 

“As are you.” 

“A vampire needs to eat. Lovely as your stew is, it’s not really for me.” 

“What do you want, Astarion?” he said bluntly, folding his arms. Astarion’s smirk grew a bit bigger, amused as he was by Gale’s impatience. 

“That stew, of course, isn’t the only thing you’ve offered me to eat that wasn’t for me,” he said, sauntering over a bit closer. “Feel like telling me what’s wrong with your blood?” 

“No,” he said simply, narrowing his eyes. 

“I had a feeling you’d say that.” He began walking round him, much to Gale’s annoyance. “But if you won’t tell me, there’s someone else you really should tell.” 

“Oh, and who would that be?” Gale said disbelievingly, figuring Astarion was having him on. 

“Saff.”

The answer caught Gale by surprise. 

“Saff? Why her?” 

“She’s worried about you, darling. Worried you’re sick or cursed. She wants to know you’re ok.” 

“If she wants to know she can ask.” “Oh, but she won’t,” he said, finally stopping in front of Gale. 

“And how would you know?” he challenged, still not quite believing anything he was saying. 

“Because I’ve spoken to her about it. She’s worried her handsome, charming wizard isn’t all he’s made out to be,” he said, and despite his playful tone, Gale could tell his words were absolutely truthful. And that terrified him… he hated the thought of Saff being in any way unsure of or afraid of him. 

Astarion stood back, his smirk gone, now replaced by a very threatening look. 

“If you hurt her, it won’t matter how bad your blood tastes. I will drain you of it.” 

That particularly took Gale by surprise.

“Astarion, do you… have feelings for her?” 

“No, I don’t. So worry not, you’ll have no competition from me. She’s not… interesting enough for my tastes. But she did give me something no one else has given me for 200 years.” 

Gale frowned slightly. 

“Blood?” he guessed, but Astarion shook his head. 

“No, darling,” he said, almost disdainful of that suggestion. Then his expression shifted to one more genuine. “She gave me a chance.” 

Gale was surprised at first by his apparent honesty, and as the words began to sink in, he slowly began to trust him. 

“She looked out for me,” Astarion continued, “So I’m doing the same for her.”

He nodded slowly, finding himself respecting Astarion for this.

“Well not to worry,” he assured him, “I would never hurt her.”

“Is that so?” he said suspiciously. “That blood of yours is nothing to be concerned about, then?” 

“You let me worry about that,” he insisted, folding his arms. 

“Very well, but remember Gale,” he started, leaning in slightly. “I don’t make idle threats.” 

With that he turned and left, disappearing off into the darkness. Gale sighed solemnly, ultimately knowing Astarion’s suspicions were right. He had no idea how she’d react to the truth… and he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her friendship. Even though he’d only known her for 3 days, she’d grown to mean so much to him. He was trying not to let his growing feelings make him do something he’d regret. They’d come so close, earlier… perhaps he should have thanked Astarion for interrupting. He wondered how the orb would have reacted had he given in to his desires… 

Plus, that was probably all they were. Carnal desires, nothing deeper. She was the first person he’d spent any significant time with in over a year, and she was undeniably beautiful. Of course he would feel something , but could it possibly be anything deeper when he’d known her for such little time? 

He decided to think about it more later, he was far too tired right now. Quickly he gathered the rest of the water he needed and returned to his tent, wondering what tomorrow’s adventures would bring.

[tabitha42]

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 9

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

Saff stared intently at the tattered sleeve of Gale’s robe as she sewed it up as best she could. They’d managed to get all the blood out of it and now she was patching it up. The bracer was completely beyond repair though, for her at least. Perhaps a proper leatherworker could fix it or make a replacement. 

Unfortunately not only was it quite difficult to repair, but she was also getting very distracted by the thought of Gale bathing in the river behind her. She tried to tell herself not to think about him. How would she like it if the tables were turned and he was thinking of her while she bathed, imagining the water running over her slick, naked body?

She’d quite like that, actually.

Again she shook her head, for the 10th time. She forced herself to focus on the sewing once more, yet as she did she found herself wondering how far down his body that tattoo on his chest extended…

“How’re they looking?” 

She almost yelped in surprise as his voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she desperately hoped it hadn’t been obvious she’d been daydreaming about him. 

“Wha- how, um, how’s what looking?” she stuttered, looking up at him. 

“The robes,” he answered, stifling a chuckle at her flustered response. 

“Oh! Um, yeah, mostly done,” she answered, holding the sleeve up for him to see. He sat down opposite her and took the robes to inspect the damage. He was wearing his camp clothes now, and though she couldn’t see much of the tattoo anymore, she could still see the lines reaching up his neck. Sometimes she swore it looked like it somehow continued under his skin up to his eye, though she wondered if that was just some oddly prominent veins. She should really ask him about that tattoo at some point and if it meant something. 

“That gnoll really really did a number on this, didn’t it?” he mused as he handed it back to her. “Thank you for offering to fix it.” 

“You’re welcome, though I’m not sure I’m going to be able to do much more than this. It’s always going to be pretty bad, unless you get someone to remake the whole sleeve.”

“Well, what’s an adventurer without a bit of battle damage?” he chuckled. 

“Not looking forward to getting my battle damage,” she replied, half-jokingly. 

“With any luck you won’t have to, and I won’t have to get any more. We should be far at the back, out of the range of fire. They call wizards glass canons for a reason, after all.” 

“Mmm… easier said than done, when goblins are swarming round the whole group,” she murmured, remembering the one that nearly got her before Gale took care of it. 

“Do you know Misty Step?” he asked, frowning a bit as she looked at her.

“I know of it, but I’ve never tried to cast it.” 

“Let’s put that at the top of our priority for the next lesson, then. An extremely useful spell every wizard should know. As soon as combat starts you want to find a safe spot, preferably on the high ground, where you can pick off enemies but they can’t reach you. Misty Step will take you right there. It’ll also get you out of trouble in a pinch.” 

“It’s quite a bit more difficult than just standard cantrips though, isn’t it?” 

“It is, yes. But I think you’re up to the challenge.” She couldn’t help the smile that came to her lips, and Gale mirrored it as he continued. “I know you said you were out of magic for the day, but want to give it a quick try, just in case?” 

Well how could she say no to him?

After showing her the movements and the incantation, the two returned to the river bank and stood a few metres apart. 

“Now focus on the spot in front of me,” Gale called to her. “Have this spot in your head as you cast the spell, think of nothing but moving here. And remember, use the momentum of your movements to imagine yourself moving too,” he called to her. She nodded and took a deep breath to prepare herself. Finally, she lifted her arms. 

“Inveniam viam!” 

As usual, nothing happened the first time. But she didn’t let that deter her. She tried again, and again. Gale called the odd suggestion to her, a slight change in her position or change of pronunciation. Soon she started feeling a brush of magic with each attempt, growing stronger and stronger… til suddenly she felt a lurch and a flash as she said the words. In an instant the ground fell away, her body was pulled in one direction and her mind another, then suddenly she was back on the beach, stumbling forward disorientated, completely losing her balance. 

Before she fell suddenly she was caught and she found herself in Gale’s arms, her hands on his chest as she leaned against him. 

“Woah…” she whispered, looking up at him as the world spun around her. 

“That’s it, you’re ok,” he said softly. “It can be a bit disorienting at first, but you did it!” 

“A bit…” she laughed, feeling like Gale was wildly understating the extreme dizziness she was feeling right now. 

“It’ll pass, don’t worry,” he assured her. She rest her head against his chest, feeling like she couldn’t stop her head swimming right now and needed to force it to stay still. After a few moments, as promised, the dizziness began to die down, and only then did she realise what position they were stood in. 

She lifted her head and looked up at him, her hands still on his chest, his hands still on her waist where he’d caught her. Feeling his hands there, holding her so tenderly… it almost made her feel light-headed again, and this time not from the magic. As their eyes met her breath caught in her throat and her heart skipped a beat.

“Feeling better?” he asked softly, the tenderness in his voice sending excited shivers down her spine. All she could manage was a small nod. Then she could swear, just for a split second, his eyes flicked down to her lips. Her heart raced in her chest as slowly, almost subconsciously, they drew closer together

There was a noise to the side and they both turned in surprise to see Astarion sitting on a large rock nearby, watching them. 

“Oh, please continue, don’t let me stop you,” he said innocently. He then let out a yelp as two mage hands suddenly pushed him off the rock. 

They returned to the tents to find the others just arriving - it seemed Astarion had walked on ahead a bit. But before Saff could think about her annoyance towards him any more, her attention was taken by the tiefling walking along with them. 

She was incredibly tall, well-built, wearing black leather and carrying a greataxe, one horn broken off while the other curled around her dark hair.

Suddenly Saff recognised her. 

“Wait, isn’t that-?!” she gasped, the words coming out before she thought about what she was saying. 

“Yes, it is,” Wyll said with a sigh, knowing what she was getting at. “Turns out I was misled. Karlach is no devil, she is a tiefling, and infected the same as us.” 

“You guys must be Saff and Gale!” Karlach said happily with a big grin. In the visions she’d looked terrifying, but now she had the warmest, most welcoming smile.

“A pleasure to meet you,” Gale said, walking towards her, lifting his hand for a handshake. “Woah now, wouldn’t do that soldier. Not unless you wanna burn your hand off,” she warned, taking a step back before he got too close. Saff frowned as she followed Gale towards her. 

“What do you mea-” 

The pain, again. She saw Avernus, devils and imps, the Blood War… and felt Karlach’s fear as she cut through them all, desperate for escape. 

“Arg, forgot that was gonna happen again,” Karlach said as the vision ended. 

“We did try to warn you,” Wyll laughed.

“Yeah yeah, well I guess I can’t complain too much,” she said, turning back to Gale and Saff. “Without this little worm, that one would never have believed my story,” she explained, pointing to Wyll. 

“I like to think I’m a good judge of character, but I fear you may be correct,” Wyll admitted, clearly not proud of it, but not going to hide it. “And what a mistake I’d have made. Heh, who’d have thought the tadpoles would prove useful?” 

“Suppose I’ve got two things to thank the mind flayers for then,” Karlach joked. “Seeing people’s memories when I meet them is definitely a new one for me!” 

The others chuckled and agreed, though Saff’s smile faded as a realisation suddenly dawned on her. 

With a gasp she turned to Gale and found him looking back at her with a slightly nervous look on his face. He knew what she’d just realised… 

With wide eyes she stepped back instinctively, and by this point the others had clearly noticed, and soon Gale felt all eyes on him, wondering what Saff was reacting to. 

“Ah, yes, I wondered if you might ask about this…” he started, before Lae’zel interrupted. 

“Ask about what??” she demanded, not wanting to be left in the dark. Meanwhile, Astarion looked quite excited.

“Ohh, we’ve only just got back and already there’s drama,” he whispered to Karlach, who happened to be standing next to him, and who looked significantly more concerned about all this.

“I didn’t see anything when I met Gale…” Saff whispered, the fear in her voice evidence of her fears about the reason behind that. “There was no connection, not like with everyone else…” 

“Did everyone else not see Gale’s memories?” Wyll asked, trying to remember what he’d seen when they’d met. “I saw books and a wizard’s tower.” 

“Those were my memories,” Saff said, knowing exactly which memories they’d seen as she’d seen them as well when their minds connected. 

“If you’d just let me explain-”

“Kaincha!” Lae’zel spat, drawing her sword. “He’s lying! He’s not infected at all!” 

“I assure you I am not lying!” Gale said quickly, holding his arms up in front of him defensively. 

“What, then? Speak!” 

“I just blocked it out! It’s not so different to Detect Thoughts and other such similar spells. I blocked out the tadpole the same way I would block out those spells.” “Ch’k, you expect us to believe you can just block out the tadpoles with such ease?” Lae’zel sneered, not believing him. Shadowheart clearly thought similarly. 

“The tadpoles are powerful magic,” she said, implying he wouldn’t be able to overpower them. 

“And I’m a powerful wizard,” he replied, the hint of a threat at the edge of his tone. “To control one’s mind and defend it against such threats is basic training at any good wizardry academy. I won’t claim blocking out the tadpoles is easy, but it is possible.” 

There was a moment of uneasy silence as they each weighed up whether or not to believe him. 

“Bah, enough! I will settle this!” Lae’zel declared, then strode towards Gale. For a moment the group thought she was going to kill him there and then, til she stopped in front of him and the pain ripped through their heads once more. 

They all felt it - Lae’zel trying to enter his mind. They felt her slashing the walls of his consciousness, trying to force her way in, as if trying to bash down a door… then suddenly they were all ejected as Gale’s defenses dropped like a portcullis. 

“Out!” Gale shouted, holding his head. He glared at Lae’zel, and she at him. 

“Ch’k, it didn’t connect. You have no tadpole!” 

“I stopped you connecting!” 

“And why should I believe you?” she demanded, raising her sword again in a threat. 

“If you want me to prove it then just ask, don’t start trying to force your way in!”

“Very well. Prove it to us,” she demanded. Hardly the polite request Gale had meant, but better than having his mind forced open. At least this way he could control what they saw… he hoped. 

“Fine…” he murmured, taking a moment to gather himself, before closing his eyes. 

The feeling returned, but this time it wasn’t painful. Not like their minds suddenly clashing together, but instead of his mind willingly opening up to them and sharing with them. He tried to focus on an unimportant recent memory, but quickly found the tadpoles seemed to gravitate towards rather more impactful memories. He could focus it somewhat, keeping it to recent memories, but couldn’t control exactly what they saw. 

The vision that came to them was that of a forest, though they felt his anxiety - then came the gnoll, jumping on him, throwing him to the ground. They saw its teeth, gnashing and tearing, sinking into his arm, blood and bile, searing pain, nothing but hunger behind the gnoll’s empty black eyes…

Then a blast of wind and thunder as the gnoll was thrown back. A blink and Saff was stood in front of him, protecting him as she hit the gnoll with everything she had, attack after attack. They felt his pain, his fear, his adrenaline… and maybe something else as he looked up at her…

The vision disappeared and they were back in the present. For a moment the group was quiet, some of them feeling a bit bad about turning on him so quickly when he’d been telling the truth, til Lae’zel spoke. 

“You were attacked by one of those creatures?” she asked, a hint of familiarity in her tone - they’d faced them out on the road, too. 

Gale lifted his sleeve and showed the bandages on his arm. 

“I was. And I wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for Saff,” he said, turning to her. For a moment she blushed as the rest of the group looked at her. Astarion and Lae’zel in particular looked surprised, having seen how she’d reacted to the goblins the day before. Astarion’s look of surprise turned to a smile as he stepped forward. 

“Well then, a toast to your saviour is in order, is it not?” he said, taking his pack off and pulling out a bottle of wine. 

“Fuck yes!” Karlach agreed, happy both about the fact that the misunderstanding between her new friends had been settled, and that one of them had a surprise bottle of wine in his bag.

[tabitha42]

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 8

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

For a moment neither of them moved as the creature’s call echoed in the air around them, dangerous, threatening, and getting closer.

Quickly Gale ran to his tent and grabbed the quarterstaff he’d got from the grove. Saff followed behind him but stayed back as he instructed her to. He stood in front of her protectively, watching the trees as the noise grew closer and closer…

Suddenly it came, faster than anything, a four-legged monstrosity charging towards them. Gale barely had time to react before the gnoll was on top of him and he was thrown to the ground, slamming onto his back. He managed to raise his staff just in time to catch it in the creature’s mouth, desperately holding it off as gnashing teeth came down at him. 

“NO!” Saff screamed, reaching out to him. Quickly she gathered her wits and raised her hands. 

“Ignis!!” 

The firebolt slammed into the creature’s side, singing off its fur, but did nothing to deter it as it continued to claw at Gale, getting closer and closer as he could barely hold it off. She tried again and again, throwing firebolt after firebolt, but they seemed to do nothing. 

Finally the creature reared up, ripping the staff from Gale’s hands and throwing it aside. It dived down again with a bite, and this time Gale had nothing but his arms to protect himself with. He screamed out in pain as teeth sunk through the leather of his bracer and into his flesh, blood gushing down his arm. Saff’s heart nearly stopped, and she didn’t even register what happened next - she acted on pure instinct. She ran towards them, raising her hands as she did, throwing all her body into the movement. “Detono!!” 

The sound of thunder rang through the camp as the creature was thrown into the air before hitting the ground hard, sparks of static rolling over its skin. It whimpered as it got back to its feet and glared at them, teeth bared, wanting revenge. 

Saff wasted no time and ran in front of Gale, a ball of fire already burning in her hand. “Ignis!” 

The fire slammed into its side but again seemed to do little to it, and suddenly the creature was charging towards her. 

That won’t work.

Her hands fumbled for a new gesture as she knew she had to try something else, and ice began to form at her fingertips.

“Glacies!” 

The ice spear slammed into its leg and left it stumbling as frost formed over its paw. Quickly she summoned another, then another, each attack leaving it reeling. She took a step closer with every spell, throwing everything she had at it, until finally the creature turned and ran, whimpering as it retreated into the forest.

For a moment there was just the sound of her own breathing as the adrenaline gradually died down, her hands shaking as she watched the trees where it had disappeared. 

Then she turned and ran back.

“Gale!!” she gasped as she jumped over the scattered camp supplies and fell to her knees by his side. He was sat on the ground, clutching his wounded arm, covered in blood. 

“Gods…” she whispered in horror as she looked at the gore in front of her. But she knew she couldn’t let this get to her and had to act. Quickly she ran over to the supplies box and dug out the first aid kit they’d got from the grove, then ran back to him. She carefully began to remove the ruined bracer, trying not to let herself get distracted by his gasps of pain as she pulled the leather over the ripped flesh. Eventually she had it off, and after carefully peeling back the tattered, bloody remains of the sleeve, the severity of the wound was there to see. Huge lumps of flesh dug out, all the way down to the bone. She knew some basic first aid, but this was way beyond anything even a trained doctor could fix with such a basic first aid kit. A few bandages wasn’t going to help with this…

A feeling came to her. Something deep inside, telling her what to do, whispering a word to her. It wouldn’t work, she was sure… but that feeling told her to do it anyway…

She raised her hands and held them above his arm and closed her eyes. Gale watched her in confusion, unsure what she was doing. It was hard to make himself hold his arm there when every instinct wanted him to do something, anything, to try to stop the pain and the bleeding… but he trusted her. 

His eyes widened as he saw a golden light begin to envelop her hands. 

“Te curo.”

Her voice seemed to echo as her hands grew brighter, bathing them in warm, golden light that wrapped round his arm. Under the light he could feel the skin knitting itself back together as the pain diminished, and after a few moments the light faded away. His arm was still covered in blood, but the worst of the wounds were pretty much healed. It wasn’t perfect - a few cuts remained - but compared to how it had been earlier, it felt to him to be good as new. 

“You… you know Healing Word??” he gasped as he held his arm, looking at her in shock. 

“It’s… never worked before…” she whispered, equally in shock, til a huge grin spread across her face. “It worked! I can’t believe it!” 

He looked down at his arm again, looking at where the skin had knitted back together. 

“But… healing spells can’t be cast with arcane magic…” 

“No, but they can be cast with primal magic.” 

He looked at her, realising what she was getting at. 

“Druidic magic… you can cast druidic magic??” 

“Apparently!” she couldn’t help but laugh, being almost giddy with excitement. “I never could before! But just then I, I don’t know, I felt something and… it just… happened!” 

She looked at his arm again, and only now noticed the remaining cuts. 

“Wait, is it actually healed?” she asked, suddenly panicking. 

“More or less,” he answered, holding his arm out for her to see. She gently took it in her hands, carefully inspecting the wounds. 

“There’s still a few cuts… but I think I can deal with those the old fashioned way,” she said, reaching for the med kit. She took out a rag and a bottle of clean water and began carefully cleaning his arm. He closed his eyes and tried to focus his mind elsewhere away from the pain, though she could still see him wincing slightly as she dabbed the wounds, and tried to keep her touch as light as possible. 

As she washed the blood away she couldn’t help but wonder - had it tasted as bad to the gnoll as it had to Astarion? The gnoll didn’t seem to react at all, though maybe gnoll palettes just weren’t as discerning as a vampire’s. She considered asking him about it… he had said a story for another time, after all, and now was another time. Yet something stopped her. As if… she didn’t want to know the answer. 

Eventually the blood was all washed away revealing the cuts fully. They’d probably be considered quite bad if they weren’t compared to the state his arm had been in before. 

“I’m going to need to stitch some of these up,” she warned him. He just nodded, trying to keep his mind focused elsewhere. 

The stitching process was long. She felt awful every time the needle pierced the skin and she saw him wince, but it had to be done. After what felt like an eternity it was finished, and she began bandaging his arm up. Eventually she was done and his arm was clean and treated, unlike the rest of him, which was still covered in blood. 

“There,” she said softly, lowering his arm down. He finally opened his eyes and looked at the bandages, turning his arm over slightly. He was very quiet for a long moment, his breath still slightly raggedy. “Are you alright?” she asked, gently putting her hand on his shoulder. He took his eyes off his arm and looked to her, finally managing a smile. 

“Yes. Thanks to you,” he said gratefully. “Gods Saff, that was incredible! Not just the healing, but the way you fought that gnoll… I daresay the lessons have paid off,” he said with that smug grin again, and she knew from that he was definitely alright. “Though in hindsight perhaps teaching you the loudest first level spell in existence wasn’t the best idea…” 

“You think it attracted the gnoll?” 

“It’s a possibility we can’t ignore. Quieter spells from now on, I think.” 

“I don’t think I can manage any more spells today anyway,” she said with a weary sigh. “And you definitely need to rest.” “I think, more than that, I need to bathe,” he said, looking down at himself. 

“As someone who also recently lost a lot of blood, I’d say you should stay seated for a bit longer. Even if it’s unpleasant,” she said, glancing down at his blood-soaked robes. He chuckled softly. 

“As you say, doctor…?” he prompted, deciding to turn the roleplay around to learn her surname. She chuckled at the attempt, but shook her head. 

“Doctor Saffron, I suppose. I don’t really have a surname.” He blinked in surprise. 

“You… don’t have a surname?” 

“Nope,” she started as she got up and began to prepare him some food and water. “I never knew my parents, I grew up in an orphanage. They said I was left on the doorstep in a box one morning with just a note that said “Saffron”. So either it's my name, or someone ordered some spices and were very disappointed when they received a baby instead,” she said with a laugh, though Gale couldn't join her in that. For a moment he was shocked into silence, until he finally spoke. 

“I'm… sorry…” he said quietly.

“Don't be, it wasn't so bad,” She said, handing him a plate of food and a drink. 

“Still, to not know your parents… do you have any idea who they were?”

“Nope, and I don't care,” She answered simply, sitting next to him. “My mother was probably a single mother, or teenager, or prostitute too poor to keep me. That was the case for most of the kids there. My father… gods only know. But it doesn't matter. The matriarchs at the orphanage were my parents, and the other kids there were my siblings. Even if I found out who my parents were, that wouldn't change.” 

“Sounds like you were all very close,” he said with a smile as he ate. It was a nice change to the stereotypical idea of orphanages. “What was it like growing up there?” 

“It was… well, to be honest I hated it at the time, but looking back now, with the knowledge of how bad some orphanages were, I was very lucky really. The matriarchs were kind. The building was clean, if a bit cold in the winter. Food was… not exactly abundant, but we didn’t starve. It all got a lot better when I was around 10 and some wealthy patron donated a huge stack of books to the orphanage. I read every single one, multiple times. I suppose they provided an escape. I loved them, especially the ones about adventurers. But there was one in particular that was my favourite. It was about magic. It covered all the different types of magic, and most importantly, it had instructions for casting a few basic spells. For months I tried to cast those spells. I started to think the book was actually wrong and I was wasting my time, but then finally it happened. Just a slight shimmer at first, but it was there. Maybe I should try to find out who that patron was, thank him for introducing me to magic.” 

Gale smiled as he listened to her. It was a heartwarming story in a way, and he always loved hearing how people got into magic. 

“To be able to teach yourself a spell at that age, even a basic one - that’s impressive,” he complimented. 

“Thank you, though it was years before I could do anything more than a few shimmering lights. When I hit 18 I had to leave. I moved in with a few of the older girls I’d known in the orphanage and got a job serving tables at the local tavern. Spent most of my evenings in Sorcerous Sundries, reading all the books I could. Saved up to buy some of my own. Learnt some more spells, started looking into druidic magic. After a few years of that I met Malitas. He saw me clearing a table with mage hand and asked what a wizard was doing waiting tables. I told him about myself and my work and he said he'd take me as his apprentice. That was about three years ago now. He has a small annex on his tower that he said I could live in, gave me all the books I needed, told me to focus on my research with druidic magic.”

“And told you not to learn combat magic?” Gale asked, still a bit suspicious about that. 

“He said every wizard in the world is researching combat magic, and that I've got something unique, and I should focus on that. Plus, he said he'd be furious if I accidentally burnt down his tower,” she said with a small chuckle. 

Maybe it was as simple as that, the guy just didn't want errant fireballs flying around. Yet it still didn't sit right with Gale.

“I know you think it's odd,” Saff said, noticing his unease about it. “But he's given me everything I wanted. Lessons, a space of my own, the resources I need. I wouldn't know half the magic I do if it wasn't for him.” 

“He taught you a lot, then?” 

“Yes. And not just magic. Alchemy, too. And history, etiquette, all that sort of stuff. He always said if I was to become a full wizard I must learn to fit into wizard society. Be a proper lady, one no one would ever guess grew up in an orphanage and waited tables.”

“Hmph,” Gale murmured disapprovingly. “He makes it sound like those are bad things that you should be ashamed of.” 

“He said they are, if I want to be a respected wizard. And that, while he didn’t agree with it himself, the most powerful wizards of the land wouldn’t accept someone with such a poor background and that I mustn’t tell such people where I really come from if I want to be accepted.” “What a load of nonsense,” he scoffed, shaking his head. “Some of history’s most powerful wizards have come from humble backgrounds. I’m glad to see you didn’t believe him.”

She narrowed her eyes a bit as she looked at him. 

“What makes you think I didn’t believe him?” 

He looked back at her, slightly surprised. 

“You told me everything without hesitation,” he answered. A smile came to her lips. 

“Ah, yes. Well, I didn’t think you were like that,” she explained, bringing a smile to his lips that mirrored her own. 

“I’m glad to hear it. I certainly wouldn’t want to give off that impression.” 

“You don’t, don’t worry,” she said sincerely. There was a pause before she spoke again. “It’s really not true, then? Wizards aren’t like that?” she asked, sounding a bit surprised by that.

“Well… some wizards are like that. But any wizard as bigoted as that isn’t one you want to associate with. You will go far in wizard society based on your skills, not your background.”

She smiled to herself. 

“Good. I’m glad to hear it,” she said softly. He looked at her for a moment in concern. 

“I’m surprised he would tell you such a thing…” 

“Well… you said some wizards are like that, right? I guess he didn’t want me to miss out on any opportunities with them. Plus, maybe it’s different in different places. Waterdeep and Baldur’s Gate have plenty of differences, that could be one of them. He’s an elf too, so maybe it’s different in elven society.” 

“Perhaps…” Gale murmured, less convinced. “Either way, I think a master should focus on teaching their apprentice magic, not… social etiquette.”

“Do you? Have you had many apprentices, then?” she challenged, not entirely agreeing with his critical appraisal of her master. 

“Not many, no. I've tried teaching in the past, but if I'm honest, I would always get too frustrated if they proved inept.”

“Gosh… how are you putting up with me?”

“You are far from inept,” he said with a chuckle as he looked over at her. “Teaching you has been a joy, in fact.”

She couldn't help but smile to herself. 

“Well, thank you. I'm glad,” She said, hoping he couldn't see the slight blush on her cheeks. “Did you ever have a master yourself? Or I suppose you knew everything already and didn't need one?” She asked jokingly. 

“Heh, no, I did have masters. Several, throughout my time at Blackstaff Academy, including the Blackstaff himself in my later years. And others after that, various teachers and mentors. Some were… more helpful than others,” he said with a chuckle, before taking the last mouthful of food and finishing his drink.

“I’ll tell you about them sometime. Right now though, I think it’s about time I washed this blood off,” he decided, putting the plate aside and looking down at himself. 

“Try not to get your arm too wet. Open wounds and river water don’t go well together…” she warned.

“Indeed they don’t. Not to fear, I’ll be careful. Wouldn’t want you to so valiantly fight off that gnoll only for me to die of an infection,” he joked as he stood up and headed to his tent.

“Don’t you dare,” she laughed, giving him a playful warning look. 

“I assure you, I don’t plan on doing that,” he said, giving her a smile before disappearing into his tent to get changed.

[tabitha42]

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 7

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

She woke to the feeling of a hand gently rubbing her shoulder. 

Groaning, she rolled over slightly to face the owner of the hand, squinting as she gradually opened her eyes. At first she wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, but when she saw that familiar smile and warm, brown eyes, somehow getting up didn’t feel like such an impossible task. 

“Morning, Saff,” Gale said softly, giving her time to come round. “Mmmph… morning…” she groaned, summoning the strength to sit up. 

“How are you?” 

“Been better…” 

“Perhaps this will help.” 

He reached over and picked up a plate full of cooked meat, bread and fresh fruit, along with a glass of juice, courtesy of the grove. The smell alone was enough to bring a smile to her face. She thanked him as she took the plate and began eating. 

“The others will be heading off soon,” he informed her, glancing back out the tent. “They wanted to know you were alright before leaving.” 

She smiled to herself, appreciating their concern. 

“Give me a few minutes and I’ll be out.” 

He nodded and left the tent to rejoin the others. 

Gale had been right - the breakfast certainly had made her feel better. She was a bit light-headed perhaps, but mostly fine. She left the tent and found them armoured up and pretty much ready to go, just making a few last-minute preparations. 

“Ah, you’re awake,” Wyll said happily as she joined them. 

“There, you see? Told you she’d be fine,” Astarion said, ignoring the rolled eyes and slight glares from the others. He waited a moment to see if anyone else had anything to say to her, before heading over. 

“You are fine, aren’t you?” he asked, keeping his voice down so the others couldn’t hear. 

“I’ll live,” she answered with a small shrug. “And how are you? Still feeling… happy?”

“More than you know.” Before last night she wasn’t sure she’d ever seen him look genuine, but he certainly was being genuine now. 

“I… wanted to thank you. Not many would have been as understanding as you.” 

She looked at him sympathetically, seeing this more vulnerable side of him. 

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” 

“I thought you’d all be brandishing stakes if I did. Not many will accept a vampire spawn in their midsts.”

“I suppose you’re not wrong…” She wondered what life must be like for him, to be hunted by society. “So you’re a spawn, not a full vampire?” 

“Indeed. All of the drawbacks with few of the benefits.” 

“Is that why you’ve never fed on a human before?” 

“No. That would be because my master never allowed it,” he said, his voice thick with bitterness. 

“Your master?” she asked, and he grimaced at having to say the name.

“Cazador. A vampire lord in Baldur’s Gate. He saved my life by turning me, but after he did I became his plaything. Tortured for his amusement. And he would sooner see me feeding on putrid rats than humans.”

“Oh… gods…” she whispered in horror, her eyes widening. 200 years of torture? She had no idea his past was like this. Suddenly she understood why he’d never wanted to talk about himself much before. 

“But I’m free now,” he continued, not wanting to linger on the horrors of his past. “And I intend to make the most of that freedom while I can.” 

She looked at him and saw he was being completely truthful. He was finally given the chance to live after 200 years of torture, and he fully intended to use it. Her heart went out to him - she couldn’t even begin to imagine what he must have gone through. 

“Astarion…” she whispered sadly, wanting to offer her sympathies, but she knew he didn’t want to linger on his past, so she wouldn’t either. “Listen… if you ever need to feed and no one else will let you… come to me.” 

He looked rather surprised by that offer. 

“Are you sure? Given the others’ reactions that could be… quite often.” 

“I’m sure. I can handle a bit of a headache if it means you finally get to be happy after 200 years.” 

She saw in his expression not only how shocked he was by that offer, but how touched he was, too. 

“Thank you…” he said softly, genuinely. “This is a gift, you know. I won’t forget it.” 

She gave him a smile, holding his gaze for a moment, before suddenly remembering something. 

“Oh! And I wanted to ask. I know you don’t know exactly what’s going on, but… Gale’s blood…” 

“Oh, that,” he said, the old smirk coming back to his lips. “That was an unexpected turn of events, wasn’t it? Unfortunately as you say, I don’t know what’s going on, other than that there’s something wrong with him.” She looked visibly concerned by that. 

“Like, what? Do you think it could be a disease? A curse?”

“Perhaps, I suppose. But I’ve been a vampire for 200 years and I’ve never heard of anyone with blood like that before,” he replied, looking over at Gale, who was across the camp talking to Wyll. “I know this is rich coming from me, but darling… be careful of him.” 

The seriousness of his tone caught her off guard. 

“You… really think he could be dangerous?” she asked disbelievingly. 

“Anyone keeping secrets is dangerous.” 

“You kept secrets from us.” “And I’m very dangerous,” he said with a playful, maybe even flirty, smile. 

Behind them the others began to congregate and look towards Astarion. 

“Ah, I think it’s time to go,” he said, walking over to them. “Ta-ta, darlings.”

The others said their goodbyes and soon the group was on their way, leaving Saff and Gale alone. She watched them leave with a heavy heart, lingering long after the group had disappeared into the trees. 

“How do adventurers live like this every day…” she whispered, still watching the trees. “Watching their friends walk off, knowing they might never come back?” 

“You must have faith in them,” Gale said, walking over to her. “They can handle themselves, Saff. Don’t worry. Goblins are no match for them. Wyll is a seasoned adventurer, Lae’zel is a trained warrior, Shadowheart has the magic of her god flowing through her and Astarion… well, vampires are hard to kill.”

“Spawn,” she corrected. “Hm?”

“He’s a vampire spawn. Not a full vampire.” 

“Ah… well, that explains some of the questions I had. How do you know that?” 

“He told me.” 

She finally took her eyes off the trees and turned to Gale. 

“How much do you know about his past?” 

“Only what he said last night.”

She went quiet and looked back towards the trees, wondering whether or not to tell him what Astarion had told her. 

“Are you ok?” he asked, seeing the pain in her eyes. 

“Yes. He… told me some stuff earlier, about what had happened to him. He’s gone through a lot more than I realised. I would tell you, but… it’s not really my place.” “Of course, I understand,” he said, though he couldn’t help but wonder. Clearly whatever it was it had shaken her. 

“I… told him to come to me if no one else let him feed on them. That he could always feed on me if he needed to.” 

Gale looked just as surprised by that as Astarion had. 

“Are you quite sure you want to do that??”

“Yes,” she said firmly, looking over at him. “What’s a headache against his need to eat?” 

Gale went quiet and looked away slightly. 

“I… don’t begrudge him what he is. We all have our burdens, one way or the other…” he said quietly, more sympathetically than she’d expected. He then looked back to her. 

“Just be careful. Don’t let him take advantage of you.” 

“I won’t,” she said with a smile, appreciating his concern. 

“And make sure someone is always there. We don’t want him getting ‘swept up in the moment’ again.” 

“Please don’t be angry at him for that. It wasn’t his fault,” she asked, taking a step towards him. “He’d never fed on a human before. If I’d spent 200 years eating rotting meat and was finally given some real food, I think I’d find it hard to control myself too.” 

He sighed slightly, begrudgingly agreeing with her.

“I… understand why he reacted like that. Truly I do. I’m more angry at him for trying to bite you in the first place. If you hadn’t woken up and he’d had no one to stop him getting ‘swept up’...” 

He trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid, but she could see how much the thought worried him. She walked up to him and gently placed a hand on his arm. 

“Gale, it’s ok. I’m fine,” she said softly, giving him a reassuring smile. He looked at her, a look of fear in his deep, brown eyes… til he managed to return the smile.

“You’re right. And it doesn’t do to dwell on what could have been,” he decided, taking a deep breath to rid himself of those thoughts. Saff smiled, glad he wasn’t going to linger on that.

“Exactly! Now, if you’ll give me 10 minutes to get properly dressed, I’ll be ready for today’s lessons.”

He nodded and headed back to his tent as she headed off to get dressed. A small pile of books was beginning to grow outside his tent that he’d taken from the various places they’d been through, and he took the opportunity to start reading one. 

Normally he’d be annoyed if someone disturbed his reading, but this time he was more than happy about the interruption. 

“Ah, all ready?” he asked as he stood up. 

“I am indeed! So what’s today’s first lesson then, Mr…” she trailed off a bit as she realised she didn’t know his surname. “Mr… Of Waterdeep,” she settled on, prompting a hell of a laugh from him. “My surname,” he managed eventually, “is Dekarios.” 

“Ah, Mr Dekarios then,” she said, though he didn’t seem very happy with that. “Hmm… you know, I do hold several degrees. I’m pretty sure that should be Professor Dekarios.” 

“Oh! Should it now?” she half-gasped half-laughed. That might be the most pompous thing he’d ever said, and there was quite some competition there. “Really getting into the roleplay now, are we?” 

“Actually… I know someone who often calls me Mr Dekarios and, well… it feels a bit weird hearing it come from you,” he admitted. 

“Oh, I see,” she said, somewhat relieved he wasn’t quite as pompous as she’d thought he was. “Dare I ask who that is?” 

“My… companion, Tara,” he answered. She couldn’t help but notice the hesitation. 

“Your… companion?” she asked, hoping her face wasn’t giving away just how she felt upon hearing that. 

“Yes. She’s my oldest friend, my dearest confidant. She was my teacher for a long time, in fact, when I was younger. I owe a great deal of my magical knowledge to her,” he explained. 

Saff couldn’t help but notice how gushing he was about her, and tried not to feel uneasy about it. 

“I see. I’m surprised you’ve never mentioned her if she means that much to you…” she muttered, sounding just a tad more bitter than she intended. Luckily for her Gale didn’t seem to notice. 

“Actually, I think I did mention her, shortly after we first met.” 

She paused, wracking her brain to try to think of when he’d mentioned her. Then, her eyes widened. 

“Oh my god, are you… are you talking about your cat??” she gasped, laughing at the absurdity of it all. Had she truly been jealous of a cat? 

“She is not just any cat! She’s actually a tressym, I’ll have you know.” Her eyes widened even further. 

“You have a tressym?!” Gale couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction. “Why did you say she was a cat??” 

“Well, most people don’t know what a tressym is, so it’s easier just to say cat,” he said with a shrug. 

“And why did you awkwardly call her your ‘companion’?” she asked, still laughing slightly. 

“Because… most people think it’s a bit weird to have such respect for your pets,” he admitted, sounding a bit embarrassed. 

“Well most people are idiots,” she said bluntly, prompting another laugh from him. “I’ve always wanted to see a tressym in real life…” she mused longingly. She’d read about them, seen plenty of drawings, but never seen one in person.

“If we get out of this whole ordeal alive, I’d love for you to come meet Tara,” he said, a soft warmth in his voice that bought a smile to her lips. 

“Hmm, I suppose meeting a tressym would be worth going to Waterdeep for,” she teased, which made him laugh. 

“Indeed it would be, especially a tressym like Tara. Now, I think we’ve spent long enough talking, it’s about time we got on.” 

“Ah, yes! So, Professor Dekarios, what’s the first lesson?” 

The morning passed mostly practising cantrips, and by the end she’d got pretty good at them. They took a break while Gale made lunch (Saff did offer to help, but he insisted he didn’t need it and said she should rest instead), and come the afternoon they were ready to start on some 1st level spells.

“De-to-no,” Gale said, slowly and clearly. “De-to-no,” she repeated carefully. “Detono.” 

“Perfect. Now, the somatic component. Watch my movements carefully. Make sure you get the fingers right, it’s all in the details.”

She watched as he slowly replicated the required movement, then tried replicating it herself. 

“Arms higher, fingers out… good. Now, put it all together, and…” 

He turned to the three large sticks they’d wedged into the sand in front of him and raised his arms. 

“Detono!” 

The clap of thunder was joined with a gust of wind that tugged at her hair and clothes, even though she was well out of range of the spell. The three sticks went flying off into the river, along with a fairly significant amount of sand and stones. 

As the wind died down again, he turned to her. “Now you try.” 

She turned to the second set of sticks in the ground in front of her. Slowly she raised her hands and took a deep breath. “Detono!” 

Nothing happened. “Keep trying. No one gets a spell the first time. Except me, of course.” 

She scoffed and shook her head. 

“Are you always so full of yourself?” “Only when it’s warranted.” 

“You’re insufferable.” 

“You seem to have suffered me well enough so far.” 

“True, there was a lot of suffering.” 

He couldn’t even come up with a good response to that and just made a noise in objection. She flashed him a playful smile, then turned back to the sticks. “Detono!” 

A slight wind, a hint of static. “Yes! Keep going,” he encouraged, and she did so. Again, and again, and again. Each time the wind picked up more and gradually the static started to audibly crackle. 

A noise echoed in the distance. 

“What was tha-”

“Shh,” he hissed, listening out for it again. 

Once more it came, louder this time. A strange noise, like an animal, but not one either of them recognised. High pitched, a sort of whine or winnie… whatever it was, it was getting closer, and it didn’t sound friendly.

[tabitha42]

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 6

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

This time it wasn’t morning that woke her. She couldn’t say what exactly it was that had roused her from her sleep, but she opened her eyes to find a figure looming over her, leaning down, teeth bared…

She screamed and pushed him back, scrambling out of the tent. 

“Shit,” Astarion muttered to himself, before running out of the tent after her. 

Outside the others had heard the scream and were rushing out of their tents to see what was happening. Lae’zel already had a dagger in hand, ready to fight off whatever threat was here. Saff was at Gale’s tent, panicking as he checked her over and comforted her. As Astarion left the tent she looked over, and only then did she realise it had been him. 

“Astarion…?” she gasped in disbelief. She’d thought it was someone who’d snuck into their camp, not one of their group. 

Anger spread across Gale’s face, and he stepped in front of her protectively, glaring at Astarion. 

“What in the Hells do you think you’re doing?!” he shouted, clenching his fists. 

“I think we all know what he was doing…” Shadowheart growled accusingly, the implication in her words obvious, picking up her mace. 

“NO! No, I swear, it wasn’t like that,” Astarion said quickly, holding his hands up defensively as the group became increasingly hostile. 

“He’s right… it wasn’t like that.” 

The group stopped and turned to Saff, who didn’t take her eyes off Astarion. 

“He… he wasn’t trying to…” her words were quiet and stuttered as she looked at him. The image of him leaning down, mouth open, replayed in her mind as her hand subconsciously went to her neck where she’d felt the brief scrape of something sharp before pushing him away. “He was going to… bite me…”

“I knew it!” Wyll spat, drawing his rapier and pointing it at Astarion. The signs had all been there, he’d long suspected it, and this was all the proof he needed. “He’s a vampire!” 

“But how can you be a vampire if you can walk in the sun?” Shadowheart asked. She’d suspected it before as well, of course she had. But his ability to walk in sunlight had made her discount that possibility. 

“I… don’t know. Since I got this tadpole, things have changed. I can stand in the sun, walk into houses uninvited… but I still have this hunger,” he admitted, for once sounding genuinely remorseful. A flicker of sympathy flashed across Gale’s face. 

“That doesn’t mean you can feed on us,” Lae’zel hissed, brandishing her blade. 

“I usually don’t! I feed on animals, boar, deer, whatever I can find. But… I’m too slow right now. Too weak. I can’t feed only on animals, not if I need to fight.” 

An uneasy quiet fell across them. They knew the truth - they needed him. He was the only one in the group with his skills, and if he couldn’t fight, he was a risk. Astarion could see this realisation on their faces, and left it a moment to sink in before continuing. 

“If I just had a little blood, I could think clearer. Fight better. Please,” he begged, surprisingly still sounding genuine. 

The group looked at each other hesitantly.

“Ok,” came Saff’s voice, quiet and uncertain. Gale turned to her quickly. 

“Saff, are you sure about this?” he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She looked to Astarion, considering for a moment, then nodded and turned to the others.

“I’m sure. We’re all in this together, right? We’ve got to help each other. And it’s not his fault he’s a vampire. Well, I assume?” she asked, looking back at him. 

“I certainly didn’t choose it, no,” he confirmed. 

“There we go then. If we’re in this together, we have to help each other. And, I mean, it’s not gonna kill me, right?” 

“No, of course not. It might make you feel a bit weak for a while, but you’ll be fine.”

“Then I’ll do it.” 

For the first time, she saw Astarion genuinely smile. 

“Ch’k, fine, if it makes him stronger then so be it, those staying at camp can feed him each night. But no more surprises. If I wake up with so much as a drop of blood on my neck, you will find a stake through your heart,” Lae’zel growled, pointedly looking to Astarion as she threatened him. 

“You have my word,” he promised solemnly. 

“Maybe we could get him to wear a bell - dissuade any nighttime prowling,” Shadowheart suggested with a smirk. A small chuckle rippled through the party. Astarion didn’t seem keen on the idea, though he was glad it relieved some of the tension as weapons were lowered. 

“Very well, but I’m keeping my eye on you,” Wyll warned. “And no wisecracks about having us for supper.” “I wouldn’t dare,” he joked, joining in now with the more upbeat tone. 

“Enough joking,” Lae’zel decreed. “We need rest for tomorrow. Feed on her Astarion and be done with it.” 

Astarion nodded and looked towards Saff. She stepped forward, but Gale stopped her. “He can feed on me tonight,” he declared. A smirk came to Astarion’s lips. 

“Oh can I? How kind of you,” he said, knowing exactly why Gale was offering. At least, he thought he knew…

“Let’s get comfortable, shall we?” 

He grabbed a spare bedroll and spread it out on the ground. He looked back up at Gale and saw the uncertain look on his face.

“I’ll only take a bit,” he promised him. “You’d better.” 

The others watched as Gale laid down on the bedroll, knowing this would likely be something they’d all also have to go through eventually. Saff found herself holding her breath as Astarion knelt over him, getting into position… then with a swift movement, sunk his teeth into Gale’s neck. 

Then just as suddenly he ripped them out and stumbled backwards, coughing and spluttering. “Ugh! Your blood tastes like bile! What is wrong with you??” He gasped, spitting and wiping his mouth. The others watched in surprise as Gale sat up, holding his neck. 

“Let that be a lesson to you not to bite someone in the night without their consent,” he said firmly, and suddenly the group realised - this was Gale’s way of getting back at Astarion for what he nearly did to Saff. 

“I said I was sorry!” Astarion argued defensively. 

“Actually, I don’t think you did,” Gale countered as he stood up. Astarion was about to speak, then paused as he ran through the conversation in his head. 

“Ah… well, sorry,” he said to Saff. “Unfortunately for you it seems Gale’s off the menu.” 

Saff looked to Gale in a mixture of concern and fear.

“What… is wrong with your blood?” she asked tentatively. The others waited, curious to hear the answer. He felt their eyes on him, but feared their reactions if he told them the whole truth of it all now. 

“That’s a long story… one best kept for another time,” he said eventually. Saff nodded slowly, noting the sadness in his voice. She tried not to think about it too much as she turned to Astarion and walked towards the bedroll. Gale watched her sadly - as much as he’d enjoyed getting back at Astarion, he’d much rather have been able to spare Saff this fate. 

Nervously she laid down on the bedroll and looked up at Astarion. Behind her she heard Gale speak.

“Remember, only a bit,” he warned Astarion. 

“Of course,” he agreed as he knelt down over her. She closed her eyes, preparing herself for what was to come… then she felt it, like two shards of ice in her neck. She let out a gasp of pain and whimpered softly as she felt her strength draining. She trusted him to stop before he took too much, but slowly the edges of her vision started to go dark and her ears began to ring…

“S-stop…” she whispered, the word barely audible as it left her lips. She tried to push him away, but barely had the strength to lift her arm. She felt him lift her up, his hand behind her head, sucking hungrily, as she began to fall limp in his arms…

“Enough!” 

Astarion suddenly put her down and pulled away as Gale shouted and came towards them. He barely even noticed how angry Gale was over the feeling of elation he was experiencing, and for a moment all he could do was stand there in awe with wide eyes as he felt strength unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. 

Gale quickly knelt by Saff’s side and helped her sit up, supporting her in his arms. Wyll joined them with a rag to hold against her neck and a cup of water. Gale tried to offer the water to her as Wyll tended to her neck, but she was barely strong enough to even hold her head up. 

“What happened to ‘just a bit’?!” he snapped at Astarion. 

“Sorry, I… was just swept up in the moment,” he replied, which just made the others more angry with him. 

“How do we know you won’t get ‘swept up in the moment’ in the future?” Shadowheart asked, starting to lose confidence in this plan of letting him feed on them.

“We shall have to always have someone watching,” Lae’zel decided, also not thrilled by this turn of events. 

“It won’t happen again,” Astarion said quickly. “It’s just because I’ve never fed on a human before. It was… glorious,” his voice was almost a whisper, the effect on him clear to everyone in the camp. 

“You’ve… never fed on a human before?” Wyll asked in disbelief. 

“Not once. Always just animals. Rats, mostly.” 

“How long have you been a vampire?” 

“About… 200 years.” 

A quiet fell over them.

“200 years of nothing but rats…” Wyll murmured, feeling a stab of sympathy for Astarion. 

“Did it work…” 

Saff’s voice was weak, only just loud enough for them to hear. Gale and Wyll looked to her as she slowly raised her head, looking up to Astarion, wanting to know if it had been worth it. 

“It worked,” he confirmed with a smile. “I feel… good. Strong. Happy!” 

“Good…” Saff whispered, managing a weak smile. Astarion’s smile faded slightly to a look of remorse.

“I’m… sorry about this. I got carried away. It won’t happen again,” he promised her, then looked round at the others. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to find something more filling. I will see you all in the morning, bright and ready to take out some goblins,” he said with a slightly sadistic grin. With that he turned to leave, looking stronger, more confident, ready to hunt. 

Lae’zel and Shadowheart watched him leave, still a bit wary of this whole arrangement, but decided they were content for now and headed back to their tents. Wyll and Gale stayed with Saff for now to make sure she was ok.

“Never expected to find myself teaming up with a vampire…” Wyll murmured. 

“Never expected to find myself offering to get bitten by one,” Saff added with a weak chuckle. Wyll looked at them both. 

“How does it feel?” he asked, directing the question at both of them. 

“Awful,” they both answered in unison, to Wyll’s amusement. 

“Something to look forward to, then,” he said, sighing slightly. “Anyway, I’d best get some rest. I’ll leave you in Gale’s capable hands,” he said to Saff, who couldn’t help but smile slightly at his phrasing. Gale nodded his thanks to Wyll for his help as he left, then turned his attention back to Saff. 

“Let’s get you back to your tent,” he said, helping her to her feet. Somewhat wobbly and holding onto him for support she made her way back over, letting him gently lower her onto her bedroll once she was inside. He bought the cup of water, which she managed to drink some of, and placed it next to her as he sat down with her. 

“How are you feeling?” he asked softly. 

“Woozy. But I’m sure I’ll be fine in the morning,” she said, her voice weak, but an optimistic smile on her lips. “Gotta be ready for our lessons tomorrow, after all,” she added playfully. He chuckled at first, then gave her a stern look. 

“You get all the rest you need. Lessons can wait if you’re not feeling up to it.” 

“Can they?” 

She looked at him as her words hung between them. They both knew the severity of their situation, and they both knew she was a liability if she couldn’t defend herself. 

“We will see how you feel in the morning,” he settled on. “For now, get some rest.” 

She smiled and nodded. 

“See you tomorrow,” he said softly, putting his hand on her shoulder for a moment, holding her gaze… before finally standing up and leaving the tent. 

She sighed deeply as she pulled a blanket over herself and closed her eyes. A vampire among them… as if things weren’t crazy enough. But she trusted Astarion now, and maybe this would be a good thing - vampires were powerful, after all. What actually worried her more was the question of Gale’s blood and what was wrong with it. Was it some sort of illness? Or curse? 

She supposed there was no point in worrying about it now, but she hoped he’d tell them what it was sooner rather than later.

[tabitha42]

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 5

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

They decided to find a secluded spot for the lesson, one far enough away that the others wouldn’t be kept awake by the sounds of fireballs and lightning. It didn’t take them long to find somewhere - a nice clearing which would have made for a good camp spot had they not already chosen one. “This looks ideal,” Gale decided as he looked round the area. “That rock will make for a perfect target. Far enough from the grass that we won’t risk starting any accidental forest fires,” he said, gesturing to a large rock in the sand by the river bank. “Now, show me your firebolt,” he instructed, standing back a few steps. 

Saff nodded and took a deep breath. She was actually quite nervous, having someone assess her on something she knew she wasn’t very good at. Especially someone so good at it that she wanted to impress. 

She raised her hands and began to make the movements. 

“Ignis!” 

She threw her arm forward and the firebolt launched from her hand, slamming into the rock and leaving a blackened mark. She smiled widely and turned to him, proud of herself. “Good. Again,” he said, waving for her to continue. She did as she was told, throwing another firebolt. Slightly more off target this time, glancing off the side of the rock. “Keep going,” he instructed, holding his chin in his hand as he watched. 

She continued, throwing them now until he said to stop. As she did he watched her movements, her gestures, her positioning, listened to the pronunciation and emphasis of her incantations. 

“Alright, stop,” he ordered, and did so. “Your technique isn’t bad, but there is room for improvement. Show me your opening stance again.” 

She did as instructed, raising her hands into the position. He stepped towards her and paused, seemingly contemplating something for a moment, before reaching out and gently raising her elbow. “Have this arm just a little higher,” he advised, “and this one a little lower,” he added, lowering her other hand slightly. “Also, splay your fingers a bit more. Now try that.” She did so, and was amazed when the firebolt that came out was notably bigger. 

“Wow!” she gasped in surprise.

“Much better!” he said happily. “Do you know any other offensive spells?” 

“Not really… I know the movements and incantation for Ray of Frost, though I’ve never tried to actually cast it.” “There’s a first time for everything. Give it a go.” 

She nodded, and once more raised her hands into the position. 

“Glacies!” 

“Wait-!” 

Instead of forming a crystal lance to throw at the rock, the ice that erupted from her hands instead exploded, covering her in jagged ice and knocking her back off her feet. She fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of her, shivering.

“Saff!” Gale gasped, running to her side and dropping to his knees. “By Mystra, are you ok??” 

He gathered her into his arms and helped her sit up, feeling her shake from the cold. Quickly he summoned a small ball of flame in his hands and held it in front of her, letting it warm her up. Gradually the ice began to melt away, soaking into her clothes. 

“S-sorry…” she stuttered, looking down in shame. 

“Don’t be sorry,” he assured her. “After all, what’s a magic lesson without an unexpected explosion or two?” 

Despite the shivering, she managed to laugh at that. 

“It didn’t get you, did it?” she asked, looking up at him. To her relief, he shook his head. 

“You rather bore the brunt of that one for me,” he said with a small chuckle. 

“Well, good,” she said, softly chuckling to herself. She watched the fire in his hand for a few moments, enjoying its warmth. 

“Perhaps we should have covered armour spells before going straight into attacks,” Gale mused. “Do you know Mage Armour?” She shook her head. “We will start with that once you’re better.”

She nodded, though something was on her mind. 

“You said ‘wait’… you knew that was going to happen?” she asked eventually. 

“Your pronunciation was all wrong,” he explained. “It’s glak-ius, with a hard C. Not… glay-sees.” “Oh!” she gasped, a flush of embarrassment rising in her cheeks. “Well… I’d only ever read it… I’ve never heard it said out loud…” 

His eyebrows raised in surprise. 

“Wait, you’ve never heard it said out loud? Where did you learn these spells?” 

“Well, I… learnt them myself,” she admitted, looking away slightly. “I never had the money to go to an academy. I learnt a few basic spells myself, then was picked up by a wizard in Baldur’s Gate who said he’d teach me. But he always said I shouldn’t learn combat spells, that it was too dangerous.” 

“He… said you shouldn’t learn combat spells?” Gale said in surprise. That sounded odd to him. “Every wizard needs to learn combat spells…” 

“Not according to Malitas,” she said with a small shrug. “He said I should focus on my druidic studies.” “I see. Well, when we get to Baldur’s Gate, I’d love to meet him. I’d like to give him a piece of my mind,” he growled, the anger evident in his voice, which surprised her. “You’re… angry at him?” 

“Of course. He’s left you in a dangerous position, not being able to defend yourself. But, no matter. I can put that right,” he decided, quickly getting back to his usual upbeat tone. “Especially now that we have all day to practise.” 

“Ah yes!” she laughed, looking up at him. “I need to thank you for that. I… am not sure I’m ready for another day on the road without some time to properly learn some combat spells.” 

“Indeed. We’ll get you up to scratch, not to worry,” he assured her. She looked at him with a grateful smile, though all he could see were the painful, red marks on her face where the ice had hit. “For now though, let’s take a break, at least until you’re dry,” he decided. He leant forward and placed the orb of fire on the ground, then as he leant back performed a few hand gestures, growing the flames to the size of a campfire. 

Saff leaned forward, getting the most of the heat. The ice had all melted now, but still left most of her clothes soaked in cold water. 

“Gla-kius,” she said after a moment, then looked over at him. “Is that right? Glakius?” 

“Perfect,” he complimented, smiling at her. “And what about Chill Touch? Timere?” 

“Less tim-ear, more tim-may.” “Gods, I’ve got a lot to learn,” she despaired, though with a slight laugh, as she looked back to the fire. 

“You’ll pick it up, I’m sure,” he said confidently. 

“I hope so. I’m going to need it…” she murmured, a bit distantly, knowing what would face them in the future.

They sat quietly for a bit, staring into the fire, enjoying the serenity of the evening, til Saff spoke again.

“Oh! I meant to ask. You mentioned earlier the first time you had to fight…” she looked over at Gale, meeting his eyes. “What happened? If you don’t mind talking about it.” 

“Don’t mind at all,” he said happily. “I was 15, and perhaps unsurprisingly, it was to impress a girl.”

She burst out laughing. 

“Oh, of course it was! You really got yourself into mortal danger to impress a girl?” 

“A tale as old as time,” he chuckled. “A trade caravan heading to Waterdeep had been plundered by goblins and she was devastated that a necklace she’d ordered from Baldur’s Gate had been taken. So I sought out the goblin cave and entered, set on finding the necklace and winning her heart. Needless to say, one 15 year old against a group of goblins was hardly a fair fight, even if that 15 year old was me. I was discovered trying to sneak through the cave and just about managed to escape with my life intact. Though the wrath of the goblins was nothing compared to the wrath of my mother,” he joked. Saff laughed along with him, shaking her head. 

“I can’t believe you’d do that for a girl. I used to have so much respect for you.”

“Oh I assure you I’ve changed a lot since then. If that situation were to happen now, I’d be able to take out the goblins.” 

She playfully pushed him away as she laughed. 

“And what did she think of your daring deed? Did it impress her?” 

“No, I’m sad to report. Had I succeeded perhaps it would have done, but she was thoroughly unimpressed. I was heartbroken.” 

“Well I hope you learnt your lesson and you don’t do stupid things to impress girls anymore.” 

His smile faded slightly and he looked back into the fire. 

“Hmm… perhaps I haven’t changed as much as I thought…” he said quietly, a bit distantly. He then looked back at her with a smile before she could question it. “Think you’re ready to continue with the lesson?” 

They started with Mage Armour, another essential in a wizard’s arsenal as far as Gale was concerned. After a few practised incantations and gestures Saff tried it out, and was amazed as a subtle shimmer of golden light shrouded her body. 

“Perfect,” he complimented. “It’s not quite as effective as a full suit of armour, but it’s an awful lot better than just robes. Make sure to apply the spell every morning, it’ll last all day.” 

After that they returned to combat spells. Following a few more attempts at carefully pronouncing the incantation, she was delighted to successfully cast ray of frost, and the blackened burnt spot on the rock soon became coated in ice. A few more rounds of firebolt to melt the ice and they decided it was time to call it for the night.

The two of them headed back down the river towards camp. It was fully dark now, the moonlight reflecting on the water’s surface while stars sparkled in the ripples. Wind gently rustled the tree leaves, accompanied by the occasional sounds of animals. Now that she wasn’t focusing on her lessons, she could see how beautiful it was. 

“Too bad we have to go back. It’s beautiful out here,” she mused, looking up at the stars. 

“It is, isn’t it?” Gale agreed, following her gaze. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been somewhere like this. I spend most of my time in the city.” “Me too…” she whispered softly, trailing off a bit. She stopped walking, pausing to admire the beauty around her, not wanting it to disappear just yet. Gale stopped a few steps ahead of her and looked back once he realised she was no longer by his side. She looked deep in thought. 

“This is why I wanted to study druidic magic, you know. Places like this, they just seem so… perfect…” 

She walked over to the river’s edge and knelt down, looking into the water. She reached down and cupped some in her hands, lifting it out and watching as the surface settled and the reflection appeared, before letting it seep back out through her fingers. 

“Sometimes I wish I was born a druid. I feel so… at peace here. Like everything is right with the world, despite how much I know it’s not.” 

She stood again, her gaze lingering at the river a few moments longer, before finally turning back to Gale. When she caught his eye she saw how he was looking at her, the slight, unconscious smile on his lips, the look in his eyes… she felt her heart skip a beat once more. Though it was only there for a split second before he quickly composed himself.

“You’re quite right,” he said, looking around the forest and up to the stars as she had. “I really need to get out of my tower more. It’s too easy to forget places like this exist in the world.” 

“You definitely need to get out more if you’re forgetting they exist,” she teased as she caught back up to him. He chuckled softly as he brought his gaze back down to her. 

“Well, it’s easier to remember to do that if I’ve… ahem… got someone to enjoy the walk with,” he said softly. Her heart fluttered with excitement - was he… flirting with her?? Or was she reading too much into it? Gods she hoped he was. Everything about it swept her away - the soft, warm tone he spoke in, even the slightly awkward, nervous stutter in the middle of the sentence. It was strange to see Gale, who was usually so confident, get nervous about something. It was adorable.

“True… it’s always better with the right person,” she agreed, not taking her eyes off of his. 

The two of them stood there for a long moment, staring into each other’s eyes… until he finally took a step back. 

“Let’s hope we have many more walks like this, before we leave this place,” he said, inviting her to walk with him again down the river towards camp. She smiled and continued on with him, only now realising how fast her heart was beating with excitement. 

By the time they reached camp the campfire had burnt down to just the embers. They stepped carefully over the various camp supplies outside everyone’s tents until they reached their own. 

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Gale whispered to her, careful to make sure no one else would hear. She smiled and nodded eagerly. 

“Goodnight, Gale.” “Goodnight, Saff.” 

The blankets of her tent were much warmer and comfier now than the night before with the addition of various blankets and furs they’d got at the druid’s grove, but it was thoughts of Gale that truly warmed her heart tonight. Again, she tried to tell herself not to fall for a guy she just met, but just the way he whispered goodnight could completely drown out those thoughts. She closed her eyes, imagining what future walks along the river might bring.

[tabitha42]

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 4

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

The grove had quite a charm to it. It probably would have been a beautiful place, if everyone there didn’t have such an uneasy air about them. Wyll explained the situation further as he led them deeper into the grove - how the druids had become less welcoming of the tieflings since Halsin left with the adventurers, even before they’d known he’d been captured. Kagha was quick to sink her claws in, and now because of her they didn’t let any outsiders into the heart of the grove. That was why he hadn’t been able to seek this healer himself yet, he wasn’t allowed in. But he hoped now that they’d fought off a goblin attack, maybe they’d be granted an audience. The whole thing seemed very off to Saff - most druids were very welcoming of visitors, and would brave the dangers of helping those in need. This Kagha seemed to go against all that. 

As they descended the stone steps, they heard shouting. A couple of tieflings demanding to be let in - seemed the druids had their child. The whole argument ended with a roar of a wildshaped bear. Again, an unexpected turn of events for druids - holding children captive wasn’t usually an approach druids would take. 

At first they were denied entry, as Wyll had suspected. That was, until it transpired that Kagha wanted to see them. They headed further in, past a group of druids performing some sort of ritual. Saff paused and watched the flow of magic from the druids’ hands to the statue, wondering what it was they were doing. She quickly hurried to catch them up though as they approached the great stone door into the inner sanctum.

The breath caught in Saff’s throat as she saw the scene playing out inside. A terrified child, cowering as a snake coiled its way towards her. 

“Please, I’m sorry!” she begged the two druids standing over her, a man and a woman. “This is madness, Kagha!” the man insisted. “She’s just a-” “A what, Rath? A thief? A poison. A threat?” The woman spat back. “I will imprison the devil. And I will cast out every stranger!” The snake hissed as it moved towards her. Saff knew well enough what that snake was, and what would happen if it bit her - which it looked poised to do if the child ran. As she looked back to the child a terrible realisation came over her as she saw the child’s eyes darting round, looking for an exit, ready to run. 

“Wait!” she called out, before even realising what she was doing. Then all eyes in the room were on her. “Th-this isn’t right. Druids should cherish harmony. Imprisoning a child, that’s not right, that’s not balance!”

Tension hung in the air. All eyes fell to Kagha now, who seemed to stare into Saff’s soul… til finally she relented. 

“Very well, you’re right. Go, child - tell them how merciful I’ve been to you. Teela, to me!” 

The girl nodded and quickly scurried out of the room as the snake returned to Kagha’s side. 

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief, especially Saff. Wyll walked forward to talk to Kagha while Gale hung back and spoke to Saff. 

“Nice one! I’m not sure even I could have convinced her out of that,” he said, prompting a laugh and head shake from Saff. “And you said you wouldn’t be able to talk us out of fights,” he added, giving her a smile and a playful nudge. He then looked back at Kagha as Wyll spoke to her. “That woman has more venom in her heart than a snake does in its fangs, but at least the child is safe. What is youth if not a time to be forgiven for one’s transgressions?” 

“Or if not forgiven, at least not imprisoned and potentially killed!” Saff agreed. “That snake… it was about to strike, I swear. All for what? Some idol?” She shook her head. “It’s ridiculous…” 

“Couldn’t agree more. The girl wasn’t innocent, but she didn’t deserve all that.” Saff looked over as Kagha spoke, noticing as she glanced up at her for a moment, before looking back to Wyll. “I don’t get it,” she said quietly, not wanting to be overheard. “This isn’t… right. Druids aren’t like this. There’s something strange going on here.” 

“Hmm… we’d better keep our eyes and ears peeled then, look out for any signs of strange goings on,” he said, watching now as Wyll left Kagha and headed back up to them. “So? What did she want?” he asked as Wyll reached them. He sighed deeply. 

“She plans to kick all the tieflings out and wants us to escort them to Baldur’s Gate. I told her we couldn’t possibly escort them all, she said then the tieflings shall die on the road.” 

“Gods, she truly is a monster,” Gale muttered. “There’s gotta be some way to convince her…” Saff started, but Wyll shook his head. 

“I tried, she’s not hearing it. She did say we can see Nettie now, though,” he said, the one piece of good news in all this. 

Unfortunately the good news didn’t last long as they soon learnt Nettie couldn’t help them. But she did at least decide against secretly trying to kill them, as she had apparently been planning after hearing they were infected. 

The three of them looked at the bottle of wyvern poison in Wyll’s hand as they headed out, given to them under the promise they would use it if they started to feel themselves transforming. 

“A bleak outlook…” Gale murmured.

“Guess we’re back to purification,” Saff said, realising Lae’zel’s words earlier had come true. Wyll sighed and put the bottle away. 

“Let’s think about that later. For now we’d best speak to Zevlor about Kagha’s offer. He may have some ideas about what we can do.” 

On their way out they ran into the girl’s parents. They thanked them dearly for saving Arabella, particularly Saff. Gale watched proudly as they presented Saff with an enchanted locket as thanks. He knew Saff had critically low confidence in her adventuring abilities, and he hoped this might boost that a bit. It hadn’t been combat, sure, but being a good adventurer meant more than just fighting. Saff happily put it round her neck, looking at Gale with a big, proud smile. The enchantment may be of little use to her, but the locket had a far deeper meaning to her, a symbol of her first victory as an adventurer. Soon they were on their way again. 

It turned out Zevlor did have some ideas, but they didn’t sound much more doable than escorting the whole tiefling group all the way to Baldur’s Gate. 

“Take out the goblin leaders??” Saff gasped as they headed back to meet up with Lae’zel and Astarion. 

“That’s what he said,” Wyll answered with a small shrug. “And he’s right. If we take out the leaders the goblins will scatter. It’s probably the most viable option we have if we are to help them.” 

“A tall order, but I think we’re up to the task,” Gale said confidently. Wyll seemed to match his confidence, but Saff less so. 

Lae’zel and Astarion were waiting for them by the time they got back. Astarion was the first to speak as they approached. 

“Judging by the grim looks on your faces, I’m guessing the healer couldn’t help?” 

“Sadly not,” Wyll confirmed. “Ch’k, just as I said. Do you believe me now when I say purification is the only way?” Lae’zel demanded. There was a moment of silence. 

“Nettie said Halsin might be able to help…” Saff suggested, but that was met with a scoff from both Lae’zel and Astarion. 

“Well it’s too bad he’s not here right now,” Astarion said, sounding bitter that everything seemed to be adding up against them. 

“And even if he was, he wouldn’t be able to help,” Lae’zel added. 

“What about you two then? Did you find out where this creche is?” Wyll asked, and finally a smile came to Lae’zel’s face. 

“Yes! North east, near the mountain pass. We should head there at once.” “The mountain pass? That’s a good few days’ walk from here,” Wyll warned. 

“Then we’d best get started now,” Lae’zel replied, undeterred. 

“A dangerous walk, too,” Wyll continued. “Particularly with all these goblins running round…” 

Gale and Saff glanced at each other, realising where this was going. Lae’zel narrowed her eyes at him, sensing a hidden motive here. 

“What are you getting at, istik?” 

“The mountain pass is miles from here. But the goblin camp is close. If we take out their leaders and scatter the goblins, it will make our journey safer.” Lae’zel looked shocked and Astarion nearly gagged at the suggestion. 

“You want to take on a whole horde of goblins??” he gasped, but then paused and reconsidered. “Actually, that does sound kind of fun…” 

“Fun?? We are not here for fun!” Lae’zel spat angrily. “And we are not here to take out goblins or help refugees. We should focus on the tadpoles.” 

“If we kill the goblin leaders, we may also free Halsin. And like Astarion said earlier, we should consider all avenues,” Wyll argued, gesturing towards Astarion, who was now receiving another glare from Lae’zel. 

“Kaincha! We will transform while the lot of you waste our time with these pointless endeavours!” 

“You can head to the mountain pass yourself, if you prefer,” Wyll offered, sure that would be enough to get her on side. It worked, though she wasn’t happy about it. She had half a mind to go it alone, but she knew navigating these lands and facing their threats on her own wouldn’t be easy. 

“Very well, but this better not take long. We only have a few days.” 

“Believe me, I don’t want to become a mind flayer any more than you do,” Wyll assured her. “We should gather supplies and head to your camp, we can make plans there.” “Ah yes, then you can meet Shadowheart,” Gale said. Wyll looked at him and paused. 

“Sh… Shadowheart? That’s… someone’s name?” 

“My thoughts exactly,” Astarion agreed as the group began to head towards the trader to get supplies. “Her parents never gave her a chance…” 

They purchased what supplies they needed and had one last look round the grove for anything useful or to see if anyone else had any other leads. They found out about a relic called the Nightsong that the adventurers had been searching for, met a group of siblings and convinced them to stay and help the rest of the tieflings and helped a bard write a song. Sadly though, no more leads on potential tadpole cures.

Back at camp, Shadowheart sat in front of her tent, turning the artefact over and over in her hands. 

“There must be some way to… open it…” she murmured to herself, frustratedly pulling at the corners and tapping at the faces. She’d been fiddling with it all day and nothing seemed to make any difference to it. Finally she heard voices in the distance and quickly hid the artefact away, standing to greet the others as they returned. Her eyebrows raised as she saw another member with them. “I see our group has grown,” she commented as they entered the camp. 

“Ah, you must be Shadowheart! I am Wyll, the Blade of Frontiers,” he announced proudly. Shadowheart didn’t look too impressed. 

She also wasn’t impressed by their suggestion to take on the goblin leaders, but ultimately agreed to it when it was pointed out there may be a druid there who could help them. It seemed she didn’t have very much faith in this creche idea at all. She was at least happy with the supplies they’d bought back with them, allowing them a bit more comfort in their otherwise meagre camp. The group kitted out their tents a bit more and drew up plans over dinner. Everything was going quite smoothly, until the decision of who should go and who should stay at camp. 

“The way I see it, the solution is obvious,” Gale said, his tone firm enough to break the arguing that had been happening up to that point. “Wyll has to go, he is the only one who knows the way. Astarion has to go, he is the only one stealthy enough to make a good scout-” 

“Ugh, another day on the road? My feet could barely handle today,” Astarion moaned. “Come now Astarion, you said it would be fun! Plus, believe me, my feet are hurting more than yours,” Gale argued. Astarion huffed and folded his arms.

“I suppose killing some goblins will be fun…” he relented after a few moments. “That’s the spirit! Now, Shadowheart should go as we need to swap everyone out each day to make sure people are rested, and you will need a healer. Finally, Lae’zel should go as she knows the most about our condition, should Halsin need more information.” 

“So you two conveniently get to stay at camp together all day?” Astarion teased, nodding to Gale and Saff. 

“We will both join the day after. You can rest then, Astarion,” Gale offered, trying to deflect from the obvious implication Astarion was making. 

“How kind of you,” he gushed, even more sarcastic than usual. 

“Enough. The plan is made,” Lae’zel declared. Quite honestly she was glad for Gale’s suggestion - she’d seen what happened at the goblin fight, and she didn’t want to be taking on such a dangerous task with someone who couldn’t hold their own in a fight. She hoped Gale might take the time to teach Saff some useful spells. Astarion was pretty sure Gale was planning to take the time to do something quite different. 

With that the group finished dinner and went their own ways for the night. Gale, Saff and Wyll chatted together as they did the washing and prepared any leftover food for storage, not noticing Astarion looking just a bit annoyed that there didn’t seem to be any interesting drama between them. Once they were done Wyll said he must be off to get some rest for the day to come, leaving Gale and Saff alone together. 

“Now, don’t go thinking I’ve forgotten my promise earlier,” he said to her. “Time for our first lesson, if you’re still up for that?” 

“Been looking forward to it all day,” she replied with a playful smile. 

[tabitha42]

A handful of my favourite Gale screenshots. He looks so good in Astarion's shirt.

[tabitha42]

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 3

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

Morning came all too quickly. Her body still ached from the day before, made worse now by sleeping on little more than the ground. She could hear movement outside - seems the others were already awake, or some of them at least. The smell of food wafted in and was enough to finally pull her out of bed.

Outside the others were preparing for the day - sharpening weapons, readying armour, inspecting arrows. Gale sat at the campfire, cooking once more. “Saff!” he called once he saw she was up, beckoning her over. “I’ve saved some for you.” She wandered over and sat down next to him. He handed her a plate with some bread and cooked meat. Considering it was rations looted off of dead bodies cooked over a campfire, it looked pretty damn good. She thanked him and eagerly began eating. “We’ll be heading out with the others today to help search for the tieflings. Lae’zel thinks she knows what direction to go in,” he explained, filling her in on the discussions that had happened before she’d woken up. 

“Ah… ok,” she said, a little bit nervous. “What about the camp? Shouldn’t someone stay to guard it?” “Shadowheart will stay here.” That took her by surprise. Even though Shadowheart had been pretty quiet last night, one thing Saff had gotten from her was that she was very determined to do whatever needed to be done to free herself of this parasite, and staying in camp for the day didn’t seem to fit in with that. 

“Really?” she asked, glancing over at Shadowheart, who was eating her breakfast in front of her tent. “Yep,” he said, before lowering his voice and leaning in slightly. “Between you and me, I get the impression she wants to be in Lae’zel’s company for as little time as possible.” “Ah…” she murmured. Now that she thought about it, that matched up with how they’d been acting around each other last night. The two of them clearly weren’t exactly friends. “What about our stuff? Can we trust her with it all?” Gale shrugged slightly. “We don’t have much choice, unless you want to carry that backpack around with you all day.” 

She certainly didn’t relish that thought. 

“Suppose you’re right…” she muttered. Still, she wondered if this was really the best idea. Shadowheart looked like a much more capable fighter than Saff herself was…

Soon breakfast was done and the four of them were ready to go. “Good luck,” Shadowheart said with a wave as they were about to leave. “Do try not to get yourselves killed.” 

“Same to you, darling,” Astarion replied. “It can be awfully dangerous in these woods all on your own.” “I can handle myself, don’t you worry.” With that, they were off. Lae’zel took the lead while the rest of them followed. “You sure you’re ok with this, Lae’zel?” Astarion asked after a while. “Two wizards and a rogue… we won’t exactly be joining you on the front lines.” Despite the apparent concern in his words, the playful nature with which he said them seemed to lack any real concern at all. 

“I am perfectly content with that. Less people to get in my way,” she said confidently. Everything she said seemed to be confident, like she had not a shred of self-doubt. Given the stories she’d told them of Githyanki culture, Saff supposed anyone with any self-doubt wouldn’t have survived their training. 

“Are you saying our dear Shadowheart got in your way?” Astarion asked, with the tone of a teenager wanting to start drama. “Shadowheart’s been getting in my way since we met her. I will fight better without her.” 

Astarion glanced at Saff and Gale, now with the look of a teenager excited about the drama they’d started. 

“Well if you can fight even better today we have nothing to fear.” 

At this point Saff wasn’t sure if he was actually being sarcastic with everything he said or if that was just how he spoke. 

The walk was long, interspersed with the occasional conversation. Astarion seemed quite chatty now, as long as the subject wasn’t himself. During the conversation she decided to tell them all to call her Saff, though mostly because it would be odd to have Gale call her one thing and the others call her another. But she hoped once she got to know the others more she’d feel as comfortable round them as she did right now with Gale.

It was early afternoon when they heard the shouting. Running to catch up with it they discovered what they’d been looking for - a large door, disguised with ivy, manned by tieflings atop the wall. Had it not been for the group of adventures outside the door shouting to be let in, they’d probably not have noticed it. 

Then came the goblins. Hollering war cries, the group descended on them and the battle began. Lae’zel wasted no time charging in, and before Saff even knew what was going on, Astarion disappeared into the shadows. She might have thought he’d fled had she not seen an arrow fly out from his hiding place right into the skull of a goblin, before he quickly darted to another hiding spot. Next Gale ran forward and effortlessly threw a firebolt at one of the worgs as it went to attack a tiefling. His hand gestures were so quick she barely saw them. She’d never seen someone cast a spell with such ease… but she soon realised she’d been staring a bit too long as she suddenly noticed a goblin running towards her, taking advantage of her lapse in concentration. In a panic she quickly summoned a firebolt and threw it at the goblin, but her aim was off, and even if it had hit it lacked the power to kill, and the goblin easily dodged to the side. She tried to summon another, but her shaking hands couldn’t do the movements, and before she knew it the goblin was on top of her… 

The goblin was slammed aside by a bolt of fire, leaving a huge clump of burnt flesh sloughing off the side of the corpse. She looked in the direction it came from to see Gale looking back at her, taking a moment to be sure she was ok, before quickly turning back to the battle, another spell in hand. 

She knew in that moment she had to be better than this, and for now adrenaline drowned out the fear and she found herself running to Gale’s side to join the fight. It was mostly a blur, throwing firebolts and dodging arrows as the sounds of battle cries and dying screams echoed in her ears. 

Then just as suddenly as it started, it was over. But she didn’t hear the celebrations of the survivors. She could still hear only the dying, the screaming. The cracking of bones and skulls, the thud of bodies hitting the ground, the stench of burning flesh. She heard voices, but the words were lost. Her hands shook, her heart raced, her ears rang, and all she could do was stare at the massacre in front of her… 

Suddenly she was being pulled away. She didn’t resist - she couldn’t even register what was happening enough to consider resisting it. A familiar figure by her side, one arm around her shoulders, the other taking her hand, leading her away from it all. Then she was sat on a stone next to him in the quiet serenity of the forest. 

“Saff? Saff, look at me.” His words gradually made their way through her muddled mind and his face came into focus in front of her, a look of deep concern in his eyes. 

“Saff, can you hear me? It’s ok…” 

She felt him squeeze her hand, and finally the visions of the battle left and she found herself back in the real world. With a deep gasp, as if finally being released from an iron-like grip, she closed her eyes and shook her head. 

“Gods… oh, gods…” she whispered, her voice shaking as much as her hands. “Hey, it’s alright,” he said softly, gently rubbing her back. “It’s over now.” 

After a long moment she finally opened her eyes again, and when she did they were full of tears. 

“I… I… oh, fuck, what am I doing here…” she whispered in a panic. “I shouldn’t have come… I should have told you I can’t do this… you should have taken Shadowheart, not me…” 

“Saff-” “I’ve put you all in danger, I’m just going to slow you all down, I can’t fight like you all ca-” “Saff!”

She went quiet, looking at him in surprise. 

“I know this is difficult. Trust me, I do. The first time I ever found myself truly fighting for my life, I was terrified. But I also know that it gets easier. Don’t give in to panic and fear, trust and believe in yourself. You can do this,” he said honestly, squeezing her hand as he spoke. 

She looked down, letting his words sink in. Gradually the panic faded, leaving just the warmth his voice gave her. Finally she wiped her eyes and nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice still shaking slightly. He smiled, giving her the time she needed. Eventually she took a deep breath and steadied herself. “Lae’zel and Astarion weren’t impressed by this, I’m guessing…” she murmured, dreading the judgemental stares she’d get next time she saw them. “I told them we would stay behind and loot the bodies. I’m not sure how much they realised what was actually happening,” he explained. “Oh,” she said in surprise. “Well… thanks for covering for me,” she said, realising what he’d done for her. “But still… I shouldn’t have let it get to this. I should have told you from the beginning. Someone who can’t fight doesn’t exactly make for a good travelling companion…” “Oh I don’t know about that. I’d still rather travel with you than with any of them.” 

Again, she looked at him in surprise. “Really? But… they can all fight. You’d be so much safer with them.” “Perhaps, but a good travelling companion can do more than just fight. Most of travelling is, well, travelling, not fighting. It’s long and boring, and you make far better conversation than they do.” 

She had to look away to hide the blush on her cheeks. Though she wondered if he saw anyway, given the way he chuckled. 

“Still… I won’t be able to talk us out of a fight, if it comes to it…” She said quietly, feeling doubtful again. 

“Then how about some lessons?” he offered. She looked back at him in curiosity. “You clearly have a fairly good grasp of the Weave, but you’ve never really studied combat magic, correct?” She nodded. “Then I shall teach you. And with as great a wizard as me as your teacher, you’ll be a powerful battlemage in no time.” 

She was sure whenever he said something a bit full of himself like that it was intended to command respect, though all it ever seemed to do was make her laugh. Luckily, that was exactly what she needed right now.

“Alright, I’ll hold you to that. If I’m not throwing fireballs within a tenday I’ll blame you.” 

“Deal,” he said with a smile, holding his hand out. She gladly shook it, feeling a bit more confident about this now. “The lessons start tonight, after dinner.” “I’ll be there,” she promised him, quite looking forward to it. “I suppose for now we’d better get back to the others before they realise something’s up.” “A good plan,” he agreed, standing up. She stood too and together they returned to the site of the battle. 

By now several tieflings had come out and started looting the bodies for weapons and supplies. Saff tried to push the images out of her head as they walked past them and through the gate into the grove. 

Once inside they met Zevlor, shaking his head over the unconscious adventurer he’d apparently knocked out in a moment of rage, who pointed them further into the grove where the others had gone. They found them talking to one of them men from the fight earlier, who had agreed to join their group in search of a cure. After a tadpole-induced vision of Avernus and quick explanation as to the one-horned devil they saw he introduced himself properly, and Saff's face immediately lit up. “You’re the Blade of Frontiers??” she gasped in excitement. A smile spread across his face, as if he’d been hoping someone would recognise him. “The very same. You’ve heard of me, then?” “Of course! I’ve heard all the stories! You’re fighting evil in the Hells now??” 

“Indeed I am. Wherever evil lurks, I will be there to flush it out,” he said proudly. Lae’zel rolled her eyes, Astarion sighed, and Gale looked… just a bit uncomfortable with how much Saff was suddenly gushing over their newest companion. Not that Saff noticed any of this. 

“We need to focus on the tadpoles,” Lae’zel reminded them. “Zorru. Where is he?” 

“Ah, he’s over there, by the hut,” Wyll said, pointing to a tiefling further down the grove. “Let’s move,” she ordered, starting to head in that direction. “Quite the merry little party now, aren’t we?” Astarion said, referencing how many people they now had. Lae’zel paused. “You’re right. Five is too many. Once we leave here, we will attract too much attention.” “Well, I for one think we should explore all avenues,” Astarion continued. “How about you and I talk to this Zorru while they go talk to that druid healer the trader mentioned?” Lae’zel looked at the others, considering this suggestion. 

“A pointless exercise, purification is the only way to cure ourselves. But if seeing for yourself that no others can cure us is the only way you will accept this, then very well. You three seek this healer in the grove - this Nettie. We will speak to Zorru. Return here when you are done.” 

With that she turned off and headed towards Zorru. Astarion gave the three of them a look, then went off with her. Gale couldn’t help but wonder if Astarion had some ulterior motive to splitting them up like this… he’d probably never have guessed his motive was just to see what drama would come out of it after seeing how uncomfortable Gale looked just now. 

“This way, then,” Wyll announced, leading them towards the druids.

[tabitha42]

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 2

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Next chapter

Despite the less-than-warm initial welcome, Saffron was glad they’d found more people to travel with, especially since one of them knew how to cure them.

They entered the camp and began setting up a pair of tents next to each other. Luckily it wasn’t long before they were able to contribute to the group, as the caravan they’d looted had a good stock of food, something the group had otherwise been lacking before they arrived. Soon enough they had some basic tents set up and were gathered with the others round the campfire. Gale took it upon himself to be the group chef, and despite the pretty basic ingredients they had, he soon had a stew bubbling in a pot over the fire. The five of them ate eagerly, starved from the day’s events, as they shared stories about each other. Gale was one of the most talkative, though both he and Saffron were fascinated by Lae’zel’s stories of Githyanki life, and were only too happy to hear what she had to say. Shadowheart and Astarion were comparatively quiet, seemingly not wanting to share much. 

After dinner they each retired to their tents, knowing they’d need rest for the day to come. Saffron prepared the inside of her tent, trying to make it as pleasant as possible with the few supplies they had. It definitely wouldn’t be a comfortable night. When she poked her head out of the tent to grab some bits she’d left outside, she was surprised to see Gale sat in front of the campfire, staring into the flames. There was a melancholic look on his face, one she hadn’t seen from him before. She stood up and approached. “Gale? You alright?” she asked. For a long moment he didn’t answer. “Go to Hell,” he said eventually, the words completely taking her aback. “Wha… what??” she gasped, her voice equal parts hurt and confusion. He looked up at her quickly, an apologetic look on his face. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just… poorly making a point,” he said, waving for her to sit with him. She breathed a small sigh of relief and did as he beckoned. “And what point is that?” She asked, leaning forward a bit to catch his eye as he looked back into the fire. 

“‘Go to Hell’. An everyday expression. So trivial it’s almost meaningless. But we’ve seen Hell… it’s real. And it isn’t trivial.” 

His tone was sad and distant, his mind seemingly miles away as he stared into the flames. 

“Devils, dragons, mind flayers - they used to be abstracts. Pictures on a piece of paper. What a difference a day makes. Now we have tadpoles swimming through our heads like carnivorous foeti… and that’s not abstract.” 

She watched him sadly, realising what was happening. He’d kept so upbeat til now, but the weight of it all was finally hitting him, and even he couldn’t keep up the positivity forever. There was a moment of quiet as she looked into the fire with him, just the sound of crackling flames between them, til eventually she spoke.

“You know… after I woke up from the crash, I was terrified. I thought, even if the tadpole doesn’t kill me, something else surely will. Goblins, or gnolls, or… less-than-friendly travellers on the road. I had no idea where I was or where to go. Everything seemed… hopeless. But then I found a wizard who’d got himself stuck in his own portal…” she noticed the slight smile on his lips as she teased him, “...and since then, I’ve had a lot more hope about everything.” 

He finally turned to look at her, their eyes meeting, smiles on their lips. “I think we can do this,” she said softly. “We’re not in this alone. We’ll find that creche, we’ll go home, and I’ll make you read my dissertation.” He finally chuckled at the last part. “I never thought I’d find the idea of reading dissertations so appealing,” he joked. She smiled softly. “You never had to face dragons and mind flayers as an archmage, then?” she asked. She’d always assumed people in positions like that got up to all sorts of adventures. 

“Can’t say I did. Oh I faced my fair share of challenges, of course, but nothing quite like this. Nothing quite so… final, over such a short period of time.” He glanced into the fire again, seemingly thinking about something, but whatever it was he didn’t voice it.

“But you’re right. We’ll figure this out,” he decided, looking back at her with a smile for a moment, before looking back at the fire. “It is curious - I would have expected us to show symptoms by now. The first day brings fever and memory loss… yet, I don’t find myself forgetting who I am, nor am I running a fever. Have you found yourself experiencing anything like this?” He asked, turning back to her. She shook her head. “As I thought, which makes our condition all the more curious. Tomorrow should bring hallucinations and greying skin… given how late it is, I might even expect some of those symptoms to start manifesting now, but neither of us is taking on a paler countenance, and I’m quite certain everything I see in front of me is real, unless you’ve seen anything inexplicable enough to be a hallucination?”

“I don’t think so… unless you’re about to tell me you’re a hallucination and I’m talking to myself?” she joked. He chuckled and shook his head. 

“I’m glad to say I’m quite real, which raises the question of why we aren’t showing any symptoms. Everything remains normal… which, any expert would agree, is quite abnormal.” 

“Any idea why?” Saffron asked, but again he shook his head. “Not a clue I’m afraid. I’ll keep monitoring our conditions, but right now, it’s a mystery.” 

“Maybe the tadpoles were defective, or there was more to the process and it was interrupted,” she suggested. 

“Quite possibly, in which case I hope it’s stopped the process entirely and not merely delayed it. We will have to keep a close eye on ourselves and look out for any symptoms.”

“Well, I’ll keep an eye on you if you keep an eye on me,” she said with a slightly playful smile, which he mirrored.

“Deal. Do let me know if you spot any unexpected tentacles.”

From the shadows, red eyes watched them as they chuckled and chatted together. They didn’t know he was there, likely assuming he’d gone to sleep, instead he’d been about to stalk off in search of food when he’d heard them talking and had decided to listen in. He had been making plans to try to seduce one of the group, plans that had so far been falling apart. He’d quickly discounted Lae’zel and Shadowheart and had thought that both Gale and Saffron would make likely candidates when they’d first joined, but as he watched them now he began to think that ship was sailing too. But maybe he could do something about that. 

He walked out of the trees and towards the campfire, acting surprised as he saw them. “My, you two are up late,” he commented as they both looked up at him. 

“As are you,” Gale replied. Astarion chuckled slightly as he sat down opposite them. 

“Elves don’t need as much sleep as you humans. A few hours in a trance is enough for us,” he said with a casual shrug. 

“Ah, of course. A trait I’m quite jealous of. I could get so much more done with more waking hours in the day,” Gale lamented. 

“And I wouldn’t have to wait around on my own at night, bored for hours,” Astarion said, a slightly flirty tone to his voice, aimed towards anyone who would respond to it. Neither of them really did, though.

“So, you never told us much about yourself,” Saffron said, making polite conversation instead. 

“I’m a magistrate back home. What’s there to say? It’s all rather tedious, really,” he said with a bored sigh. 

“How does a magistrate know archery?” Gale questioned.

“We all have to have our hobbies, don’t we?” he said with a smirk. “I’m glad for it now, my skills as a bureaucrat wouldn’t have done much against the goblins we faced before you two turned up.” 

“There do seem to be a surprising amount of goblins around here…” Gale said curiously, stroking his chin. 

“Well then, we’d best look out for each other,” he said, turning on the flirty tone again, until he was interrupted by Shadowheart. 

“Would you lot be quiet? I’m trying to sleep,” she snapped from where she’d poked her head out of her tent, before disappearing back in again. Astarion chuckled as he looked back at the others. 

“We’d best do as she says,” he said with a chuckle as he stood up. “Til tomorrow then, darlings.”

He gave them both a smile as he stood up and headed off to his tent. Gale watched as he walked off, then turned to Saffron.

“I suppose we should too. Get some rest and be up with the lark, find a healer before the wee one gets hungry.” As much as she wanted to stay there and talk to him all night, she agreed they needed a rest. Plus, she didn’t want to piss off Shadowheart. The two of them stood up and headed back to their tents. “Saffron,” he said softly, lingering by the door of his tent, keeping his voice down to avoid Shadowheart’s ire again.“I want to apologise for being so despondent earlier.”  

“That’s ok,” she said understandingly. “We’ve got a lot of shit going on… can hardly blame you.” 

“True, but still, I try to remain optimistic. Being a misery will help no one.”

“You weren’t being a misery,” she said, playfully nudging him on the shoulder. “But you are being a bit of one now,” she added a bit teasingly, hoping to make him realise he really didn’t need to apologise. 

“Heh, well in that case, I will stop apologising and thank you instead,” he said with a slight bow. She chuckled softly and smiled. “Then I will thank you too,” she said with a small bow of her own. “I definitely wouldn’t have been able to get through all this without you.” 

He gave her a smile, the warm orange of the campfire reflecting in his deep, brown eyes. 

“Then I’m glad I could be here,” he said softly, a warmth in his tone that made her heart skip a beat.

“As am I,” she whispered, starting to lose herself in his eyes. They both stayed there for a long moment, holding each other’s gaze… until finally he cleared his throat slightly and took a step back. “I will bid you goodnight then, Saffron,” he said, moving to the door of his tent, though still not taking his eyes off her just yet. 

“Goodnight, Gale,” she replied, only now realising how long they’d been stood there like that, yet wishing it could have been longer. “Oh! And by the way,” she said quickly, before he turned to head into his tent. “Call me Saff,” she said with a soft smile, deciding the formality of her full name wasn’t needed anymore. All her friends called her Saff, and she definitely considered Gale to be among them now. The smile that came to his lips showed he was clearly happy to be considered close enough to her for that.  “Very well,” he said with a nod. “Good, Saff.” There was one last moment between them, before he finally disappeared into his tent. Feeling almost light-headed, she went back to her own tent and headed inside.

Her heart fluttered as she lay down. Calm yourself, she thought, you’ve only just met him. She’d always been one to get swept away just after meeting someone… and that hadn’t always gone well for her. She was determined to learn from her past mistakes and not let herself fall for someone so quickly again. Yet, despite this, she found herself falling asleep wishing they’d only found enough supplies for one tent.

[tabitha42]

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 1

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Next chapter

Coughing and spluttering, she now knelt in the sand, gulping in the blessed fresh air. By some miracle she was mostly unharmed, other than a bit singed and achy. But as her eyes finally focused on the area around her, she felt her heart sink as it became clear that no one else had had the same fortune as her. 

Bodies scattered the beach - some mind flayer abductees, others fishermen unlucky enough to be caught in the crash. Instinctively she ran to the closest to try to help them, but they were long beyond saving. A horrified whimper escaped her lips as she covered her mouth in shock - she’d never seen anything like this. Though maybe they were all the lucky ones… she knew what fate awaited her from this parasite if she didn’t find a way to be rid of it. For now she decided not to think about it; there were much more immediate threats to worry about.

She pushed on, hoping to find any survivors, or maybe signs of a settlement. The stink of smoke clung to her singed wizard robes, the once vibrant magenta fabric now dulled by dust and smog. The two plaits she always wore her long auburn hair in were frayed and starting to unravel, and with every step she felt like she herself was starting to unravel too. The pain, the fear… even as the wreckage of the Nautiloid disappeared into the distance behind her til only the smoke billowing into the sky could be seen, she still felt the ever-present tingle of what it left inside her. 

Deep in the forest she started to fear what she might come across. She wouldn’t last long out here on her own - she knew a few basic self-defence spells, but nothing particularly powerful, and the only time she’d ever had to use them in earnest she barely escaped with her life. She feared her odds of survival were low if she didn’t find a friendly face soon, but hadn’t expected her salvation to come in the form of a malfunctioning portal. Curious and rather surprised to see such magic here, she walked up to the sparking purple light, keeping her distance at first. She knew better than to mess with unstable magic, but like any good wizard, she never had been good at heeding such warnings. Slowly, carefully, she reached out to it, ready to jump back should it prove dangerous… Again the portal surprised her, this time with the appearance of a hand. 

“Hello?” A voice called out. “A hand? Anyone?” “Gods!” she gasped, stumbling back slightly, before quickly moving close again. “What are you doing in there? Are you ok??” “I will be if you can help me out of here!” Came the reply. “Oh yes, of course!” She called back, feeling a bit stupid for having asked him questions rather than just pulling him out in the first place. She grabbed his hand and began to pull, though whatever held him in there was clearly determined not to let him go. “Arg! Gonna need more than that!” he called through again, sounding a little bit pained after having his arm pulled on so hard. “Ok, um, just wait a moment!” 

She grabbed his hand once more and pulled. Again the portal seemed to resist, but this time she could feel it relenting, and finally with one last burst of strength she pulled him through and the two of them crashed to the ground. She wasn’t quite sure what she’d been expecting of him, but she hadn’t been expecting him to be quite so hot. 

They both stood up and she glanced over as he brushed himself down and swept his long hair back. “Hello! I’m Gale of Waterdeep,” he said, shaking her hand. “Apologies, I’m usually better at this.” “I’m… Saffron,” she said, finding herself momentarily a bit speechless. “Are you ok? How did you get stuck in there?” “Ah, now that’s a long story,” he said with a slight chuckle. “Though, it’s a story I think you know the beginning of. You were on the Nautiloid as well, weren’t you?” Her eyes widened in surprise. “Yes! Were you on it too? Taken from Baldur’s Gate?” “Not Baldur’s Gate, but yes, I was taken. Seems that ship jumped around quite a bit before finding its final resting place here. I was in one of the pods over from you, which I assume means you also found yourself on the receiving end of a rather unwelcome insertion in the ocular region?” he asked, gesturing to his eye. She couldn’t help but let out a slightly exasperated chuckle at his description of the ordeal. “That is… one way of describing it, yes. Another way might be… doomed…” she murmured with a defeated sigh.

“You know what awaits us then if we don’t deal with them,” he said, sounding surprisingly unworried about the whole situation, which gave her hope. “You know how to deal with them?” she asked, but her hopes were dashed once more when he shook his head. “I was going to ask you the same question. It seems we’re in need of a healer, and soon too. How about we lend each other a helping hand once more and look for a healer together?” The smile that spread across her face surely would tell him all he needed to know about what her answer would be. “Yes! Ahem, I mean… sure,” she said, not wanting to sound too eager. Luckily, despite her complete inability to cover up how happy she was not to be facing this alone anymore, he only chuckled. “Most excellent! A parasite shared is a parasite halved… or something to that effect,” he said, second guessing his own joke as he was halfway through saying it. It did exactly its job though, and she found herself genuinely laughing for the first time since this whole ordeal had started. 

“Oh, but before you think you are about to embark on this journey with most ill-mannered a man: thank you, for pulling me out of that hole. It was an act of foresighted kindness I assure you, for I have the feeling ample opportunities will present themselves for me to return the favour.” 

She smiled as he spoke, happy that not only was she not in this on her own, but she was with someone who was so polite. 

“Well aren’t you a gentleman,” she said playfully. 

“I do try to be,” he replied with the slightest bow. “Now, do you know which way to the nearest settlement?” he asked, looking both ways down the path. “No… but the wreckage of the Nautiloid is back that way, so I would suggest we go the other direction,” she said, nodding down the path in the direction she’d been heading in. “Sounds like a plan,” he agreed, and soon the two of them were off. “Oh! You never told me,” she said, looking over at him as he looked back at her. “How did you get stuck in that portal?” 

“Ah, yes! Well, I don’t know what happened exactly, but the ship broke into pieces and I suddenly found myself in freefall. As I was plummeting to certain death I spied a glimmer quite near where I estimated my body to impact with less-than-savoury propulsion. Recognising this glimmer to be magical in nature, I reached out to it with a Weaving of words and found myself on the other side, as it were,” he explained, prompting a slight gasp of surprise from Saffron. 

“You managed to cast a spell like that while falling??” she asked. She was pretty sure even if she was safe at home at a desk with a pile of relevant books in front of her she wouldn’t be able to come up with such a spell on the spot. “Yes I did,” he said with a grin, looking a little bit smug about it. There was a pause. “...Why didn’t you just… cast feather fall?” She asked eventually. There was another pause. 

“Well… in moments like that we don’t always make the best decisions,” he said quickly, the smugness gone so immediately she couldn’t help but chuckle. He looked at her for a moment. “Is that how you survived the fall, then?”

“No. I was still stuck in the pod as the ship fell, then I woke up on the ground by the wreckage. I’m still not sure how I survived…” 

“Well, far be it from us to question miracles,” he said with a small shrug. “Am I right in thinking you’re a wizard too then, Saffron?” “Yes, you are,” she answered with a nod. “Would you consider yourself well-read?” She paused for a moment, contemplating both her answer and what his question might be about.

“I’ve… read a fair amount. Why do you ask?” “Hmm, tell me, how much do you know about Netherese magic?” “Only the basics,” she said with a small shrug. “Why?” “I have a matter I need to discuss with a master wizard. Do let me know if you come across one.” “A matter relating to Netherese magic?” she asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. 

“Yes. I… have something I’m working on back home. I’ve been seeking experts in the subject to help, but so far have found no one.” 

“What is it you’re working on?” 

“Oh, it’s not that interesting really. Not if you’re not already interested in the Netherese, anyway. What about you, though? I imagine you have some projects you’re working on.” A less naive person might have realised he was deflecting to change the subject off of himself, but she was not one of those people. 

“I do! Though they’ve been going pretty slow… I keep getting distracted with buying new books instead of working,” she admitted, to which Gale laughed heartily. 

“Ahh, I know that feeling all too well,” he said warmly. “What’re your projects?” “Well… my work revolves around druidic magic. I’ve been trying to learn to use magic as they do. Ultimately I want to learn to wild shape.” Gale’s eyebrows raised in curiosity. 

“You wish to master primal magic? Ambitious.” “Yeah… that’s what everyone says,” she murmured with a sigh. 

“It’s not going well, then?” 

Her silence told him all he needed to know. 

“Well, keep at it,” he encouraged her. “No great breakthrough ever came easily. I’d be curious to read your work, if you’d permit me to. Druidic magic is one of the few forms of magic I know little about.” 

“If we ever get to Baldur’s Gate you’re welcome to,” she said, looking up at him with a smile. Not many took an interest in her work like that. 

“Looking forward to it already,” he said genuinely. There was a warmth in his tone that filled her with joy. After a few moments, she spoke again. “You said, ‘one of the few forms of magic you know little about’. You’re pretty well-read yourself, then?” “Oh yes! I’ve been a natural at controlling the Weave since I was a child, and have spent my life studying magic. Back in Waterdeep I was the archmage for a while.” “Archmage…?? Gods…” she whispered, realising the status of who she was talking to. She went very quiet, suddenly afraid of embarrassing herself, which he seemed to notice. 

“Well, don’t place too much importance on that. I still got myself stuck in that portal,” he said with a laugh, managing to bring a smile to her lips too. “And your magic got me out. So don’t underestimate yourself.” She looked down slightly as she smiled to herself. “So, who are you other than archmage? What are you into other than magic?” She asked after a moment. “Hmm, let’s see… I have a library, a cat, and a fondness for a good glass of wine. And if the mood takes me, I’m known to try my hand at poetry.” “You have a cat??” she gasped, quickly focusing in on the most important part of what he said. 

“Heh, I do indeed. Her name is Tara,” he said fondly. “Will she be ok if you’re stuck out here? Is there someone else to feed her?” she asked in concern, though maybe there was another subconscious motivation for asking if there was anyone else in Gale’s life that might be able to feed his cat.

“Oh not to worry, she’s more than capable of looking after herself,” he assured her. “What about you? Any pets back home?” 

She found it a bit curious that he would have a cat so easily able to look after itself, but decided not to question it. “No… just an awful lot of plants, which definitely won’t survive without me there to water them,” she said with a sad sigh of realisation. “Ah… a pity,” he sympathised. “Mmm…” she murmured, her thoughts moving onto how they’d get back to the city. “How far do you think we are from Baldur’s Gate?” “I don’t know… I wondered the same about Waterdeep. I hope we can find a settlement soon and find out where we are. I also don’t fancy being stuck out here at night…” he pondered, looking up to the sky. It was early evening by now, and while Saffron felt much safer with him than she did on her own, the two of them were still in a lot of danger out here. “Me too…” she said softly, looking down the path as it led deeper into the forest. 

The walk was long, but with Gale the time had flown by. They’d spent the whole time talking, and she was amazed at how much he’d made her laugh despite the direness of their situation. She was very glad for his company, even if he could be a bit full of himself from time to time. She was especially glad for his company when they came upon a caravan plundered by goblins. The scene had left her paralysed at first to see such brutality, but he’d had the sense to look for supplies. She chose not to think too hard about what they were doing as they looted the dead bodies, though he saw her hesitation nonetheless. The dead have no use for these supplies anymore, he’d reasoned, better they aid us than we join the dead. She supposed he was right and went along with it. 

With backpacks now full with enough materials for a basic campsite the two decided it was time to stop for the day and find somewhere to set up camp. Gale suggested they find a spot down by the river - it would provide them with fresh water and a more defensible position should they come under attack. It was while wandering along the riverbank looking for a good spot that they came across another camp. “Careful, we don’t know if they’re friendly,” Gale advised, taking the lead as the two of them cautiously approached the small circle of tents. 

“Not another step.”

They froze and looked over to see the source of the voice. An elf, pale, white hair, almost invisible in the shadows of the trees, aiming an arrow towards them. “Wouldn’t want to get blood on those fancy robes of yours,” he playfully threatened, a small smile curling on his lips.“We mean no harm,” Gale said quickly, raising his hands. Saffron followed suit. “We’re just travellers, looking for somewhere to camp.” Hurried footsteps came from the tents and they looked over to see two others emerge - a woman, half-elf with long dark hair, and a second woman that Saffron almost didn’t recognise at first as a Githyanki. She walked forward towards them, an angry look on her face. “Who are these- argg!!” Pain ripped through Saffron’s skull. Suddenly visions flashed in front of her eyes - a dragon, a silver sword, a wolf, a dark mirror, an alleyway, her own face as seen from the other end of a bow… She gasped as she opened her eyes again and saw the others were also all clutching at their heads, wincing from pain. “Kaincha…” the Githyanki groaned before looking at them. “You both have parasites too?” “Indeed. You were all taken by the Nautiloid as well?” Gale asked. The three of them nodded. “Don’t suppose any of you have any ideas how to deal with these parasites?” “We must be purified,” the Gith said confidently. “We are seeking a creche. I believe there is one near here. Two of the horned ones said one of their kind had seen a Githyanki, we must find and question him. They are hidden somewhere nearby, though we have yet to find their settlement.” “Horned ones?” Gale questioned. “Teethlings.” “Tieflings,” the half-elf corrected with a roll of her eyes. “Fine, tieflings,” the Gith mumbled, clearly not happy about being corrected by her. “We will set out to find them tomorrow.” “Perhaps we could join you?” Gale offered. “The more pairs of eyes searching, the better.” The others looked at each other for a moment, considering. “I don’t see why not,” the half-elf decided, stepping forward. “I’m Shadowheart.” “Gale of Waterdeep,” he said as he shook her hand. “Saffron.” “Lae’zel.” “Astarion. And sorry about that,” he said, gesturing the bow he’d once threatened them with. “You know how it is. You can never be too careful these days.”

Somehow, something about the way he spoke told Saffron it was absolutely not about self-defence and he would have quite enjoyed using that bow on the two of them.