MagiStream

Nick nodded, considering for a moment. After a long pause, he said at last, "You know... I might be able to be of more assistance if I knew what I was really dealing with." He smiled sideways at Alina. "You know... I mean, you can trust me. I give you my word that I won't...panic." He couldn't promise that he wouldn't be alarmed; this was a girl, clearly of some magic, who had great, dark beasts chasing after her. Obviously there was something large and deep afoot. He just didn't know what.

"It's, it's complicated." she said, twisting her fingers together nervously. "I'm, not really sure how to explain it."

Nick frowned, patting her shoulder comfortingly. "Well...you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he said reassuringly. "Just... If you do, I'm here to listen."

She smiled, this time it was more relaxed. "Thanks. Now let's, let's just get this over with quickly. Something just doesn't right."

Nick nodded. "All right, then." He sighed, secretly still curious about who she really was...but he didn't want to make her uncomfortable, didn't want to push things. So instead he said, "So do you know what this thing looks like, exactly? What should I be on the lookout for?"

"Sort of," she said. She closed her eyes in thought, trying desperately to picture it in her mind. "It's a small polished stone that fits in the palm of your hand, and it's silvery blue in colour." She twisted her fingers together as she thought before she opened them again. "And it was hanging on a thin chain. Like a necklace."

Nick nodded, frowning. "That might be hard to find, if it's small," he commented. "But... Will you be able to sense somehow when we're getting close to it?"

She nodded, "Yeah I should. If I can feel it now I'm sure I'll know it when we get close."

Nick chuckled. "I suppose so, huh?" he said. As they approached the city, the woods began to thin a little, and he instinctively moved a little closer toward Alina. "We'll have to be careful here," he told her. "Not everyone is as nice as the men in the lodge." There was a reason he lived out in the woods by himself rather than in the city with the thieves and conmen and corruption.

She reached out and held onto his arm as they walked, not wanting to get separated from him now. "I'll stick close to you then." she said.