Afraid of the Dark

Chapter 10: Worth It

Once they were out of the immediate area of the abandoned tavern that is now very on fire, Reela climbed down from Todo's back to help him carry Corb better as well as help take some weight off of Todo's back ankles. The sun was just setting when they escaped the tavern, so after walking for about an hour, it wasn't long before the sky was dark.

After the sun had gone down, Reela figured it would be safer to stop for the night to rest before making any real attempts at finding a city to get help for Corb. She figured she could try putting her mediocre medical skills to use while Todo set up a camp.

Reela didn't have much to work with. She's glad she actually listened to Cree when he told her – rather adamantly – to bring a first-aid kit. She didn't think it would be this essential so soon. That also reminds her, she needs to message Cree to tell him that she's safe now.

Well, as safe as she can be.

As much as she hates to admit it, she doubts that was the last time she'll have to deal with Avinalyn. Hopefully she'll have time to prepare for their bullshit before it comes again. She came into this too carelessly, thinking finding Regan would be easy.

But of course she had to be wrong.

She can feel a thin thread pulling taut in her head, but she opts to keep it contained. The last thing any of them need right now is a Reela tantrum. Those never end well. So she focuses on threading Corb's wound closed. Thank the Dense he's out cold, otherwise this would be a battle. Corb hates needles with a passion.

She carefully ties off the thread and cuts it off from the needle before setting it down. "Toya, can you get the bandages?" she asks in a mutter. Both she and Todo have been pretty quiet since they stopped, so she feels awkward to be breaking the silence.

She glances over to see Todo sitting by the fire, wrapping a splint around his ankle with distant eyes. Reela was curious how leg wounds work for centaurs when they reverted to their human form. Apparently since he only injured two of his four legs, when he reverted his form, only one of his ankles was fractured. Centaurs really are resilient.

Must be nice.

Reela returns her focus to Corb once Toya brings the roll of fresh bandages over from her bag. Without a word, she starts wrapping it around Corb's torso. Toya watches her with lowered ears and also glances back at Todo. She lets out a quiet squeak.

"Okay, there's a weird energy here," the fox says in Reela's mind and looks up at her again. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Reela says a bit sharply and definitely too quickly. And out loud when she meant to say it in her head.

Again, she's to blame for breaking the silence. The thread in her brain pulls tighter so she takes a deep breath. She needs to calm down. Nothing's even happening, so what the hell could be setting her off right now?

She resumes wrapping up Corb, ignoring when Todo lifts his head to glance back at her.

Toya curls up beside Reela. "I mean... I know I'm an ass at times, but you can still talk to me if you need. I can tell something's off with you."

Reela tenses and she briefly pauses her absent movement of bandaging Corb. She almost spoke out loud to Toya again, but fortunately for her, she couldn't think of anything to say. That thread just keeps pulling and she knows that opening her mouth will only make it worse.

So she shuts her mouth and keeps her focus on the task at hand.

Eyes forward. Mouth shut. Head high.

Regan's advice better pay off now.