"How could you?" Silas arched his brow. "There's never been war in Hexarium. The monsters weren't this aggressive even when you cut their numbers down. You've accomplished amazing feats, and you will continue to do so."
"The mutiny wasn't on you," Jasper added, flying beside me and leaning over to get a good look at her. "It was their decision made because this threat made it happen. You're strong, and you're on the side of peace. Of course they want to get rid of you. Take it as a compliment, and keep being a badass."
The corners of her lips lifted slightly.
"That's better," Bastian murmured, now on the other side of Silas with Aimon beside him. "Your smile is better than when you're upset."
"I couldn't have said it any better," Aimon murmured.
"Thanks, guys." Fawn let out a breath, and the tension around her dissipated. "I just want to help people. What's the point of hatred and anger?"
"Everyone has a little of that in them, but only the weak let it dictate their life and make others suffer because of it," I said before a bright purple caught my eye in the grasslands below, headed in the direction of the guild.
"Glidaton below us," Fawn called out, her broom nose-diving for it.
Fear stuttered in my heart again as I watched her fly toward danger.
"Damn it, sunshine!" I threw my palm out, shooting a stream of light directly onto the acidic creature. "Stop goingtowardthe danger alone!"
A screech tore from its throat, and its body bubbled before exploding. The glidaton combusted, but the acid flung everywhere.
Fawn stopped herself from going any further toward the monster, but she was too close to avoid the spray of acid.
Darkness funneled forward, creating a wall of shadows before Jasper formed in front of Fawn, taking the brunt of the acid with a grunt of agony. The phantom pain of it coating his face and hands tingled painfully on the rest of us.
"Jasper!" Fawn whirled her magic to keep Jasper in the air long enough to move away from the acidic mush that was left of the glidaton and landed them both on the ground a few feet away from it.
"Why do you keep doing that?" Tears streamed down her face as she grabbed his shoulders and looked at his melting flesh.
Jasper winced but managed to smirk at her. "If you stop running into danger, I'll stop shielding you."
"I wasn't in danger," she protested with a huff as we landed next to them.
Bastian retrieved a couple of healing potions from his rune and passed them to Jasper. "I've never seen your power destroy a monster so efficiently," Bastian muttered, giving me a side-eye.
"Probably because I have never destroyed a monster like that before." I frowned, staring at my brother's wounds from the acid as they healed up after he drank the potions.
Thank the spirits for healing potions.
Usually, any other mage other than a potion mage had to buy them in bulk. Mages could make potions, but they weren't anywhere near as efficient. Without Bastian, we'd be in so much debt from healing potions alone. They were expensive and for good reason. The demand for them was higher than any other potion in all of the empires.
"We haven't pushed our limits in one blow like that yet." Silas's gaze lingered on Fawn's worried expression as she fussed over Jasper.
"We knew with Fawn's curse that we would have power boosts," Aimon pointed out, scratching his beard as he looked out into the grasslands. "We just didn't know it would be so potent."
"How do you feel now?" Fawn glided her thumb over Jasper's healed cheek.
"I'm fine, goddess." Jasper chuckled, catching her wrist and pulling her closer to him until his nose brushed against hers. "Can you stop throwing yourself into danger?"
"Can you stop saving me from danger?" she countered.
Jasper let out a deep chuckle, and dark wisps seemed to wrap around his biceps. "Not ever. You're not in this alone anymore, Fawn. Don't act like you are. I won't let you get hurt if I can stop it."
She inhaled a quick breath before nodding. "I'll try to think first, but it's a habit I don't think I'll break so easily."
"Just try," I murmured, stepping forward and placing a hand on her shoulder.
She turned to me before her forehead creased, and her frown grew. "How are you feeling?"
