Entry No. 26

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At some point, I had fallen asleep. I now found myself piggy-backed on Vylad's back. We were in a forest of some sort. 

"Vylad?" I called groggily.

"Good afternoon sleeping beauty," he said.

"Where are we?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"The forests of Nahakra, I knew you wouldn't forgive me if we wasted any time for rest. And if I'd left you alone you wouldn't forgive me, or if you ended up in trouble I wouldn't forgive myself. Hence, the piggy-back," Vylad explained.

"Okay... Somewhere in this explanation could you let me down?" I asked. "If we're already on the outskirts then that means we're near danger."

He nodded and squatted down. I got off of his shoulders, but the sentiment that he had cared that much was not lost. I feel myself blush as I thought about it. I even started to giggle thinking of how he must have struggled to get me on his back and let me sleep peacefully.

"What are you laughing about?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said, continuing the walk beside Vylad. "How far are we from the guild?"

"Not far, we should find a cave or something to set up a discreet camp. Then we can stake out what is going on in there," Vylad explained. 

I nodded and we watched as two women made their way through the forest... It was Aphmau. I watched as they made it to a hill and Aph changed into clothes that made her look like a thief. Then, the other girl opened a doorway into the hill... That is where they hid their guild, an underground cave. We sat there and watched for so long. I hated thinking that Malachi was in trouble. We watched as Aphmau and several other thieves came out. As we followed them we learned that it was some sort of "thieves test". As the thieves left off on exploration, I had an idea.

"Vylad?" I called.

"Yes?" he said as he continued to watch the thieves.

"We should head into town and get some disguises. There shouldn't be many thieves left in their hideout at this point," I said.

"Let me go, you can keep lookout," he replied.

"But Vylad-" I said.

"No, no 'but Vylad'," he argued. 

I sighed and sat to watch. After a while of watching over Aphmau, I found her knocking down Travis. She ran away and I ran toward him.

"Travis!" I yelled.

He was groggy. I tried getting his attention and shaking him awake. 

"Y/n?" Laurance called.

"Laurance, come help. We should get Travis back to your inn," I said.

Laurance nodded and helped take him back to the inn where they were staying. 

"You disappeared," Laurance noted. 

"I had to go search for Malachi," I replied. "I'm desperate to get him back."

Laurance nodded, "Vylad brought you at the very least, yes?"

"Yes, he did," I said.

"I'm glad. If I'm not there to protect you, I'm glad he was," Laurance sighed.

"I'm pretty sure that I'm the one there to protect her, thank you," Travis.

I sighed. "Not the time guys. Have you found any kind of information on the kidnapping?"

"Nothing. Aphmau is working on getting information from the thieves by trying to join the guild," Laurance explained.

I thought... So that was what was going on. 

"Vylad is currently infiltrating their base of operations as best he can," I explained.

I waited with the guys for Vylad to investigate. 

"Y/n, if you'd like we can go searching the libraries here for some more information on the Divine Warriors," Travis suggested after Laurance left for some training.

We made our way to the nearest library.

"Do you have anything on the Divine Warriors? Or even history on the different races?" Travis asked the clerk.

"U-Um... Yes. Here, follow me," the young woman said.

She led us to a section in the far back of the library. We searched all over to find maybe five books on the divine Warriors by 3 different authors. There hadn't been much information on the races either. The world had stayed divided for so long.

"There's an odd sort of text here, I can't decipher it," Travis asked.

Travis handed me the book and I looked over it. It was a letter that the author had found at a thieve's camp that had recently been known for stealing from a wolf tribe.

Ereni, 

Irene and I have been very happy. I have honored and will continue to honor the promise you had me make. We have our moments, but so does everyone. I hope we can continue to get along. Irene needs us to get along. If you could make an effort to be around more and support us it would be really great for her. She misses you.

- Shad.

The letter was laced with sarcasm and annoyance. This was when Shad started becoming a problem... Wasn't it?

Shad walked up to me. I felt filled with fear. 

"I'm going to take care of it. Okay?" he said harshly. "We don't need you doing that."

I tried to speak up, but he just shushed me. I didn't feel safe around him. I knew he was trouble. I hated how he originally seemed fine, I felt as though I had become jealous that he took up so much space in Irene's heart. He sighed and left me.

"I'm handling it. Don't get in my way. I helped to train you, you don't know my full power," he explained.

I sat there stunned. He bothered me. I could just tell he was going to be a real issue... But I didn't know how to deal with it. Something had overtaken him. I just couldn't tell what to do about it. I couldn't hurt Irene. I just couldn't handle it.

"Ereni! Ereni breathe!" Esmund shouted.

I woke up form my thoughts to find I had been hyperventilating. Esmund had come to my side, placing a hand on my upper chest to make me notice it's frequent movement. It stressed me out more. He suddenly leaned in and kissed me. It shocked me, but also eased me... 

"Breathe, think of a happy day. Anything that makes you happy. Just breathe with me," he said as he pulled away.

I slowed down my breathing, sinking it with his. He sighed when I had calmed down, laying his head on my shoulder.

"You worried me. Please, my love, I can't bare to see you like this," he muttered.

"I'm sorry Esmund," I replied.

He sat back up, "You don't have to be sorry. It's okay to have emotions. It's okay to share your burdens with others. What I can't bare is the pain you feel, but won't express."

I stared into his beautiful blue eyes. Though I liked to not focus on it, I did have feelings for him. But we were in the middle of taking care of the world... Nevertheless, I kissed him once again. In that moment, I needed comfort, and I took advantage of the fact he wanted to be my comfort.

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