Leora - hidden light

Chapter fifteen

My sleep is cut short as I wake up earlier than needed and start packing a small rucksack with essentials. None of my gowns made the cut. I throw it over my shoulder and head to the stables to meet everyone.

The Zersies greet me with a neigh mixed with a growl. Edwards from my palace is also part of my team, I notice. I get on one of the saddles with Laylea seated behind.

"We have a shortage of Zersies..." She tells me as an excuse for it.

The ride to reach the mountains began. We went on for hours. Made a stop, ate some anchovies that were brought along in tin canisters, and continued till midday, if that's even a thing in Kodurk.

I can make out the white tops of a mountain somewhere far away. A small snow storm has hit the area. As we travel, the sky becomes more bright. Deep swirls of navy to indigo and cerulean. It turns peach and then fully white. Laylea's head is turned upwards fully, from navy to white, she hasn't looked down.

"Lay, you're gonna break your neck." Wyn says as he lets out half a chuckle. He is riding with a friend of his and the son of the head of the military, M'tiiti Curio. With Adonis and Lucian close behind us, our little gang is right here.

The snow has become a little more harsh and I throw on a fur cloak on top of my armoured attire. Two long hours later, we've reached the mountain top. We continue to ride our Zersies as Gervic instructed us because he said we'll soon reach the huge lake of the forest and then we'll be able to rest.

There was no other food stop. Laylea's head lays on the backside of my shoulders and her hands around my waist. She has her long, white hair tied in two braids and they sway as the Zersy moves.

The snow seems to clear a bit and we are descending down this large mountain. The sky turns pink and grey, dusk. Neither of the land has ever seen this sky. We are probably close to Monter already. Although these areas have day and night, they aren't considered suitable to live in, hence the center of Monter is the target.

Three fine hours later the sky is black again. A million more stars fill the sky. The descent to the mainland made me a bit dizzy. We spot the lake a little far from us. As per Gervic's instructions, the Zersies make a run towards the lake.

We settle down right by the lake. My tent placed twenty feet from the lake. After stopping we quickly set up camp and started grilling all the different fish that Tellia and Curio caught.

After dinner, everyone was instructed to take proper rest as we will continue our journey early morning the next day. I didn't mind sharing a tent with Laylea, she is fast asleep already and doesn't snore.

I sneak out of the tent to go get some fresh air. I'm aware that's all I've been doing today and my body is sore from sitting and riding all day.

There's someone sitting on the ground, right by the lake, infront of the fire. He has only a single layer of cloak on while I've brought three.

"Can't sleep?" I ask Adonis as I take a seat next to him in the pool of pebbles.

"Ha. Yes." He says coldly. He doesn't look at me.

"I just... Have a very bad feeling about this. I usually do, about these kinds of things..." He begins and drifts off.

"My ravens, they know. They can tell." He seems very upset about this. And I don't know what I can tell him.

He takes his hands out of the pocket of his coat and for some reason that I can't explain, I reach for it.

I hold his left hand, trying to get his attention and it works. His eyes are on mine now.

"I haven't known you for much long but whatever the outcome, I want you to know that, you are brave. To have taken on this challenge without having a gift, is amazing. You are amazing. You're you. That's your gift. Your eyes are special, and that's all you."

I don't know what prompted me to say any of this or why I keep motivating others when I'm not sure how I'll be dealing with things.

His eyes are on fire like I switched on something in him. A fire that cannot be shushed. A second later they become soft. His fingers curl over mine. He sounds almost breathless.

"Leora..." He whispers. I am intently trying to listen.