Tɪɢʜᴛᴇɴɪɴɢ Bᴏɴᴅs || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ Bᴏᴏᴋ Tʜʀᴇᴇ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇɪɢʜᴛ || ᴄᴜᴅᴅʟᴇ ʙᴜɢ

Sabien

The fact that Zay might have bonding sickness shook me to the core. I guess I thought... it was just a myth. A made up reason for the Devourer to start a war. But it's very real— and very close. I'm glad I was privileged enough to drink Nectar, because the pain she's to be in... seems unbearable.

Both Sasha and Navia have been staying up all night to keep an eye on Zay and it's been two days. It's worrying me. Tyler, Ryan, and Flynn have been meeting together an awful lot, too

I hope that they can find a cure for Zay. But I'm worried that the only cure is Nectar— or worse, Bile.

"Quit tossing and turning, will you?" Lucia hissed beside me. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

"Sorry." I muttered in return. I closed my eyes again, but my mind was still restless. So I mumbled another apology, then rolled to my feet and weaved around the others as I made my way toward the small covered shelter where Zay was being tended to. I pushed aside the flap of fabric hung from a tree branch, letting my eyes adjust to the gloom. When I could finally see, I was able to make out a shape crouched on the ground beside two sleeping bodies. I started in that direction, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Kneeling beside Navia, I slid an arm around her waist and lightly kissed her cheek.

"Hey, cuddle bug." Navia yawned, leaning her head on my shoulder.

"Sleepy head." I teased in return. "Anything new?"

Navia sighed. "She's finally sleeping, so that's an improvement. Well... I think it is."

"Small steps." I approved. "What about you? How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." She replied, snuggling closer to me.

"And you called me a cuddle bug." I remarked teasingly.

She sighed in reply, her eyes closed.

I smiled at the sight. I leaned my head against hers, relaxing.

"SHEYU!" Sasha bolted upright with a shout, his eyes still half-glazed with sleep.

Navia jerked away from me, frantically shushing Sasha.

"You don't understand!" Sasha replied, looking fully awake now and excited. "I know how to cure her!"

Navia sat up straighter. "What? Cure her? What do you mean?"

Sasha grinned, looking like an excited little kid. "Remember how we all were brought to Greenhaven? Well, my Greencloak escort left to come back to Zhong. But there's only really one place in Zhong that's not overrun by Conquerors— here!"

The pieces all clicked together at the same time that the realization dawned on Navia's face. "So if he's in the Maze... and we're in the Maze... we can find him and use the Nectar he has to cure her!"

Sasha nodded, his face lit with hope. "We just need to find a way to locate him."

"First we need to tell Ryan and the others." I butted in.

Sasha looked over at me, as if seeing me for the first time. His gaze then drifted down to where my hand was resting on Navia's waist. His eyes lingered there for a long moment before Sasha pulled them away and settled on my face.

"Sorry, what?" The Zhongese boy asked distractedly. "Could you repeat that?"

"I said that we need to tell Ryan—"

"Tell me what?" Said guardian pushed through the flap.

Navia and I jumped apart, but she seemed not to notice.

"We may have found a way to cure her." Sasha explained, "but we need to discuss it with you and Tyler."

"And Flynn." I jumped in, ignoring the way Sasha's lip curled at the sound of his father's name.

"Okay." Ryan glanced at Zay. "Navia... you'll stay and watch her?"

"Of course." Navia nodded, so Ryan beckoned Sasha and I out of the shelter. Tyler and Flynn were standing together a little ways away.

I noticed the way Sasha tensed and leaned over to him. "I can do the talking. That way you can glare at him the whole time." I suggested quietly.

That cracked a smile on the other boy's face. We approached the two adults and Ryan quickly told them what she knew. She then turned to me and I explained our idea.

"It could work." Tyler said thoughtfully after I'd finished. "But we don't really have anything to track Sheyu with..."

"Wrong." Flynn held up his wrist, where the top half of a tattoo was visible. "My bat can scout him out."

"Perfect. But it's late; we'll explain to the others tomorrow."

"Wait." Sasha said, just as Flynn was turning away. "I thought Zazu wasn't going to forgive you after you... left."

Flynn looked pained. "He still holds a grudge, yes. But he understands why I did it. He also understands how much I loved your dad. How much I love you."

Sasha opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. Sensing that I was intruding on a private conversation, I turned and headed back toward Zay's shelter.

"Navia?" I pushed aside the fabric and stepped inside. The girl was still sitting up, but her head had lolled to one side and she was obviously asleep. I gently shook her shoulder.

"I wasn't sleeping!" She jerked awake, blinking quickly.

"It's okay." I smiled. "I can keep watch for a bit. You need sleep."

"I'll be..." a yawn punctured her sentence, and I laughed softly.

"Just sleep." I scooted back to sit against a tree, my legs stretched out.

"Hmm." Navia replied drowsily, putting her head on my thighs and cuddling close. "Night." She mumbled softly, eyes drooping shut.

"Night, beautiful." I whispered, softly brushing a couple strands of hair off her face.

I'm sorry I had to! They're just too cute! Hope y'all like this chapter! This was kind of important but also kind of filler?? Anyway, any theories or ideas from all ye readers?

edit: 29/05/24
disgusting (when will it be my turn 😭)
anyway!! happy birthday Tazi!!
this is honestly not a bad chapter so very few edits hehe
enjoy!! xoxo