The Blood in Our Veins

Chapter Thirty - Pride

- RYON'S POV -

The sun was just beginning to rise after the terrible night. I was kneeling next to Prince Tristan. Gently shaking his shoulder, he awoke.

"What?" he groaned. Yawning, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. I put a finger to my lips, signaling for him to remain silent. Pulling him to his feet, I began walking off toward the trees. The prince followed me. I led him to the edge of the trees, not too far from where our camp was. In fact, if he actually bothered to look, he would have seen it from the fire, as I had. I pointed to the flat, grassy area.

Tristan's eyes widened. He looked to me in disbelief. Scattered throughout the large clearing was a fair sized herd of deer. Sindri had been right; and Tristan had needlessly banished her for it. In order to follow his own command, no one was permitted to find her. We all knew that in her sadness and frustration, she would never willingly return.

Tristan sprang to his feet, not caring that the group of healthy game bolted from our location. He stormed back through the trees, back to camp. His hands twisted into his own hair, in hopes of tearing it out.

"You realize what this means, don't you?" I asked.

"That I just sent away the most valuable defensive weapon ever seen in this world?" he cried. "Yes, I know exactly what I lost! She could have told us the exact location of every army that comes our way! Every ambush would become meaningless! Each escaping enemy soldier, every late-night traitor sneaking around would have become easy to catch and contain! Now all that is IMPOSSIBLE!" I stared at him, shocked.

"That's what you think?!" I yelled. "You just banished your own twin! The last member of your direct family! And you're thinking about the war?!" He stopped paacing and looked at me.

"Considering that the war is our most important problem, that's ALL I think about!" he replied. I was beginning to question my decision to fight for him.

"Swallow your stupid pride and admit that you're wrong! Put this in Sindri's point of view! There were people she cared about, who cared about her, and you just made it impossible for her to see them. Ever!" I cried. Tristan frowned.

"Maybe I was wrong to banish her." he began. "It should have been you." I stared at him in confusion. We had become best friends. He wouldn't do that to me. The look in his eyes said otherwise. "If you're so against me, then you should go with Sindri and become a lunatic too."

I blinked. "Don't you get it?" I asked quietly. "She understands the world. The life all around us that you're so blind to is worth something to her. Just because we don't have as deep a connection to this world doesn't mean she's crazy. If you can't get over yourself enough to accept that, it's you who lost your mind." I stood and began walking further into the trees.

"Where are you going?" Prince Tristan demanded.

"Back to camp." I said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "If you want to, try to find Bryn. He left a while ago." It was true. The boy was nowhere to be seen. Despite this, I knew exactly where he was going.

*****************

- SINDRI'S POV -

Thankfully, my black wolf, Argon, had the ability to cure things of sickness. Since the haraweed was of natural origin, he was able to remove it from my body. Good thing too, because with the amount Tristan had used, I would have been paralyzed for weeks. My packmembers and I had stopped not too far from our camp. We were a solid fifteen minutes away. I slowly stood, for my body still ached, and would for several days. There was a rustling in the brush. It was unnatural, not caused by the wind. I focused all my energy to the ground beneath my feet. Through all the surging life energy, I felt a rapid heartbeat and queited breathing. Small feet froze not too far from my own. I sighed.

"Come on, Bryn. I can feel you. You don't need to hide." I said the bush to my left. A short figure stood and ran over to me, wrapping its arms around my waist. The twelve-year-old looked up at me. Red, swollen eyes indicated a long night of crying. He grinned.

"You have to teach me to do that." he said. I laughed.

"How about now?" I asked. He looked up at me, excitement written all over his face.

"Really? You mean it?" I nodded and took him by the hand. Leading him to the base of a large tree, I placed his palm on one of the thicker exposed roots.

"Feel the tree. Feel the breeze in its leaves, the soil around its roots. Find the life within the core." I instructed. At first, Bryn seemed confused. Then he grinned.

"I feel it!" Smiling, I placed my hand next to his.

"Good. Now feel beyond the tree. Feel the animals that move around the woods." I whispered. Turning, I looked to Kian. "Go hide." After  moment, she dissapeared from sight.

"What now?" Bryn asked. I got up and stood behind him,  just in case I gave anything away.

"Find her. Sometimes it helps to close your eyes." The boy followed my advice. In moments, he smiled.

"She's laying behind the boulder in the trees to out right." he observed. Kian, hearing her discovery, returned. Bryn frowned. "What's that?" I placed my hand on the rough bark of the tree. There was a faint rumbling, so quiet that I was surprised that I caught it, let alone Bryn. My brows furrowed.

"It's not an earthquake..." I thought aloud. The vibrations were southeast of us, and seemed to cover a large area. The anger radiating from the place overpowered most of my senses. Then I felt a ridge near to the site and sprang to my feet. It had lasted too long to be a stampede. My eyes widened. I pulled Bryn to his feet and placed him on the back of Argon.

"What are you doing?" the boy asked. I ignored him. I slid my bag of food and water supplies over his shoulder.

"Take him to the Camp, then meet us back in our territory." I ordered. The jet black wolf nodded once then sprinted away as fast as the wind would carry him.

'What is it?' Kian questioned.

"There's something wrong back at camp." I explained. "We can't help, but Bryn can." Kian shook her head.

'There is a way.' she said.

"What?" I asked doubtfully.

'Summon the pack.'

________________________________________________________________________________

I'M SO FREAKING EXCITED!! This next chapter is going to be WICKED!!!!! I'm still sick, so these chapters are going to be unusually long for a while. In conclusion, Tristan's an ass, Ryon rocks, and Kian's telepathic abilities are awesome.

VOTE!

COMMENT!

FAN!

TRIPTYCH! (I'm just finding random words in the dictionary. ;D)