ONE (Book 1 in the Amnesia Archives)

Chapter 36

Now that I knew that Dwi was my father, I was beginning to blame them for a lot of things which went wrong in my life. It had begun to rain as soon as we left their realm, my brother was missing, and I had the strange sense that I had to sneeze for a good hour. We couldn't find Aknon anywhere close to the entrance of the realm, The four of us were spreading out further and further away from each other, which made me glance back every few seconds, in fear that I would be kidnapped at any moment.

"This isn't working," Sarphi said with a huff and fell backwards onto the wet grass. I was growing concerned for her health, because she really shouldn't be out too long in weather like this. Whenever we were travelling outdoors with weather like this, we usually built some kind of shelter with Aknon's magic or sprinted to the next city. "He didn't arrive at the entrance or whatever we were hoping for."

"He didn't wish to be out of there, he wished to be somewhere," I reminded her as I trudged over and sat down beside her for a moment. "He's big and blue and has a tail, it's really hard to miss him."

"You're big and blue and have a tail," Prin pointed out as she joined us, hugging her waist and looking down at us. She remained standing, the rain causing her hair to cling to her face. "Do you think he would stay though? If he recognised the place, he might've bolted."

"And it would make sense to bolt to the nearest city," Senka added. "But does he have anything like a cloak? Or we would've heard by now if Daefocer's guards had found him."

"Yes, there'd be a public execution, we've discussed this." I sighed and shook my head. "He doesn't need a cloak; he's got his magic."

"You all have magic." Senka rolled her eyes. "You could all disguise yourselves, I mean, Dwi's children can." She looked over at Prin sheepishly. "Don't suppose you know how to do magic too?"

Prin shook her head. "I never learned any magic. I wasn't given much opportunity."

Senka winced and nodded her head in understanding, looking like she should've guessed in the first place. "But I don't think that anyone would think twice about your appearance, you're stunning, but you're pretty human-looking."

"I'd hope so." Prin gave a small chuckle before shivering as a harsh wind blew. "I think that we should go somewhere warm, maybe Aknon had the same idea."

"That does sound like him," I said as I stood. "He's probably cooled down a little by now, and he's beginning to see sense."

"Well, that's hopeful." Sarphi took my outstretched hand, and I pulled her to her feet. "What if he comes back here?"

Onyx let out a bark and ran around in circles.

I turned to Senka for some kind of translation, which she provided with, "he'll be able to smell if Aknon comes close."

Sarphi then bent down in front of him. "If you can do that, then why didn't you tell us he wasn't here?" She crossed her arms over her chest. She sounded a little angrier than I was expecting, but I also felt the same way. I just thought that her love for dogs and cuteness would win her mercy.

Onyx whimpered and pawed at the ground.

"It's because you guys were here a few seconds ago," Senka explained. "Time works differently inside Dwi's realm; this world is much nicer, and time goes by quicker. But that means your scent is still very strong. It could seem to him as though he was still here."

I nodded in understanding before tapping Sarphi's shoulder. "So, it's not the dog's fault. You can stand up now, and we can begin walking, because this rain isn't doing anything good for any of us."

Sarphi straightened and took Prins' hand, almost completely ignoring my presence and beginning to walk towards the path.

"You want to go to the right," Senka called after them and gave me a rather concerned look. "Is she going to be okay? She was rather sensitive when she was younger."