It is early morning. I let out a long yawn. I slept so serenely. As I open my eyes, I realize I am not inside my tent. When I look to my right, I see Alex peacefully sleeping with his arm around me.
Did I really just spend the night with Alex? THE ENTIRE NIGHT? I slowly move out from under his arm, get up and fix my messy hair. I pray that everyone is still asleep.
As I tiptoe to my tent, I spot Phillip cleaning his sword.
I whisper, "Good morning, Phillip. You're up fairly early?" Please tell me he didn't see me sleeping with the Prince.
"It's routine for me. I'm a light sleeper too."
"Uh yeah...well I'll see you in a bit. I'm just going to get cleaned up before we depart," I reply as I walk to my tent. He smiles at me and since I do not have the cover of the red campfire, I quickly enter my tent. He must have known. Of course he saw, but like the gentleman he is, he wouldn't mention it.
As I wash my face inside my tent with small bowl of water, I can hear the men waking up.
Once I'm in my gear, I start packing up my tent. Alex walks by me but doesn't look at me. Is he ashamed of allowing himself to be vulnerable towards me or does he remember us sleeping together and regrets it...
I really do hate growing older. I would never ever worry about these sort of things when I was a child.
Before we take off, Sir Henry asks all of us to join him.
"We will be passing through the Red Valley today. I would prefer we go around, but it would add three days to our journey and extra time is no longer a luxury for us. I want you all ready with your weapons. You have all heard the stories of the creatures that lurk deep in the valley. I cannot emphasize it enough. STAY TOGETHER." Sir Henry warns.
I'm nervous. I have heard about the beasts who live in the Red Valley. The few survivors described them as large spider-like beings. They warned to not let their poisonous acid touch you. A few drops would only give you a few weeks until your last breath. There is no cure.
As we near the beginning of the valley, we form a tight group of four people each and begin walking slowly through the red dirt. Alex, Phillip and an older man named Jonathan are assigned to my group. Phillip walks first, then Alex and Jonathan stands in the back.
It's quiet...so quiet, I cannot hear the wind - only the sound of our footsteps. Hours of walking and we only have a little left of the valley to cross. We have to squeeze through a tight pass one by one to get to the end. After the first two groups are through, it is our turn. We walk slowly into the narrow crevice, and then it happens. We hear the back two groups scream and then it's dead quiet. We look at Jonathan whose face is snow white and he yells, "RUNNNN!!!"
We're squeezing through, running as fast as we can. When I glance back at Jonathan, he is yanked by a creature and dragged up the walls. I scream and keep running behind Alex and Phillip. I see another creature heading for me but the crevice is so tight, I cannot reach my sword. Phillip yells to both Alex and me to keep running and to not look back.
Phillip followed by Alex jumps through the opening and as I leap after them, my pants are snagged to a branch.
A creature runs along the side of the wall on its eight hairy legs directly towards me. As it hovers above me, I can see its sharp long fangs dripping fatal acid. Phillip throws his arm on top of me to shield me and thrusts his sword into the head of the creature. He pulls me out of the crevice and we all collapse on the ground out of breath.
I look at Phillip as tears fill my eyes. I immediately pick myself up, run to him and embrace him. He risked his life for my own. A debt I will never be able to repay.
