Chapter 7

We packed after that and set out once again. My arm throbbed, and it felt like I’d been out drinking for days. I wondered how Selene had managed to do it for so long.

At least we were lucky, and soon, we left the barren landscape and joined a river. The water made everything cooler, and shrubs and bushes grew on either side of us. I could see the mountains Uruk had pointed out looming ahead of us.

“Be careful, Rina”, Karim said. “This close to the mountains, they will send out the Drakes again.”

I frowned.

“How do you know?”

“They are waiting for us in those hills, and they want us to panic and make mistakes, making us an easy target. I would do the same, and I don’t expect anything less from them.”

“Trust him, Rina. He knows what he’s talking about”, Uruk said, nodding at Karim.

Selene added,

“He was the one who saved what he could when Tarnis fell.”

“Tarnis?” I asked.

“The great fortress that guarded the way to the South”, Karim replied quietly. “That’s why we tried to summon...”

He fell silent, staring at the ground.

“The sun will rise again”, Selene offered, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“The sun will rise again”, he whispered.

He looked up at me.

“Rina…”

He took the pendant hanging around his neck.

“May the goddess protect you.”

He handed it to me and I stared at it. I was half expecting to see a cat, but instead, my own reflection stared back at me. From the string, a piece of rough-cut, silvery metal, bound in leather, hung. I looked at him and he smiled. He… really meant it. He must have seen the fresh bandage on my forearm, and he still gave it to me.

I hung it around my neck.

“Thank you…”, I whispered.

He smiled and gestured for us to continue. I still remembered his warning, and I glanced up at the sky. It was clear, with only a few clouds drifting above us. Still, I didn’t feel reassured by it. I could still feel the blinding panic that had crippled me the last time, forcing me to lose my mind and run.

I forced myself to look ahead instead, trying not to worry about it. My arm still hurt. I really hoped that Aki would make it. She didn’t deserve to die. My head was pounding, but it wasn’t fair that only Selene would suffer through this. She needed her strength, and she was probably more useful to us than I was. I tried to ignore the pain and instead think about something else.

Selene… I had underestimated her. Not that it bothered me. I didn’t trust anyone until they’d proven otherwise. She seemed okay, though. Tougher than she looked, especially now that I knew what she had gone through with Aki, without a word of complaint.

Even Karim seemed to be all right. When Uruk told me he followed the teachings of the Goddess, I had almost expected him to start preaching to me. But he appeared to be the quiet type, so he hadn’t. All of them accepted me. Of course, they probably wouldn’t have kept me if I hadn’t said yes to the job, but still… It could be worse.

We stopped soon after, and they sat down to plan our next move. With my head still in a hangover, I only half-listened to it. Just as well I wasn’t involved in it. I didn’t know what to do, and I for sure didn’t want to take the blame for any wrong decisions.

“What about the eastern passage?”, Selene asked and looked at Karim.

“That road is harder, so they probably aren’t expecting us to take it.”, Uruk added.

They looked at Karim. He closed his eyes for a few moments, and his hand went to his chest where, not so long ago, his pendant had hung.

“If you are wrong, we will be trapped in the high mountains without any other choice…”

“But entering the valley…”, Uruk frowned.

“At least we can hide there if we need to”, Selene added.

I zoned out. The cut on my arm was throbbing, and I was losing my patience. I leaned against the rock and closed my eyes. Had it been a mistake to accept this job? No, even if I didn’t know if I could make this world a better place, at least my current company was better than I’d ever had. To be fair, the bar was really low since I had been surrounded by idiots my whole life, but still…

I yawned and stretched when, suddenly, a strange uneasiness crept up on me. I glanced up. The sky was clear. I shook my head. It was probably nothing, only my tired mind playing tricks on me. But… I looked up again.

“Are you okay? “Selene asked, looking at me.

“Yeah…”, I shrugged.

She frowned and gestured for me to come. I walked over to them, and Selene took my hand. The panic grew, and without thinking, I clutched it in mine.

“What do you feel?” Karim asked.

I wanted to ignore him, but something in his voice made me hesitate.

“It’s coming.”, I whispered.

“Stay close and don’t move”, Uruk said quietly.

We froze where we stood, and I tried to resist the overwhelming urge to run. I clasped Selene’s hand, and she wrapped her arm around me and whispered,

“It will be okay. Just like last time.”

I looked at her, and she tried to smile, but I could see how tense she was.

“Why don’t we kill it?”, I asked.

Karim looked at me.

“If it doesn’t come back, they will know we are close.”

I nodded. We locked arms and braced ourselves for the inevitable terror that was coming.

The dark shadow passed over the sky, and I fought not to break loose and run. Selene pulled me closer. Her warm body, so close to mine, was… strangely comforting. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt that way… Maybe never.

I heard Karim murmuring to himself, and Uruk’s fist clenched the grip of his sword. So that’s how they coped with the fear, I thought. I wonder what Selene would have done if she hadn’t babysat me. I felt really useless. Sure, I did have a job, but still…

Moments later, the fear slowly faded, but I wasn’t sure if it was because the Drake was gone or because of Selene’s embrace. I looked at her, only to be met with her purple eyes smiling at me.

“You did well”, she said softly and released her hold.

For a moment, I wished for the Drake to return, just so she could hold me for a bit longer. I shook my head. What a stupid thought. It wasn’t like I needed her, and anyway, relying on someone had gotten me nowhere in the past.

Uruk walked over to Aki, lying on the ground. He glanced at me, and his gaze sent shivers down my spine. I hadn’t expected it to be needed again so soon. Karim turned his back on us as I walked over to them, and Selene took my hand and pulled out her dagger. I refused to look away as she cut into my arm, letting the blood drip over Aki, giving her a chance to make it alive.

As the last of the blood left my arm, my head spun, and I stumbled. Uruk caught me before I fell and gave me a reassuring look.

“Thank you, my lady”

I nodded. My arm hurt, but at least I wasn’t as useless any longer. If I could help them by doing this, I didn’t plan to stop it.

“Once we’ve crossed the mountains, the healers will take care of her”

I looked at the mountain range looming ahead of us and sighed. It would be a long journey.

Selene put her hand on my shoulder. I turned, but before I had a chance to say anything, she walked away. I shrugged, pushing away the thoughts that popped up in my mind, and joined the rest as they debated which way we should take.