The Forgotten Light

60. Ritael

What the fuck happened?!" Ritael exploded, finally letting her shut out emotions escape. She was addressing the golden-eyed man, although she was still thinking in equal measure about the meeting with Invicta.

Kaelen, whom she was facing, arched his eyebrows in surprise. Harlyn behind her back choked. "Since when do you curse?"

She pointed a finger at Kaelen. "Since I met him."

The Aeternal dropped heavily into the chair where the Invicta Being had been sitting literally moments before, though he tried to do so gracefully, without letting it be known that something was wrong with him.

"This isn't the welcome I had expected," he said, faking disappointment.

"Where have you been?" Ritael leaned over, resting her hands on her knees.

"I was stuck in Kanab, which is why I never made it to St. George. Fortunately, I met a group of people who passed through there and they say the town is empty. So we now know that we can't count on rebels from the north."

Ritael was already about to ask what he meant by being stuck in Kanab, but looking at him, she concluded that the boy wouldn't want to answer that question in front of everyone. She was reminded of the words of the Invicta, who at the sight of the arriving Aeternal immediately said something about fire. She looked at Kaelen, whose always-tanned skin was now the color of ash.

He must have sensed that she was watching him, because he sent her a look saying: "later".

"Those people you met... Are they here?" Colin asked.

Kaelen nodded. "They're resting by the river."

Temron instructed several people to go outside and bring them to the grotto. Meanwhile, the campers who had gathered in the deeper part of the cave moved to the front. Carter sat next to Usain, resting his hands on his cane. Ace and Harlyn exchanged quiet words between themselves, glancing surreptitiously at the golden-eyed blonde sitting in front of them.

Ritael couldn't take her eyes off him. She was bursting with questions, so many emotions were overwhelming her at once and she didn't know what to do with herself.

"How close was it?" She asked in a whisper that only he could hear.

Kaelen's face took on an expression of concentration, as if he was trying to pick up her words. He looked at her as if he hadn't heard.

The girl felt an icy shiver of terror throughout her body.

He didn't hear her.

She opened her mouth to ask him another question, but at the same moment a group of people entered the room. Ritael counted nine newcomers, most of whom were still kids. They all had short hair, as if someone had shaved them bald some time ago.

"Welcome to Sedona," Temron greeted them and introduced himself and the rest of the attendants. "I'm sure you are tired from such a long journey. We have rooms ready for you, so if you want to rest..."

"Just a moment," Ritael interrupted, finally turning away from Kaelen.

All eyes in the cave focused on her. At first she wanted to ask who the Invicta was that had just visited them, but she realized that these people might not know. After all, they hadn't seen him, they didn't even know that an Invicta had just been in that cave. So what if she described his appearance to them - all Invicta looked almost the same, and the place they escaped from was probably swarming with Beings.

She grunted and continued, "Since you are from San Diego, how did you manage to escape from the city, which is surrounded by an impenetrable wall?"

"Well, this is going to be quite a story." Kaelen stretched comfortably in the chair. "Rick, why don't you tell it all again?"