The Elven King's Consort

Chapter 24: Night Hunt

It didn't take me long to track down Keyair; growing up amid the forest had its benefits, and once I had tracked him down, I remained at a safe distance. He was unaware of my presence, thankfully. I peered through the cracks of the heavy vine laced around my feet, reaching knee-deep and protruding tree roots halfway through the ground that formed grooves and indentations resembling nests here and there, which were just the right length to support my size.

Keyair stood waiting between dried, cracked trees; the skins on their trunks looked as if they'd peel off from the faintest breeze, holding an object in his hand in front of him. From my angle, he was slightly standing to the side, and I was still too far right to see clearly to make out what he was doing exactly. It would've been better if Draven were here with me, but in my hurried attempts to catch up to Keyair, there was no time to search in-depth for the captain. It wasn't that I worried for my life exactly, but it would've comforted me knowing another pair of eyes was around for safe measures.

I attempted to move closer and gain a clearer look but stopped when I heard movement behind me. At first, I froze, making sure not to draw attention to myself, and in my efforts, I pretended to resemble that of a fallen, decayed log. The silence was long and deep around me, and all I could hear at first was my heartbeat and shallow breaths as I pressured my vitals to slow and remain quiet. In all reality, waiting there emotionless was more like a few minutes of torture. What made matters worse was that my head was facing toward Keyair, and I could not see behind me.

After a few more calming breaths and straining of my ears to pick up the sound again, finally the same noise appeared, but this time it was louder; however, it had changed direction and was much farther away from me and closer to Keyair. I took a calming breath and slowly moved my head and my body slightly to take in the forest behind me just as a precaution, I must always be prepared for more than one enemy, for they travel in packs.

Grazing the forest slowly, straining my eyes not to miss a single flaw; nothing moved in the darkness. Feeling satisfied with this, I glanced back, noticing Keyair moving deeper within the forest; however, this time, he wasn't alone. A tall, cloaked figure followed behind, occasionally glancing around, and a lump formed in my throat. I had to move even more slowly and carefully from now on, for whoever was under that cloak had their guard up, making this more strenuous on me.

Now, I had to move before they traveled too far, forcing me to stop my pursuit. Glancing around one last time, ensuring my safety, I exited the hiding spot. I moved in their direction, all the while keeping a good amount of distance behind them, forcing my way through tall shrubs, under lifted tree roots, and around mounting boulders. Deeper they went, and for a moment there, I became concerned about how far we had traveled from the camp.

I felt a sense of momentary dread and regret, realizing just how much this endangered my life. No one was out here aside from the three of us; I'm sure by now Draven and the young guard ventured back to the camp, and by the time Draven noticed I was not in the camp anymore, it would take a long time to find me. So, not getting caught was a top priority, for I doubt I could successfully escape the two if I were found out. And judging by how things are, if I were to get found, I don't know if Keyair would be foolish enough to harm me or not. This all could be a sham, and maybe even the marriage alliance was all a fake in order to get me farthest away where I'd lower my guard, and they'd get rid of me in the end. Can't let that happen.

I dug my fingers into the boulder as I stared at their backs; they had stopped and spoke too low for me to hear, and to make matters worse, the hooded unknown individual stood directly in front of Keyair. Cursing under my breath, I searched for a way to approach them without getting caught. As I searched, I noticed a darkened path concealed by low-hanging tree branches like a green waterfall nearby and made my way there, crouching and never taking my eyes off them.