Mystic

Chapter 11; Amira

Amira stared at the fire blankly,  wondering what Matthew was doing. About three minutes after they had set up camp for the night, Matthew had wandered off into the woods. She had no idea where he had gone or what he was up to. Amira was busy thinking about the pixies Matthew had shown her. How had he known they were there? Amira didn't notice anything unusual when she entered the forest, but there must have been some clue. He also seemed to know what the pixie wanted, despite it speaking absolute nonsense. She wondered what Matthew was really doing out there. Was he some sort of adventurer, or some strange creature that could mimic human appearance? Amira didn't know what to believe. She shook her head and went back to staring at the fire. The forest was much cooler than she was used to, and she shivered in her thin dress. she moved closer to the fire.

Just then, Amira heard rustling in the bushes. She didn't look up as Matthew emerged from the undergrowth. Matthew sat down on a tree stump next to her, wordlessly opening his book and writing messy notes.

"What were you doing?" Amira asked.

"Searching." Matthew answered, not looking up from his book.

"For what?" Amira questioned.

"For something interesting." Matthew said, closing his book and meeting her eyes. Amira had originally been irritated, but something in Matthew's calm expression made her more relaxed. Suddenly, Matthew looked away. He wasn't looking at anything in particular, though. The grass, the trees, the rocks, the glowing embers in the fire, anywhere but her eyes. Amira noticed that he did that a lot. As if he was afraid of something. There were a few moments of uneasy silence, and Amira couldn't bear it. In her experience, most people were eager to talk about almost anything, and could go on for hours and hours. She used to find it annoying that she could never get a word in, but now she missed the constant chatter. Matthew was quiet, and seemed to have no interest in conversation. Amira found it unusual, and didn't like it. It made her feel like he was hiding something. 

"What brought you to Yamen?" Amira asked, thinking back to when they first met.

"My research." Matthew said.

"What do you research?"

"Mystology, as I like to call it. I study mystical creatures and the divine arts." Matthew answered. 

"You are only asking for trouble. The gods will punish you for seeking out such pure creatures." Amira said.

"I may be, but it will be worth it in the end." Matthew said, staring up at the sky. He whistled and Orion came bounding into the camp, nearly stepping in the fire. Amira watched Matthew smile, then feed Orion a bit of meat from his bag. Orion ate it in one bite, and nudged the bag for more. Matthew frowned.

"I'm sorry, but we need to conserve what we have. It will take us a while to get to the next town and restock." Matthew said. Orion seemed to nod, then laid down next to Matthew.

"Your pet seems happy." Amira said angrily.

"Orion's not my pet, he's my friend!" Matthew said.

"If he is your friend then why do you force him to stay by your side?" Amira asked.

"Orion isn't forced to do anything. We work together, we always have." Matthew said, briefly meeting her eyes.

"How did you find him?" Amira asked.

"Three years ago,  I left Everdean. I don't remember why, just that I couldn't stand the city. Anyway, I was traveling by the lonely mountains when I found him. He had a hurt wing, so I helped him. I cared for him until he was healed, but after that he didn't want to leave. So, we stayed together, and we have been companions ever since." Matthew told her. Amira wondered what made Orion decide to stay. To keep the conversation going, Amira asked more questions.

"How did you get your phoenix feather?" Amira asked.

"A couple eggs blew out of a nest during a storm. I caught them before they hit the ground and sheltered them until the winds died down. When the adults returned and saw their nest returned to it's tree, along with their eggs, they gave me one of their tail feathers."  Matthew said, tugging at his left sleeve where the feather was.

"What is your family like? Any siblings?" Amira asked, asking the first question that came to mind.

"A brother." Matthew answered, then finally seemed to realize what Amira wanted and continued. "He joined the Deanish royal guard just before I left. My father was furious at him. I guess he was hoping that my brother would take over the family business."

"Any friends?"

"Um, no." Matthew said. he turned away from Amira. "None that I can remember." 

"What about your parents? You talked about your father, but what about your mother?" Amira asked.

"Gone. Died of a sickness when I was seven years old." Matthew said sadly. Amira had trouble imagining life that young without her mother. It would have been terrible.

"I'm sorry." Amira said solemnly. 

"Don't worry about it. It was a long time ago." Matthew said, but Amira could tell that he wasn't okay. A sadness filled his eyes, a sadness Amira had only seen once when Zarah told Amira that her little brother had died of the flu. Amira felt sorry for her, but she had been too young to understand what that truly meant. 

"I am sure you miss your family." Amira said.

"It was years ago, and I was never really close to my family." 

"Why?" Amira asked, wondering how someone could not be close to their own family.

"You'd never guess," Matthew said sarcastically, "But I was quiet. I preferred to keep to myself. I was too quiet, in my family's eyes. People viewed me as... odd, to say the least." 

Amira could sense how awkward the conversation was getting, and abruptly changed topic. Instead, she told a story about when she was little and saw a dung beetle on her pillow. She expected Matthew to seem more interested, though she shouldn't have. He had most likely been through much worse than an insect in his pillowcase.

"You should get some sleep." Matthew said after she was finished.

"Okay." Amira said. She was extremely tired, though she was dreading sleeping on the ground again. she laid down and got herself comfortable at the same time Matthew stood up and started towards the bushes.

"What about you?" Amira asked.

"I'll be fine. I'm used to long nights." Matthew said.

"What are you doing back there, anyway?"

"Trying to see if I can spot a... something. I'm not really sure what." Matthew said. Amira looked at him, begging him with her eyes to continue.

"I don't know. I saw some strange shadows back there a while ago, I think there might be some sort of nymph. maybe a dryad." Matthew said. It sounded forced, but at least he was trying. However, was odd how he said the word, "nymph."

"Why did you say nymph like that?" Amira asked.

"I have only seen one kind of nymph; a naiad. I thought It was a good idea to watch them from a fallen log over the stream, but the naiads had other ideas." He said. 

"What did they do?" Amira asked curiously.

"The log, as it turns out, wasn't very stable. they tipped it and pulled me under. They only let me up when I was almost out of air. Evidently, they find it amusing to watch me nearly drown." He said bitterly. Amira laughed, and Matthew smiled back, his face turning slightly red from embarrassment. Amira laid back down, and Matthew started making his way through the shrubbery.

"Goodnight, Matthew." Amira said sleepily.

"Goodnight."