25: Seek And Find

Our journey continued, but Fabrienne's performance of forest parkour came to a halt. She bobbed and weaved, taking moments to linger by logs instead of hopping over them. Every step seemed more calculated than before, and she actually stopped more frequently to let me catch up.

The stench should have been gone, given the distance we put between it and us, but the odor lingered like a bad memory. Whenever I thought we were finally rid of it, I took a deep breath and the potent truth returned.

"Um… Fabri?"

She handed me the canteen and rolled her eyes when I approached to take it.

"What now?"

"I was just wondering—"

"We're in a hurry, Skyler. I don't have time for…" Her voice trailed off when she saw me pointing to a large glowing mushroom. I hadn't tried eating one since my last hallucination, but I remembered the smell wasn't so bad. I hoped it might be a possible solution, considering her wealth of knowledge eclipsed mine. It was just a few feet away, and a definite improvement from what still hung in the air. "Don't ya dare touch it. Leave the pallumb caps alone. Those little buggers will make ya see things. This isn't the time for experimenting."

Experimenting?

"N-no. That's not… I wasn't—"

"On second thought, just… don't. Don't touch anything, ya hear me? Especially if ya don't know what it is. Keep those grubby hands to yourself. Got that, little man? Well, do ya?"

My meager attempt at small talk and hope for a remedy to the smell spectacularly backfired in record time. I really needed to learn to just keep my mouth shut.

Her temperament matched her height more than ever before, short and getting shorter. The longer we wandered around, the more on edge she became. I knew it had to be my fault. I slowed her down. She might have been home by now if I stayed behind in the ruins.

"Fine…" I muttered, knowing all too well she probably heard me. I took a small swig from the canteen to wet my dry mouth, taking just a sip, and shoved it into her open hand. "Have it your way. I give up." Putting one foot in front of the other, I kept walking. Now she was the one holding us up.

"Skyler, I…"

"I'm not stupid. I get it. I'm annoying to be with. I'm slowing you down. I'm just bothering…" I crossed my arms under the cloak. "Want me to shut up? Then go ahead, say it. If you don’t want me around anymore, just get it over with. Leave—"

Fabrienne grabbed me from behind, covering my mouth to silence me. The sudden act caught me by surprise and she took advantage of it. Before I knew it, she knocked me off balance, pulled me backwards, and slammed me to the ground. Taking things a step too far, she even climbed on top of me, straddling my chest to hold me down. My fight with the jumpy bandit flashed through my mind.

Dammit! Pinned again…

"Mmph!"

My muffled attempts to protest did nothing to remove her. She was small, but I was stuck. I had to stop lowering my guard around her.

"Shhh!"

A low growl came from somewhere in the surrounding trees, sending an involuntary shudder through my entire body. The hair at the back of my neck stood on end and a wave of goosebumps covered my arms.

"See? I told ya," she whispered. A twig snapped, and then another. She lowered her face towards me. Her eyes were wide, and her forehead pressed against mine. "This is what I meant about the nasties. Nysh, looks like trouble found us."

I knew it! She lied about the wind. Really? Validation is the first thing on your mind right now? Keep it to yourself or she'll use you as bait to save herself!

Her hand slipped away from my mouth and reached for the dagger tucked into her belt. Unsure if she planned to use the blade on me or the hidden creature growling at us, I complied and kept still.

"W-what kind… of trouble?" I knew she told me to be silent, but my words were barely loud enough to even be called a whisper.

I hated how vaguely she kept things, using terms like 'trouble' and 'nasties' sent my mind down a dark path of spiraling thoughts. I frantically recalled any monster that would fit the generic description. After years of gaming, and reading both fantasy and sci-fi, there were too many to count. My heart raced with an erratic rhythm.

Her eyes darted from side to side, stopped, narrowed, then looked into mine. She pressed in closer, my personal space utterly ignored. Her cheek pressed tight against mine.

Too close!

"Nothing ya want to tangle with." The warmth of her breath on my skin dialed up the discomfort of our claustrophobic encounter to new heights. "Move when I move. Stay quiet. Don't. Fall. Behind. Got it?"

Wait, fall behind? I already have a hard time keeping up with—

I opened my mouth to voice my concern, but Fabrienne sprung to her feet. She grabbed my wrist with her free hand and pulled me along with her before anything could come out of me. Not even a few steps into our mad dash of an escape, my foot slipped.

Damn clumsy—Whoa!

The world flipped, but I didn't fall. Her speed and strength had me trailing behind like a child's plaything along for the ride. I practically flapped in the breeze like a kite, barely touching the ground. Her strength was incredible.

She darted behind a massive tree, dropped over a ledge in the forest's floor, and slid across a slope like it was ice. One final yank brought me right to her side, where she held me close. We were in a shadowy hole—a pit left by a large, uprooted tree—for cover.

The world went from a blur to partial darkness in a blink. I didn't know how to react. I sat there, vibrating in fear.

Fabrienne released me, then held her hand out like a protective barrier to keep me where she put me. She knelt forward and watched for something outside.

"We're not safe yet. Get ready. We need to go again!"

AGAIN?!

"N-no. I… I'm not… I c-can't."

"Wasn't asking." She let out a growling sigh of frustration, an increasingly common noise that I finally recognized from her. I didn't need to look at her face. I knew she was scowling at me again. Seeing the visual wasn't necessary. "If ya aren’t…"

I was too busy and desperate for a weapon of my own to hear what she was saying. I grabbed a piece of the dry roots beside me. A twisting pull broke the thing free. I squeezed harder, holding the flimsy thing like a club. It wasn't the sword, but I hoped something was better than nothing.

Splinters dug into my bandaged hands. They stung the tender flesh beneath the cloth wrappings and sank deeper from my tightening grip. The pain grounded me and let me focus on looking over my makeshift weapon.

Garbage.

Already cracking and splitting apart, there was no way the oversized twig would save me from a monster that put someone like Fabrienne on alert. My limited options were more of the same frail roots, rocks, and a slime that was minding its own business a few feet away. The stupid blob gurgled and rubbed against one of the glowing mushrooms Fabrienne warned me to avoid.

I had absolutely nothing to protect myself with, especially if there was something out there that even she feared. She took the only weapon that made sense away from me, the sword, and wasn't using it.

This is ridiculous! She can’t just leave me defenseless, can she?

I needed to stand my ground and convince her to let me have it, if only for a while.

"Fabri, listen. I know what you said before, but…" I turned to face her, to plead my case. "F-Fabri? Fa… bri?"

She didn’t answer.

She was gone.