The Final Push

Chapter 21: Close Minded

~Breccan~

That night I was relaxing in a tree on a branch below Sera. I had gotten used to sleeping in trees, so I no longer needed to tie myself down to sleep. The night was cool but there was a hot breeze blowing through and it made me want pull off my clothes. The hot, muggy air made my shirt stick to my neck and it was bugging me. Despite that, I was happy. Happier than I had been in a while. Before long, the gentle wind started to lull me to sleep and my eyes started to droop close.

Just before I had completely fallen asleep, a shake in my branch made me jerk awake. My hand was on my sword and I was poised to strike in a moment, but I leaned back when I saw it was only Sera. She had jumped down and was crouching on the branch about two feet away from me.

"Hey," I put my sword away. "What's wrong?" I could see her large eyes but, in this darkness, there was only a small ring of blue surrounding the dark black holes that were her pupils.

"Just can't sleep,"she shrugged.

I leaned back against the tree, "What's on your mind?"

"What's always on my mind," she picked at the branch.

"Which is...?" I suspected her brother.

"Caiden," she confirmed. "I just... I miss him so much and I'm worried that if we don't find the keys, then I won't be able to carry out his last wish." Tears were brimming in her eyes.

I took her hand and pulled her closer, "Sera, you are one of the strongest and smartest people I know so, if anyone can do this, it's you." She nodded. "You just need to show the world that nothing is stronger than the love of family."

I could see her swallow, "What about the love of others?"

My gaze dropped to her mouth, "I guess that depends on how the people work together."

Her pulse was beating rapidly at the base of her throat, "So do we work well together?"

My voice was husky, "I think we do." Then my mouth was on hers and nothing else mattered except the feel of Sera under my hands. She was soft and warm and so wonderfully perfect. It was long overdue and made my ears go red, but I loved it.

The kiss ended too early for my liking but she was shaking visibly as she scooted back. "I should go," she managed to choke out. Before I could make my tongue work again, she had already scampered back onto her branch and was no longer available to me. Nice Breccan, I thought. You scared her away. I turned over and kept thinking that to myself until I fell asleep.

...

The next morning was a little awkward between us, but it helped that we had decided not to talk in the cart. I kept glancing over at her unconsciously. I had to remind myself to look away again and again. Girls don't like it when you're clingy, I reminded myself.

We rode on in silence for a few hours. It was torture, honestly. I wanted to tear my eyes out; I was so bored and, with Sera sitting right next to me, I was practically hyperventilating. I was painfully aware of her body when her leg would brush against mine innocently or when she would touch my hand to silently alert me of something. The morning was stressful, to say the least.

We finally stopped for a lunch break and Sera brought out the map, "Let's see, how much further till we hit the mountains?" Her forehead crinkled in concentration while she studied it. I sat and watched her while eating a few berries that counted as my lunch, my stomach was so tied in knots that this was all I could stomach.

Sera announced, "We should reach the base of the mountains by mid-evening but we shouldn't try to cross them till morning."

I nodded, "Makes sense; then we have the rest of the evening to prepare and get ready."

She folded up the map, " We should travel as lightly as possible; we're going to have to wear heavier clothes to keep warm so we won't want any extra weight."

I agreed, "Right as usual, Miss Sera."

We stayed there a bit longer before packing up and getting back on the road. It had seemed unusually quiet the first few days, but now it was almost eery. When I asked Sera about it, she had said that it was strange not to have seen at least a few collectors. She said that when she went out with Caiden, she would meet a few and would certainly cross paths with more than a couple of thieves.

She explained to me what criminals looked for in an easy target, "They want someone small without any weapons. One man once told me that most of them won't attack anyone with long objects like an old umbrella or a broken pipe."

I glanced at her more closely. The black clothes made her look lean and small. You could see her sword poking out of its sheath on her back but, honestly, it looked huge on her. Like someone had strapped a life size object to a doll.

"You look like an easy target," I noted.

She nodded, "And with Caiden, I was even more of one."

"Why would you purposely do that?" I asked, truly stumped.

"So I can teach them a lesson," her eyes were hard. "So they know that big things can come in little packages."

I glanced at her, "But isn't that putting Caiden in danger?"

Her knuckles turned white on the wheel, " I was showing him how to protect himself. He wasn't in any danger as long as he was with me."

I thought back to the night at the Wings', to the way that Sera ran for her brother. If I had known what I do now, I would have protected Caiden instead of handing him over to Tristen. "It wasn't your fault that you weren't with him; you couldn't have known what was going to happen," I reasoned.

Her knuckles cracked, "You're right; I couldn't have known, but you did. You were the one that grabbed Caiden. If it wasn't for you he would still be here."

I flinched like she hit me in the gut , "I can never say sorry enough times for you to know how much I regret that. I was upset at..." I hesitated, did I want to share what happened to me in the Panthers? I decided that I didn't.

"I was upset with my family and I didn't know what I was doing at the time; if I could go back and change time, I would, but I can't and I'm sorry Sera."

She remained silent and every second that dragged on made me think that she was hating me more and more.

She finally came to a decision, "I don't forgive you and I probably never will, but I do believe you." My heart didn't restart when she said that; if anything, it sank further. I understood, though. If someone hurt my Ma I don't think I would forgive them either.

"Alright Sera," I looked down at my hands. What had changed between last night when she was kissing me to now when she wasn't forgiving me? I thought that maybe she had; we had grown closer in the underground city and I had seen a softness in her eyes where there was hardness now. Her eyes were truly stunning. Bright, clear blue; they were gorgeous.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts, "I hope that one day you will be able to forgive me, though."

She shook her head, "I just want to kill Tristan, and find Paradise, you're just assistance in this little quest. No forgiveness involved."

I flinched again, "Ouch."

She looked over, "I'm just telling you the truth."

"You don't need to be so blunt about it," I glanced at her.

"Being blunt is my thing," she didn't look at me and a stretch of silence started. I couldn't bring myself to change the silence; there was just nothing left to say. We rode on with only the sounds of the the dying forest to comfort us.