Exᴛʀᴇᴍᴇ || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ Bᴏᴏᴋ Fɪᴠᴇ

Chapter Six// Desolate Lands

Tazi
We left the cluster of villages behind the next morning. There had been no horses that anyone had been willing to sell, only a very stubborn donkey that we'd decided against taking after it nearly bit Sabien.

Most of our heavy baggage was being carried by Elle or Charlie; Tyler's black bear. I pitied the thick furred animal, but Tyler has assured us that he would be fine. We only had a limited supply of water, whatever we'd been able to save from the shipwreck a few days prior. The thought of it stung in my mind, and the memory of Ryan's last, rattling breath resurfaced. I shook my head to clear it and sighed. I watched Sasha's back as we walked and tried not to think about what lay ahead or what we'd left behind.

"Copper for your thoughts?" Lucia's voice chimed from beside me.

I jumped in surprise and glanced over. "What?"

"It's an expression." The Euran supplied. "To ask what someone's thinking."

"Oh." I felt myself shrink slightly. She didn't usually talk to me and it caught me off guard, especially because she sounded so... genuine. "I was, uh... just thinking about... about, uh Ryan." The name popped out before I could stop it, and I saw the way the girl's eyes widened.

Lucia licked her dry lips and blinked quickly to recompose herself.

Idiot! I scolded myself. "I mean, I'm sorry, you asked and–"

"You see it too, don't you?" Lucia cut me off in a low voice. Her eyes weren't on me anymore.

"See it?"

She tilted her head. "The gap."

I frowned. Then I understood. My eyes roved the group and, sure enough, there was a space. The place on Tyler's left, that had unspokenly been hers,  was empty. "You're right." I saw it now, and I realized I'd seen it before. When we'd walked through the villages, Ryan's place had stayed empty. There had been a clear spot left open when we'd been camping. I suddenly couldn't swallow. She was still here, in those little things. The places where she should've been.

Lucia eyed my face as I realized it.

I looked at her. My heart ached. "We don't want to fill in the spots." I murmured. "That little bit of her is all we have left."

Lucia's eyes grew somber. A muscle pulled at her jaw as she nodded mutely.

I blinked at her. "I see it." I mumbled.

She offered a halfhearted smile, then turned away toward Elle.

My eyes pulsed hot with tears, but I refused to shed them. The realization was bittersweet, and it made me glad, in some twisted way.

"Hey, anybody home?"

For the second time that day, I was startled out of my thoughts.

Navia waved a hand in front of my face, but stopped as I blinked. "Welcome back." The redhead teased. She held out a canteen to me. "Water?"

I hadn't even realized how parched I was until I accepted it. I took two generous sips and then returned it to her. "Thank you."

Navia inclined her head. "How're you holding up? This can't be easy, with Ian being a fish and all."

"It's hard." I agreed. "But it'll be worth it." At least I hope so.

The Arctican offered a sympathetic smile. "Yeah. It will." She brushed her hair off her forehead, which I then noticed wasn't glistening with sweat.

"Maybe you should have some water too." I suggested lightly. "You know, since you're carrying it anyway."

Navia shook her head. "I'll have some after everyone else has." She assured.

"Are you sure?" I furrowed my brows.

"It's okay." She insisted. "I'll be right back."

I wanted to protest as she turned on her heel, but decided not to. Navia was smart, I reminded myself. She'd be fine.

The redhead returned a moment later, her breath short.

"Is everyone still alright?" I asked lightly, whilst attempting to scrutinize her from the corner of my eye.

"Yeah, everyone's fine. In fact, Zay and Niko seem to be the least affected. I'm a bit worried about Charlie, though. He's got a thick fur coat." She answered with a smile.

"Yeah, well, Tyler said he'd be fine." I interjected.

"Tyler wouldn't know 'fine' if it hit him over the head with a frying pan." Navia grunted. Her eyes, disturbingly dull, followed the guardian in question. "Do you know that he got shot in the foot and only decided to tell me after the wound got infected?"

"What?" I couldn't help but chuckle. Navia could be hilariously petty, apparently. "When did that happen?"

"It was back at Greenhaven. So you think that he would've been able to get proper medical attention, right?"

"Uh, right?" I narrowed my eyes to watch Tyler as well.

Navia didn't respond.

I looked over. "Right?"

The Arctican stumbled and lurched forward onto her hands and knees. "Tellun." She mumbled, a mildly surprised look on her face as she realized how close it was to the sand.

"Navia!" I exclaimed, startled. I reached for my pack and grabbed the full canteen it contained. I knelt beside her and put it under her nose.

"Ah, water." The wolverine summoner sat up and downed some of its contents. The colour returned to her eyes and she licked her lips.

I helped her back up and brushed the sand off my pants. "You alright?"

"Fine." At my unconvinced look, she rolled her eyes. "For real this time." Navia passed the canteen back. "Sorry about that." Her cheeks were pink with embarrassment.

"It's okay." I smiled reassuringly. "You've gotta take care of yourself, too."

Navia paused. "Well, I have my hands a little bit full with all of you!" Although the tone was joking, I could see the worry lines and the dark circles that indicated its reality. 

"Then I guess we'll just have to take care of you." I teased back, an added sincerity to the words that she picked up on and softened toward.

"Hey, slowpokes!" Sasha was calling from further ahead. "Get over here!"

I raised an eyebrow at Navia, who laughed. She took off at a light jog in the direction of the jaguar summoner. There was a spring in her step again, albeit a bit subdued. It reassured me, but worried niggled in the back of my mind as I ran to catch up as well. Would we all survive this? And if not, what then?

eeeek
so- hai :))
i'm so sorry
ik i am trash
but!! here's an update :)

pls don't kill me for how late it is