The Forgotten Light

4. Fairlight

This time no one felt like taking a nap even for a moment. Fairlight and Ritael's watchful eyes followed the dark surroundings carefully. The night was cloudy - the clouds obscured the moon, making them see worse, but they weren't as lighted either.

Neither of them was doing this for the first time. Together with Usain, they found many lost people, most often they were children. Fairlight remembered well what she felt nine years ago. The hope that she would finally no longer be alone and, at the same time, the fear of people she was afraid to trust. At the time, she couldn't tell right from wrong, so she instinctively considered everyone evil. That's exactly what these kids may have felt.

Fairlight glanced at Akio in the rearview mirror. The boy sat immersed in his thoughts and hadn't spoken since parting ways with Reyn. He was secretive and shy, never sharing stories, as if he didn't have them or didn't want to remember them. No one knew how he ended up in the camp probably because he was one of the first to be rescued by Usain. Just as an afterthought, no one knew anything about him.

Fairlight suspected that something close to what happened to the children they were now looking for must have happened to him. Akio was perfectly able to keep silent about his past, but he could not hide the emotions that she now saw in him. At first he was seemingly immersed in unpleasant memories, sadness and pain beginning to haunt his green eyes. Eventually, his posture expressed fierceness and lust for revenge.

Ten minutes after they headed out to search, Ritael straightened up quickly and touched the passenger-side window with her index finger, calling out "There! Stop the Jeep!"

Fairlight slammed the brakes on, trying to spot what her friend had seen.

"I didn't see anything there," Akio stated, however he was already reaching under the seat for his gun.

"We should check it out. Rit has excellent eyesight, there's no doubt about it," said Harlyn, jumping out with his gun clutched in his hand.

Fairlight walked around the car parked under a dry tree, moved the boxes and opened the locker in the trunk. Wherever she went, she always took the Invicta sword she had recently received from Usain with her. It was large, but surprisingly light. No one knew how long it had been lying abandoned somewhere in the middle of nowhere, with a bit of damage, but it still shined like new and was razor sharp. The handle was cold and decorated in gouged, silvered lines and swirls. In the moonlight, the white steel looked truly phenomenal.

In addition to Invicta's sword, there were also daggers for the rest of the group. They quickly shared and headed after Ritael.

Fairlight drew level with her friend, checking how many bullets she had in the clip. "What exactly did you see?"

Ritael looked with concentration into the distance, on the lookout for any movement. "A shadow flitting between the two rocks there. I don't think it was the clouds, although I realize they can confuse me. But the shape of the shadow resembled a man."

They approached slowly and as quietly as they could to the place pointed by Ritael.

"There is no one here. The surrounding area is also empty. Are you sure..."

"Yes, Akio, I'm sure I saw someone here," snapped Ritael irritably. She looked frantically around. "They couldn't run far. The area is flat, there's nowhere to hide... Wait a minute."

Fairlight and Ritael looked at the same spot. The guys followed their look.

"The hill," they all said in one voice.

"Well, let's hit the road. It's barely a mile, but let's keep our eyes and ears open," urged Harlyn.

They knew they had to hurry if they wanted to get back to base before sunrise. Dawn was about three hours away, of which they had to count about two to get back to Florence.