Awaking inside the herbalists shop, Randy looked around. His Uncle Dirk lay resting nearby and Diana sat beside the fireplace cooking up some sort of savory broth. Coughing, he forced himself to at least sit up. Waves of dizziness overtook him a moment. Slowly he came back to the rough blankets he was under and the firm cot beneath him. Looking up, he saw that Diana was now beside him supporting him patiently. "Welcome back Randy," she said with a smile.
"Hey," he coughed out. Accepting the wooden cup of water, he swallowed it letting it cool his throat. "How long?"
"Not long. You still need rest though. Since you are up, want something for your stomach?"
Remembering that he had used Mana to move the earth, Randy nodded. It wouldn't hurt to eat to keep what strength he had left up. As Diana walked across the stone floor back towards the fireplace, he glanced at his uncle. "The Herald, she used Fetching didn't she? To get uncle out?"
Diana glanced back at Dirk at she was scooping brother into a wooden bowl, then looked to Randy and softly affirmed, "Yes. It appears she has two Gifts. She could hear what you wanted to say too." Walking back over to him, she eased an arm behind Dirk to support him and gave him the wooden bowl. "Drink this."
Outside the sound of bells was heard. After a moment, the shop door opened and footsteps sounded across the stone floor. Entering into the back was the Herald from earlier. "Hi, I found Bram. He declined the offer for a ride and is coming on his own. He will be here shortly." Stepping forward to Randy, she offered her hand. "I'm Herald Sophie, a pleasure to meet you Randy." Randy settled the bowl into his lap and shook her hand carefully. The Herald looked up at Diana and asked, "When will Dirk be awake?"
Diana shook her head, "I'm not certain. I drugged him pretty good so that the medicine would have time to work in piece."
Herald Sophie sighed and turned back to Randy, "If you don't mind me asking, what material were you working with in there? It wasn't normal smithing metals that we found in the wreckage."
Shrugging and looking down, Randy whispered, "Experimental. Copper and a few other metals being arranged in a way we never used before. Guess we messed up. Fellow paid us a lot to see if we could do something new. Looks like it won't work."
Herald Sophie looked at him silently, seeing in his mind the memories of the man who had come. A slight breach in protocol and ethics, but warranted in this situation. Was someone just being an inventor or was a threat looming on the horizon. "Thank you Randy, go ahead and rest okay." She nodded to Diana and turned to leave.
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