18.1: Differences in Opinions

Author's Note: In our last chapter, we met a new character named Lillian who just experienced an event that left her incredibly injured and far from home. She now makes her way to a place called 'Grot'.

With our main party, the three escaped from Iridea's house after it was surrounded by Xeoserps. Hawthorne now has a sword, 'borrowed' from Iridea's Aunt, and Iridea carries a small orb of light with her. Enjoy the chapter!

18

Hawthorne

I want nothing more than to be at home right now. Everything is simpler at home. I don’t have to wait in constant worry about what happens next or decide the best course of action. I know what happens next at home. I know what to do. And, most of all, I’m with my family; the people I’m supposed to protect.

In only twenty-four hours, my life has been flipped upside down. Conflicting thoughts clash for dominance to interpret my situation. On one side: the prosecution. I should be back with my family. I should never have left, never gone to Penketh, or even escaped from it when I did. My mum must be worried sick. She’s already lost one child. I’m the eldest now, my responsibility is to look after the family and now I’ve ruined that with a foolish, wannabe-warrior run about at night. It was all so silly, thoughtless, stupid.

Warring with these thoughts is the defence, providing reminders of righteousness and reassurance. I’ll find a way to send my mum a letter when we reach wherever we’re going. I didn’t have a choice, really, I would never want to put them in harm’s way. I’m with the Star Elf, I’ll protect them better if I’m on the side of destiny.

Neither of my bickering reasonings are turning out on top. I’m at a standstill, throwing arguments back and forth against the walls of my brain. All I can do is keep walking, one foot in front of the other, until one of my arguments takes action.

Since last night, we’ve managed to get a good distance from the Xeoserps. We didn’t face danger afterward, either, as the morning sun rose soon after we made our escape. Now, we walk between patches of streaming sunlight and thickets of large, spindly trees. Iridea leads the way but she hasn’t slowed down for a moment to clue us in as to where we’re heading. I sure hope she doesn’t plan to waltz up to the cursed one’s door and drop the Star Elf at his doorstep. We are not ready for that, although I don’t doubt the Star Elf could handle him.

My stomach growls for what must be the hundredth time. I haven’t eaten since Penketh, nearly a day ago now, and Iridea shows no sign of stopping.

“Hey, Iridea!” I call to the front, finally satiating my need. She pauses in her stride before she continues at her initial pace.

“What?” she shouts over her shoulder. My ribs scream for a break in momentum, if only for a second. The heavy sword pulls at my shoulder joint, weaving an incessant stab of pain around it. The hefty weapon has weighed me down for the past hour. 

“Can we stop for a moment? Please?” I urge as I heave the sword off the forest floor where I let it drag momentarily. A root juts out of the ground and I feel dramatic for the grunt that escapes my throat as I step over it.

Iridea whips around at this request, coming to a stop at last. A sigh of relief escapes from me. I stab the sword into the soil and lean my tired weight against it. This moment of relaxation is quickly stolen from me by the twisted scowl on Iridea’s face.

“Stop? We’re being fucking hunted, Hawthorne.” She says my name like a curse. Like it's worse than any of the curses she regularly flips through. I know better than to combat that, to further anger the bear.

“I’m aware of that. But, we haven’t had a bite to eat in more than twelve hours. We don’t even have food, to begin with. And I’ve no clue where we are or where we’re going,” I keep my tone calm, hoping she’ll be inclined to lose the attitude. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like she will. Her mouth opens wide in the beginnings of a shout. That is, until the Star Elf steps in.

“He is right, Iridea,” she says, drawing my spine straight, “we need food. You need to tell where we go.” Iridea’s composure remains stern as she regards the Star Elf but, after a breath, her shoulders fall and her eyes lose their furious glint. She kicks a rock into a tree and averts her gaze.

“I was hoping we’d reach the path to The Castle of the Four eventually…” she admits. My throat closes tight as if being held with a fist. So, she has no idea where we are. This day just gets better and better. On the bright side, we haven’t been attacked by anything. Yet.

As she raises her head, her defenses rise once more as she deciphers the disdain on our faces.

“I know the general direction! I just didn’t think it’d take this long!” she barks as she crosses her arms. I’m not sure I trust the validity of her statement, considering it was pitch black when we left.

“So, we do not know where we are,” the Star Elf states. She spins in a circle to gaze at the net of prickly green branches enshrouding us far above, her eyebrows screwed pensively. Iridea opens her mouth as if to argue before she decides against it and nods her head reluctantly. My mind clouds, my legs feel suddenly weak and useless. This was all for nothing. I won’t be helping my family at all. I should never have gone to Penketh.

As soon as the doubts form, I rise to face them. If I lose all hope, everything will be for nothing.

  “Well, we’ve got to end up somewhere if we keep moving!” I say, lifting my voice to a cheery note, “plus, maybe this’ll make it harder for the Xeoserps to track us.” Iridea looks at me incredulously.

“We can take five minutes here and maybe every hour or so. While we’re walking, maybe I can try to catch an animal or something for food,” I press on, “we’ve got to keep going, we’ll end up somewhere eventually.” The tightness that closes my throat relieves as I speak these assurances, more to myself than my companions. Iridea blinks,

“I don’t eat animals.”

“You eat animals?” The Star Elf squeals in horror. 

Well. I guess I’m vegetarian now. I laugh hurriedly,

“Oh! No, don’t worry that was a joke,” I backtrack, “Haha, sarcasm. No I don’t eat animals. That would be so….crazy.” Why am I like this?

The Star Elf breathes a sigh of relief but Iridea is not so easily swayed. She rolls her eyes at me and a spike of blood rushes to my face. Why did I do that? What am I trying to prove? There’s no way I can take that mess back now, it’d only make matters more complicated. 

My suggestions hold leverage, thankfully, as Iridea relents to taking rests. I fall to the floor immediately, too exhausted to notice the prick of pine needles on my legs. Iridea leans against a tree, her foot taps impatiently as the minutes tick by. The Star Elf lifts her arms above her head and sways from side to side, before stretching the rest of her muscles. 

As we wait in the stillness created, we finally discuss our plan for the ensuing future, beginning with how we will survive if we are stuck in the Finmork Forest. Stellina reveals her aptitude with plants; possibly sustaining us if their biological structure hasn’t changed in the past four centuries. Which I guess is a risk we’re willing to take. Unfortunately, she observes that there doesn’t seem to be anything edible in the area so we’ll have to wait another while before eating. I can see plenty of things edible but that ice has been cracked.

We collectively decide that, if worst comes to worst, and we’re trapped here overnight, we’ll sleep after noon and wake before dawn so we don’t get taken advantage of by any lurking predators at night. It’ll slow our progress considerably but I prefer to be alive.

We conclude our short break and continue our trek through the forest. The Star Elf and Iridea discuss our plans for the long term. I feel quite detached from this conversation. Not only because Iridea blatantly ignores me most of the time, but also because I’m not in the game yet. My thoughts constantly wander back to my family. As soon as possible, I need to send my mother some sign that I’m still alive. I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t. 

As the sun rises to meet the top of the sky, my nerves buzz. I sink into a dull acceptance that we’ll be here overnight. Dread fills my stomach as I think of what’s to come. Though there won’t be any werewolves to worry about for another few nights, Nightcrawlers, Eclipse Beasts, and Ernifils don’t work on a schedule. Once night falls, they rise to hunt.

We walk an hour in hopeful denial before we reluctantly decide to rest for the night that awaits us. Iridea vainly promotes herself as the first lookout while the Star Elf and I collapse under the shade of the dense forest. Iridea informs me that I’ll be next, and Stellina third in time lapses of two hours. I fall uneasily into sleep, the sword right next to me, my hand resting on its hilt. Just in case. After I manage to get to sleep, it seems that Iridea wakes me immediately. She pointedly whisper-demands to not close my eyes a second longer than needed while I’m on watch. Then, I take her place a few metres away from our small group. The sun creeps across the sky. I make note of its position so I can alert the Star Elf when it’s her turn.

For the first few minutes, I stand dutifully at my post, eyes peeled towards my surroundings, swiveling whenever I hear or catch sight of something. But as the seconds pass drudgingly by, I begin to pace and run my fingers through my hair. Each time I check the gleaming autumn sun, it seems to have only moved a degree, or not at all. My body is tensed like a compressed spring, waiting for something to happen. But nothing does, which unnerves me even more. Isn’t the Finmork Forest supposed to be the place where adventurers go to battle monsters? Where travelers fall off the path and meet inescapable danger? Well, where is it? I constantly check over my shoulder, as if to catch a monster out of its hiding place.

When, at last, it’s The Star Elf’s turn to go through the same excruciating process, I tentatively wake her up. She leaps into action and stifles a yawn as she stands to attention. The sun has not yet dipped out of the sky but the forest is filled with shadows. The logical thing to do would be to get the most amount of rest possible, but I lay awake. Surely two sets of eyes are better than one.

An hour passes, the sky is painted orange through the pointed fingers of the trees. It’s not hard to keep myself awake when I know there’s still daylight, despite the enshrouding canopy. Eventually, the last strands of colour are erased from the sky, replaced by tiny white dots on a midnight blue canvas. I lift myself to a cross-legged seat, clutch the hilt of the sword closer to me, and draw my coat closer to my body against the climbing chill of the night. My ribs pulse faintly but they’ve behaved themselves for the most part. The silence is eerier now in the humming quiet of darkness. From beside me, an orb of light shakes into being from Iridea’s hands. It stings my eyes with its sudden reveal, its light bright and cool.

“Well,” I stand, clapping my hands together and saying with a voice filled with grandeur, “congratulations you guys, we’ve survived this far. We should all be very proud of ourselves.”

Iridea rolls her eyes. The Star Elf looks at me blankly.

A chitter fills the air.