Leora - hidden light

Chapter twenty

After an hour or two of resting, most of the injured warriors are up, resuming their respective jobs.

"Do you know who died ?" I ask Lucian as soon as I'm out of the rest tent and meet him.
Mayi and Lucian are carrying a rucksack each, heading out to tame Zersies.

"Yeah. M'tiiti." His voice is low when he answered. A person our age. We could be next if we are not aware of our surroundings.

"What killed him?" I ask.

"He fell in a ravine. But by judging from the burns on his back and legs, a dragon. He didn't know what to do alone. So he ran. Didn't work." Mayi responds.

A dragon out to hunt us. Should be easy to survive when I have never fought a dragon my entire life.

"Stay close, his group wandered away from him, isolating him." Mayi says.

"Does that mean, they were planning for him to die?" I ask.

"Exactly." Lucian says.

"A traitor among us is utterly dangerous..." I say mostly to myself.

"Not a single one, I'm sure there is a small group." Mayi tells me.

"Why would they do that? Don't we all want the same thing?" I wonder.

"Adonis said the land has it's enemies and we wouldn't know if they stayed within us." Lucian says.

Our conversation goes silent after a while and we track the trees and muddy pathways.

We make a small stop to eat, what looks like apples.

"You're sure this is safe? Why are they white?" Lucian asks, eyeing the apple.

"That's because most creatures living in woods like this needs a nutrient called helphegens. It's weird I know. But these creatures work differently. " I reply.

"The ones in the forest eat all these nutritious food, hence are much powerful than the ones we practiced on." Mayi says.

"So they were quite literally practice dummies..." Lucian scoffs.

"Shouldn't we go back? It's getting dark." I say after walking and taming about four Zersies.

When we get back to the camp, it's already full. My neck tingles and I turn fully to my back. Adonis is staring at me, cold, dark eyes. His coldness is back. Just for a bit, I thought I felt something, but no. He was never it.

"Get some sleep, kid. I'll be keeping watch..." Gervic finally says to me.

"We don't know what's out there. I should stay up too..." I overhear Tellia saying to Gervic.

He shakes his head and says something inaudibly. Then he says, "I've got a crew. They'll stay with me." Tellia eyes him before finally getting inside her tent.

Three hours later, I'm sat on my sleeping mat, wide awake.

"Can't sleep?" Laylea asks me. I almost get startled by the sudden sound of a voice. But her voice is deep,groggy and tired.

"Do you know who Curio was ganged with? Did Tellia say anything?" I ask. Maybe her mother told her.

"Yeah, I know. Fiyara and Shelke." She says. Then adds, "why? "

"Isn't that weird? Two healers with Curio. Why? Healers stayed back, didn't they?" I ask, pieces falling into place. But I'm not sure what the picture is yet.

"Now that you say..." She squints her eyes into the entrance of the small and congested tent.

"But" she continues, "it could be that he requested them. He's the son of Zurko afterall. He has the authority. Just like you. If you had asked, they would comply."

"There is no way, two healers, with no combat training make it back and six feet five M'tiiti doesn't." I say, confusion filling my words.

Laylea can't answer the question and drifts off to sleep, instructing me to do same.

"If you don't, Leora, I will complain to my mother. As you know now, her looks can kill."