Guardians Of The Zodiac

Chapter 5

We boarded a train that would take us from Amaryllis to the base of the Blackout Mountains where we were going to hike up the snow mountains to reach the herb we needed in order to heal the Master of Nexus. These herbs originated from Camellias and had many different uses but they were most known for their healing properties. I had only ever heard of ice mages setting out to retrieve these herbs because the temperatures in the mountains could be deadly if you didn't have a strong magic essence to warm you up.

Only fifteen minutes had passed since our train departed from the station and I was beginning to think this was a bad idea. Something about being stranded in the middle of nowhere at the bottom of a mountain side didn't seem appealing in the slightest and somehow life on the run suddenly seemed less stressful and less cold.

"This is gonna be awesome! You're not here for even a full day and you're already coming on missions! Way to be ambitious, Ace," Ryder gave me a thumbs up.

"Ace?" I echoed the nickname but he ignored me.

"Yeah! Because of you we have the strongest team in Nexus right here," Cooper grinned.

"Miranda just said that to give you a confidence booster. We're not actually the strongest..." Hazel informed him.

"Well it worked! I'm confident that we can't lose," Ryder smiled.

"Where did he get all of this arrogance from? It isn't healthy. Don't forget that this is a simple retrieval mission. In and out," Serena crossed her arms.

"Lighten up, Serena," Iris rolled her eyes.

"I'm a little surprised you even decided to come with, Naudia," Hazel mentioned.

"Well it's not like I was just gonna sit at home while half the guild was out on job requests and the other half just isn't powerful enough to withstand the drop in magic pressure at the top of the mountains. So that leaves us. The saddest excuse for a team on record," Naudia flashed me an icy glare.

"Dillon could've come," Hazel argued which caused Naudia to scoff.

"That kid has absolutely no experience in the field and he's a complete airhead," Naudia scoffed.

"Hey, go easy on him. He's actually a really smart kid," Cooper defended.

"I didn't say he wasn't. But that doesn't mean he isn't still totally clueless. He has no idea," she shook her head and finally averted her eyes to the scenery passing by.

My gaze shifted over to Ryder who sat beside me and I watched him just observe and notice the way his friends bickered with one another, like he was taking in every single second and letting it simmer in the moment.

"Okay everyone, dig in!" Iris cheered as she, Trinkette and Serena all set themselves down on a table which separated me and Ryder from the others and they laid out a variety of foods.

"We'll need our strength if we're gonna survive the snow," Serena advised and that cued everyone to just stuff their face.

Suddenly I was starving.

"Hey Trinkette, can you really tell when people are lying?" Hazel asked with a semi-mouth full.

"No, but Tara can."

"Seriously?" she looked at me.

"I can't exactly tell when people are lying. I'm just really good at reading them," I shrugged it off.

"Where'd you even come from anyway?" Naudia muttered under her breath.

"Naudia, that's rude," Hazel scolded.