Page 43 of Forgotten Fate

“Maybe,” he shrugged as he grabbed his own pack from the ground. “Every practice, you’ll get better and better.”

“Yes. I will,” I replied with confidence. Elias only grinned in response before nodding his head towards the direction we were to go.

I followed him through the dense forest for miles, but the sun was beginning to set quickly. I didn’t realize how much time we spent training, and I was starting to regret the precious time we lost. I wondered if my father or Horus would find the scene of the brawl in a few days’ time.

“Let’s make camp here,” Elias suggested after we made our way through a small clearing and back into the cover of trees. We began setting our blankets down on a dry section of ground when I started to hear a high-pitched ringing in my ears. I didn’t think it was anything out of the ordinary until Elias’s head shot to the right like he heard it too. I watched him curiously as I finished laying out my blanket.

A look of concern crossed his face, and I began to worry. “Are you alri—”

“Would you excuse me for a moment?” he interrupted, like he hadn’t heard me. “I need to relieve myself.”

I lifted my hand up. “Spare the details, sir,” I joked. I was expecting him to laugh or at least give me an annoyed look, but he rushed away without another word. Odd.

A few minutes went by, and I found myself twiddling my thumbs. I decided to open my pack and grab some jerky. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until that moment. As I looked in my pack, I found I only had a few pieces left. I began rummaging through to find spare pieces that may have flaked off, but was met with a familiar item instead. The book.

I looked up in the direction that Elias left, but did not see or hearhim coming back. I decided to open the book and look over it to pass the time. I thumbed through the pages quickly, opening to the one with the big, dark wolf. I stared at it for a moment as I traced my hand over the drawing. Then I continued turning the pages until I reached where I first discovered the fifth kingdom. I tried to identify where we were on the map, and had a vague idea. It was hard to tell how long it would take us to go the rest of the way, especially since we had yet to reach the Shadow Peak Mountains. Maybe another two weeks? I wasn’t sure how Elias always knew, especially without a map. He truly fascinated me.

Thinking of Elias, I realized that he had been gone for some time. The sunlight was quickly dissipating, and I was starting to worry. I snapped the book closed and buried it deep in my pack, then got up and started heading in the direction Elias had went.

I kept walking, much further than I thought he would need to go to relieve himself. He was acting strange, maybe something was wrong. The worry bit at me as I kept moving through the thick forest. After another minute or two, I heard a voice. It was definitely Elias. Finally, I came up onto his location. I headed towards him, but stopped in my tracks when something felt…off. I decided to stay quiet, sneaking in his direction before hiding behind a large tree maybe twenty feet from him. I peered over and inspected the area through the dim light that barely made its way through the treetops. There, I could see Elias crouched over, and… talking to the ground?

I squinted, as if that would help me see better. There was nothing and no one in front of him other than a small puddle at his feet. I could not make out what he was saying, but he was definitely speaking. I decided to tiptoe closer to him, silently darting between trees until I was as close as I could get without him seeing me.

“Yes, I understand,” he said quietly. There was a brief pause before he continued. “I will,” he growled. “I just need more time.”

More time? For what? And who the hell was he talking to? I took a step out from the tree to see if someone else was there that I hadn’t noticed. As I took that step, a twig snapped under my foot. I looked down at it.Fuck.

When I looked back up, Elias was standing only feet in front of me, eyes blazing into mine. I jumped back with a shriek. “You scared me,” I gasped, holding a hand to my chest to calm my racing heart.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded, no sense of gentleness in his voice. His large frame towered over me, and his eyes looked predatory.

“I came to check on you. You… you were gone a while.” I gulped, fear creeping in under my skin. He looked very intimidating as his eyes bore into mine with anger.

I took a step back subconsciously, and Elias realized my fear. He blinked a few times, his menacing eyes softening, and his shoulders relaxing.

He let out a sigh. “I’m sorry,” he said gently. “I didn’t realize how long I’d been gone. You were right to look for me.”

I didn’t dare move. “Who were you talking to?” I asked, peering over his shoulder at the empty forest.

“Myself,” he replied. “Come on, let’s head back.”

His haste to change the subject did not go unnoticed, but I complied. We walked back towards our camp, the sun nearly gone by the time we reached it. We sat and I offered him one of the last large pieces of jerky. He took it gratefully.

We ate in silence for a long while. I watched him make a small fire, as the night was chilly. I wasn’t sure what to say while I pieced together what I just witnessed. Was he really talking to himself? I certainly didn’t hear any other voices, but the things I heard him say seemed like he was answering someone.

He interrupted my thoughts. “I was thinking,” he began afterfinishing his last bite of meat. “I think we should go to Monuvia.”

My mouth dropped open. “You’re not serious, are you? We just barely made it out of Chatus without getting caught. Wedidget caught, actually.”

“Exactly. No one will be expecting you to hide out in another kingdom so soon.” He looked at me, his honey eyes reflecting the small fire he had made.

“Why would we go there?” I asked. I couldn’t make sense of his plan. Monuvia was well out of our way. It would add days onto our travel, atleast.

He glanced over to my pack and back at me. “How much meat do you have left in there?” he asked.

I lowered my eyes to the ground. “Not enough for tomorrow,” I admitted.

“We can pick up the supplies at Monuvia that we weren’t able to get in Chatus. We can get food and a bow so we can hunt bigger game than rabbits. And we can get something for the pain in your arm.” He gestured towards my injured arm. I thought I had hidden the discomfort well enough during our training, but I guess he caught on.