They walked through the dense woods in silence. After about an hour Amari had stopped feeling so angry, but the annoyance at Penelope still lingered. Buster trotted happily beside him, purring contently, and meowing every so often. Penelope and Aoshanay were whispering to each other, and Max walked a few inches behind Amari.
Maybe the man was lying, trying to psyche Amari out for some reason. But he kind of seemed...excited to see Amari. Once he recognized him a guide.
They are not your friends.
Around six in the morning, they had decided to set up camp. After minor discussion of whether or not they wanted to set up on in the clearing, which was only a few feet away, or where they were, the settled for a spot slightly off the trail.
Max had decided to set up the tents since it was supposed to rain. How Max knew that Amari had no clue, but he trusted his judgement. Amari sat on the ground, absentmindedly petting Buster was he watched Max pitch the girl's tent.
He was hungry, irritated, and tired. He thought about what his apartment could've been. He pictured how he would've decorated it. The walls would've been filled with nothing but posters. Posters from bands, movies, TV shows. Even random posters of cool artwork. He probably would've adopted Buster regardless, so he would've had a couple beds and scratching posts for him.
He would've reserved a whole cabinet for her cat food. Another one would've been filled with nothing but snacks. Maybe two. He's buy a lot of ingredients, cook great Sunday dinners. Maybe he would've bought a loft bed, so that he could have a desk, maybe enroll in community college, on a scholarship. Maybe not. He would've gone to Gladys's retirement party, gotten promoted. Maybe somewhere down the line his mom would've taken him back. Unblock him.
You're not even my son.
Maybe not.
"Tents are ready! Perfect!" Aoshanay said stretching, she had put her braids into bonnet and had put on a pair of pink arm warmers. Penelope gave Amari a look before going into the tent.
"Do you want a fire set up?" Max asked. Amari shook his head as he went into the boys' tent. They were surprisingly roomy on the inside, because of that, Amari was able to drag his sleeping bag into a corner. He took his shoes off, made his bookbag as comfortable as possible before closing his eyes.
He heard Max enter a few seconds later and shuffle around a bit before finally settling down.
Had had no dreams. As the day passed the four, Amari kept waking up, the sunlight that still shone through the tent making it a bit harder to sleep. After waking up for the fifth time, Amari sat up, annoyed and more irritated than he had been earlier. He looked over at Max, who was sleeping on his back, Buster fast asleep on his chest. Amari saw his watch, he had thought it was a smartwatch, but it couldn't've been because it hadn't died yet.
It was only twelve – fourteen. Amari, feeling more restless than he had been, decided to get out. As quietly as he could, he unzipped the tent and crawled out.
The path, a slightly glowing white line, made a sharp turn out towards where the dirt path was. Amari stepped out and stood on the trail, staring straight ahead. The path seemed to stretch for miles, but he knew it had an ending.
Amari knew that somewhere there was a great, big, creature. He knew that the other three were supposed to kill it. That that was the prophecy. He guides them to the monster, and they defeat it; but something about it didn't feel right. This creature, it was his friend.
"Everything okay?" Amari jumped. Aoshanay tripped over a fallen branch and stood beside Amari, looking down the road. "Are we close?"
"Nah." Amari shook his head and looked down at his feet, where the path started.
YOU ARE READING
King of Creatures
FantasyThere's a prophecy that comes around every century. It always plays out the same, a guide, three nights, a monster to be slain. That is, until this round for the prophecy, where The Guide isn't too fond of their fate and he's not afraid to change it...