The Wards

Chapter Seventeen

~Aeryn~

"So.." I whispered quietly, fearing that my voice may give out, "we have to be at the town hall this afternoon?" It was too soon. I wasn't ready.

"Yes. In our vision," Emily said, motioning to Jacob, "you and Leif headed downtown towards the town hall. When you arrived, you were greeted by a man who was instructed to tell you what is expected. That's all we know."

"Why would someone be tasked with getting us ready for a trial? And how would we recognize them?"  Leif asked Emily while looking at me worriedly.

"Uh.." Jet spoke, "I may have an answer to that."

Knox raised his eyebrows, and said, with some uncertainty, "I think I do too? What's yours?"

"Wait," Nikolas interrupted, "does this have to do with those people you," he motioned to Jaya, "said she," he then motioned to Jet, "saw when she skipped the first meeting?"

Jaya rolled her eyes, but smiled slightly. "Yes, Niki. Keep up." I would've laughed if I wasn't so scared.

Knox went to Jet's side and smirked, "you skipped too? Figures. Shall I explain to Leif, or  should you?"

Jet shrugged. "I can if I have to." She then turned to Leif and I, with a somewhat apologetic look. "Sorry I didn't mention this in a meeting. Basically, when I, um, strategically skipped the meeting to explore the town, I came across multiple people with medallions with the number 13 on them. I didn't think much about it until I came across landmarks with the same thing. Thanks to Aer and Jay, I figured out that the 13s meant a trial was associated with that person or location."

"I figured it out on my own," Knox whisper-sung, earning an arm slap from Jet.

Leif shook his head. "Is there anything else extremely important we should know? Perhaps we get three strikes before we fail?"

"Well, if you really want to know," Nikolas started, but was cut short by a glare sent from Jaya.

"Do not finish that sentence. My friend, who may I mention has been a part of my life my entire life, is about to go on a possibly dangerous trip, and I can't even go to help her. Who knows if she'll come back uninjured, or," I started visibility shaking, and Jet noticed. She shook her head at Jaya and mouthed, not helping, and Jaya frowned, starting over. "I mean, Aeryn will be perfectly fine. She may even come back with a puppy, or something good."

I smiled at my friends attempts to make me less nervous. All of them, even the boys, were trying to make me and Leif feel better about this, and even though they weren't good at it, it still meant a lot. I can do this, for them, I though, putting on a brave face. "I'm ready to go. Leif, would you lead the way?"

He offered me his hand, and I accepted. If I wasn't so nervous, I would've freaked out when our fingers laced together, feeling natural. Once linked, he smiled down at me, and said, "lets go," then whispered to me, "I wouldn't want to go into a potentially life threatening situation with anyone else." With that, he led us towards the town hall.
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It didn't take long to get downtown with Leif practically dragging us there. We didn't know exactly what we were looking for, only that it was older. When we got to a building that could be the town hall, we were approached by a nervous looking man.

Slowing, almost unnoticeably, Leif positioned himself between the man and me in a protective manner. Once comfortable with the distance, he asked, "can we help you?"