The Bane

Chapter Twenty-Nine

It was after a quick lunch of yet more lizards that it happened. 

I was thirsty and was in desperate need of a drink. I had tried my best to push back any thoughts of water, but it became too much for me to bear. I had been trying to keep from drinking to conserve our water.

“Can I have a drink?” I asked Athan, hating myself for being so weak. 

“Of course,” he said, taking the water pack off his shoulder. He tried to hand it to me, but before he could Cole lunged for it.

“I want some!” The little boy said. He pulled it away from Athan, accidentally dropping it and spilling the water everywhere.

“Cole!” Athan yelled, falling to his knees. He picked up the pack, but only a little bit of water remained. He scowled and stood. “Cole! How could you do this?”

Cole looked down at his feet in shame. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry isn’t enough!” Athan was furious. “That was all the water we had! Now it’s gone thanks to you!”

Tears gathered in Cole’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? Blast it, Cole! Sorry isn’t enough!”

“Hey!” I yelled. I couldn’t believe Athan was so mad at the little boy! “He didn’t try to spill the water!”

“It doesn’t matter, Kyra!” Athan said. “We’re going to have to go back now! And who knows if we’ll actually even make it!”

“What do you mean?” I asked slowly.

“I mean, we might die before we get to another source of water.”

“We won’t,” I told him. “If we have to go back, how about we go right now? We can still make it.”

“Kyra, the most we can go without water is two days. We’ve been traveling for about a day and a half. We’ll start feeling the effects of going without water very soon.”

“Well we can at least try!”

He sighed and nodded. “You’re right. We better get going.”

“Wait!” I said. Something caught my eye. It looked like Athan’s water skin, except larger. I walked towards it, giving a shout of joy as I found it full of water. As I picked it up, I knew who had put that water skin there. “Thank you, Garek,” I whispered somewhat grudgingly.

“You’re welcome,” a voice whispered in my ear. “Don’t say I never did anything for you.”

I elbowed him from the direction his voice came from, feeling satisfied when my elbow came in contact with some part of his body. “I have water!” I told Athan. 

“What?” He asked, taking the water skin from my hands. A large grin split his face and he threw his arms around me. “Kyra! You did it!”

I laughed. “I didn’t do anything. I only found it.”

He kissed me. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. But I think you should make sure Cole knows you aren’t too mad at him.”

He sighed and nodded, turning to his little brother and apologizing for being so angry.

“It’s alright,” Cole told him, giving his older brother a hug. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. But remember not to do it again. You almost cost us dearly.”

Cole nodded. “I won’t. I promise.”

We all took a few sips before going back to walking. I was grateful to Garek for the water, but I couldn’t help but be a little annoyed. I knew exactly what he was trying to prove. I was in charge of carrying the water skin, and I noticed that every time we took a drink, the water skin was refilled. He was using magic, and he was trying to show me that magic could be used for good.