Maybe (COMPLETED)

Chapter Thirty One

"How do you be, friend?"

The question somehow insulted me, and I slowly sat up despite my grogginess and added weight. Archer kneeled by my side as Saga got up to inspect me as well.

"He be like death, probably." Wolf. Slightly sarcastic. He sank to his knees next to me and smiled warmly. "Would you like a drink?"

"No." My voice was dry and cracked, my word barely audible. I cleared my throat and tried again, but with less success.

Wolf snorted. "I'll go get you something."

"Make it warm!" Saga called after him. Wolf didn't respond but Saga didn't seem concerned. I wondered where Wolf was heading to get me a drink, but as I listened to the surrounding forest, I heard a watery rush echoing through the trees and guessed that we must be near a river.

"Does your leg still hurt?" Archer queried, touching said limb. I flinched when his fingers pressed against a tender spot and sat up to study the wound. With a jolt, I realised I was no longer wearing my own clothes, but someone else's. "Saga went to the nearest town and got some clothes for you. So you can blend in better."

I looked at him sheepishly and wished I could ask him why they decided to change me before waiting for me to wake and do it myself. My cheeks would have burnt with embarrassment if I wasn't death warmed up.

"We had to remove your jeans to look after the wound on your leg." Archer explained, perhaps seeing the question in my eyes.

"Oh." I croaked, grimacing at my voice. I looked back down at my leg, at the loose garments covering them. They were different to Archer's clothes – he wore tight fitting gear, fit for moving freely, more aerodynamic, and more hard leather as an armour – basically, he was dressed like a warrior. Mine were looser, flowier – fit more for comfort than anything.

I placed a hand were his fingers just were, the outer side of my left thigh. Through the fabric, I could feel the lump were the wound was. I traced its path, it wasn't long, it moved from the outer to the inner of my thigh.

"It's pretty deep." Archer sighed. "Luckily, you hadn't lost too much blood by the time we were able to wrap it up. It's scabbed now, so it's not bleeding anymore, but don't knock it, in case it doesn't heal as easy or as quick again."

I nodded. "How long-" I cleared my rusty throat again. "How long was I out?"

"Only a day." Saga interrupted, chirpily. Still grinning. "You were drained of blood and chorren."

"Chorren?" How was I drained of chorren? Had I... used my powers? I looked at my hands, confused.

"The sword encouraged the chorren to rise from within you." Saga explained vaguely, almost ominous, despite his ever present smile.

I looked around for said weapon, and Archer retrieved it for me, from a nearby tree. I gripped the handle again. Its cold, smooth metal was oddly comforting.

"Isaak, here." Wolf appeared by my side, offering me the drink. I placed the sword by my side and grabbed the bottle he held out to me, which looked like something from those western movies. My hands trembled from the weight, and Wolf carefully lifted some of the weight off my tired arms, helping my lift it to my lips. I took a sip, savoring the warmth as it slid down my throat, cooling the itch, melting the roughness.

"Where's Ash?" I asked, throat cleared, voicing the question which had plagued my thoughts since I woke.

"We are assuming that Mekhi is working for the King Colm, and is bringing Ash to him." Archer glared at Saga. "I think your friend knows more, but he refuses to speak." 

"I do not refuse to speak, only to answer." 

"Saga." I pleaded, and he turned his brown eyes on me. The slight pity in his eyes told me all I needed to know. He wasn't going to help anymore then he had. I had heard what he said to Archer, and wondered if that's all I was - a small fragment of his life, worthless, nothing, just an inconvenience he had to keep alive. Something to spice up his dull, immortal life. 

An odd feeling of hurt rose its ugly head in my chest. I grabbed the rapier from my side and stood up, painfully ignoring the tsunami of dizziness swirling in my chest, lungs, my mind. "Fine then. I'm going to find him." I jumped away from Archer's reach, taking advantage of my onama speed. 

"Isaak you're in no condition-"

I rose my sword. I felt the familiar rush of heat in my veins. It brought an odd sensation of life to me, power, strength. The same colourful light swirled in the blade. "Sorry." I muttered to Archer's shocked blue eyes, to Wolf's fearful ones, to Saga's curiosity. "He needs help."

"Isaak -"

"No! I'm going." I began to turn away. "Nothing you say will stop me."

"You'll get yourself killed!" Wolf pleaded holding his palms to me in defense. My arm quivered. 

"I would die before I give up on him."

Wolf stepped forward. "Wait to recover, Isaak, then we can go together, please..." His voice rose to an oddly feminine pitch. 

"Saga..." murmured Archer. "Before he does something he'll regret." Saga nodded. 

I looked back into Saga's eyes, confused. 

"Listen." Saga's lips moved before, or was it after? I couldn't quite tell. I couldn't see Wolf anymore, or Archer, only Saga. A crushing weight pressed on my mind, and the forest blackened away too. As if a hand was reaching out and blocking everything from my sight, everything but Saga. "Put down the sword." Saga's lips mimicked the words, and I found my arm lowering, placing the sword by my side. His eyes burned me and all I wanted was to tear away from that gaze, this voice. Every inch of my body tugged and pulled, but the weight on my mind tightened, did not relent even the tiniest amount. 

Saga's eyes twitched. "Let it go." I swear his mouth didn't even move this time. 

I realised the cold metal was burning into my flesh, I hadn't released it yet, only placed it on the ground. Every fibre in my body screamed to let it go but something small held me back. The weight pressed on my skull, my mind screaming, the pressure so intense I felt my head would burst. "Now."

I did. 

And he let go too. I gasped, fell down. I felt like a heavy mush, like my head had split open and my mind was spilling out.