Our Second World book three: Personal Truth

Chapter 27: Nephinae

After a long morning of travel, we decided to take a break a little after 10. Because of our early start, the younger children were tired; Naida and Michael had already fallen asleep. Jay pulled the wagon over to the side of the road, and those of us awake climbed out to stretch.

I decided to take a quick walk around the forest we were curently stopped in. Luna and Emiko came with. While I walked, it started snowing again. The light powder clung to the bare branches of the trees and stuck to my hair. It wasn't a heavy snow, so I wasn't worried about continuing my walk through the tranquil trees. The only sounds to acompany me were the snow crunching under my feet and the branches of the trees creaking with the wind.

From out of nowhere, a black blur flew at me. I barely had time to block with a sword of ice, the attack was so fast. We exchanged a few blows, but our speed was pretty evenly matched. It was a dirty tactic, but I managed to get a hit in by shifting the snow under my opponents feet. They stumbled and I swung my sword.

Crack!

Clang!

My sword shattered as I struck my opponents arm. There was a metalic clang, and I jumped back as the person swung at me. I put some distance between us to give myself time to make another sword; I was surprised when the hooded figure made no move to advance on me. It was almost like they were purpously letting me make another weapon.

"So they're that confident, huh?" I thought," Well, if they're giving me time, I might as well use it."

While I slowly started making a stronger ice blade, I studied the person.

They wore a long, black cloak that covered them to their feet. By their build, I guessed they were male. They stood in a relaxed way, and seemed to be watching me.

With my sword finished, this one many times stronger than the last, I lowered myself into a readied position. The man did the same. His stance was low, and I still couldn't see what kind of weapon he was using, but I took a deep breath. The moment I blinked, the guy was on me again. He was faster this time, and dealt heavier blows; it was all I could do to block.

"This person...They're so strong!" At this rate--I'll have to use that."

I forced a burst of mana into the snow in front of me and created a frozen wall around the man. It wouldn't last long, but it would buy me enough time to use my ability.

[Twin Wolf Form]

The instant I called on the ability, I felt a huge rush of mana. My senses tripled in effectiveness under the influence of my ability. Suddenly I could track the movement of my enemy. I could keep up now. I have a chance.

The man seemed surprised by my sudden change, and backed off; I followed. I was almost close enough to land a hit, but I jumped back as a black chain shot at me from the ground. In my moments distraction, the man vanished.

"What was that about?" I wondered,"...wait, the others!"

I turned on my heel and jumped into the trees. Leaping from branch to branch to make it back to everyone as fast as I could. I hadn't gotten far when something slammed into my back. It knocked the breath out of me and sent me tumbling face first into the ground. Before I had a chance to find my feet, something landed on my back, pinning my arms and legs.

"Move, and I'll break your legs," a mans voice hissed in my ear.

"Why did you attack me?" I asked, turning my head to look at the man holding me down.

"Listen very carefully: don't answer anthing I'm about to say. I'm only going to say this once, so pay attention," The man whispered," The fox woman you are escorting, it is extremly important that she gets to her destination safely. Others will come after her, so make absolutely sure you stop them. I'm running out of time. If you're succesful, I'll contact you again. For now, I'm going to let you go. When I do, act like you broke free on your own, then cut me. One mroe thing: tell no one of this, understand? This conversation never happened. I'm letting go now."

With that, I felt the mans grip loosen. I did as he said and kicked him off of me. As he stumbled backwards, I swung my sword. It slashed his side as he jumped away, kicking up snow, he blocked my view. When the flurry settled, he was gone, leaving no trace behind.

"Who was that?" I wondered, releasing my twin wolf form. As I did, I felt my energy drain instantly. I leaned against a tree to keep myself upright, but I wasn't able to prevent the loss of my lunch due to my dizziness.

After taking a few minutes to catch my breath, I felt a little better. Enough so, at least, that I felt I could walk without throwing up again. Using various trees to support my dizzy, exhausted self, I slowly stumbled back to where everyone was waiting. I barely made it to the edge of the road before my legs gave out and I fell to my knees, desperately trying not to throw up again.

Lynari was the first to notice me, and immediately rushed over," My gods, Nephinae, are you ok? What happened?"

"I--I think... I think I'm gonna pass out," was all I mannaged to say before doing exactly that.

When I woke up, I was painfully aware of a pounding headache throbbing on the left side of my face. I felt strangely warm, yet cold at the same time; there was a weight that felt like a blanket, and my head was resting on something soft. I slowly opened my eyes to find myself looking up at Ana. We were in the wagon and I was laying on her lap; someone had thrown a blanket over me.

"You're awake," Ana spoke softly when she noticed I was awake. She put her hand on my forehead," your fever seems to have gone down. Are you feeling better?"

"Sorry for causing you trouble," I struggled to force out the words. My throat burned and my mouth felt dry.

Ana shook her head," It's quite alright, dear. Would I be correct in saying this has happened to you before?" I nodded," May I ask why?"

"It's because of some injuries I got as a kid," I lied, not wanting to tell her about my twin wolf form," It probably wont happen again."

"Well, try to get some more rest. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," Ana smiled.

"Right."

Ana eventually fell asleep, but I wasn't tired anymore. Thoughts of what the cloaked man said were swirling around in my mind, and it wasn't helping.

"What did he mean when he said people were after Ana? Why?" I wondered," There's something she's not telling us, but why? If she's being targeted, then it would be better to tell us, right? Unless...There's something she doesn't want found out."

By the time the sun rose, I was feeling much better. It took a few minutes for the others to wake up as well, but we had breakfast and were back on the road before seven. During the trip, my mind continued to wander back to my encounter with the cloaked man from yesterday. Though I wanted to confide my thoughts to Lynari, I chose not to say anything when I remembered the man telling me not to say anything. I couldn't understand why; if there were people after Ana and she knows about it, then shouldn't I tell her I know? Wouldn't it be better for Lynari to know as well? Surely Ana' aware of the dangers of being attacked when we aren't prepared, or expecting it?

"Nephi? Hey, Nephi! Nephinae?"

I looked up to see Lynari standing in front of me with an irritated expression.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

Lynari sighed," I've been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes," She huffed," Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something," I said.

"About what? You seemed pretty distracted, so it must've been important."

"N-no, not really," I answered. It would be fine to tell her, as long as I don't say why, right?

"I find that hard to believe," Lynari frowned.

"IT's just--I've been getting a bad feeling ever since yesterday. Like something's going to happen, but I'm not sure why." Sorry, Lynari, I hate lying to you, but I don't have much choice. Please, just trust me.

"Maybe you're just tired," Lynari said," But I guess it wouldn't hurt to be a bit more on guard."

"Yeah."

"Well, anyway, we're stopping for a stretch break, so, y'know, come out if you want to." Lynari shrugged and jumped out of the wagon.

"That's one problem solved," I thought," Now I just need to find out what Ana knows about this."