Entwined Fates (Editing)

Chapter Nine

**Eli**

"There!" I yelled. A huge mountain, towering over the others, was what caught my sight. Snow was blanketing its tip, covering the huge boulders. Rivers of melting ice flowed a few hundred meters down, where the trees started. It was a dense, thick forest, full of dead underbrush. It looked quite peaceful, but looks can be deceiving. Rhys signalled for us to land. We circled down into a small clearing, scattering the small forest animals into their homes. Rhys motioned for Ari to go over to him. They huddled around each other, whispering. Quickly getting bored of their conversation that I couldn't hear, I grabbed a seat in between Declan and Dimonte.

"Hi." I nodded stiffly to Declan, letting my jealousy get the best of me. What if Ari falls for him instead? She spends hours a day sitting by him, while I only get to see her in the evenings. He's new and exciting, while I was... yesterday's news. Instead of dwelling on my unpleasant thoughts, I focused on the here and now, and turned to Dimonte. Sadness was etched into his face, his posture was slumped with sorrow much past his age.

"I never got to say how sorry I was about your wife and child. They died a young, premature death, they didn't deserve." He nodded sadly. Not wanting to keep him on this painful subject, I asked, "After this mess if fixed, what do you plan on doing?"

"I wish to find a small cottage out in the wilderness. My wife always loved it out there. Hopefully I can find another woman, I know my wife would hate it if I spent the rest of my life alone. Though I'll never love anyone else the same, she's always wanted a child. So I plan to have one for her. Not literally, of course." I chuckled at his attempt to make a joke when Rhys and Ari finished with their little whispering spell, and came to join us.

"Well, I have decided that Arithia will become our leader, or general. She has definitely become wiser over these few weeks, I think she is capable of leading us to find out more about this phantom dragon." He looked over at her.

"Well, I do have an idea, but I thought it'd be best to ask you guys about it first. I was thinking we would see the villages around here, see if there are any other versions to our legend. Based on the last one we heard, there is no true entrance, and we do not know if this is even the right place, so learning more would be the first step. If there is a possibility of this being the right place, we would still have to review our goals. Before, we came to free a prisoner. But if this prisoner is evil, we may have to destroy him. So tomorrow morning, we'll split up into two. Eli, De and I will search the west side and the forest around it. Rhys, you and Dimonte cover the east. We'll meet back in this place in 3 days." Separate? It seemed risky to me, but we would cover more ground in less time. The tohers were also silent, pondering over her suggestion. Ari was starting to look nervous from the lack of response.

"I mean, I know splitting up can be dangerous, but the faster we can solve this, the better," she explained.

"I like this idea. We would also be less noticeable traveling in smaller groups," I chirped. Declan nodded to show his support.

"I agree. Dimonte and I can take care of ourselves," Rhys added.

"Then it's decided." I nodded in agreement.

"Before we leave, we should have a night of fun and feasting," Ari suggested. Good idea, I thought.

"I can go hunting for a wild boar or turkey," I offered.

"I'll go with him," Declan spoke up. Truthfully, I wasn't too keen on the idea, but I kept that to myself.

"I'll look around for berries and such. Rhys, you and Dimonte can unpack and light a fire. We'll meet back here soon," Ari said, voice laced with authority. She accepted the role quickly and easily, and I was proud of her. Grabbing the hunting bow and tossing the other to Declan, we made our way silently into the forest. It was teeming with wildlife. It seemed that with every step we took, animals moved away from us. I raised my bow for an easy shot at a turkey, but it flew away before I had the chance.