Unanimous

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Get out of my way!"

Startled, the younglings looked up from the horrifying scene. Liesa, the normally composed yet always enthusiastic nixie rushed forward with an urgent look on her face, towards the still unmoving Amber and desperate Matthieu.

"Matthieu, Get back!" Liesa yelled and pushed the shifter back as hard as she could. It was only due to Matthieu's shocked state that she was actually able to do so.

She kneeled down next to Amber and started to make wide movements with her hands.

"Come on," she grumbled, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

The rest of the younglings just stared as Liesa kept on moving her hands in all kind of directions.

And then Amber opened her eyes and coughed up a massive amount of water that Liesa seemed to control.

"Amber!" Matthieu shouted and crawled forward again.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"

Amber closed her eyes again. "Why are you being so loud?"

It sounded very slurred, like she had gone over her alcohol limit, which had already happened a few times in the past. Those times had been a lot funnier than this though...

"Amber, are you okay?" Jaron asked cautiously.

Amber didn't answer.

"I think she's fallen asleep," Amandine said.

It was silent. The younglings were either staring at the obviously worn-out siren, the aghast looking shifter or the grinning nixie.

"How did you do that?" Vic asked Liesa, hereby breaking the silence.

He himself had only partly recovered from facing two such terrible things so shortly after each other.

Liesa smiled happily. "In healing class nixies not only get taught how to heal someone with the use of water, but also how to help someone if water's the cause of their troubles."

"Well, it sure came in handy," the centaur said, while absent-mindedly rubbing his stubble. He then moved his gaze to the still unconscious Amber and the soaked boy next to her.

"Matthieu?" Amandine asked and Matthieu, who had been staring at Amber, finally seemed to snap out of his state of mind.

"Yes?" He answered. He already sounded a lot more like himself, which was a relief.

"What happened?"

He sighed before starting his story.

"After following the path for about five minutes we reached this lake. We were both surprised and happy when we found it, because not only was it very strange, it was also our rescue. Amber said that it had to be fate and that we should make good use of it. So, she grabbed the bottles we had taken with us and stepped closer to the water."

Matthieu gulped and started fidgeting.

"I had not been paying close attention, but when I looked how Amber was doing, she had almost reached the middle of the lake. She must have been in some sort of trance, because when I yelled out her name she didn't even react. Before I knew what happened she stopped moving and let herself sink."

He stopped and threw the younglings a tormented look.

"I tried to save her, but it was too late. When I had finally pulled her out of the water, she wasn't moving anymore."

Liesa put her hand on Matthieu's shoulder, in a comforting kind of way and said : "There was a lot of water in her lungs, but if you hadn't pulled her out of the lake she would've died. Now I was able to save her so don't blame yourself, Matthieu. You did everything you could."

--

"So, you work for Kobe?"

Jorah smiled at Gail, happier than anyone should be when being in a place like the castle of Agmardor.

"I do. And so have my parents, their parents and my grandparents' parents," he said happily.

Gail frowned, not really understanding him.

"You mean that your family serves Kobe's family, right?"

"No, I mean what I said. My family has worked for master Kobe for more than a hundred years."

It suddenly dawned on Gail.

"He's immortal," she voiced her thoughts doubtfully, which made her statement sound more like a question.

Jorah's smile wavered. "Of course he is. You ought to know that, right? He's the leader of Agmardor, the world we inhabit."

Jorah didn't know, Gail realised. He didn't know that she had been taken to this awful world against her will by someone who'd lied to her about who he was. He didn't know that she'd been attacked and mistreated by his precious leader several times and that he was planning on using her for something even more evil.

Maybe it would be better if Jorah didn't know.

That way she could get to know him a bit better first and see if he was trust-worthy or not. If she didn't and he wasn't to be trusted, he would most likely inform Kobe of her plans to escape.

So Gail smiled and said : "Of course I know that. I tend to speak before I think, you see. One of my bad traits."

When Jorah didn't seem very convinced she smiled broadly and added: "Plus, I haven't eaten in a while and I don't perform well with an empty stomach."

Jorah's grin turned back to his original, large state.

"I'll make you something!" he offered and before Gail could protest he started grabbing ingredients out of the large fridge.

"I'm going to make this meal unforgettable, darling," Jorah said before winking.

"Can I help? You could teach me how to cook and we can eat it together afterwards," Gail said hopefully. This was the perfect opportunity to get to know Jorah better, though it was also a plus that she would finally be able to prepare a proper diner.

"You and I," Jorah said enthusiastically," are going to be the best of friends! Let's get started!"

--

The boy was cleaning his sharp and deadly sword when the girl finally exited the castle. She had braided her long brown hair, something she always did when they were going to Agmardor. It was simply a lot more convenient than wearing it down.

"Have you got everything?" he asked.

"Yes, I checked twice."

"Good."

The boy looked her in the eyes.

"They're green again," he stated.

The girl nodded. "They're safe for now, but we have to hurry. When they reach the valley of the fallen they'll be dead meat without any protection. They know nothing about this world and its dangers. Nothing."