Awakening

Chapter 3

The morning was cold and overcast, it barely made a difference that the sun was up the clouds were so thick. Rita had made us some cranberry tea before we set out again, and I sat next to Finn as I sipped it. Since last night he'd taken a liking to me for some reason, maybe he liked the rabbit bones I'd let him chew on.

We planned to travel north for one more day, hoping the forest would grow a little denser before we hit the tree line to offer the new camp more cover.  We would then turn around and go home to retrieve our sisters and pack up our home. A few days from now we'd use Finn to find our way back to the location we'd scouted with the rest of our sisters to start building our new camp. Tia sat down next to me, patting Finn's head.

"Did ya have a bad dream last night Adria? You were grumbling something terrible in yer sleep." Tia frowned, sipping her bitter tea.

"I... Just memories from the slums. You know what they were like," I breathed.

Tia rubbed a scar on her neck, nodding in agreement. Not that we'd ever talked about it, but it was probably safe to assume her upbringing had been a lot like mine. A similar scar ran down the underside of my right forearm, as it had taken the brunt of the blast when I shielded my face. Not even the Mages could heal a wound so vicious without leaving a mark behind; magic fire left a telling scar when it bit your skin.

"T'was me mum," Tia said, "She was a cat person."

I forced a smile for her benefit, and she gave my hand a small squeeze. I might not be one for friendship, but there was something to be said for sisterhood.

"What are you two whining about over here? Better not be my tea!" grumbled Rita, her pots clanking as she waddled over.

"Ey Rita, you should tell Adria about why you ran away! Poor girl had a rough night, could use some cheering up," Tia grinned mischievously.

"Oh I don't think she need ta hear that-"

"Pleeeease!" Tia begged, rattling her cup.

"Oh fine. When I was seventeen years old me mum took me shopping for a dress for the festival, and the largest dress in the store din't fit me, and there wasn't enough fabric of the right shade in town to let it out. So me mum said I couldn't have no more cakes until after the festival. So I stole all the cakes from our pantry and ran away," Rita huffed, face red.

I blinked. Then I burst out laughing, my giggles echoing through the forest and startling the birds. I did not even care I'd have a rough go of hunting now, to think Rita ran away because she was not allowed to eat cake!

"Oh shuddup, like you wouldn't do the same thing for cake," Rita grumbled, snatching our cups and stomping away over the snow.

An honest smile broke onto my face, and I followed Tia and Finn away from our little camp. I slowed my pace in case any animals had stuck around despite my cackling, but I was doubtful I'd even find a squirrel. It was okay though, my belly was still full from last night's stew and squirrel meat was tough anyways.

Even though Tia and Rita had helped to calm my nerves after last night, the dream was still on my mind. I wrung my hands and bit my lip, falling even farther behind. It had been three years since I'd ran away, and three more since I'd seen Raphael. What more would it take to make his memory fade?

The hidden part of me bubbled to the surface again, mumbling something about going to the college and putting an arrow through his chest, but I pushed it back down. I let out a breathy chuckle, it was a ridiculous idea. Not only was the college in the southernmost part of the country, but I would trip countless wards and get myself arrested before I got anywhere near my brother.