The Healer ✔

Chapter One

The sun was setting, casting an orange glow on the leaves and grass of the forest and turning the trunks an unusual shade of amber. The forest was thick, with no visible path and no clearings nearby, just tightly packed trees, thorny bushes and damp grass. The only noise that could be heard was the wind moving through the leaves. The animals hadn't made a sound for more than a few days.

It was starting to get cold, and they couldn't light a fire. Not because there weren't enough materials nearby to do so, there was more than enough, but because if they tried, they would be spotted. Besides, when you're sleeping in the trees, why do you need a fire on the ground?

Elora shivered and pulled her hood over her head, hoping it would keep her warm. She sat on a mossy rock at the base of a tree, watching Ragen hand the berries he had found to Mikhail. She listened to the trees rustle, watching some fall softly to the ground. Nyal was up there, checking they weren't being followed from the air, as well as finding them sturdy branches to sleep on.

It had only taken them a night to learn they had to sleep high in the trees. Their first night had resulted in an attack from vampires searching the woods for something to drink. Elora hoped nothing could climb through the trees like Nyal did. She was sure none of them could unless they really tried, but then again she hadn't had to face anything like this in such a long time.

She was brought back to reality by Mikhail tapping her on the shoulder, holding out the berries in his other hand. "You should eat," he told her, the same look on his face he had every other night. Every night right before Nyal jumped down and forced her to eat.

Except this time he didn't, this time he stayed in the trees, watching for something most likely. He hadn't said anything, so there wasn't anything to worry about. But now he wouldn't force her to eat. She wasn't sure if she was happy about that or not.

"Elora, you need to eat something," Mikhail was saying. "Not just the little bit Nyal forces out of you."

She took a small amount of the berries from his hand, popping one silently into her mouth. Mikhail pursed his lips, dumping the rest into her hands with a sigh. "Please eat them," he said.

You should, starving yourself is hardly a good enough punishment for what you've done.

She clenched her fist with a growl, crushing the berries, the juice running down her wrist and dripping onto the grass below. Her father, Yararanje, God or Creation, had been talking to her almost non-stop since... Since she threw the realm into chaos.

"Hey! Woah! You need to eat those, not crush them," Mikhail cried, running a hard through the dark shaggy hair on his head.

"I apologise," she muttered, looking down at the red on her hand. "They're still edible."

Nyal jumped down from the trees as she began to swallow the mush she had created. Mikhail said nothing, walking back over to Ragen, who had been surprisingly silent the whole time. She had learned that he was the kind of person to never keep his mouth shut, but over the last few days, he had been quiet. They all had been.

"I've found a few good trees to sleep in," Nyal started, stopping when he saw Elora. "What happened?"

"He is... Talking again," she explained, finding no point in hiding anything from Nyal. He would most likely figure it out anyway, he was good like that.

As if he's any better than you are.

Nyal sighed. "Whatever he's saying isn't true and you know it," he told her, looking down at the red stain on her hand. "But at least you're sort of eating properly."

Behind Nyal she could hear Ragen grumbling and trying to stuff their equipment back into a rucksack and a thud as he threw something to the ground. She smiled when Mikhail scolded him, a tiny thing, barely noticeable. Despite what had happened, some things were still somewhat normal.