Spirit of Shadows

| Chapter Six |

"Matthias, can't we talk about this?" Em asked, breathily. They were maneuvering through the swamp now, heading away from Jonah's house, Matthias cutting down vegetation in his way.

He ignored her.

Em huffed out an irritated sigh but decided to stay close to the guy in case another Grobhin decided to show up. She then pulled her dagger out of her sheath to be prepared for anything.

After ten long minutes of wading through mud and other smelly substances, Em tried to get Matthias to talk. She wanted to know why Matthias had been so bothered by Jonah. What had set him off enough to pull his sword on the boy?

"Matthias please, can we talk." She asked, swiping the damp hair away from her forehead.

"Nothing to talk about." Matthias grumbled, slicing through another tangle of moss.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell happened back there." Em replied, stomping her foot down. Maybe it was childish and stubborn but Em wanted answers. She wasn't use to being in the dark and she especially, wasn't use to hiking through swamps late at night with another human being.

Matthias seemed to stop, his sword dangling at his side as he turned to look at her. He could barely see her in the shadows of the swamp. The glow of the moon didnt cast down here through the large canopy of the tall trees. There was barely any light and that made Matthias more nervous than anything. He continued to scan their surroundings.

"Alright, what's the matter?" He asked, seeming to take a few steps closer to her. He didn't seem menacing anymore, he just seemed...determined. Determined to get as far away from Jonah as they possibly could. So determined in fact, that he voluntarily left the house to parade around the district at night and Em had followed.

"We're walking around this district at night. At night, Matthias. And we don't even know anything about this place!"

Matthias seemed to be in shock. He was speechless at first, as though he was just now taking in the severity of what he'd forced them to do. He glanced around them, looking into the dark crevices of the trees for any lurking creatures, and then back at her.

"I'm sorry." He said finally, his voice as soft as a whisper. Em had to strain her ears to hear it through the soft rustling of the nearby tree leaves.

"It's alright. I think we should just head back and then–"

"Wait. Head back? Em are you delusional?" Matthias began.

"No, but I'm beginning to think you are! What are we doing out here? I only came with you because I didn't want you to get hurt...or worse! Also, as much as it freaks me out to say this, I thought we were becoming friends."

Matthias scoffed humorlessly. "Just because I killed a creature and let you get to safety doesn't mean we're friends. I didn't just do it for you, you know! I did it mostly for my sister–the person we're heading out to find!"

"I know you didn't do it for me! But you still saved me from it. You could have let me die there but you didn't! You could've turned me in to the Kings Men or any other patrol for being a Spirit but you didn't! And that...that's what I'm confused about."

Matthias felt like the biggest jerk in the world for yelling at Em in this moment but truth was, this was new to him too. He never had many friends growing up and spent the majority of his time with his parents and younger sister. His heart thumped as his thoughts tried to switch to the topic of his sister, he suppressed them, deep down.