World of Io

15. The Destroyer's Rage

Vigilante treaded with silent steps through the dense undergrowth. However, it was no use as the sounds of the horses seemed to echo around them despite the soft ground. If she it was her choice, she would have left them behind. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option as they would need to travel fast once they had crossed the border, at least if they wanted to reach Wyvern in one piece. Also, they couldn't be certain to find new horses on the other side of the border. 

She led their company by the directions she received at the bar. They hadn't been very detailed, but she hoped that she was heading in the right direction. If not, this sucked big time! She had already scraped her face on a thorny bush and she was itching all over because of her unnecessary stitches. She hadn't had time to remove them yet, and they were becoming a real nuisance.

She looked back and saw the others' contours against the dark forest. Vito was lying across the saddle of his horse, a limb, fragile form. He had been asleep, and impossible to wake up once they had come back from the tavern, possibly bordering on unconsciousness. Instead of waiting for him to awake, they decided to continue regardless. She sighed, he was a definite liability in his current state, but she couldn't bring herself to voice that thought. He was probably more important in all of this than she would ever be.

Gradually the compact darkness around them receded, and she knew this meant that they were closing in on the actual border. The Westerlanders had cut down everything in a 100 meters wide, and who knows how many kilometers long, corridor to allow patrols to intercept attempts at illegal crossing.

She stopped at the last line of trees and gazed out over the haunting clearing. The night was weakly lit by the moonlight, so there was a fair chance that they might be spotted. She couldn't see anyone out there, but that didn't mean no one was there.

"I'll search the surroundings. Stay here!" Milo's hushed voice reached her just as he slipped passed her. After that she lost sight of him, as if he disappeared. She felt something alien surge through her system, was she nervous? What for? She had not cared about anyone's safety since that night when she had lost each and every single one whom had held a piece of her heart...

She looked back over her shoulder and saw Qumo checking on the unconscious Vito. The old N'aian looked absolutely calm and that settled her a bit. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and forced herself to snap out of it: telling herself that she was being ridiculous. Milo would be just fine.

One heartbeat later she shivered as a shadow passed by and her breath hitched, adrenaline flashing within her veins. Milo looked back at her and tilted his head as if wondering what was going on.

"Did I scare you?" he asked.

She couldn't answer, didn't know what to answer. Yes, he had scared her, by going off alone out there.

He stepped closer, and placed his hand on her shoulder, his eyes flashing with concern.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." he mumbled, but all she could concentrate on was his hand on her body. She looked down on it, not really believing that he was touching her. She glanced up again, and she caught that he stared at his hand with a shocked expression before quickly removing it, as if he had been burned.

"Sorry," he said again, apparently uncomfortable. Her heart sank, then she replaced that feeling with something she knew much better, something she felt much more comfortable with: irritation.

"Are we clear to go?" she said, ignoring his apology.

-----

He had yanked his hand away upon seeing her reaction. Vigilante had glared at it as if it was something poisonous. He didn't know why he had sought the contact in the first place, he rarely touched unless to kill. Her question came back to him when he regained his focus.