Elementals || Grishaverse

Chapter 34: The Town

The three travellers walked the lonely woods in search of their destination. Simon was concerned about the diversion in their plan but he trusted Adaline to trust Ramina. Something about the new person made butterflies fly in his stomach. He wasn't able to talk or function properly around her. She had this charm around her, which was natural but hard to place.

"Simon?" He heard Adaline's voice bring him out of his daydream.

"Yeah?"

"I asked you if you wanted to sit for a while before we continued." Ramina said.

"Oh....um....why not?"

Ramina blushed. "I'm going to check for signs of the town." She said before walking towards an empty space nearby, where she crouched on the ground and examined the stones.

"Does she...."

"She is a brilliant tracker. She found a lake out of nowhere. I'm quite impressed by her skills." Adaline said. "So, tell me. How was everything after I was forced to leave?"

"Addy." He understood that she didn't mean to be spiteful. "You know why the General had to send you away. He hadn't been okay since then." She looked up at him. "He has been acting out and forgetting things."

She held her neck, feeling the air being sucked out because of the tough situation. "How is he?"

He smiled politely. "He cannot wait to see you again." He then answered the question that was on her mind. "No, I haven't told anyone about you. I assumed that it would be for the best."

She nodded in gratitude. "You seem quite distracted." She teased him to change the tense atmosphere. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh." He laughed a shaky laugh as he looked at the ground and he shook his head. "It's nothing really."

"Someone likes someone." Adaline sing-songed.

He sighed. He couldn't lie to her. "Maybe I do." He admitted. "How long have you both known each other for?"

"A few days only, but it feels like I've known her all my life."

"Right? I somehow feel very....drawn to her."

Adaline nodded. "Yeah, I know how that feels." She played with a loose thread on her coat.

Simon frowned. "You do?" He sounded sarcastically surprised. "Saints, the Little Palace has changed you. No wonder you hate them so much." She hit him playfully and aimed a pebble at his arm.

Ramina was looking at the way the rocks were arranged together. They were all pointing only in one direction. She could faintly hear the shouts that you could only hear in a town. She looked around and took notice of the direction that the wind was blowing in.

She picked the stones up and felt the warmth that they radiated. They were heading in the right direction. She could see the town nearby and the forest that lay after that. She wasn't that far away from her destiny. The location might have changed but the signs were all there.

She wasn't far away from leading her to her destiny either.

She picked two pebbles up and rotated them in her hand for concentration. She walked to where the two friends sat catching up about the past few months. "We're not that far. A few more trees and we will find ourselves right in the town square."

They started walking once again and found that Ramina was absolutely right. The trail started to change, less trees on the way. They found themselves in the townsquare and Simon pulled up the hood of Adaline's coat. She adjusted it so that no one would recognise her, just in case word had already gotten out.

They discussed what they would ask the Morana if they could meet them. "Whether it is true or not, there is no harm in admitting our deepest desires." Ramina said.

By this time, the other two had realised that Ramina was sort of a poet. She had all these original quotes that could make you fall in love with her talent very quickly and very easily as well.

"The Hand means the blessings of Saints to a lot of people." Adaline said. "I think I will-"

Right as they were about to turn a corner, Ramina stopped Adaline from walking and pulled her back into the corner. They stood with their backs to the red-bricked wall. Simon snuck a peek and saw two palace guards standing nearby.

"Are they searching for you?" He asked Adaline.

She looked tense. She did not want to go back. She would not go back. "I hope not."

They continued to make their way through the town in their path while hiding from the guards, but they were careful not to look suspicious. There was a gathering in the middle of the square and they headed there, to not look like newcomers.

"I hate how long it takes this Lord to give us what we deserve."

"How did he even get the place here? He wasn't related to Lord and Lady Dominik."

Adaline's heart stopped beating. They were talking about her once family. "It is so sad that their carriage crashed. None of this would be happening if it wasn't for their just decisions." The town baker spoke.

"This place has worsened since they disappeared."

"Truer words have never been spoken, my friend. I wish they were here."

"I wish we knew what happened to Isabella! She was such a sweet girl and-"

Adaline had heard enough. "Let's go." She headed out of the crowd and towards her destination.

Ramina and Simon looked at each other. Adaline was definitely hurt by something and they didn't know why that was so. He knew that she wasn't the type of person to get hurt by a knife cut, let alone town gossip. He needed to talk to her.

Ramina was glad that she wasn't treated as an outsider. She was getting to know the two friends and in a way, she was going to complete her destiny soon. It was only a matter of time and how long it would take to get the truth out.

It was only a matter of time.

They crossed the town borders and made camp in the fields outside. Adaline was silent the entire way unless the other two asked her a question. They didn't make her talk because they wanted to give her her space.

Simon assumed that the Little Palace must have had a terrible impact on her for changing her so much. But there were some positives as well. She didn't flinch when someone reached for her. She was healing on the inside out.

But he didn't know that that wouldn't be for long.

Simon and Ramina talked to each other and there was an instant spark between them. They knew that they wanted to get to know the other more. They talked about the different methods of tracking and what was the best way to make a trap. It was their way of flirting, you could say.

Adaline lay awake under the stars of the infinite sky for a really long time. She didn't know when the fire burnt out and when her mind took control of her body. Her eyes felt droopy and she fell asleep to find a very important detail of her life.