Chapter 45

I lay staring into the darkness long after the others had gone to sleep. Why did Selene suddenly care about me being their Goddess? She knew I was just pretending. I wasn’t her. I sighed and turned on my back. Would she treat me differently now, just like everyone else did? She had been there for me when I felt overwhelmed by the stares of the people. Would she be one of those now, looking at me as if I were their Goddess?

I sighed and glanced at her dark figure lying next to me when a strange feeling suddenly swept over me. I froze. Someone was… watching us… I glanced around, but the forest was empty. I sat up, staring into the darkness.

“Selene”, I whispered, but she didn’t respond.

“Why have you come?”

A sudden voice rang out in my head. I startled, staring around wildly, but I couldn’t see anyone.

“W-who are you?”, I stammered.

The voice didn’t reply, and the forest fell silent. Uruk stirred and sat up.

“Are you okay?”, he whispered.

I glanced at him.

“Someone… is watching us.”

He peered into the darkness.

“I will keep watch. Try to rest, Rina.”

He got up and went to sit some distance away from the camp. I sighed. I knew I wouldn’t fall asleep, so I got up and followed him. He didn’t ask why and simply nodded as I sat down. We never spoke much, but I felt that we understood each other without the need to talk. I liked that about him.

I peered into the darkness, but Uruk whispered,

“Listen — don’t look. They will make noise long before you will see anything.”

I nodded, trying to do as he told me, but the sounds of the nightlife filled the air until everything became a blur.

“How can you even make out anything?”, I asked.

“You don’t need to. Get used to what you hear. When something unusual appears, you’ll notice.”

I nodded, trying to take in the sounds, but it didn’t take long before my mind began to wander. Did the Dorians already know we were here? Did that mean they had accepted us already? Or were they simply waiting for us to come closer before turning us away? I wanted to ask him, but I didn’t think he would know, so I sat quietly, trying to focus on any unusual sounds. Maybe I was more tired than I thought, because I felt myself dozing. I woke up to Uruk gentle shaking me, and I opened my eyes to the first morning light. I frowned and sat up.

“You shouldn’t have let me fall asleep.”

“We didn’t need two of us keeping watch.”

He walked over to wake up the others. Selene glanced at me as she sat up and then turned to chat quietly with Aki. I sighed.

We shared breakfast, and I told them what I had heard in the night. Aki chirped when she heard she wasn’t the only one who had felt it, but none of us could say what it meant. There wasn’t much to do after that, and we packed in silence and set out. I kept peering into the forest as we walked, but the feeling of being watched didn’t return, and I didn’t hear the voice again.

It must have been around midday when Aki halted by a stream.

“This marks the end of our land. When we cross it, we will enter Doria.”