🔥 The Path of Fire (Path of Light and Fire Book #1)(Completed) 🔥

Chapter 9.1: Welcome Home, Leena

This is the last time I volunteer for anything.

The wind whipped at Turrent's face as they rode towards Seris. He could feel Leena's hands clutch his waist and on occasion a loose blue strand of hair would graze his cheek. She was the only one in this group who understood him. They didn't speak much, other than to trade the barbs. Yet he was confident of it.

"Why did you come?" Leena asked.

The level of sincerity in her voice made him uncomfortable. So Turrent responded in the only way he knew how.

"Does it matter?"

"I guess not."

There was something wistful in her tone. Turrent couldn't place the source, but he realized his answer was insufficient.

"You needed help and so I volunteered."

"That was kind of you, but it doesn't explain why."

There it is. "Do you need another reason? Something grand like, 'I have feelings for you?'"

"Is it so that far-fetched?" she said, mock hurt in her voice.

"Yes. Emotions do not factor into my decisions. If they did, I'd note that you're quite annoying."

Turrent felt the heat of her gaze and expected a familiar retort. But instead of that he got something he wasn't prepared for.

Silence.

Unwilling to feed into it, he said nothing more and they traveled the rest of the trip in silence.

On the way to Seris proper they passed many homes with untrimmed grass and vines suffocating the mortar. At times, he'd catch a whiff of a putrid smell, but he couldn't place the source. The sooner they were clear of the place, the better.

Leena's hands left his waist and Turrent felt a shift in weight, signaling that Leena dismounted. He pulled up on Midnight's reins and watched her stand in front of a house. The grass in front went well up her shins.

Leena shook her head. "It was never much of a borough. I never understood why Terrick liked this place. In his prime, we could have moved anywhere. Maybe it reminded him of Mom."

The formerly white paneling had stains of yellow and brown, reminding Turrent that there might be more in the grass to worry about than snakes and rodents.

Leena took slow, deliberate steps to the door. She fiddled with the rusted latch, instead opting to ram the door. After a few times in splintered and flew open.

The stench of finely aged shit assaulted Turrent's nose. He put a hand over his mouth in case his gag reflex kicked in.

There were a couple of blankets on the kitchen floor, with chipped bowls at the head, crusted with rotted food. The squatters had been forced to leave in a hurry or they'd found greener pastures.

There was the third alternative.

He expected Leena to look around and return. Yet she stood in the doorjam and did not move.

This is her home. Or what's left of it.

Turrent could imagine how she felt, so he gave her a few moments. Then he dismounted Midnight, minding his footing as he caught up to her.

"Leena."

Crickets broke the silence between them. Turrent approached her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Leena..."

Her head whipped in Turrent's direction. "What!"

"We should get moving, before night falls in earnest."