Badlands ♡ muke

14 ⋇ hephaestus

Hephaestus

The god of blacksmiths, fire and volcanoes.

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Luke looked at Ashton, all the color draining from his face.

"What do you mean gone?"

His mum was right, he realized, Luke couldn't save Calum. He failed at the one job he promised to do.

"His horse, his stuff, everything, gone." Ashton looked desperate.

Luke closed his eyes and breathed out. "So, he wasn't gone, gone."

"When did you notice he was gone?"

"Michael woke me up ten or so minutes ago," Michael nodded. "I was asleep but he had to just return from his walk around the camp, Calum probably waited for the right moment."

"So," Luke couldn't believe what he was hearing. "He left on purpose?"

Ashton shouted into the night sky, scaring the horses. Luke didn't know if that was a yes or no.

"Do you think," Luke looked at both of the boys, "He left because of the prophecy?"

The son of Ares, known for his temperament, kicked the dirt.

"Don't do that," He said softly. "It won't help. And there might be clues, tracks in the sand to see where he'd gone to."

Ashton's eyes lit up, "We should split up again, we searched for Calum but we haven't looked at tracks, broken branches."

Before Michael or Luke could agree or disagree, Ashton left with a burning branch that served him as a torch.

Michael gently nudged Luke and they left towards the horses. There were marks on the floor but they couldn't be sure if they were Calum's.

"We should follow them," Luke said softly. "It's not like we have much of a choice."

The green-eyed boy nodded and they walked for a minute before making it to the river.

The tracks disappeared in the shallow but long river.

Luke almost collapsed on his knees and started to cry.

It's not your fault.

Michael touched his shoulder and, at that moment, Luke realized something.

The voice in his head.

At first, he thought it was his own, his inner self encouraging him through this trial.

Then, he was positive it was his mother's voice. Telling him he was beautiful, making sure he stayed away from any danger.

He wiped his tears and turned towards Michael.

"It's you."

The boy looked confused and Luke thought he got it all wrong. Maybe it was his inner self letting him know he was going insane.