Shadows and Steel | ✓

chapter eleven

-11-

Tristan glanced over at the bitter agent as she slept, noting how her mouth wasn't twisted into her usual feral snarl, nor did her eye's glint with contempt. Sleeping, she almost looked angelic. What was he thinking? He only preferred her that way because she couldn't bother him with her loud comments.

From his position riding at the rear of the group, Tristan watched as after half an hour of near slips, Leo had shifted the bleary-eyed assassin to his horse where she would not fall off unaware. Elle's saddle bags still strapped to her horse who plodded beside them.

He kept a careful hand upon the hilt of his sword, watching the trees as if something would jump out of the swaying branches. All he had to do was remain focused, keeping the team on track and then wash his hands of the mess they were bound to leave behind.

When Tristan called Leo's name he turned in his saddle, slowing both his beast and Elle's. He cleared his throat, "what of her sleep schedule? Surely you have noticed it as well."

Leo's incredulous look quickly cleared when he saw that Tristan's flat expression didn't waver. "She doesn't sleep much, taking over from whoever's on watch. Even if I convince her to go back to her bedroll the stubborn thing doesn't budge."

A small nod and Tristan let his beast fall back in line. Leo turned, careful not to jostle Elle who leant against his chest. "Can I ask the grounds of this query?"

"We cannot afford to have an agent lacking due to their sleep deprivation." There was nothing particularly spiteful in Tristan's carefully chosen words. Purely a matter-of-fact inquiry that Leo should know not to read into too heavily. "Perhaps some sleeping pills?"

Leo nodded slowly, "I shall ask Kath if she has some in her medical satchel."

Tristan crossed his arms and focused his sight elsewhere, missing Leo's little smirk before he swivelled to face the front once again.

#

Elle awoke to bickering.

She shifted in the saddle, stifling a groan. Leo chuckled behind her, "morning. Or should I say evening?" Shooting him an unamused look, she elbowed him until he shut up with a quiet "ow". Peering forwards at where they had stalled, they idly watching as Jax and Tristan quarrelled.

It seemed that Jax had led them to god-knows where with this superior mapping skills.

Tristan scowled down at the torn map, then up to the stars, all the while grumbling, trying to pinpoint which direction was North towards Lorel. The stars were clouded over with a haze of clouds, making it difficult to distinguish their patterns. Leo's chuckles reverberated through her body, he too finding entertainment out of the dire situation.

"Leo! Stop laughing and help us—we will become just another set of travellers lost in Orioch until we starve at this rate!" Kath hissed, squinting at the sky.

As she slid off the horse, Elle noticed that the old path they had been following had dwindled into nothing but forest floor; and with it, their sense of direction.

She almost sighed and went back to sleep but a niggling notion hindered her slumber. Elle sat straighter, peering around until she saw it. Just past the dark trees lay a hazy blanket of mist, travelling closer and closer by the second. A poison ready to smother.

The nearer it grew, the more the cloud expanded until it settled on the branches of trees, tendrils tangling down to stroke her cheek. "Ilartems." She whispered, eyes wide. In her history books she had read about Ilartems, a fog so thick travellers lost each other from a hands-breadth away. If a traveller let its poison take over their mind, the stories say they would lose control of their limbs and walk deeper into the woods, never to return.