Tiger's Beginning

Chapter 24: Assurance

My eyes slowly adjusted to the bright light and my mind scrambled to connect the dots as to where I was at the moment...and why I was moving.

Memories from the night before came rushing in, and I sat up quickly. Anik steadied me with his hand wrapped around my side. He spoke to me softly.

"Its alright Grace, you're safe. How do you feel?"

The truth was I was sore and I was in good need of a bath, but complaining wouldn't help our situation.

"I feel fine. How far away are we from Tavos?"

"Kamala has been scouting ahead, and she says she has seen people up ahead along the trail, so probably about half a days journey. We should reach it by nightfall. I hope they have suitable sleeping arrangements."

Sitting up, I rubbed my swollen eyes and felt something smear on my face. I pulled my hand back and saw it was blood.

Frantically I turned towards Anik and saw him clutching his side, and his robe was soaked through.

"Anik you-you're bleeding oh my gosh I-we need help. We need to see a doctor-"

"Grace, I've suffered worse and besides, we are almost at the village. I promise I will find the healer once we are settled. We couldn't afford to stop with Damon knowing we were leaving. I still don't know how that was possible."

My face settled into a frown, and he laughed lightly before rubbing my arm and pulling me close.

"Its alright Grace, though I don't mind you being worried about me."

"Of course I'm worried about you! You could be bleeding out and your just going to sit there and be all noble trying to take one for the team. Well if you die its your own fault."

I felt him chuckle and I decided I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction on being worried about him, so I was silent for the rest of the trip.

Behind us I heard laughter and looked to see Ella smiling and laughing as Raj whispered something in her ear. When she saw me she became nervous and looked away.

That's right, you didn't help Raj when he could have died, so you don't deserve his kindness.

I heard thundering hooves ahead and Kamala emerged from around the bend, looking like a goddess with her fair flowing behind her. She pulled her horse to a stop in front of us.

"The town is not far, maybe 5 miles and we should reach it by nightfall. There is an inn, and the owner is also a healer. So far everything seems safe, but we need to be careful because Damon could possibly have spies here."

With that we picked up the pace, knowing there was a destination in sight.

Kamala was oddly quiet on the ride to the village, so I figured she was lost in her thoughts and let my own consciousness drift.

It feels like forever since I first met her even though it has been less than a year. What did I even do before all of them came into my life?

The horse rounded a corner and across the trail I could see what I presumed to be Tavos. It seemed like a regular port city, with the water bordering the west side of the city and the trail leading towards the entrance that was on the east side.

As we got closer, it got noisier with sounds of a marketplace. The lights were scarce as night fell, which gave the town an eerie glow.

At the entrance to the city, there were 2 huge iron doors with depictions of the waves and sea creatures drawn in them.