Chained

Chapter 30

*Andrew* 

"How much longer do we have to walk?" I croaked.  

I fanned my face and plucked at my shirt as it begun to stick to my sweaty body. The heat was getting to me. Most of us actually. My mom and dad smelled as salty as the ocean on a summer day. But Cecil, Nanti, and Astreaus all seemed fine. 

"Suck it up," Astreaus said, already woken up from his long slumber. "Compared to what Zita must be going through now, this is nothing." 

As much as i'd hate to admit it, he was right. Zita must be going through hell right now. Just thinking of her and that tinkerbell made me grit my teeth. 

"I think taking a break is fine," my dad said, panting like, well, a dog. "We don't have as much of a resistance to tempeture as you guys." 

"We haven't got a second to lose," Astreaus snapped, shooting my dad an icy glare. "We need to get to Zita. If you need to stop and sleep for a while then fine. You're going to be left behind." 

"Says the one who had to be carried." 

Astreaus blushed and spun on his heel, continuing forward. He actaully woke up in a worse mood than this when he saw my dad carrying him. 

"He's right," Cecil said, stopping in his tracks. "Though they may not be able to withstand the tempiture here, we're going to need all our strength to take down that faery." 

Astreaus started to protest but was met with an eye melting stare.  

"Stand. Down." Cecil commanded. 

Without another word, he closed his mouth and stared down at his muddy, scuffed shoes. 

"Whew!" My dad said, dropping to the ground and spreading his legs out infront of him. 

"Honey, mind your manners." my mom scolded dad. 

He slid her a sarcastic grin and crossed his legs. 

"Better?" 

"Yes." 

She and I sat next to my dad as the others remained standing. 

"Um, would you huys like to sit?" I asked them. 

"Always the gentleman," Nanti chuckled. "But no thank you. We prefer not to grovel in the dirt." 

I glanced over to my mom to see if that was ment to be offencive but she just shrugged. Astreaus closed his eyes and seemed to sway.

"I sense her." He said, barely over a whispered.

"What," I said, jumping to my feet. "Where?"

"I don't know. She's surrounded by two others. They might be keeping her hostage."

"Why don't you send her like, a message or something?"

"You think I haven't thought of that? For some reason, there's a wall blocking me from connecting to her. I can tell she's close but not to exact measures."

"Well let's go then!" I said, pulling my parents to their feet.

"Whoa, hold your horses, kid!" my dad said.

"Yeah, what's the hurry?" my mom said.

"We have to get Zita! She could be dying right now!"

"Since when did you care about her?"

"Since always!"

"I thought you were the one who didn't want her around."

I opened my mouth to snap back at her but nothing came out. I did hate her. And she hated me. When did I start worrying about her so much?