“What did you find?” I ask, searching his features for clues but turning up nothing.
“There are flying machines scouting the forest between us and the camp. There has been passage through here recently, even where the forest is at its thickest. We have to be more alert that there are others around.”
“We saw one fly by,” I interject. “It saw us… It might have already notified the camp about us. Did one see you?”
“Not that I am aware of,” he answers, his gaze narrowing on me. “They are not the only thing between ussss. We are coming to the old boundaries of my territory from the south and west. The safest path forward remains mostly untouched from when I was last here. It is still our best option to reach the facility’sborders undetected by other nagas, though it is the roughest passage through. I did not see any fresh tracks in that area.”
“That’s good, right?” I ask, glancing at Olivia.
He grunts. “Yessss. But it is undisturbed for a good reason.”
“Why is it undisturbed?” Benjamin asks.
Krellix turns to him, and as his tail shifts over the thick brush, it snaps and crunches under its weight. “It is a maze of rubble and old buildings that has been taken over by the forest. There will be sparse structures that are not part of the facility, clogged with metal and crumbling stone. It is a hard path to take but no harder than what we have dealt with already. It will take us straight to the western side of the old facility.”
“Will we still get there by this evening?” I ask.
Krellix’s gaze drifts back to me and I can’t place his expression. “Yessss.”
“Then it’s settled.” I tear my eyes off him to check on Olivia. “You’re going to get through this,” I tell her. “I’ll make sure of it.” Glancing back at Krellix, he nods his head in agreement. My stomach flips and I inadvertently clench the muscles between my legs, eliciting a wince from me. I peer back at Olivia, trying to forget what my body’s going through. “In a couple more hours you’ll be safe and taken care of.”
Quinton swats a small bug on his cheek. “Did you see anything else? The people from the downed ship back there? Do you know if they’re okay or where they went?”
Krellix releases a breathy hiss. “I did not see them but there are multiple sets of human tracks heading in the direction we are going. There are also traces that several nagas have been through here. Otherwise, I saw no indication of where the humans went.” He slides past me to gently scoop Olivia into his arms.
“Could the nagas have hurt the humans?” Benjamin asks.
I glance between him and Krellix, remembering the smell of blood at the crash site.
“There were tracks of them there so it is… possible.”
Watching Olivia ease against his chest, I’m hit with another streak of jealousy. It’s worse now that I know what it’s like to be in his arms. Warm and safe. The safest place to be, outside Zaku’s home. And I truly believe that, out of all the nagas I’ve known, Krellix is the safest of them all.
He hauls Olivia higher up his chest until she is able to wrap one of her arms around his shoulders. As she resettles against him, my gaze catches with his over the top of her head.
The look he gives me could have been carved from stone. There is no tenderness, no emotion, just a blank flatness that is almost cold. Devoid of all emotion.
My throat tightens and I wonder if it has something to do with our conversation this morning.Or if he’s already pulling back.My heart twists at the prospect, even knowing it was me who was the first one to do so.
“We should move.” I turn away. His gaze lingers on me, and I pretend not to notice, tugging my hair back and tying it to keep my hands busy. Afterward, I readjust and tighten my mask. Whatever is going through his mind, I have no clue as to what it is, and if I’m going to be smart, I need to stop thinking about him.Now. I need to focus on what’s ahead. I’m going to have some choices to make soon.
Krellix’s eyes fall off me as he twists away and disappears into the trees ahead of us. Quinton, Benjamin, and I share a quick look before they in-turn follow after him. I let them gain a few paces before I join them. Meanwhile, I pull my rifle forward and scan the trees around us.
Back on track towards our destination… The minutes begin to count down in my head.
TWENTY
A NEW THREAT
Julia
We pass a massive,crumbing stone wall that’s dividing a long section of brush and trees.
Large piles of rubble are gathered up around it, all covered in vines, moss, and plants with little, white flowers growing off of them. I briefly pause to sift through a small pile of dirty, broken glass—the colors stealing my attention—only to find there is more glass within the grass all around me. Pieces press into the ground under my boots.
My gaze flicks to Krellix, who pays no mind as his tail shifts over and through the grass.
A dozen or so more partially collapsed walls appear after the first one, along with even more piles of rubbish. There is dirt and rocks, rusty metal equipment, old machines, crooked frames, rotting wood, and plastic all gathered where old buildings once were. All of which have been taken over by the forest completely. The vines covering everything thicken the further we go until the remnants of the old world blends seamlessly with the forest.
