Spirit Animals - The Ten Keepers: Fall of the Ten [Book Three]

Chapter Eleven - Hard Choices

Here's chapter eleven guys. Just to let you know, I never update on Saturdays.

Eilene's POV

"What do we do know?" Haley was asking.

"We need to find them," George said, "We can't just leave them. What if they need our help?"

"As much as I hate to leave them, we're running out of time," Meilin replied reluctantly, "Who knows, they might've been infected. From what Takoda told me, there was no way they could've survived such a long fall."

"You don't know that," George argued, "They're still alive. I know they are. We can't go on without the rest of our team."

"But if we don't find the next compass soon, who knows what Erdas has become off," Meilin argued back, "Who knows how many more compasses we need to find. We're running out of time."

"No," George fired, much to their surprise. George never yelled or got angry that easily, "I lost my brother to those mindless creatures! I don't want to lose more of my friends!"

"Your brother has turned into one of those mindless creatures, just like my friend" Meilin said curtly, "And what about your friends above ground? You'll not only be losing more of your friends, but we will be losing this war against the Wyrm if we look for Zoron and Hope now."

"Guys," Eilene interrupted their argument, "We're wasting even more time by just arguing here. It's getting us nowhere."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Haley asked.

All eyes turned to Eilene who seemed to look surprise for a moment. They were looking at her, waiting for her to make the decision. George looked at her, his eyes pleading, begging her to find their friends. Eilene sighed and looked down reluctantly. She knew the right decision.

"It might be true that Zoron and Hope might be lost down there, needing our help," Eilene began, her voice filled with guilt and sadness, "but Meilin is right, we're running out of time."

"What?" George exclaimed, "but we can't leave our friends to die!"

"Zoron and Hope agreed to become Greencloaks to save Erdas," Eilene told him gently, "And so have you. John has also made that decision, and i'm sure they would want us to go on, even if it meant risking their life just to do what they have risked it for. And that is for Erdas. Tell me, George, if you were in their position, would you have wanted us to go on?"

George's eyes were filled with so much grief that Eilene felt as if she just got stabbed in her heart.

"The best we could do to help them is to save the rest of Erdas," she went on, her voice filled with reluctance, "The rest of Erdas is counting on us and so are the rest of our team. We have to keep on pushing forward, even if it meant we have to make some sacrifices." Her voice wavered at the last part and she closed her eyes, willing herself not to cry. Saying those words just hurts too much.

"I understand," she heard George's voice, filled with cold anger, "You're just too scared to save your own 'friends'." He emphasize the word friends, "You are, after all, the traitor."

She heard rapid footsteps and she looked up to see George running away, a look of anger and sadness in his eyes. Haley looked at her apologetically before running after him. Eilene sighed and closed her eyes again.

They were her friends, friends that she never deserved. Perhaps that was a bit true. She was scared but not because she was scared to save her friends. She was scared to know what have become of them. She was scared to lose them but looks like she had just lost another friend of hers.