My Dream Or My Nightmare?

Chapter 23

The group huddled around a makeshift map spread out on the floor, a few dim lanterns casting flickering light across their tired faces. Leon, sitting cross-legged next to Dandelion, stared at the symbols he had sketched from memory. The lines swirled and crisscrossed in ways that made his head hurt, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that they meant something more. Something important.

Estalia tapped her chin, her sharp eyes scanning the map. "We need to figure out where the symbols appear most frequently. There has to be a pattern," she said, her voice steady but strained.

"Maybe they're just markings," Jax chimed in, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "Could be warnings or something. You’re overthinking it."

Dandelion shook her head, her brows furrowed in thought. "No, Leon’s right. There’s something weird about them. The way they show up... it’s almost like they’re guiding us."

Leon appreciated her support, glancing at her gratefully. They had started to click as a team over the last few days, and despite the chaos around them, he felt a strange sense of calm whenever Dandelion was nearby. She had a way of lifting the tension without even trying.

But something else had been on Leon's mind lately. Dandelion’s interactions with Kairo had shifted. He wasn’t sure why he noticed it—perhaps it was the way her smile lingered just a little too long when she looked at Kairo, or the slight nervousness in her voice when she spoke to him. It was subtle, but unmistakable. She liked him.

Leon’s eyes flicked over to Kairo, who was quietly sharpening his blade, oblivious to the undercurrent of emotion. Kairo had always been calm, collected—almost distant. Leon wondered if he even noticed Dandelion’s growing attachment.

"We need a strategy, not just speculation," Estalia broke the silence, pulling everyone’s focus back. "The next time we go to the city, we need to know exactly where to search and how to avoid the patrols."

Jax, who had been mostly quiet until now, shifted uncomfortably. Leon noticed his gaze linger on Dandelion, his jaw tightening. It was becoming clearer that Dandelion’s attention toward Kairo was bothering him. Jax’s expression darkened, and Leon could see the hurt flash across his face, a look that betrayed his inner turmoil.

"We go at dawn," Jax muttered, pushing off the wall. His voice had a hard edge to it, as though he was trying to prove something. "But don’t get your hopes up too much. The city’s getting more dangerous every time we go in."

Dandelion looked like she wanted to say something to Jax, her lips parting slightly, but she hesitated. Instead, she turned to Leon, her eyes softening. "You’ve been quiet, Leon. What do you think?"

He blinked, pulled from his thoughts. "I think…" He looked down at the map again. "I think the symbols are more than warnings. They could be leading us somewhere, or at least giving us clues about what this place really is. We just have to be careful—whatever’s behind them, it’s powerful."

Jax scoffed lightly, not directly at Leon, but more at the idea of it all. "Symbols leading us? Sounds like a fairy tale. We need food, not riddles."

Kairo finally looked up from his blade, his voice cool but firm. "We need both. If these symbols can help us find a way out of this mess, then it’s worth following."

Dandelion’s face lit up slightly at Kairo’s words, and Leon caught the way Jax’s hands clenched into fists. The hurt in Jax’s expression deepened, contrasting sharply with the brightness in Dandelion’s eyes. Estalia caught this exchange too, her gaze flicking between Jax and Dandelion, concern etched on her features.

"All right," Estalia said, breaking the moment. "We rest tonight. At dawn, we move."

As the group began to settle in, Leon couldn’t shake the feeling that their biggest challenge wasn’t just the city or the strange symbols. It was the unspoken emotions brewing between them. And somehow, he had the sense that those feelings—Dandelion’s quiet affection for Kairo, Jax’s growing jealousy, and the hurt behind it—might be more dangerous than any symbol they’d encounter in the city.