Pᴇʀғɪᴅɪᴏᴜs || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ Bᴏᴏᴋ Fᴏᴜʀ

Chapter eleven// Digging For Secrets

Sasha
I wanted to comfort Zay so bad, but I had no clue how. To be honest, she kind of terrified me now. I glanced toward the strewed corpses just a little ways away, then choked and had to look away. Tyler, Ryan and Hoya were conversing grimly a little ways away. When the black bear summoner shifted his gaze and it met mine, his eyes conveyed a message. I gulped. Please don't kill me, I prayed as I paced uncertainly closer to Zay. I crouched beside her, my sword dragging in the sand. "Zay..."

She lifted her head. For the first time since I'd met her, her emotions were displayed clearly on her face. Anguish shone in her eyes, wrenching at my heart.

I swallowed past the obstruction in my throat. "Zay... we should, uh, bury him."

Zay blinked at me silently. "You're right." She murmured after a moment.

The others had moved away, to search the fallen Conquerors for the talisman. "Here." I helped her to stand. "We'll have to dig deep so the hyenas don't find him." I thought aloud, gently moving Zarlo's body and starting the gruelling job of digging. Delar helped me, then Tyler and his black bear came along. Once we'd finished, the two of us lifted him gently into the hole. We watched silently as Delar and Charlie filled the hole. As sand fell around Zarlo's head and obscured his face, Zay closed her eyes.

Tyler blinked at me and cleared his throat. "Zarlo." His voice was hoarse. "You made the wrong choice, when it comes to sides, but I made the wrong choice today. I should never have sacrificed you. I hope your sister can forgive me." He bowed his head and got down on one knee.

I inhaled sharply. "Zarlo, I didn't know you for long, but you had the heart of a warrior. We all make mistakes, but that does not define who we are. I truly will mourn the loss of a possible friend." I did the same as Tyler, closing my eyes.

"Have a safe journey, my dear brother." Zay's voice was weak. "I will miss you more than you know, but it is alright." I heard rustling and peeked over to see her kneel, too. I barely caught the last words she spoke. "You can rest now; I no longer have need of your protection. I love you."

We stayed like that for a while, then a shout startled us. Tyler stood, and I followed. Tazi was running toward us, something clutched in his raised fist. Zay straightened as well, her eyes glimmering with unshed tears. Tazi skidded to a halt. "We found it!" He panted, dropping the thing into Tyler's palms.

The dark haired guardian's mouth fell open in surprise. I leaned over, catching sight of the Amber Leopard. I felt a grin break on my face. Tyler stared at the chain, then wrapped Tazi into an enormous huge, laughing. "And the other one?" Tyler asked once he'd calmed.

"No trace." Tazi replied, suddenly somber.

"This is amazing." Tyler clapped his shoulder. "Come, we should get back to camp." He looked over at me. I waved him away. Zay and I needed a moment. They trekked away, and I edged closer to Zay. She was crouched in the sand, doing something that was hidden by her body. I stepped around her and saw another snake, almost identical to hers, on the ground before her.

"Is that Olraz?"

"Yes." She answered without looking up. "Leave it to Zar to name his spirit animal his name backwards."

I frowned. That wasn't really a bad idea. Delar's eyes glinted in the dark, as if to say don't even think about it. I smirked slightly, then knelt beside Zay. "Why is he here?"

"Zar told me to look after him, that he knew something." She finally met my gaze. "I have to figure out what it is."

I chewed my lip. "I'm coming with you."

She rolled her eyes, but I could tell she was secretly relieved. "Fine."

I stood and pulled her up alongside me. Delar bounded over and I rested a palm on his head. "Wanna go passive, D?" The jaguar flicked an ear, then vanished into the stinging tattoo on my chest.

Zay took my hand, and we followed the viper. It was leading us back to the camp, our camp. We exchanged confused looks, but followed him anyway. Olraz skirted around the edge of the camp, toward the back where we'd slept. He dove into Zarlo's bed, which was just a patch of smoothed sand. I stared as his tail vanished. "Now what?"

Zay got to her knees and started pushing through the sand. "Are you gonna help me, or what?" She growled.

"Oh, uh, of course." I got down and started doing the same. Eventually, we found this weird cave thing underground. Olraz was waiting with an about time expression on his little snake face. He slithered a little ways away, then returned with a small pouch hooked in his fangs. Zay and I glanced at each other. She held out a hand and Olraz slithered up her arm. She took the pouch and opened it, carefully removing the contents and handing it to me. It was the Copper Falcon.

I took it, staring. "Tellun's antlers." I breathed. "We did it. Zay, we did it!" I looked over at her. "Zay?" She was reading a small note. I leaned over. "Was that in there?"

She nodded. "He wrote it. He must've known."

I took the note gently and read it.
Zay.
If you are reading this, then I must be dead. You must have found the Copper Falcon with Olraz's help. I'm sorry to have left you, but there is something you must know. There is someone among you who can't be trusted. A mole, you could say. Gerathon can see their thoughts, so be careful what you say. That is all I can write here, but please take care of my little buddy, Olraz. I hope he reminds you of me.
Love you lots,
Zarlo.

"Okay, wow." I murmured. "That was intense."

"What's going on here?" Hoya startled us. Zay shoves the note in the pouch and then into her pocket, but the pink haired woman didn't even notice. Her mouth had fallen open. "You found the Copper Falcon!"

Epic. Bruh, at this rate imma finish the book by the end of the week! Who am I kidding, I won't stay inspired for that long. Love y'all 3000, stay tuned for the next chap!