The Phoenix People

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Did you find water?" Melody asked Annamarie, leading us away from the two men.

"Yes, a small stream far from here. I'd need some sort of container to carry it back in - but didn't we bring packaged water?"

Melody shook her head grimly. "The Eyeless One obliterated many of the trees that held our supplies in his ambush. We no longer have any of our prepackaged water, food, or changes of clothes."

Anna seemed to snap into action at these dire words. "Melody, you should go get whatever packs remain. Alexia, you need to explain to me what happened with the Eyeless One."

The name of the monster, while only newly learned, still managed to strike fear into my heart. Taking a deep breath, I recounted my story, only forcing myself to elaborate when prompted.

When I was finished, Anna shook her head wonderingly. "This one must have been weakened or very young if you were able to defeat it so easily."

Had I been feeling better, I might have thought to take offense at her disbelieving words. All I knew was that the day's events had exhausted me, guilt weighed heavily on me because of Griffin's wound, and I was scared past the point of reason.

Anna suddenly gasped. "Oh, I almost forgot!" She hurried to the entrance of the cave and retrieved a large stick, about as long as my leg. She returned and handed it to me. "To help you walk," she explained.

"Thank you," I told her, accepting the stick and taking a few experimental steps. "It's perfect!"

"I'm glad." The child grinned and ran a hand through her hair. She took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and then let it out slowly. "Let's go get your dagger, shall we?"

The thought of seeing the corpse of the Eyeless One made my heart beat faster. I wanted to have my dagger again, felt more comfortable with it now that I had proven both its and my use...but I loathed the idea of having to pull it out of the monster's ruined skull. "No," I whispered.

Anna sighed. "Fine. Go see if you can help Theo and I'll get the dagger." The annoyance lacing her voice had me taken aback. The severity of our situation must have been starting to affect her, I decided.

I walked back over to Theo and Griffin, giving me more opportunity to practice moving with the stick. Theo was slowly and gently rubbing a salve over Griffin's stitched wound. Every time the wounded man grunted or moaned, it looked like a knife was being twisted further into Theo's own gut. I wondered how long they had been friends. Obviously long enough for Theo to be empathetically experiencing some of Griffin's pain.

"Can I help in any way?" I inquired quietly, loath to interrupting Theo's concentration.

He was silent for a long moment before replying, "We're going to have to spend the night here. You could collect firewood."

"What should I be looking for?" I asked meekly, trying to hide my dismay at the fact that we would be spending the night in the cave.

"Big, dry logs," Theo answered, and returned to focusing solely on Griffin.

I nodded my understanding and left the cave. Leaning on my cane, I glanced up at the sun, which was just starting to dip towards the horizon. Theo was right, of course - we had left camp in the early hours of the morning and ridden hard for several hours before Griffin and I were taken by the Eyeless One. It had been roughly a half hour since our capture (although it felt more like days) and it was getting into the later hours of the afternoon.

I would have to resign myself to the fact that I would be sleeping in a cave.

I suppressed a shiver and wondered what exactly had happened to our horses. Most likely, the Eyeless One had spooked them, but they could also have been hit by fragments of the tress it had obliterated. I dearly hoped it was the former - at least then they stood a chance.

My mind turned to the monster itself, and I wondered what exactly what exactly the Eyeless One was. I had never heard of it, which was strange, or read of it, which was stranger. Were they a menace to our kingdom or exceedingly rare? I made a mental note to inquire about the creatures later.

Shaking off my thoughts, I focused on the task of finding suitable firewood. It was difficult, as I only had one free hand to pick up the wood while the arm busy with my cane had to awkwardly pin it all to my side. Eventually, when I came across suitable firewood, I had to balance on one leg when I was collecting it so that I wouldn't drop the growing group wedged under my armpit.

When I deemed the pile in the crook of my arm enough, I hobbled back to the cave and placed the wood on the floor as carefully as possible.

Melody walked in behind me and dumped a few bags on the floor unceremoniously. "I'm going hunting," she announced, "unless I'm needed here?"

I shook my head slightly and she left once more.

I dropped carefully to my knees, wincing slightly, to examine the contents of the three saddlebags. Two of them were stuffed to bursting with five sleeping mats. They had been tightly rolled for so long that when I pulled them out of the bags, they very slowly unrolled and stayed slightly curled at the ends.

The third bag was a bit more heartening - although it had been nice to discover that I wouldn't be sleeping on the bare cave floor. This final bag was the one from which Griffin had gotten our weapons minutes before the attack. There were a couple more daggers, a sheathed rapier, several more of Theo's metal stars, and a coil of rope.

I grabbed two of the mats - they were all I could carry as well as support myself with my walking stick - and stood, hobbling toward the back of the cave to set up our sleeping space. Once all of the mats were pressed together in a relatively straight line, I moved the weapons bag to join them, thinking it best if all of our supplies were clustered together, and returned to Theo and Griffin.

"I need to move him onto the mats," Theo noted, voice eerily calm. He picked Griffin up with some effort, his earlier adrenaline gone, and carried him to the mat in the middle of the line. He brushed his friend's hair away from his forehead fondly, but his expression was full of worry.

I placed a hand on his shoulder and he turned to look at me. "From what I've seen, you're a skilled medic," I told him quietly. "I have no doubts about your ability to heal him."

"Thank you, Alexia," Theo replied, the simple words carrying a heavy significance. Sighing, he stood. "I'll start building the fire."

Anna reentered the cave. She smiled at me without humor and held up my freshly shining knife. She must have wiped it clean of the Eyeless One's blood before reentering, which I was exceedingly grateful for.

I limped across the cave and took the weapon from her. Somehow, it made me feel much better as soon as my fingers wrapped around the hilt. I sheathed it at my waist, where it belonged.

"Where's Melody?" Anna asked.

"Hunting," I replied. My left leg was beginning to ache from all of the weight I was being forced to put on it and I shifted uncomfortably.

"You should be resting," Anna reprimanded me, noticing the slight motion. I was quick to agree with her and retreated to one of the mats, sighing deeply.

When would we even be able to leave this cave?