A Mess of a World: the Etched Stone

2.7) Damen

"Zak! Zak! You'll never believe what just happened! I don't even believe what just happened!"

She leaned backwards away from him as he waved his hands around like a mad person. She slapped his face and said, "Would you calm down? You're acting insane!"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you!" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "I was-I was in the woods, right? Gathering firewood an-and whatnot when I found this weird earring-thing and this voice spoke to me!"

"Voice? What are you talking about? You mean like what Jade was telling us?" Zaki'a asked, furrowing her brow.

"The very same! And she was talking about Jade-" Zaki'a's face fell and she interrupted, "She? A girl?" "A woman! And she told me to help bring Jade to Spirit's Wood, because... er... something-something about destiny and she'll end me if I don't." Damen relayed frantically.

"So she- this woman- wants you to take Jade to Spirit's Wood?"

"Yes."

"Then it is even more so out of the question! You cannot go there! It must be a trap!" Zaki'a said. "What if Alessida is actually a mage? What then, if someone tries to override her powers? It would be disastrous."

"No." Damen said. "I have a feeling that we need to do this."

"Someone might have put magic on you." Zaki'a said warily.

"She didn't. Zaki'a, please trust me." Damen said. "Please."

Zaki'a sighed. "I always trust you... though sometimes I wonder if that's a good idea." 

Damen's heart warmed at her words, though he doubted she had meant anything beyond friendship. 

#

They got the fire going and ate a quick dinner.

Damen volunteered to keep watch for the night while the girls made up makeshift tents and went to bed, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

"Spirit's Wood." He thought out loud. "Do we really have to go there?"

The firelight beside him crackled and gave no other answer.

He stuck a stick into it and whirled it around, getting a feeling of satisfaction each time he made sparks fly out of the logs.

Movement behind him made him turn and he saw Zaki'a coming towards him with a thin blanket on her shoulders to keep the night air at bay. It might have been summer, but the nights in Andren were still cold.

"What's up?" He murmured as she sat down beside him. Instantly his whole body warmed at their close proximity.

She sighed and just stared into the fire.

"D'you want to talk about it?"

She closed her eyes. "This time I was back home with Mason and Kurt, at the-" She swallowed watery. "The time my mother had her miscarriage. The one that broke her and Papa's hearts."

"Ah." Damen said, his throat suddenly dry.

Zaki'a was not a mage at all, but had just enough magic that her dreams were haunted with reliving memories, be they hers or someone else's. Mostly, they were emotional times and she wouldn't be able to sleep afterwards.

Such as the dark time in her family that she'd just relived.

Mustering up his courage he hesitantly put his arm around her, like a reassuring friendly side-hug.

"Don't forget that things got better, Zak." He muttered. "And you have little Elion now. Your little baby brother."

"I know." She said, tiredly leaning her head on his shoulder. "But- but I just can't help thinking that... maybe I was the problem. Maybe I defected my mother in some way that kept Charlie and Jace from being born after me."

"Don't say that. What happened was... terrible." Damen said. "But it wasn't your fault."

"I hope so."