Inked

2

He was scared. It was an odd thing for him to be so scared after all he had been through, all they had been through. But that was a year ago, Farid. Everything has quieted down. But the White Women had that effect on him still; no matter what he told his brain, it cowered at the sight of them. But he ran on, too out-of-breath to conjure up a fire to light the way. The Bluejay's and the Black Prince's footsteps sounded so heavily behind him. Careful, or you'll wake the whole forest!

Farid stopped abruptly, so abruptly that the bear almost collided with his back. "There," he whispered, pointing to a dark spot among the trees that looked much like any other portion of the woods. As they approached, Farid held his breath. He was worried that the White Women had already taken her away, because there was no sign of them, but one floated out from between the trees as soon as the thought had crossed his mind.

"Shoo, shoo, get out of here," Silvertongue said, waving his hands at the pale specter. "Would you give me a hand, Prince?" The men worked together to lift the girl onto the bear's back. She offered up no protest, and Farid worried she wouldn't make it back to the camp.

The trip was slow. What had taken mere minutes now took, well, several more minutes. During this excruciating length of time, Farid was flooded with worry. He wouldn't tell them, he wouldn't tell her, he wouldn't tell anyone that it had been his fault.