“I’m around to know it,” I offered.
He flicked the bloody arrowhead onto the ground and pinned me with his stare. “When you remain standing after everyone you love has been taken from you, you tell me how much you’ll care about ‘precious reputation’.”He spat the words, like they tasted vile on his tongue.
The question worked its way to a fear I kept buried deep inside, refusing to let it out and overtake me. Dark magic that had been dormant for decades seemed to be stirring, awoken by something calling them forward. Stopping the corrupted commander in Highcrest had been a victory against one kind of evil, but I sensed that another remained.
Pondering on it too long would only feed my worry and distract me from what I was in control of. Every day, there was a task to accomplish, and beyond that was unimportant. Radhak bestowed that philosophy on our camp over and over until we all clung to that belief. It helped us avoid being consumed by hypothetical scenarios, or let fear deter our ability to accomplish something good.
My next task: accompany Mira and the rest of the crew to base camp.
At the front of the group, we led the way. “No big beastie to escort you all, this time?” I nudged Mira’s shoulder with my own.
“He and Jasper were concerned with rumors spreading from near Witches Pass. We gathered up everyone from Devera, the small village closest to the curse now, and since we’ve taken this route so many times, we thought it would be fine.” She shrugged, her vibrant red curls bouncing with every trudging step through the spring brush. The roots of her hair started coming in darker. Since her blessing had broken, no more magic coursed through her, leaving it to revert to its natural color. I would have assumed she’d be a natural redhead like me, but she was more brunette.
How life had changed from our first run-in at the castle.
“What happened to tracking the ogre’s movements?” I queried, interested to know how to avoid this next time.
“Before, they were easier to predict. Now they’re constantly on the move. Dante says creatures scatter when they’re scared, so I don’t know if it’s because they’re spooked by the curse spreading, or dwindling resources. In any case, our best guesses regarding their patterns haven’t been very accurate. Whichonly adds to the stress of fleeing.” She gestured to the party now moving with us. Men, women, and children who’d resided in Argora Vale until all this shit started making a mess of everything.
“How many more remain in the kingdom?” This lot would put us over capacity. We’d expected migrants, but not at this rate, which only heightened Radhak’s stress.
“A couple hundred, I think. But they’re the ones further north who’ve started migrating west instead of south for fear of backlash in Highcrest.”
“If they think Argora Vale’s land has become unsustainable, they’re going to be sadly surprised when they hit the marshlands.”
“Dante told them the same, but I think they don’t believe the curse will spread that far. I think they hope to remain in the kingdom they’ve known all their lives, and I can’t really blame them. I just hope it all turns out okay. And I hope we’re not putting you out too much. I know we didn’t discuss new travelers weekly, but things are becoming tense.”
Braxius shifted at my neck, a tiny message that said, ‘told ya,’.
“Yeah, yeah,” I tutted. He’d told me for a couple weeks that there’d been a shift, but couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Like the very world whispered a warning, he’d said.
“Braxius feels it too?” Mira asked, catching the interaction.
The little blue dude popped out of my hair at the mention of his name and flew straight from my shoulder to Mira’s, lapping at her cheek with his forked tongue. She laughed into the air, and his reptilian tail wagged like a dog.
“Hi, I missed you too.” She held her hands out and he flew into them, circling and curling up like a cat. She held him against her chest and ran a finger over his horned spine while he looked like he could fall immediately asleep.
“Traitor,” I scolded, but he made a sound akin to a tweeting bird and remained as comfortable as ever.
“It’ll be nice to see Calista. Has she been adjusting well?” Mira inquired with hopeful eyes.
I snickered, bobbing my head. “Yes, she’s been adjustingverywell.” Radhak had already reprimanded her twice for distracting Sera, one of the lookout archers stationed at the perimeter of The Cursed Kingdom. A new rule had been created from their little jaunts; archers must keep their pants on during scouting duty.
Mira smiled. “How did you know where to find us?”
“Oh, a certain seer we both know had something to do with it.”
Mira beamed. “Of course it would be Evenita. I’m glad she’ll be there when we arrive. I have some questions for her.”
“She might be a day behind still, her and Alaina. What do you want to ask about?” I checked over my shoulder to see Asperion letting two children ride on his back. He bucked his hips harder than he had with me, but every time he did, the children belted out laughter. He loved the attention.
Mira flitted an assessing gaze around our traveling party and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Later.”
Dipping my chin in agreement, I considered if I’d been too nosey by prying. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained. From the sounds of it, whatever she wanted to ask the seer might impact the people under her care. Only leadership needed to bear the burdens of the truth during difficult times, to shelter our citizens so they might enjoy life free of worry. Radhak only ever wanted his people to know a life of safety, so he leaned on his trusted soldiers to help make that happen.
Not a single person who set foot in our camp hadn’t already suffered losses to get there. Though, it may be harder to keep up appearances that everything is fine if things continue to progress so unpredictably. With hundreds left to evacuate Argora Vale,our situation was about to get dicey. An established connection to Highcrest would certainly play in our favor now that the king owed us.
An hour and a half later, we arrived at camp. Land had been cleared to extend the boundaries, and flimsy tents had been erected quickly and efficiently to accommodate the newcomers we’d been receiving. A grim awareness tugged my features as I considered our resources—we were running out of supplies.
