Our second world- book one: Past beginnings

Chapter 28: Grace

It's been almost two hours since Haren left and I was starting to regret letting him leave alone. As the sun started setting, I started getting worried. Haren wasn't back yet.

"Maybe we should go after him," I said, turning to August.

The blonde shook his head," no. If Haren said he'd be back, he's going to be back. We just have to be patient."

"But, what if it gets dark?"

"He'll be fine."

Despite what he said, I still found August sneaking glances at the ledge where Haren had disappeared earlier.

After a few minutes, I picked up the sound of footsteps approaching from the same direction. Thinking it was Haren, I jumped up. August stopped me.

"Phew, finally found you guys." the voice didn't belong to Haren.

I saw August tense up as a black haired man in white armor poked his head over the ledge above us.

"Greetings." he waved." Am I correct in assuming you four are the companions of one beastman named Haren?"

"How did you know that?" August demanded, placing himself between us." Where is Haren?"

The man raised his hands in a sign of surrender," relax, he's fine. Well...sorta. That's why I came to getchya."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"He's waiting back at our camp with my friends. I came to take you there," said the man." I can see that you don't trust me, but I assure you, I came unarmed. I'll even let you check if you want."

August sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly," alright."

After checking the mysterious man to find that he was telling the truth about not bringing weapons, August decided it was alright to trust him. We packed up our makeshift camp and allowed him to lead us to where he claimed his companions were. The sun had nearly set by the time we reached the small camp. Haren was there. After a short explanation from Haren and the leader of the other group, we realized it was alright to trust the group.

While we ate dinner, I got the chance to become aquainted with the group. The raven haired man with the scar on his mouth was Markus, the healer of the group. Marie and Lucas were nicknamed the 'Fire Blade Twins'. Aptly named after their skill with flame magic, blades, and their fiery orange locks. Diana was their scout. She fit the role perfectly. Her short cut black hair and dark skin made it easy for her to blend in. I had thought it a bit weird that she was quiet throughout dinner. That is, until I found out she was mute. I felt bad for not noticing, but she assured me it was fine. The last member of their merry little group was their commanding officer, Leogry. He was a bear of a man standing almost two heads taller than me. His rough appearance was almost a polar opposite to his preppy personality.

After eating, we were split up between the four tents of the camp. Diana, Marylyn and I shared one, and the others were split up between the other three.

It was late now, and the other two were already asleep, but I was still awake. Before we had gone off to bed, I had asked to borrow a book from Markus. It was a hand bound leather tome with a list of the herbs that he usually had on hand. I was using it to fill out some of my own notes on the many plants by the dim light of the lantern. It wasn't long before my eyelids started to grow heavy, and I decided to call it a night. Folding my book back in my bag, I blew out the lantern in the middle of the tent and snuggled down under our shared blanket.

I woke to a bright light outside the thin cover of the tent. Quietly, I crawled away from the other two sleeping next to me and pulled on my coat before stepping outside. I found Haren sitting on the ground to my left. He stood up when he noticed me.

"Good morning," he grinned, ruffling my already messy hair." Leo wants everyone up within an hour so we can leave."

"Ok. I'll get Mary and Diana," I said.

"What about me?" Marylyn asked as she emerged from the tent behind me.

"Good, you're up," Haren said, grabbing her hand." Come with me."

Marylyn nodded and followed him over to the middle of the small camp. I headed back into our tent and gently shook Diana awake. Together, we walked over to the smoldering fire where most of the others were waiting already.

"Good, you two are up. That just leaves Lucas and Marie," Leogry beamed." Ah-speak of the devils, here they come now."

"Good morning, sir," Lucas smiled, walking over.

"Yeah, good mor--" A yawn cut her off as Marie followed her brother.

"So, what's up? Are we leaving or what?" Lucas asked.

"Yes, as soon as we figure out what to do with sir Haren," Leogry replied.

"What about me?" Haren asked, his arm around Marylyns' shoulder as she sat next to him. He held Augusts' hand with his other as the blond sat on his other side." It's not like I can't walk at all, you know."

"I already told you: you'll make it worse." I scolded.

"I can always carry you," August said.

"Please don't." I could've sworn Haren was blushing.

"It's not a bad idea," I said." Why not?"

"I just think you shouldn't make a huge fuss over something that isn't such a big deal," he shrugged.

I frowned. It seemed I wasn't going to get anywhere with him over this. With a sigh, I said," I suppose it's fine as long as you swear you'll say something if it starts bothering you."

"Alright, fine."

"Well, now that we've got that settled, I suppose we should pack up," Leogry chirped.

There were nods of agreement as the others went to take down the camp. After about an hour, they were done and we began our trip. With the addition of five others huddled together on the narrow mountain path, we weren't as cold as before. True, the close quarters were anything but comfortable, but at least we were warm. Well...warmer. It was still bloody freezing.

I walked next to Haren at the back of the group, close enough that, if he needed to, he could lean on me without much difficulty. I was skeptical when he first said he was feeling better, but he hadn't seemed to be in any major pain anymore, and he wasn't limping as far as I could tell. Still, I wanted to keep a close eye on him if only to prevent another incident like what happened in Morgerthard. August stuck close as well. Meanwhile, Diana took to carrying Marylyn on her back since the short girl was still having difficulty navigating the deep snow.

As we were nearing the end of the day, the snow started thinning out, and there wasn't as much of it anymore. I was starting to be able to spy tufts of gray grass and patches of dirt on the ground. We walked until it was almost dark before stopping to sleep, leaving early the next morning.