Rise Above

Chapter Eight

The darkness was something it was hard to get used to, but Amira closed her eyes and shot according to where she could hear movement. Fortunately Savanna sounded very different to the creatures, so Amira wasn't worried about hitting her sister accidentally, and it seemed like doing what she was really helped. Finding themselves plunged into it unexpectedly the first time hadn't been easy. It seemed likely it was where Samuel had been hurt and it made her feel better to be shooting the creatures that had taken him from her. Once she'd made Lady Krahina and Eugene pay Amira would feel a hundred times better. Bringing back her beloved brother was impossible. Stopping anyone else from losing family was something she could do, so she was going to do it, hopefully with Savanna by her side.
When the last of the creatures were killed the darkness faded away. At first Amira couldn't see Savanna, but then her eyes got used to the light and saw her by one of the trees, grinning. "That was... I feel so much better."
"So do I, but we still have a long way to go if we're going to get to that door."
"It's about eight areas west and I know a couple of them are home to some nasty things."
"How do you know that?"
"Eugene." Savanna bit her lip. "I think he was talking about these sorts of things where he thought I might hear about them so one of us could get out. He said, although I'm not certain he was talking about us, he'd invested a lot into a certain family, and he was going to make sure it didn't go to waste."
"The closer we get the easier it gets to remember right?"
"Yeah, it does. I don't know. Maybe he talked to me about it and made me forget until I needed it. He definitely seems like that sort of person."
"Would the other Battle Lords and Ladies see it as cheating?"
"Who's to say they don't do the same thing?"
"True." Sighing, Amira sat down. "Give me ten minutes and then we can carry on. If I don't take ten I'm not going to be able to get through the next area without falling apart."
"Take as long as you need, Mira. These are the rooms we want to be resting it. Once they've been cleared they're going to stay clear until we leave."
"Maybe we should have chosen to stay in the centaurs area instead of moving on to the next one."
"Sam wanted to move and I knew he'd been hurt, Mira, but I had no idea how bad it was. He told me it was a scratch and I believed him. It never crossed my mind it might have been poisoned, even though it should have done."
"Don't blame yourself. It was Sam's choice to keep going and I know why he made it." Amira shook her head. "He didn't want to slow us down while we were doing so well."