Air Kingdom

Chapter 30-Memories

The sun shined down at me as I stepped out of the tent and scanned my surroundings. I felt relief as no one was outside on duty. Since Krey can't be under daylight, we wouldn't put anyone on guard duty when the sun rises.

I trekked over to the log I'd sat down on a few hours ago and buried my face in my hands. I waited for the tears to come, but they didn't. I couldn't cry. There was only this emptiness that seemed to soak up all my tears, leaving me cold and emotionless.

As I sat on the log, I recalled the events from last night and the warmth I felt from Rodas.

Rodas........just his very name triggered memories from the very moment I met him, to the moment he kissed Natalie.

Rodas had told us we were getting close to the Arctic Clouds but that we should get a good night's rest before we did. However, time wasn't on our side and I wanted to get the jump on it. I demanded that we kept moving forward, but Rodas insisted on taking a break and everyone agreed with him.

Rodas could see my dark mood building up and convinced me to go scouting with him. I disagreed, not wanting to talk to him but he gave some valid reasons of why I should join him.

So here I was, having difficulty navigating the forest while the man in front of me agilely and expertly led the way. Rodas patiently listened to my rant while I awkwardly ducked branches and tripped over tree trucks.

"We shouldn't be wasting this much time on sleep. We could've walked a little more. The sun is only setting now. That's like what? Half an hour of valuable traveling time! We would have been in the Arctic Clouds by now. But here we are, still in the Rainforest Clouds."

"The Arctic Clouds aren't as friendly as they seem Emma. Many Krey prefers to lurk there because of the shorter days they have."

I was getting more and more frustrated as the conversation continued on and instead of cooling my temper down-it was making it worse. "Then we should have gotten there now! We could've increased the number of people on shifts when we made camp there, not here."

This went on and on and on until Rodas spoke louder than he intended to. I think even he was getting sick of my grouchy mood. He shifted the lantern in his hand before responding.

"What about your friends Emma? They need to rest too. You can't have them skip sleep and expect high results. They need to rest and so do you. You're only acting like this because you're tired. In fact, we should start heading back now. This area seems clear."

My mind was actually wide awake at that time. There was a dark fire in me that gave all the strength I needed to stay awake. However, a dark figure appeared behind me, prepared to stab me.

I didn't see or hear him but Rodas did. Luckily, he had turned around to move back to camp and saw the Krey sneaking up on me. He didn't hesitate at all to push me out of the way and let the knife sink into his arm instead. I was slammed into the wet ground, getting me completely covered in mud. But that didn't matter at the moment.

The second I hit the ground, I got up to face the Krey, but Rodas was already handling it. He fought the Krey who seemed ancient. He ducked and dodged her blows, but he was losing speed. The large wound on his dominant arm was gushing out blood. His actions became more and more sluggish as he defended himself.

Wizards could turn into an animal, but they could only do so once a day. Unfortunately, Rodas used that chance earlier this morning during a fight. Even if he could, it took a lot of mental strength out of him, and it wasn't possible for him to stop and concentrate now.