Page 11 of Tino
I helped Altair sit down on an offered chair that a mage had made so that Grethe could heal him immediately. I looked behind us to get the others’ attention. “Food?” Xarius caught my gaze and quickly nodded, seeming to get I meant food for Altair. They began talking to the mages who went and prepared us all some food.
Xarius and the others came closer while Altair sat still while being healed. “They’re bringing us our food in our cabins so we can rest and eat in private,” Xarius informed us.
“What about me?” Julie asked worriedly. I understood her worry; she wasn’t really one of us and maybe she would be treated as such.
Grethe snorted with a smile, “you’ll get your own cabin next to the others.”
“Oh,” Julie said, surprised. “Thank you.”
“What did you expect? You’re their anchor,” Grethe replied, still keeping her full attention on Altair’s ankle as she spoke.
“I’m what?”
“Their anchor,” Grethe replied, this time meeting her eyes and canting her head. “You didn’t know this?”
Julie shook her head. “Did you?” Julie asked the others, who also shook their heads. It caused Grethe to curse under her breath.
“I hate how sheltered the youth are to the legends, but I’ll explain it to you. The old leaders of legend had one mage they all trusted besides each other, and that one person was then offered magic too, but not the same elemental magic they carried, but a way to enhance the leaders’ powers and ground them. An anchor can dispel any magic put on the leaders they’re anchored to, keeping them from harm. They also have the ability of knowing when something is off, helping them fulfill their purpose and help out their anchored leaders.”
“So that was why she knew it wasn’t the real Altair?” Silver asked, looking impressed.
“I don’t know what you mean exactly, but if they used glamour, then yes, she would feel the wrongness and be guided instinctively to fix it.”
“That’s so cool!” Xarius exclaimed. “But we didn’t do anything to make her our anchor.”
Grethe shrugged. “You need an anchor so maybe your magic latched onto Julie because you trusted her.”
Silver gasped. “The day I told you I would keep Julie with us, that might be the day everything changed, because we chose her to stay with us!”
There were murmured agreements, but I kept my attention on Altair. He looked so pale and tired. After this I would feed him, then bathe him, and tuck him in. He needed rest. In my arms, of course.
“What does being an anchor mean for me?” Julie asked.
“We’ll teach you all about it tomorrow,” Grethe assured her, then stood. “There you go, Altair. Please don’t walk on it for at least a few hours to allow the healing to continue without issue.” Tair nodded gratefully and took my offered arm.
Two men came over. “Allow us to show you to your cabins, there’s warm food and water ready for each of you. I’m Tane and this is my twin Hane.” We thanked them and followed them through the campsite.
“How much further?” I asked, eying Altair with worry. He was getting weaker and walking wasn’t helping the situation.
“Just down this hill,” Tane replied easily and pointed to the cabins at the end. “We figured you’d need privacy.”
A fucking hill with a healing ankle? Nope. I stepped in front of Altair and guided him onto my back. No way was I letting him walk down a hill like that.
He sighed once he was secured on my back. “Thank you,” he whispered and kissed my neck. I preened inside, glad to be helpful.
“Anything for you, Tair,” I murmured back.
Chapter 9
Altair
“And this is yours,” Hane said, opening our cabin as the others went into theirs. I reluctantly slid down from Tino’s back and let him help me inside. He thanked Hane for us, knowing I was too weak to think about manners at the moment.
It was a small but homely cabin, filled with wooden furniture and a stone fireplace. I liked it already. It almost resembled…
“This reminds me of our dream home,” Tino said, proving we still thought alike.
“I was just thinking the same,” I grinned, letting him escort me over to the sofa where the food waited. “Though your drawings had more windows.”