Inktober 2026 - 2 - Relic

“We should get rid of them. They’re only slowing us down, at this point.”

The young man had spoken in a low voice to the few people near him around the campfire, around his age or younger. A few followed his darting gaze to the older couple sitting a few meters away, leaning against a tree and looking at the stars while they quietly conversed. A deep blue silk cape was wrapped around the man’s shoulders, while the woman wore a shawl made of animal furs. They seemed cosy, blissfully unaware of the nefarious suggestion that had just been made about them.

“Not that they’ve been much help so far…” mumbled another young man.

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit harsh? If not even disrespectful?” asked a third member of the group.

“This is our time. Theirs has passed,” insisted the instigator of the conversation.

Suddenly, with a poof, the man previously gazing at the night sky appeared among them, sitting on an empty spot on one of the logs arranged around as makeshift benches. Everyone jumped, and someone even yelped.

“Apologies: I did not mean to startle you,” offered the man, all smiles, readjusting his cape around him.

“Seriously? You did not think teleporting among us without a warning might startle us?”

“Well, you were talking about me, were you not?”

“None of your business, old man.”

Barely more than ten years separated them, so the sneer only widened the smile of the one it was targeting.

“On the contrary, I am fairly certain a debate regarding my wife’s and mine being thrown out of this company is, in fact, very much my business.”

“Face it: you guys are relics. Your old world magic is fading, and we have the technology to replace it. Quests like this one are no longer for you to undertake.”

Almost subconsciously, the young man reached for the electronics he bore on one of his wrist. His other arm was just as accessorised, and traces of electro-technical implants were also visible on one side of his face.

“I take that as a compliment.”

“You truly are an outdated old fool.”

The older man sighed. Above his interlocutor’s shoulder, he could see his wife, shaking her head in amusement at his willingness to confront their travel companions. She never thought it was worth it, whenever such disagreements arose.

“Right. Your precious tech. Those objects that you have to make, with rare materials, and that can break or be neutralised by other such… gimmicks.”

“You say that like your spells cannot be countered.”

That got a laugh out of the sorcerer.

“You better hope they can’t, because they are precisely what every single piece of engineering you so proudly rely on is based. Without people like me, there would be no people like you. Your whole world relies on mine. And my wife’s, since druids are the only ones capable of granting you access to the resources you need for your industry. It constantly baffles me how easily these simple facts get forgotten, sometimes.”