Exᴛʀᴇᴍᴇ || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ Bᴏᴏᴋ Fɪᴠᴇ

Chapter seven// Rendezvous

Lizzie
We must've been walking for days. My feet were aching without remorse, and we were again low on water. Despite the adults' constant reassurances that we were getting close, the atmosphere was heavy over our group. We walked in silence mostly, the sun beating down relentlessly on our backs.

And then we saw them.

Or, well, Tyler spotted them. "Them" being a black dot on the horizon at present. But it could only be Olvan and his group, since this is the location we were to meet.

And sure enough, as they approached, we saw the green cloaks they wore, and the unmistakably hulking silhouette of the Greencloaks' leader.

"It's them!" Lucia cried out as Tyler raised his arm in a wave.

Suddenly life returned to the group. I saw smiles breaking over faces, back straightening and shoulders squaring. I, myself, felt bolstered by their arrival. I lifted my chin and felt the corner of my lips tug upward.

"Tyler, Hoya, Lishay!" Olvan greeted as soon as they were in earshot. "You made it." His gaze swept the group and his brows pulled down for a moment. He turned to Tyler, who shook his head in response. "Ah." The moose-summoner sighed. "Truly unfortunate." He shook his burly head.

"Excuse me, Olvan, sir," Sasha stepped forward. He held himself with solemn confidence. "Are the rest of the troops here as well?"

"Yes, they're back there, scouting the best way to attack." He answered, gesturing vaguely behind him.

"And what about the Conquerors? Where's their camp?" Navia proceeded to ask. She looked smaller than Sasha in Olvan's shadow, but as fierce as ever.

"Just over the ridge." The leader looked back to Tyler. "We have extra supplies, water, food for you all. We attack as soon as we're ready."

My stomach rumbled at the mention of food. I was starved and, by the looks of excitement on my teammates' faces, clearly not the only one.

Tyler smiled gratefully, his face suddenly looking younger. "Wonderful." He glanced back at us as Olvan started heading back. His face shone with pride and resolve.

We followed Olvan back to a hastily set up, but large camp. Small groups of Greencloaks, humans and animals alike, sat together. They were talking, eating, or just preparing for the battle. Many of them offered nods or smiles as we passed, some breaking off conversations to greet Tyler or the other adults.

"There's so many of them." Niko's voice beside me caused me to jump. "Sorry," he grinned, not looking very sorry at all.

"It's fine." I responded. "And yeah, there are a lot. I've never seen this many before."

"Well, in this kind of situation I think it's best to have too many than too little. Wouldn't you say?" Niko returned a wave from another Niloan warrior nearby.

"Anything to help win the battle." I agreed, keeping my response offhand. I sped up my pace, to keep up with the rest of the group.

We were each given a flask with water and a some dried fruit and jerky to eat and drink. I accepted them eagerly, along with the rest of my group. We all clustered together, sitting on the sand in a haphazard circle. Tyler and Hoya joined us, but Lishay was otherwise occupied.

"I'm gonna be honest with you guys." Tyler broke the silence after a moment, pointing his half-bitten piece of jerky at each of us. "We have no idea what we're walking into."

I took a sip of water, watching him as he spoke.

"Chances are, we're wildly outnumbered. This is not going to be an easy battle." Tyler ran his hand through his hair, a nervous habit. "I want each of you to know that we– Ryan and I– are very proud of the people you've become." He smiled wearily. "I'm glad I got to see you guys grow. You're great kids, each of you."

All of us smiled lightly.

"I just thought, even if we don't make it out of here, that we know you did your best." Tyler continued. He spoke softly, but he held everyone's eyes steadily. "And that's all you could ever be asked to do. You're kids. It's not your job to save the world. Maybe it does get shoved onto you. But it shouldn't be. You're supposed to be living, growing, becoming your own people. It's not fair to you." He paused to pop a dried berry into his mouth. "But despite that unfairness, you've done wonderfully. I'm sorry for what you've missed. But I'm also glad I got to be your guardian."

It was quiet for a moment.

The Sasha spoke up. "You know, you're not gonna be rid of us that easily, right?" He joked.

Tyler laughed. "I hope not. But still, it was worth saying." He hesitated. "It's what I would've wanted to hear."

Another moment of silence, then Zay lifted her head, drawing our eyes. "I wanted to thank you." She muttered finally. She was looking at Tyler, the tips of her ears going red. "You kept this team together when no one else did. You showed us– showed me– that family doesn't have to be blood." She looked around at us. "Because, let's face it. You guys are my family."

I raised a brow. Zay, getting sentimental? That was new. What next? Sabien would kill someone?

"Obviously." Tazi piped up with a grin. "No better family than this."

The others all agreed. I remained tactfully silent. No one noticed.

"Enough with the sappy talk, now." Tyler said finally, still smiling. "We have some Conqueror butts to kick!" He stood, helping Hoya up with him.

"Yeah we do!" Sasha cheered. He stood as well, the rest of the circle following suit.

I downed the rest of my water, feeling refreshed and revitalized.

Tyler looked up as Olvan approached. "Well, that's perfect timing." He commented easily. "So, what's the plan?"

Olvan's expression was grim. "There's no plan."

The smile slid off Tyler's lips. His face darkened.

"The scouts spotted the Four Fallen along the far side." Olvan explained. "They're getting attacked. There's no time to lose, get ready." He strode away purposefully.

Tyler turned back to us. "Well, you heard the man!" He drew his sword. Charlie flashed out of passive, followed by Sasha's jaguar and Niko's ostrich.

I summoned Widow to my shoulder. She hissed and crept to my head, where I felt her nestle into my hair.

Here we go. This should be fun, I thought as I found my favourite weapon, an iron-spiked mace, and rolled it in my palms. No time to lose.

Exciting!!! Don't worry, the worst is still to come ;)
I hope you enjoyed the cheesiness. See y'all soon!!