The Far Wilds

Part 15

A few moments passed of complete silence. Then War cleared his throat and said, "we'd better bury them."

"Right," said Flame. The rageful feeling disappeared, leaving her feeling drained and more than a little queasy. She'd killed two people. Two people had died today, and-

Wait, she was forgetting something. Suddenly, she remembered.

"Lucas!" She cried out, running to him.

"He's still alive," she said, "quick, we need some bandages and healing potions and... and..." she trailed off, trying vainly to hold back the blood seeping from his side with her hands.

"It's no use," said Lucas, his voice achingly quiet. "I'm dying."

"No!" Flame said. She turned to Candy. "Please..."

Candy only stared helplessly.

"Goodbye," said Lucas, taking a deep, rattling breath. Flame choked back tears, resting her hand on his face.

"Don't cry for me," said Lucas, smiling bleakly. "You have no idea what I've been through, what I see when I close my eyes... trust me, this is good. I'd rather go out this way than spend years slowly plodding towards death." He suddenly seized, then said, "Goodbye, all of you. I'll see you on the other side."

And with that, he took his final breath, smiled, and died.

They buried Lucas under a pine tree, away from the shallow ground so he wouldn't get washed away with the water or dug up by animals. Then they put the bodies of Caden and the unnamed man onto a boat Candy summoned, pushed them out to see, and shot them with a burning arrow.

As they were placing the man into the boat, something shiny fell out of his pocket. Flame bent down to pick it up, assuming it was an ancient coin of some sort, but was surprised to see it was a golden locket in the shape of a heart, hanging from a gold chain. It looked incredibly old, so old that Flame wondered if it had been passed down to the man by his ancestors. She put it in her pocket, promising herself that she would return it to his family if she ever got the chance.

As they were going back inside, Flame looked over her shoulder and saw a lone boat approaching. She put her hand on Candy's shoulder and pointed. Candy quietly called out to the others in Mindspeak, and they all stood together. Flame turned and looked at the line. She felt Lucas's absence strongly, and she had to fight back tears as she turned to face the oncoming boat.

Then, all of a sudden, she realized that it was Wolf.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. "How did you even find us?"

"A locator map," he replied, calling across the water. "Anyone could find you here if they really wanted, and they might get curious as to why there's four people hanging out in Iceland alone."

No one spoke. Finally, Flame said, "then we'll go to the mainland, or one of the islands.

"More and more people are fleeing to the Wilds. The lawless are in the majority nowadays, without any laws to keep gentle people safe. You guys don't stand a chance."

"So what's your idea?" Smevy asked, stepping out in front. "What's your plan?"

"Follow me," said Wolf. "It's safer in the Center Lands, what with most of the mercenaries staying out here for the easy pickings."

"How do we know it's any safer with you?" Flame demanded.

"You don't," said Wolf. "But it's got to be safer than it is out here. He pointed at the freshly churned earth that marked Lucas's body. "You've already lost someone."

"How did you know about that?" War asked, his eyes narrowing.

"I paid attention," said Wolf. "I've been watching you for the past couple hours now, waiting for you to finish burying your friend." He nodded approvingly. "That was a very nice send-off for the other two. Who were they?"

"Nobody," said Candy, a bitter edge hardening her mental tone.

Wolf appeared to take the hint and moved on. "Either way, it's not safe here. You can either come with me or stay here to be slaughtered. Your choice."

"We'll need to discuss it first," said Flame. "Give us a couple days and we'll-"

"No need," said War. "I want to go, with or without you guys."

"Me too," said Candy. "This place has too many bad memories."

"I wanted to go, but I didn't want to leave you behind," said Flame. "You've solved that problem for me, so I'll go." She turned to Smevy. "What do you think?"

"I'm going if you're going," he responded. "Where you go, I go."

"Then that settles it," said Flame. "Give us a few hours to get ready, and we'll-"

"That's the thing," said Wolf, "we really don't have the time to do that. I didn't want to tell you this because I knew it would only make a bad situation worse, but there's a group of mercenaries coming in behind me. I accidentally let it slip that I was coming to see you, and now they won't leave me- or you -alone."

"Were you going to tell us about this?" War demanded.

"No need to get hostile, I promise I was going to," said Wolf. He turned and scanned the horizon. "We should probably get going either way. I think I gave them the slip, but better safe than sorry."

And so it was that Smevy, Flame, War, Candy, and Wolf left Iceland, heading to the Center Lands and- hopefully -a better future.