I felt the surprise he held at her response, but shockingly, it was laced with pride.
“And my wife,” Byn said, turning to me. “Come back to mewhole.”
That, I feared, may be the mostdifficult part.
Chapter Seven
“At least I don’t have a stupid scar running across my entire face,” Matea snarked.
“At least I have my mastery tattoo,” Drayven quipped back.
“Well, at least my whole personality isn’t shaped around being broody and mysterious,”Matea responded without missing a beat.
“What is the matter with you two?” I snapped, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration.They’dbeen at this for the past day, and I was fed up.
Honestly,I’dcome to expect this kind of attitude from Matea. It seemed to be how she defended herself and keptat arm’s length from those around her. But what Ididn’texpect was Rayven allowing her to get under his skin so easily. I was accustomed to him being much more… unbothered. It was a sight to see, but it was also getting on my final nerve that afternoon.
We’dbeen traveling a little over two and a half days, having avoided the SalicMountain-rangefor as long as we could. Rayven and Mateaweren’taccustomed to the severe climate and elevation of the mountains, so we wereattemptingto take it easy. Wedidn’twant to wear ourselves down too soon, so we traveled by foot often,to not solely relyon our shadow wielding. This was extra beneficial for me, as somebody who had yet to master her shadow wielding abilities. It had taken a few tries in the beginning, but the shadows were slowly becoming friends of mine.
Crossing the border had been easier thanwe’dthought, aswe’dtaken a path that was rarely used, and thereforehadn’tbeen guarded. Since then, our little trio had been heading northwest that whole time, and now we were about a ten-minute trek away from the outskirts ofGenisyn—a smaller Northern town—which was the first and only town to stop in during our journey, besides Hollis itself.
“If I’m correct, we’re almost uponGenisynnow,” I said, turning to Rayven, who was carrying the map with our route marked on it.He’djust set his pack on the ground beside us. We’dstarted heading into the mountains this morning, and I could already tell it was going to be a rough trip from here on out for these two Southerners.
“Right, we should be there and back with enough time to set up camp for the night.” Rayven nodded as he held out the map between the three of us.“We’re about right… here,” he said,indicatingto just south ofGenisyn, within the base of the mountain-range.
We had just found a small cave carved out of the side of one of the smaller mountains outside of thetown, andhad decided it was going to be our spot to re-cooperate and check in on each other and our location before carrying on. Fortunately, the inside of the cave was lined onalmost everysurface with moist moss, which stopped our voices from echoing too much.
“Well,I’mshort on rations. I forgot just how hungry wielding so oftenmakesme,” Matea said. Icouldn’thelp the quiet chuckle that rose from my throat.“What?”sheasked, crossing her arms over her chest as Rayven rolled the map back up.
“Nothing, nothing,” I said, though Icouldn’thelp but think about how differently we must have been raised, simply by the difference in mannerisms and bluntness.
I caught my sister rolling her eyes, but she didn’t press further.
“I’m low too,” Rayven admitted, slightly sheepishly. It was the first timeI’dseen him embarrassed about something before.
I sighed. “So I have to make a pit-stop in Genisyn for you hungry fools. Got it.”
“Hey!” Matea exclaimed.
“Why did you make it sound as though we won’t be going with you?” Rayven asked, both of us ignoring Matea’s outcry.
“Because you won’t be,” I said simply, shrugging.
“Wrong answer,” Rayven said, while Matea raised an eyebrow as though to say,as if.
“Stars,” I cursed, exasperated. “Look, only one of us is going to blend in around here. You twodon’thave wings, remember?”
“Oh right, I forgot. Thanks for that reminder,” Matea said flatly.
Before I could respond, Rayven jumped in,“I think what she’stryingto say,” heglaredatMatea, “is that youdon’texactly blend in, either. The hair? The two-toned wings? The eyes?”
“Alright, alright, we get it,” Matea said, side eyeing the male.
“He’sright.But,”I paused, pulling out a small vial from one of my various pockets, “I’vegot that covered.For the most part, anyways.”
Matea, without warning, snatched the vial from my grasp and popped off the cork.
“Wait! It isn’t edible!” I exclaimed before she could knock back the dark, murky liquid.
