Masquerade

Chapter Thirteen

Kendry spots me from his tree. Obviously he has heard the cry as well, but doesn't look nearly as panicked as I do. Either that is just Kendry being Kendry, or he knows something that I don't.

He tries to communicate with me but is too far away to be heard, so he then starts some ridiculous form of charades, making symbols with his hands as a way to tell me something. But I don't understand, so I just look away and continue to assume the worst.

Jac, my friend and our guide, is gone. Not only is our journey doomed because we no longer have his expertise, but my heart is broken that I no longer have him around. It's crazy how I've grown to care for him in so short a time, even though there's still so much of his life that I don't understand.

A strange scratching sound below makes me jump, and I almost lose my balance. Once I've regained it, I quickly look down, expecting to see the soldiers ready to come up and kill me as well. I am relieved to see that it is Kendry, who is already almost to the top of my tree.

"Kendry, what are you doing?" I hiss. "Aren't the soldiers still around? They might see you now that Jac is..." It's too difficult to finish that sentence.

He finishes his ascent and sits himself down on the branch. "Fawn, everything's okay. Jac and Wren are fine, and the soldiers are gone."

"What?" I cry, all the emotions of the last five minutes coming out at once. "How?"

"On the way up the tree, Jac was shot with an arrow by one of the soldiers. But he stayed strong and kept climbing, and him and Wren made it to the top. Then...something in the forest distracted the soldiers. They ran off."

I let out a long sigh of relief, overwhelmingly glad that the others are alright. But I still have questions. "They ran off? Just like that?"

"Yes, it was strange. I was watching it happen from my tree, and something down on the ground really interested them. Whatever it is, they ran after it and left. They haven't been back since."

"I don't understand. Why would they just give up on Jac like that? I mean, I'm glad they did, but I just...still don't understand." I look down below, trying to spot whatever it is that made them leave. But unfortunately, my view isn't as good as Kendry's was.

"I don't understand either...this forest has some strange things in it. But we don't have much time to think about it; we need to go find the others and make sure Jac is okay," he says authoritatively, preparing to get back to the ground.

I follow suit, and quickly find that getting down the tree is way easier than up. We reach the ground in no time and set off to search for Jac and Wren.

Kendry gestures toward a wide tree a little far off from us. "That's the tree they climbed. We'll probably find them somewhere around there."

I nod in agreement, and we make our way to the area. Though the soldiers are gone, I'm still wary. I carefully look around at my surroundings as we walk, unable to completely relax.

It's not difficult to find the other two. Wren hasn't exactly mastered the ability to talk quietly, so her voice carries as we approach the tree. We find her scolding Jac, who is sitting at the foot of the tree with his back against its trunk.

"Is he okay?" I demand, causing her to jump. She whirls around, relaxing upon seeing that it's just Kendry and I.

"Eh, nothing I haven't experienced already. Had plenty of arrow wounds in my lifetime," Jac shrugs, gesturing to his bloodied shoulder.

"One of the soldiers shot him on our way up," Wren explains. "I...didn't really know what to do. We were just waiting for you two to get here." She looks down at the wound, a sort of queasy look on her face.