The Memoirs of Light

Chapter 11- Tension

Chapter 11

Tension

Jaylin sucked in her breath and her eyes darted upward to the face of the one who had caught her. What she saw made her thoughts swirl with bewilderment.

“You’re that ginger from the mountain!” she exclaimed.

It was, and he was looking down at her with the same smug smile she remembered from that cold, wet, fearful night.

“I see she’s recovered,” said Avir. He hovered cross-legged in midair just a few feet away. They were in a small chamber of the cave just big enough to stand in. Rippled teeth and pillars of stone surrounded them, illuminated by the soft glow from Jaylin’s skin. She would have exclaimed about this, but she was too shocked by everything else to be bothered about it.

“It’s Aedan, if you please, little bird,” the stranger replied to her outburst.

“What are you doing here?!” Jaylin half-yelled, too overwhelmed to be polite, “Put me down!”

Aedan simply shrugged and dropped her to the floor of the cave.

That sobered Jaylin up a bit. She rose, rubbing the bruises she had amassed over the past fifteen minutes, and attempted to speak more calmly, “Well, what are you doing here? Avir, was he here already?”

Avir shook his head. “There’s two,” Aedan told him.

“How did he get in?” As she looked around in confusion for another entrance to the cave,

another thought occurred to her: “Wait, where’s Red?”

                “There’s the other two,” Aedan spoke again, “Now put them together.”

                Jaylin’s eyes went blank and her jaw dropped as she realized the truth.

                “And there’s four.”

                “It didn’t take you nearly as long as I thought it would,” Avir chimed in.

                “Do you mean to say,” Jaylin said, clenching her teeth, “that you’ve been with me the whole time?”

                “Of course!” Aedan answered, spreading his arms like a magician revealing a white rabbit. He was very obviously pleased with himself.

                Jaylin may have felt confused and overwhelmed a few moments ago, but all those other feelings were instantly replaced with a pure, simmering, unadulterated rage.

                “And you made me walk the whole way?”

                Aedan’s smile faded at these words, “Well, yes...”

“Why?! Are you insane?! We were in those woods for five days!”

“I’m sorry,” Aedan stuttered, utterly bewildered by her sudden barrage.

“You should be! I’m hungry! I’m tired! I have burrs stuck in places I don’t even want to think about! “

Aedan smirked, “I might.”

Jaylin went on as if she had not heard him, “I spent five days, count ‘em, five, crawling through trees and thistles and poison ivy, when I could have been soaring gracefully over the treetops like a damn butterfly!” The glow surrounding her pulsed, emphasizing her argument.