𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝙱𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚁𝚞𝚗....

𝚅𝙸𝙸𝙸

I awoke after only a few hours of sleep and looked over and saw that Willow was awake now. I was still holding her hand and had fallen asleep while leaning my head against the cot. After a moment it finally registered in my mind that my best friend was okay.

I shot up and engulfed Willow in a bone crushing hug, "Oh thank the gods you're okay! You scared me!" I breathed a sign of relief. "Nice to see you too Shadow Girl." She laughed, returning my hug.

"What happened last night? I left for a few minutes to bring two hunters back, and when I returned the basilisks were gone and you were on the ground, dying." I asked her.

All the humor in Willow's eyes disappeared, "Just after you brought the two hunters back to camp, I had to jump to the ground just before the pipe I was on fell. One of the basilisks spit fire in my direction so I rolled out of the way and shot it. Unfortunately, I hadn't realized that a different one had grazed my skin when I had rolled. The snake was killed, but the damage was done. I blacked out and when I regained consciousness, I was here, with you sleeping on the ground next to my cot, holding onto my hand while you slept." She filled me in.

"Gods, that's horrible. I had been so scared when I saw you, your life aura was so dim. After I brought you here, they gave you some nectar and you stopped fading but the aura hadn't brightened. They let me stay here under the condition that I would rest. I didn't want to sleep but I fell asleep anyways."

Willow just gave me a soft smile, "I'm glad that you got rest. And thank you, for saving me. You're the greatest friend I could ever ask for."

"Hey, since you said you could see my life aura, what does it look like now?" She asked me. "Bright, just like it should be Magic Girl." I grinned.

Just then, Maya and Zada ran in and started licking Willow on the face. "Pfft- Okay- Okay- I get it, I'm fine. I promise." Willow laughed, trying to stop the two dogs from licking her on the face even more. I started cracking up at the scene, but immediately got my karma when my own dogs burst into the tent and tackled me, also licking my face.

——

A couple more weeks went by, and by now we were in Pennsylvania, nearby the city of Pittsburgh. We were probably only a week or so from camp now, which, of course, is good, but Willow and I will miss the hunters. Ellie is our best friend, but because she's part of the hunt, we will have to part ways eventually.

But let's not dwell on the negative.

Since we left Chicago, we have hunted down, and killed many more monsters. We've killed dracaenae, empousai, laistrygonian giants, harpies, hellhounds (I felt kinda bad about those since Ember was there), gorgans, skeleton warriors (those were easy), and even a hydra.

It was really good practice for Willow and I, we even fought with swords a few times just to get better at those skills. Willow was even able to practice her magic in battle when we went against the hydra. She used the same fire spell from a few months back to burn the necks of the hydra after each head was cut off.

It was warm out now so the hunters had traded their ski jackets out for white shirts and and silver jackets, they kept the same camouflage pants and black combat boots though.

Willow and I had also gotten the same wardrobe change, storing away our winter gear in our tent.

Today we were just resting and collecting food. Everyone was sent out in groups to gather different supplies. Things like food, herbs for medicine, logs for the campfire so we can cook the food, and scout for any nearby monsters.

Willow, Ellie, and I were collecting food currently. We had changed shifts around twenty minutes ago. The three of us had been on scouting duty before.