Cruel Fates

(6) Serena

       Faintly, from my realm of eternal sleep and sweet dreams, I can make out the noise of people talking. I frowned, still half asleep, but slowly I shook off the remnants of my lovely dream, a dream of happy days. Everything seems to be all over the place. Correction; my mind is all over the place. Wait, why can I hear voices? That thought allowed me to snap my eyes open and sit up. Doing that caused the people to stop talking and turn to me. I frantically rubbed my eyes and opened them back up to see three blurry figures. Three familiar blurry figures.

       Oh.

       I had completely forgotten that I agreed to join their little crusade. I bit my lip and stood up on my feet with arms crossed. "Hey there, how's it going?" I asked as casually as I can. The three just stared at me for a few moments before Ashton spoke up.

       "You good there? You seem jumpy," his brow arched, watching me with an amused expression.

       "Yea, why wouldn't I be," I retorted, making my way over to where they sat. "What did I miss?" I asked, sitting in a free spot next to Angel while Ashton looked on warily.

       "Not much," Angel chimed in, "we were just talking about how we should get going soon. A while ago, a bit before we met you, we heard from an old traveler that there was still a city that hasn't been infiltrated by the demons and we were planning on heading there. The problem is, it's far down south of Harnemia and we're all the way up here in the north. It would take probably months to get that far down, that and the fact we aren't sure of its exact location yet just where it generally is," she sighed. I placed my hand on my chin and rubbed it thoughtfully. Maybe there was a way to get there. Think, Serena, think. I shut my eyes and concentrated, the other three discussing their small dilemma.

         Thinking back, there was a time, before I met these three, even long before the demons took over, where pegasuses and baby dragons, among other creatures, helped humans travel to far away places. If we were to locate one of these creatures, there's a chance we can make it to the reported area Angel mentioned in a lesser amount of time than we would have on foot.

         I look back at the trio. "I might have an idea," I say, putting a small pause in their discussion.

       "Which is?" Ashton inquired, perking up slightly.

        "Well, there can be a chance that we can find a pegasus or a baby dragon somewhere if we look hard enough. But, they will mostly be hiding out in small caves or such. Well, I assume they would if they don't wanna get caught," I suggest, placing a pointed finger on my chin, tapping it thoughtfully, shooting a small grin at them.

         "And how do you expect us to find one? We can't look through every single cave. Plus, what makes you think they would be willing to take us? They're not gonna risk themselves to death by the demons to take a couple of humans to some town that might exist," Ashton shot back at me, crossing his arms in disappointment.

       "If there was something in it for them, they would most likely come along with us," Ace proposed. Now that he mentioned it, it might just work. But the question is, what is there to offer them?

       "Oh! You're right, Ace! We can offer them protection in the village! I mean, they are being hunted down after all. They wanna survive as much we do, so why not?" Angel chimed in, clapping her hands together eagerly.

       "Why would they even want to go to some village, though?" Ashton asked, falling back on his back, swinging his right arm over his eyes. We stayed in silence for a few moments, mulling things over.

       "Well the obvious thing is protection. If what the man told you is true, and the demons haven't gotten there, it's the only real safe place in Harnemia. If they really are eager to survive in this cursed world, then they would have no choice but to follow us there," I said, moving around the cabin to collect my belongings. "But, we might as well start getting a move on. We have a long day ahead of us."