Allies of the Sun

Chapter 13 (Aspen)

     Aspen explained all that had happened since Alina's birthday and Lexie listened intently. They had left the village about a half-hour after they had met the little girl. Going through the village had saved them two hours of walking. Now they were setting up camp under the stars. Even though Jay hated sleeping outside.
     Aspen complained the most about it but Jay understood why. She had slept in a grand castle all of her life and had been abruptly taken from it. Gabe however, was making himself comfortable right next to them. Jay mostly ignored him, but when he wasn't looking Jay moved to the other side, over by the girls.
    Just then, Aspen pointed to the sky. "What is that?! It's so pretty!" she exclaimed. Jay had never seen it before and never wanted to again. Its colors were so bright and blinding. It was pretty annoying. "I know what it is!" Lexie said excitedly. "Uhh, I do too, in case you were wondering," Gabe said, but Jay ignored him, as did everyone else.
    "It's a luck dragon, and it's saying we are going to be lucky!" Lexie explained, "Or is it saying 'good luck'.....?" Wasn't that good either way? "What's the difference?" Aspen asked. "Well if it represents good luck, then good luck lies ahead of us. But if it represents saying 'good luck,' then that means something bad lies ahead," Lexie said.
    "Well then let's just assume that it represents good luck!" Aspen said, looking on the bright side as always. That's a terrible idea, Jay thought. We should always be prepared for the worst. If Jay had learned anything at all from their parents at all, it was to always be prepared and expect the worst to happen just in case.
     Then Jay remembered the presence they had sensed just before sunset. They had assumed it was just two people going for a walk, but it could have been that one organization the fat guy talked about. If they were still nearby that would be very bad. They had to find a way to shake them, if they could reach past the stone's defenses that would be bad. Then they remembered that the stone didn't cover footprints.
     Jay teleported away from the group without saying anything. They had to find out who was following them immediately. It would put many people in danger if they were followed. Depending on how many people followed them, Jay could take them all. They didn't want to take any chances though.
    They teleported all around the camp within a fifty-meter radius until they sensed someone. Jay honed in on where they were and went back to the group. "Where-" Aspen started to ask before Jay cut her off. "We're being watched."
    "Then just go kill whoever is watching us, like how your brother killed my Master!" Glimmer snapped at them. Jay hadn't realized that unicorns had such mood swings. But that didn't matter at all. They shrugged and disappeared again, teleporting far enough away that they could watch them and not be sensed.
     It looked like they were setting up camp. There were only two of them but Jay had a suspicion that Alina had sent them. They waited for a few seconds before teleporting to their camp, hiding behind a tree.
     "All I'm saying is that we should get paid more for this," the man said. The other one, a woman, responded, "Just be grateful that you're getting paid at all. Her Majesty told us to keep this a secret but you went and blabbed to everyone you got some special top-secret assignment from the new queen." He mumbled something then went inside his tent.
    Jay thought killing them would be unnecessary, so they decided to lead them off the trail. They teleported back to camp and started walking in the opposite direction they were headed. When they had gone far enough they teleported back to camp and started walking in a different direction. When they got back to camp again they looked at Glimmer and asked, "Can you fly?"
    "Kid, what's your last name?"
    "Why?"
    "Just tell me what your last name is!"
    "Will you answer my question?"
    "Yeah, whatever."
    "Tanda..."
    "To answer your question, yes, J.T. I can fly." Jay stared at her, then flatly said, "That's why your master died." Glimmer was too stunned to speak, but they could tell she was very angry. Jay walked away.
     "That wasn't nice, Jay," Aspen scolded, "Glimmer gave you a cool nickname, can I call you that too?" Jay glared at her, they knew she wasn't trying to be annoying, but she should at least try to see that they hated that stupid nickname.
   "No."
   "Oh, why?"
   "Because."
     "If they don't want to be called J.T. then that is their choice," Lexie said. Jay was glad they didn't have to explain the details and went back to spying on the trackers. They didn't say anything useful so Jay went back to camp and tried to sleep.

Uploaded: October 11, 2021
Updated: 10/28/24