The Lores of Lyra - Shattered Star [Book II]

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

“The waterfall!” Vega exclaimed happily as she sprung up the next day. Eric and Joshua both grunted in response. There hadn’t been much sleep for them, neither of them had wanted to sleep and let her be unguarded. After an hour of mumbling, they had considered taking notes, but of all the things they possessed, a pen wasn’t one of them.

“Come on, we have to get going fast!”

Eric watched the redheaded girl stop up and inhale deeply, her face offering only absolute serenity. He was amazed at how little she had been affected by the tossing and turning the previous night. He and Joshua had devoured a few of the rapples, just to avoid dozing off. It hadn’t helped that much on their exhausted minds, just left them both feeling hyperactive without any means to make it stop.

Eric dragged himself slowly up and gathered the few things they would have to bring. This would be a long walk. He had seen the waterfall from the lake, and he couldn’t say that he was exactly looking forward to traveling there, at least not by foot.

Soon after, they started walking. Luckily, they didn’t need to pack the whole camp because his drowsy mind had trouble enough by just maintaining his body in a vertical position. As he walked in his own pace in the back, he could listen in on the conversation between his two friends.

“It’s so unbelievable! All this knowledge of… everything! It has so many possibilities.” Vega was explaining about her nightly visits from that deity. Eric hadn’t known before if he believed in the Stars and their existence. Nevertheless, after meeting Vega and Joshua, he had no doubt. There was something out there, and he was surprised about the feeling of solace that the thought alone brought him.

“Like this!” Vega stopped and bent down. Eric halted to watch her, she was bending over a flower, and carefully she grabbed one of the yellow petals to tear it away. He found it to be a peculiar thing to do, mostly because it almost seemed like she was caressing the yellow pad before pulling. She looked up at them, with a wide smile, holding the little leaf up.

“This is a Star Catcher, at night you can see a billion stars in its petals,” she explained while averting her eyes back to study the flower.

“I’ve never seen it before,” Joshua said and squatted down beside her, surveying the flower on the ground before taking the petal from Vega.

“That’s because it only grows in lands where the Star Lion’s reside, it have similar abilities as Lion Dust,” she said and snagged it back from Joshua, popping it in her mouth, giving them a naughty grin. “And it tastes like heaven.”

“But, I didn’t see them back in the clearing with the Star Lions?” Joshua frowned.

“Those Lions were strays. Always on the run in the fear of getting caught, they didn’t live there,” she said before she rose and dusted her hands off in her pants.

Eric watched them with curiosity and in particular Vega. Was she feeling ill? He couldn’t quite explain it, but there had been almost a relief in her voice and eyes as she discovered the healing flower. He looked towards her, she was now whistling tunelessly in a cheery fashion.

He made a silent vow to watch out for signs that she was hiding something from them, in a split decision he bent down to pick the torn flower, stuffing it in his pocket. Eric watched them talk and smirked to himself – he found them adorable. It was obvious that if they had not ventured on this epic journey together, and having the whole ‘save the world or face the doom of the world’ mission over their heads, then they most likely would be dating. He found it slightly funny, since in their current situation; ‘dating’ was a foreign concept. Solem, he had even dismissed the idea of him ever finding someone.