Mystic

Chapter 9; Amira

    Amira happily ate the last of her food as the man told a story about a pack of jackals. The fire had died out a while ago, but they all still sat around the center of the camp.

    "Them beasts had me trapped, surrounded me from all sides. I looked around, waitin' for an opportunity to present itself." the man said in his strange accent. Amira wasn't really listening, but she occasionally nodded or gave an "uh uh" where needed so she didn't seem rude. Matthew on the other hand, looked on edge. He sat farthest away from the center, his eyes darting from the sky, to the tall grass, to the still-burning embers of the fire, then to the pebbles on the ground. He looked alert, but in a strange way, as if he wasn't expecting a threat, but almost hoped for one. Amira was still angry with him for making her skip breakfast, but she was still concerned.

    "Matthew?" Amira asked.

    "Hmm?" He replied, not quite meeting her eyes.

    "Are you okay?" Amira inquired.

    "Fine." He said. He was looking over her shoulder. Amira glanced behind her, but there was nothing but dry earth and tall grass.

    "What are you looking at?" Amira asked impatiently. Finally, he looked her in the eye.

    "At anything but him." Matthew said in a slightly hushed voice. Amira rolled her eyes and went back to listening to the man's jackal story.

    "I barely made it out with my life that day. It's amazin' that I can even walk." The man concluded.

    "Interesting. Most likely slow on his feet. I could probably try to..." Amira heard Matthew mutter. She didn't hear what he could probably try to do, though. So he is listening, Amira thought.

Amira finally finished the last scrap of meat, and Matthew immediately stood up. "It was nice meeting you, but we should be on our way. We have a lot of ground to cover." Matthew said, emphasising the last sentence.

"I could, eh, escort yeh to where ya need to go. It's not that far out of my way." The man said. All of the sudden, Amira could see why Matthew was so distrustful of the man. She remembered that the man had been coming from the opposite direction, away from the highlands.

"Thank you, but I must decline. I wouldn't want to go too far out of your way." Amira graciously said.

"Well, then I'll need yall to pay up." the man replied threateningly.

"For what?" Amira answered, surprised by the man's sudden boldness.

"For the food." The man said coldly.

"We don't have any money." Matthew answered. Amira knew he still had a few coins left over from Yamen, but she didn't argue.

"Then I'll accept my payment in jewels." the man said. He lunged for Amira's wrist and pulled hard on a solid gold bracelet. Amira yelped and tried to pull away, but it was too late. The man slid several bracelets off her wrist and took off along the road. Matthew, who had been behind her, sprinted to catch up with the man. Amira watched in suspense as Matthew raced as fast as he could. About halfway towards the man, Matthew whistled, then pointed to the man. Naturally, the man looked back at the strange noises, but he should have been looking in front of him. Amira watched Orion dive from the heavens faster than ever, then stop in front of the man, blocking his path. Orion let out a mighty roar, then stared at the man with his teeth bared. Matthew caught up within seconds, surrounding the man.

"Return the bracelets, or my friend and I will incinerate you. Your choice." Matthew said in a strangely calm voice. The man took a step towards Matthew, as if trying to run, then Matthew sent a small jet of flames whirling past the man's cheek. The man's eyes widened in awe. Amira wondered if she looked like that the first time she had seen Matthew use that trick.

"I don't want to harm you, but I won't miss again." Matthew held out his right palm. " The bracelets."

"W-w-what a-are you!?" the man asked. Matthew said nothing, just stared. "You're a demon, aren't you? Sent here to punish me! No! Don't take me! Please! I'll do anything!"

"Return the bracelets, and maybe I'll go easy on you." Matthew said with a small smile. Amira knew that it was because he found the man's conclusion amusing, but she figured that the man thought it was an evil smirk, because his eyes got even wider than before.

"Okay, Okay! Please, spare me!" the man said, kneeling down then handing the bracelets to Matthew. He handed the three gold bracelets back to Amira, who was now only a few small steps away. Matthew nodded, and Orion trapped the man in a ring of blue flames. The man screamed.

"Don't cross us again. We will not show mercy next time." Matthew said ominously. It struck Amira that Matthew might go through this charade often. Matthew gestured to get moving by nodding his head towards the road. Once they were out of earshot, Matthew said,

"You have to be more careful. People like that are common out here."

"I know, I know. I was just hungry." Amira replied. She was still shocked by what had happened, though she tried to act like it didn't phase her.

"You need to be able to resist that kind of thing." Matthew told her.

"I could, but I wasn't in the mood to resist!" Amira replied haughtily. She knew it was a terrible excuse, but she hated to admit that she had been wrong. She saw Matthew shake his head, as if dismissing her.

"It's only a few more miles till we reach the edge of the forest. If we don't stop, we should be able to get there by midday."
"Ugh, more walking?" Amira whined. A few more miles!? She didn't think she could make it that far. Her legs turned to rubber just thinking about it. "Isn't there some other way? Maybe by horseback or something?"
"Do you see any stables around? Any horses?" Matthew said sarcastically. Amira was surprised by his tone.
"No." Amira sighed.
"We could always take Orion. It would only take two or three hours to get there." Matthew suggested.
"No! That would be a sin!" Amira shouted. Matthew sighed.

Amira and Matthew trudged through the tall grass. The earth was softer, and easier on Amira's aching legs. The sun, however, was unforgiving. It pounded on her head and shoulders, making the trek more painful. Her legs had already felt like rubber that morning, but now they felt like they were on fire. Her feet hurt from large blisters; the shoes she had picked from the market weren't meant for long journeys such as hers. After about two hours of walking, even Matthew had slowed down. He seemed to be dragging himself across the plains, as if he would collapse at any moment. Finally, Amira decided that she couldn't walk any longer, and collapsed onto the ground. She lay there for a few minutes, breathing heavily, before she said,
"Let's take a break."
Matthew didn't argue. He set down his satchel and sat down a few feet away from her.
"This is awful." Amira stated breathlessly.
"Yeah. It is." Matthew admitted.
"Can we just stay here?" Amira asked.
"I wish," Matthew said, "I spotted trees on the horizon. We will soon be in the forest. At least there, the sun won't be as intense."
"Okay." Amira whispered. She didn't want to move. "Can we stay here for a while though?"
"Yeah," Matthew answered, "for a little while."