Maybe (COMPLETED)

Chapter Twenty Seven

We had been walking in silence through this forest for what felt like days. It was like we were marching, our shoes made barely any noise on the leafy forest floor, other than on occasion when one of us stepped onto a dry branch.

Finally, one of us decided to speak.

"Mekhi," Ash began, glancing around, "I don't recognise this place. Shouldn't we be closer to Yati by now?"

Mekhi glanced around too, taking a moment to answer. "Yeah, I'm going around a little, we'll enter Yati through the other side." He took an out of place breath and offered Ash an odd smile. "Can't risk being caught."

The whip-like snap of a branch cracked and echoed between the trees. We all froze. It hadn't come from any of us.

Mekhi swirled around, gesturing at us to stay quiet. He drew the sword belted to his waist slowly.

"It might be an animal-"

Mekhi's glare cut Ash off. I looked through the trees, but they were thicker here, even though we had somehow stopped in a small clearing. I couldn't see anything further than two metres into the trees.

"Mekhi."

All three of us spun to face the voice. The man stood there, leaning against the tree, with his leather boots and strange armour. He looked down as he studied his hand, his brown hair covering his features. There was faint movement to his side, and I noticed a quiet figure, hidden in the shadows.

Then, the man looked up, catching my eyes with his blue ones.

"Archer!" Called Ash, and he started forward, ready to smother him with a hug. But he was roughly held back by Mekhi, who grabbed him fully around his waist and prevented him from going any further. I stepped away from them, confused.

"Don't, Isaak, stay with me." Mekhi caught my eyes, concern visible in his gaze. "We can't trust him."

Ash stopped struggling. "What do you mean!?" He exclaimed.

"Oh, Mekhi, don't-" Archer sighed, still against the tree.

"No, you don't, Archer." Mekhi glared at him. "I know what your true intentions are."

Ash and I continued to stare at the alive Archer. My heart was beating possibly fifty miles an hour and I could imagine Ash's was too. Archer's skin was tinged grey from the mud or fatigue, and his clothes were dirtied and muddied too. He had a cut that ran from his left ear to the top right of his forehead, slicing across the bridge of his nose and barely missing his eyes. It had a fresh scab covering it. I noticed his arm wrapped tight around his torso.

"Mekhi, what are you talking about?" Ash gasped, exasperated.

Mekhi growled slightly as Archer pushed himself off the tree heavily, and he twitched the sword slightly. Archer glanced between Mekhi and Ash and froze.

"Ash. You must trust me. I didn't want to tell you this before because I knew you wouldn't believe me." Mekhi gritted his teeth and growled again in frustration, letting go of Ash. "Archer is not who you think he is." He looked Ash in his eyes. "Ash, he... he works for the King, Colm."

Ash's face paled. I could feel my blood pulsing through my body radically.

"Bullshit." Archer hissed. "Ash, please... I trust you to make the right decision here. He's lying Ash, and you know it."

"He can't even give you a good enough excuse, Ash!" Mekhi argued.

Ash took a step back from Mekhi, looking between his two bodyguards. Torn. He looked into my eyes, sidestepped Mekhi and joined my side. We glanced at each other, fearful, shaky. His gaze asked me who to trust, what to do.

Archer and Mekhi both stepped towards us at the same moment. Before I even knew what I was doing, I pushed Ash behind me and drew the long rapier sword. I held it how Saga told me, taking a small breath and trying not to think how hopeless I would be using this weapon. Both Archer and Mekhi froze. I noticed the figure behind the trees move again, but whoever they were, they stayed in the same spot.

"Isaak... Come on." Mekhi swallowed. "Please."

"Where... who gave you that sword?" Archer queried, dragging his eyes away from the weapon and studying my face. His own face had paled drastically, his jaw ajar and slack. Suddenly he shook his head and set his jaw again in determination. "Ash. I don't care whether you trust me or not. But please, don't trust Mekhi."

"Ash, Isaak. I can get you guys back home safe. Archer wants to lead you away, so you're alone and vulnerable, and then ambush you with Colm's men!"

Archer scoffed. "So that's what you're doing is it, Mekhi? To think I ever trusted you for even a second."

Mekhi ignored his words. "Isaak, he'll kill you without a thought. You're not worth anything to him." He lowered his voice. "But you matter to me." For a moment, I let Mekhi gaze right into me. He was so desperate for me to trust him.

"Archer. Tell me your side of the story." Ash broke my thoughts.

Archer swallowed. "At that swamp, Mekhi was acting. There was nothing behind those reeds, he led me there so he could kill me. Obviously, he didn't succeed, but he thought he did. I think he forgot my aberidus blood."

Archer glared at Mekhi, who scowled back. "That's true. Because I knew who he really worked for, Ash!"

"I recovered and followed your tracks. I got to Ganyan the next morning. I went straight to the Bad Omen, but Wolf – a worker there, a friend of mine - told me you had already left."

"Wolf's a friend of yours?" I murmured.

"Yes." Archer replied softly. "I've known him for a long time."