“Zayden, I’m sorry. I never planned it to happen at all. Honestly I didn’t. Would you please just see that? I never wanted to hurt you.”
He sighed sort of to himself but was loud enough to hear. “Of course I know it wasn’t intentional, Darius. I know you and I know what happen. She showed you your son and you panicked instinctively. It wasn’t your fault that she was the only one nearby.”
I wasn’t sure how to react but ask. “How did you know that?”
“She told me that part the night you both got back. I just didn’t read into how I knew you would have reacted. She thought you looked hopeful and I guess I just kind of went with it to be happy for you. I didn’t want to believe that you would have taken it out on her.”
“I’m so sorry that I ever did.”
“So you’ve said.”
“Will you ever forgive me?”
He stayed quiet like he was thinking about how to answer but then Rift perked up his head with a growl and got right to his feet, looking into the night.
“What is it?” Zayden asked.
“Bandits?”
Zayden was shaking his head, looking into the night as well with black eyes. “Wolves.” A loud echoing howl came from the dark to prove it. “They caught wind of our cargo.”
“This is about the time we’d need a large white wolf to save us. No offence but I don’t think that pup is going to do us any good.”
It whined and Zayden put his hand on his head. “Rift, you stay. I think I’ll have to handle it my way this time.”
He stood up on the carriage and pulled out his short staffs as we heard the sounds of many footsteps getting closer.
“Fight them?” The thought sounded pretty ridiculous.
“Or just scare them away. I’m not asking for your help.” He jumped down and stood ready.
I joined him. “You know you never have to.”
He merely looked at me, not really in an approved or proud way but I still wasn’t going anywhere.
A whole pack of wolves came out of the darkness and began to surround the carriage. We stood still and just waited for one to attack if they even would. They were growling mostly, probably starving and willing to eat anything, including us but I wasn’t afraid and who would be? After seeing how huge Ryon was, these wolves looked like what size he’d be if he were just born.
Rift was still on top of the carriage but he was on his feet, pacing around like he was worried for us or at least for Zayden. The other wolves began to take notice, lifting their eyes up to see him. Their demeanor changed a bit like they were calming.
“What’s happening?” I asked as quiet as I possibly could.
“I don’t know.” Zayden replied in the same manner.
Rift laid back down, barking a few times at the pack and they were looking among themselves. Some of them were still growling but the one in charge would snap their teeth at them, making them back up to back down. It was curious how seeing one little pup could make a whole pack of adult wolves stop and question a hunt.
“They’re backing down.” Zayden said.
“But why?”
They started to leave running off one by one into the dark but there were some that didn’t take well to the orders. They hung back, growling viciously at us and up at Rift on the carriage before disappearing.
“I don’t know what just happened but I don’t like the look those ones just gave us. Stay alert. They might be back.”
I nodded, silently glad that Zayden wanted me here. It was a good feeling but I knew it didn’t need to be talked about. We put our weapons away and Zayden hopped back to the top of the carriage with Rift, leaving me to climb back up onto the seat the long way.
“What did you say to them?” Zayden was petting Rift, holding his head up so he was looking right in his eyes.
“Maybe they knew Ryon.” I suggested.
“Or maybe they knew that he knew him. Whatever the case, it’s over for now.”
We sat in the lingering silence of the night for the longest time. Neither of us said anything but I didn’t see that as means to leave or even get sleep where I was sitting. I needed to be awake and alert in case those wolves came back but even then, none of us could have been prepared.
Rift lifted his head with a low growl again, this time looking behind him.
“What is it?” Zayden asked.
Just as he turned his head to look, a wolf jumped out of nowhere, knocking him clean off the top of the carriage.
“Zayden!” I hopped off and chased after them, pulling the beast away from Zayden. It began to immediately snap its teeth at me and I lost my footing on the steep hill, tumbling backwards with it while also trying to keep it from biting my face off. It could try to chew on any other part of me it wanted but even its sharpest fangs couldn’t penetrate my skin.
I didn’t even notice anything around me until we rolled off the soft grass onto rough gravel. I knew it then. We were nearing the cliff and I had to try to stop before I went over. I turned to my back when I started to slide and kicked at the wolf over me. It’s echoing howl was fading fast like it had just fell over the side and I quickly spun to my stomach to get a grip on the earth so I could stop but it was loose with nothing really to hang on to. I was getting too close and started using my feet as breaks then finally started to slow down to a stop. I took a breath and there was only a small moment of silence.
“Darius.” I carefully lifted my head and Zayden was crouching a few feet away from me with a very low concerned voice and his hand trying to reach for me.
I put my arms under me to lift myself up but the moment pressure was applied, I heard cracking from underneath me. It was darker over here since the torches by the carriage were farther away but I had to have been on some kind of overhang above this deep trench and it was ready to give way any moment from my weight.
“Don’t get up.” Zayden said. “Reach for my hand.”
He was reaching like he couldn’t get closer or we’d both fall and I tried but there was still inches between us with our arms out. I couldn’t reach him.
“Zayden—“
“Don’t you dare say goodbye to me. Try again.”
I stayed laying flat and tried to just move my body across the ground like crawling on my belly but every movement I made only caused the ground to crack under me. I could even feel it start to move.
“I just want you to know that I’m sorry for everything.” I couldn’t lie to myself. I wasn’t going to make it off this ledge alive and Zayden had to have known it too but he was being very in denial about it.
“No. You’re not giving up. You’ll make it.”
“Why would you even want me to? You’re done with me, remember?”
“I was wrong. I do need you and right now I just need you to reach.”
He inched forward very carefully and reached for all he had. I reached back and we could just lock our fingertips together. It was enough that gave us both hope and Zayden started to move back, pulling me with him but as I moved, the ground only got worse and started to cave.
“Darius!” Zayden lunged forward when I started to fall and grabbed my wrist. At this point, he was over the edge too but with one advantage. His eyes were probably black so he could hold onto anything and gripped the ledge, holding us both up.
I was dangling in the air and couldn’t see anything I could try to grab. The side of the ledge down here was all loose dirt and even my feet weren’t getting anything to take some of my weight off Zayden’s arm.
“Can you climb up?” He asked.
“Climb what?”
“Me.”
“I don’t want to take your arm off.”
“It’s too late for that! Rift!” He whistled and I heard the pup somewhere above us whining. “Go get help. Adele or Ruby even.”
He must have ran off and all we could hope for is that he’d be quick about it. Zayden was doing all the work to keep us here and I didn’t want to be responsible for bringing h
im more pain.
“Darius?!”
That was Ruby’s voice in the distance and we both yelled to her. “Ruby! Down here!”
I was looking up and could see light getting closer. She stood at the top and carefully looked down with surprise. “What are you doing down there?”
“Help first, ask questions later.” Zayden said.
She didn’t seem at all worried or she just didn’t know how much danger we were really in. She stuck the torch into the ground with a sigh and her eyes grew red. She reached down to Zayden’s hand and pulled both of us back up to safety like it was nothing.
“You two have an unusual way of reconnecting.”
We were breathing heavily while laying on our backs and looked over at each other. Neither of us could help it and we started to laugh.
“Yeah.” Zayden said. “A loyalty test I never want to repeat.”
“What happened?”
“Wolves.” I said.
“Wolves?”
“They jumped me and Darius saved me but got pushed over this cliff. I saved him then you saved both of us.”
“Hmm.” She didn’t seem amused. “I’m going to go back to sleep now. I woke to your little pet licking my face.”
Rift laid next to Zayden and put his hand on him.
“Good boy.” Zayden said.
“What’s going on out here?”
We looked up and the other three were walking down the hill.
“We almost died. No big deal.”
“What?!” Adele was beyond worried and rushed over to him. “Are you okay?!”
“Well, we didn’t die.” She reached for his hand and started to get him up but he tensed immediately when he was on his feet. “Ah, shit.”
“What?”
“Darius, I need you.”
Of course I got up too and of course I would help. “What is it?”
“I think my shoulder is dislocated.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“No. No. It was worth it. Just put it back for me.”
I nodded and carefully got my hands on his shoulder. “Ready. One—two—” He probably expected me to go after three but I went after two and popped his shoulder back into place.
He leaned over in agony and it took everything he had not to right out yell.
“Is it okay?” Jaylyn asked. “Or do you need me to take that away?”
“No. I’m okay. Thanks though.”
“Come on.” Adele said. She took Zayden’s other arm and started to walk him up the hill. “You should rest now.”
“My shift isn’t over.”
“That’s okay.” Troy said. “I’m awake. I don’t mind taking over.”
“Okay. Darius, you should too. We’ve been through enough.”
He patted my shoulder and I nodded. I didn’t have much to say with everyone else around but I was glad that he was openly expressing that he cared. It was a step forward in getting passed what I’ve done and the beginning to Zayden and I mending our bond.
“Can we just go?” Ruby groaned. “I’m exhausted.”
I had to laugh a little. It was like she was sleep walking and had no idea what could have really happened tonight. I was happy to go with her though to finally get some sleep myself and let her be the first to walk into our room.
“Darius.” Zayden’s voice stopped me and I turned to the hand tapping my shoulder. He looked at me for a moment like he didn’t know what he should say. “I just—thank you for stopping that wolf from eating me and I’m glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I would have done if—”
“Well, it didn’t so—”
“I know and you were right. We have been through too much together for me give up on our friendship. Tonight only proved it.”
“So, you forgive me?”
He took another moment but he finally shook my hand with a soft smirk while trying not to laugh as he pulled me into him for the traditional brief manly embrace. “Yeah. I don’t want you to worry but there are still things that won’t go away immediately and I want you to know that I don’t point the blame at anyone.”
“Zayden—”
“Please. Don’t. Okay? Just get some sleep and we’ll get on with this trip in just a few hours.”
I nodded to respect what he wanted of me and he walked away with another pat to my shoulder.
I felt relieved. He forgave me. I only wish he could truly be over everything that happened. I had a feeling that it would make it worse that we couldn’t tell Adele.
Chapter 43
Jaylyn
Everything was quiet after tell of the wolves but I stayed up for second watch with Troy anyway.
“You don’t have to.” He said.
“I know but I want to. I’m awake now too. It would be hard to fall back asleep without you.”
“All right, then I won’t mind the company.” He put his arm around me and pulled me closer to share in each other’s warmth.
“I guess this means you’re staying up too.” I was jumped and looked towards the shelter at Adele walking towards us.
“Yeah. I thought I would. How’s Zayden?”
“Tired but he and Darius are nearly healed.”
Troy laughed. “Life or death situation probably helped.”
“Probably but it was something they needed.”
“Are you okay?” I asked, hearing something different in her voice.
“Yeah. Fine. Except we’re going to Lecca and I’m not the least bit looking forward to it.”
I laughed to her sudden anxiousness. “Don’t worry. We’ll be with you.”
“I know. I guess I should get to Zayden. I just wanted to know if you were staying out or not.”
“Okay. Goodnight.”
She nodded and headed back inside.
“What’s with her and going to Lecca suddenly?” Troy asked.
I waited a moment for Adele to get safely inside before I said anything. “Her long forgotten days. Lecca is where we were sent on our first mission as a team and we were kind of with someone while we were there.”
“That’s it? What’s the problem with that?”
“The problem is who it was. I say his name and you’ll know what I mean.”
“So say his name.”
“Sedrik.”
“Is that supposed to mean something to me?”
I sighed and couldn’t believe he didn’t get it right off. “He’s Bianca’s brother.”
His eyes widened and he straightened up a bit. “What? Really? That Sedrik?”
“Yeah but we didn’t know who he was at the time. We entered the city as travelers a couple of days before we were to take out our target and we spent the days as guests. That’s when we met him. He didn’t tell us who he was, probably because he didn’t need his title to impress us. Anyway, we spent our days with him and he became incredibly attached to Adele. The more time we spent with him, the more she seemed like she fell for him too.
“We spent those days together like we’ve known each other for years. He got her alone one night and I’m not going to go into detail but I’m sure you can guess what happened. She found out who he really was when Bianca found them. That’s how she’s known her. As you can imagine, that was a pleasant conversation. She said he called her the one when they argued right in front of her but she couldn’t stay. She had to get out of there before her cover was blown so, we left under the cover of darkness after we finished the mission.
“He could never understand why. She couldn’t tell him who she was. It would have cost her life. She said she just told him that she would see him the next day and he understood because of how Bianca reacted but we never saw him again after that. She always felt sure that she hurt him on some level by leaving without a goodbye and now going back there and seeing him again is what she’s worried about.”
“Did she love him?”
“Of course not. At least, not like she loves Zayden but it was clear he loved her or was at least obsessed with her
and it changes her.”
“Changes her?”
“Like she’ll do anything to be near him. She’s already worried about it because she doesn’t notice when she does it. It’s only people around her that see it.”
“Well, we’ll be there to make sure she doesn’t.”
“That’s why I assured her we’d be with her. Just don’t tell her I told you any of this. She doesn’t like to talk about it.”
“Come on. You know I won’t. We said we wouldn’t keep secrets from each other anymore, that doesn’t mean they can’t be kept from others. I won’t say anything to her.”
“Thank you and here I thought it was good for us to get out on a trip. I guess I just forgot about it all until it was too late.”
“It’ll be fine and it was good for some of us already.”
“Yeah. I guess I’m glad things worked out between them. I didn’t want to see that lasting and maybe now the day’s ride won’t be so gloomy besides the heat.”
“We can live through that.”
I smiled and kissed him for his joking tone. Of course we could live through it. We could withstand anything and it was funny that he thought he had to remind me while we rested here.
I’d say the quiet helped. We didn’t fall asleep, we just stayed with each other and it prepared us for more days of travel.
When the sun rose, we took to the road again but it seemed different—better. Zayden took the reins first this time but Darius was right there, laughing with him and just trying to make it fun and it was. It was like nothing ever came between them and that’s how it was supposed to be. None of us was about to question it.
It took us three days to reach the mountain pass that led straight into Lecca then traveled for two more until we could see the walls of Nindor off in the distance. Civilization was a great sight but I noticed Adele didn’t seem to think so. She really didn’t want to be back here. I could understand but we had to be just for a time.
We started to cross the bridge over the enormous trench surrounding the city and I looked down, just amazed about how big it was. “I never got the point of this.”
“It’s to prevent lava from destroying the city.” Zayden answered from inside. “This place is surrounded by volcanos. If one were ever to erupt, the lava would be channeled down there and flow all the way to the sea, saving the city.”
Forgotten Days (Fate's Intent Book 6) Page 19
