Chapter 21: The lord is back
"...What are you doing?"
Taria sat up slowly, blinking at him in confusion. Her eyes were still heavy with sleep.
Kaedros turned toward her and gestured to the fire. "Cooking."
She rubbed her eyes, disoriented. "Cooking... why?"
Kaedros raised an eyebrow. "Because we’re hungry? Aren’t you?"
"That’s not what I meant." She glanced around. "Why are we out here? The last thing I remember was... the explosion."
"You passed out," Kaedros said simply as he turned the meat. It had browned nicely, juices bubbling on the surface.
"I... passed out?" she echoed.
"Too much mana output. Killing that Scraper drained you. Then the explosion, it was too much for your body. You hit your limit."
Taria touched her neck with a wince. It ached a little. "Then why didn’t we return to Solmere? Or... am I too heavy for you to carry?"
Kaedros scoffed. "You’re just gaining some meat on your bones. Don’t flatter yourself. That’s not why we stayed."
She frowned. "You sure? You’re just a stage one, rank one mage, after all..."