Chapter 18

"Ehm" I fidgeted, shifting my weight from one foot to another as I watched the terror that blanched her face. She had explained that we would have to be careful. The Portal Patrol had a post near where we were that was going to be hidden among the foliage and we wouldn't want to be noticed by anyone lest its location be revealed. I had considered the precaution unnecessary seeing as we were only surrounded by animals and plants and it wasn't like they could do much apart from just attack the Keeper guards. Turns out, whoever the Keepers wanted to keep away, had already beat us to the punch. 

The wooden watch tower was in shambles and we could spot ripped fabrics, broken weapons and spots of blood in different parts of the post. It was apparent a battle had occured. But neither the defendants nor the assailants were anywhere to be found so it was kinda impossible to figure out the result. Who had won? If any had. Were there any survivors? The atmosphere didn't look much too gory but when you couldn't find a single person there, the ominous thoughts couldn't be kept at bay. And I could see them all clear as day, dance behind her eyes as she checked every broken piece of equipment and uniform. That is, until she reached a certain point. She got off the ground with a symbol clutched in her hands and turned to look at me with such utter fury that for a second, I feared for my life. Some of the symbol could be seen and I could tell it was the same gate in the Keeper icon but instead of locked, it was wide open.

"The Seekers" She seethed and even though I wasn't entirely on board with the Keeper business, I couldn't help but feel an echo of her anger. This was severely out of line. What reason did the Seekers have for attacking and possibly killing the Keepers? They could open the portals in a different way surely. Or could they? I felt so confused that my head was about to split. But right then, what was a right or wrong viewpoint should be the least of my concerns. My companion was distressed and we needed to check if we could find any Keepers or even Seekers to question.

Just as I had that thought, something rustled in the bush near me. I internally sighed but got ready to defend myself while I made sure my cowboy hat was square on my head. I kinda wanted a plat gun to go with the outfit but I was fine with this for now. I didn't let Toliz know of our new arrival because she seemed preoccupied and I didn't want to trouble her. This didn't sound like it was too bad so I could handle it on my own, probably. I approached the bush slowly and carefully wanting whatever it was to show itself so we could get over with it but at the same time hoping it stood right where it was, or better yet run away. The leaves moved once again and I tensed only to get hit by a very small rock on the forehead. 

"Ow" My head snapped back and it hurt enough to leave a bruise but I could tell I wasn't dealing with a creature. So I pushed the bush away to the surprised sound of a childish squeak before I found a child hiding behind it with a slingshot in his hands. He was shaking but he had a defiant look about him and he hissed at me like a rabid animal. He was bewildered when I hissed back. 

"I-" found something I was about to let Toliz know but then I looked closer at the kid's clothes and I came to a realization. He was wearing leather black clothes. No Keeper would dare skin an animal to create clothes out of it. This was a Seeker child. Who in their right mind even took a child to an ambush? And could I be sure of Toliz's reaction if she saw a member of the enemy, no matter at what capacity or size, so close?

"What have we got here?" I flinched hard. Her tone sounded hungry and a little violent but I didn't dare interfere. This was her people we were talking about. She reached out to bring him over and possibly question him but he bit her forearm.

"Nature scum!" He shouted and that was all it took for me to take sides. In a feat of speed I didn't know I had in me, I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him over to the closest tree. He thrusted and fought in my arms like a cat but I didn't let go until I had securely tied him down to the trunk. He screamed in my face, apparently having run out of slurs and insults to throw. In response, I whistled loudly and rhythmically until Lainax ran to me. He seemed to assess the situation easily enough and he stood guard over the little brat while growling and showing him his teeth. The kid yelped and stood silent. The hatred in his eyes was the only vivid thing about him right then. 

I went back to Toliz who was grimacing from pain while clutching her bleeding forearm. She was trying to get a bandage out of her bag but she was failing.

"Let me" I offered gently, feeling guilty for her pain. I should have dealt with little shit the moment I spotted him but his age and the initial fear in his eyes had paralyzed me. 

"Well, I guess it couldn't get much worse than this" She sighed theatrically while she showed me her arm dejectedly. I scoffed while unravelling the bandage and then getting ready to wrap it around her arm.

"Are you doubting my skills?" I feigned hurt but when I touched the bandage on her scratches and her whole body shuddered, I looked up horrified and hastily moved my hands away. "What did I do?"

"For one, you tried to put the bandage on before cleaning the injury at least" She smiled weakly and I rushed to do as she said. I searched for anything that looked like a wipe in the bag before giving up, finding a piece of fabric and dipping it in the water of the flask we had with us. She winced at the loss of precious water but I ignored that before I started patting her as gently and carefully as I could. "That would be nice, if you touched any skin" Apparently I had been dabbing on air.

"Sorry" I flushed. She chuckled. I, then, moved to wrap the bandage once again. The colour of the plant it was made of was an interestingly bright shade of jade and it was slimy to the touch as if it had ointment already on. Each time I made a movement, I then immediately looked up at her face to make sure. I did this multiple times and each time she answered my look with a cocked eyebrow. "Is it too tight? Too loose? Do I cut it now? Should I tie it?" She put her hand on mine.

"You did great" She patted my hand and I grinned proudly before letting out a sigh of relief so big that I deflated. "I think I understand the balloon thing now" She said with a ponderous look and a furrowed brow. 

"Ew aghhhh" I whipped my head around to find the brat fake gagging at us. Nax didn't find that a sufficient offense to scare the kid out so he just turned his head to me to look us at in amusement.

"Shut up! You are in no position to do anything but tell us what the hell happened here!" 

"Or what?" He challenged. I snapped my fingers. Nax came to an inch of the kid's face. For his credit, he didn't scream. But I thought I saw his soul leave his body.

"And I thought I was going to be the bad cop in this situation" Toliz joked. I opened my mouth to retort but then backtracked.

"You know what a cop is but not a balloon?" Something weird passed through her eyes and she blinked a few times, her body moving robotically, before she returned back to herself.

"And I thought I was going to be the violent one in this situation" She amended. She didn't look like she remembered the past second. Her smile was a little too forced. What was going on? "I mean, telling us is your only chance. You are obviously deserted here and have no idea where to go or what to do or else you would have left already" She returned back to herself, I think.

"My people didn't desert me! They would never do that!" He screamed in outrage. Toliz stayed calm and crossed her arms.

"Seems like it. Should they had even taken a child with them in battle in the first place?" Exactly. The more I found out about the Seekers, the more I didn't like them.

"We didn't know there was gonna be a battle!" He strained in his binding making it stretch significantly. I was impressed. 

"Why else would you come to the Portal Patrol Post?" Now Toliz was starting to lose her patience at what she deemed bad lies. The kid looked honest enough to me though.

"How were we supposed to know this is where your Post was?! All of them are secret!" Toliz seemed to consider that but she was still distrustful. "We were just looking for...new resources and then your guys called us trespassers and attacked us!"

"They would never endanger their positions like that! Why would you be looking for resources so far away from your turf anyway?!"

"Because our land's been dying! And we've been telling this to your Chief! Trying to come to an agreement to travel in Shards with better landscapes but he keeps replying this is the punishment for our sins! You have the biggest part of the Verdant Shard so you don't know what it's like but don't try to act so noble and high mighty!" His face was red, veins were popping on his forehead and neck and he drove himself so feral he broke the binding and shoved his finger on Toliz's chest who for her part, stood there dumbstruck as if hit by lightning. I lamented his young age and all those emotions and hardships that were making his little body shake as if ready to explode.

"What happened to the others?" I asked carefully. He didn't look like he wanted to reply but something compelled him to.

"The Empyrean" He spit on the ground. Toliz gasped and came to life like a broken statue. Even Lainax whined at the sound of that name. On my part, once again, I had no fucking clue.