VII: Laia

The walk to the village is slow going. It would have been ten times faster had Elias let me go alone, but he was having none of that.

"You can barely move," I had argued, continuing to pack my travel bag which consisted of water, extra 'emergency' bandages, some money I swiped from the carriage driver, and my knife.

"That's not a factor," Elias disagreed. He was still laying on the arrangement of blankets the back of the cave.

"How can it not be?"

"You need someone to protect you." I rolled my eyes. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately, I never did that before.

"I can protect myself perfectly fine." Elias scoffed. I had had a sense of mine to walk out of the cave right then and there but I stopped myself. If he hadn't been there in the cave I probably would be dead right now, or worse. Yet, if I hadn't been there during the raid at the Smith's house he would be dead too. So that makes us even. But there was that time with Marcus….

"I'm not letting you go alone."

I turned around to face Elias. He had managed to sit himself up and was leaning against the cave wall, a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead. "Your fever hasn't broke," I muttered. Elias sighed.

"You can willingly me bring or I'll follow you myself," He said and I believed him. Elias would crawl through hell just to prove his point. I turned back around so he wouldn't see my annoyed smile. Even annoying Elias is better than hurt Elias. Despite his 'annoying' state the company would be nice; it's a long walk to the village.

"Fine," I grumbled. I heard Elias chuckle.

We left promptly after that, a few minutes after the sun rose. The journey to the village is already fairly long, but adding on Elias's slow pacing was making it seem even longer. The cobblestone houses and wood paneled houses finally started to come into view just before noon.

"There it is," I say to Elias who is trudging along behind me. He was doing a good job to pretending he wasn't in pain. I mentally add bloodroot to my list of things to grab. We've already used up the small bottle that was in the med kit.

Elias's eyes grow wider as we approach, as if he didn't actually believe the place existed. The outer streets of the village are empty but the main street is packed with people and vendors. Our first stop is vegetables at Molly's stand. I remember her name as she likes to talk in third person. Elias lingers behind while I make small talk with Molly who seems to think small talk is sharing every life detail.

"So my brother thought it was a great idea to cut his own hair," she stops rambling for a moment and stares behind me. "Is that your boyfriend," she squeals. I feel heat rush to my face.

"No," Elias answers behind me, but I wonder to myself if I want him to be.

Molly leans over the stand, her hair brushing in a bowl of corn. "Can he come closer," she whispers, or what she considers whispering. I'm nearly certain Elias heard her. Elias steps forward before I tell him not too. A dark hood conceals most of his face except for his eyes which are striking in contrast to his dark hair and dark clothes. "My, my," Molly suckles on her front teeth; a habit she says she never out grew despite being old enough to have kids herself. "You got yourself a good one there." She winks.

Elias chuckles. "You're not so bad yourself," he says with what I know is a smirk. Molly cackles, throwing her hands. A bowl of carrots almost go flying.

"Well aren't you nice," Molly stated. "Molly thinks more men should be like you." Elias chuckled and I suddenly felt left out. Elias and Molly chatted on for a while more in which she told him all about the different colours of carrots.

"There you go darling," she says handing a bag of vegetables to Elias. He thanks her – again – for the compliments, and the food, and we move on down the street.

"She seems nice," he chuckles in my ear.

For the rest of the excursion Elias walks behind me and stays quiet. Sometimes he'll wander up to stands to smell the fresh bread or admire the handmade jewelry. I manage to find some bloodroot and by the time we're ready to leave the market we're nearly out of money.

"You should have taken more," Elias mutters quietly so no one else hears. I tilt my head so I can talk to him without turning around.

"Keep that in mind, it's your turn next," I grumble back. Elias chuckles and shivers run up my spin as his breathe brushes my neck. For a moment I forget we're on the run, or that he's hurt. Reality sets in too quickly for my liking.

"Wait here." He slips away faster than my eyes can track. I have a moment of panic before remembering that it's Elias. But he's also still recovering. I whirl around, my cloak catching around my ankles. I'm standing in the midst of a busy square with Elias nowhere in sight. I contemplate calling out his name but would he even hear me in this crowd.

"For you."

I jump forward and spin around, hands up read to fight off my attacker. Elias is standing behind me, bent at the waist so he could talk directly in my ear. He straightens up when I turn and smiles brightly, making his pale eyes sparkle. I glance down. He's holding a small blue flower between two fingers.

"Where did you get that," I harshly whisper. He chuckles again and starts tucking the flower behind my ear. I'm too focused on his fingers in my hair to say anything else.

"I stole it," he casually answers when he finishes. He steps back and inspects his work, looking impressed.

"Elias!"

The smile drops of his face then the corner tips up quickly as if nothing happened. "They're not going to miss one." He starts walking the way we came. It doesn't take much to catch up with him.

"Are you doing okay," I ask forgetting about the stolen flower. He ignores me. The music and sounds of people die down as we make our way into the dense forest of trees. Elias is determined to keep a quicker pace this time, I don't object. We make it three quarters of the way back to the cave before he gives in and collapses against a rock.

"Quick break," He pants. I grimace. He looks defeated, he's probably not used to having to stop and rest, he's probably used to feeling invincible. I bend down until I'm eye level with him.

"Here," I pull out an apple for the sack and hand it to him. He's been eating better lately; nutrients will do him some good. "Tell me when you're ready to go." I settle down next to him on the rock, glance at his pained face as he adjusts his sitting position then add, "No rush." I lean back on the rock and stare up and the sky. The afternoon has slipped away and the shadows cast by the trees have grown long and looming. The sun's going to set soon. Maybe there is some rush.

Elias is the first to hear the footsteps. His body goes rigid and the apple drops to the ground. "What," I mutter sitting back up and brushing pine needles from my hair. He shushes me. Then I hear it too; the slow crunch of footsteps on the forest floor. Elias reacts first, bouncing on his feet and drawing his scims as if he isn't in any pain. I crawl off the rock, careful not to make a sound. The knife feels steady in my hand. Villagers? Soldiers? Mask's? Surely the Emperor would send out his prized fighters to recover his prized enemy; Enemies.

"Keep behind me," Elias growls. This time I don't object. He takes a quiet step forward; the forest is frozen around us. The footsteps pause for a moment. Good, maybe they'll turn around. But they start their approach again, this time faster. Elias's breathing evens out and his muscles turn to stone, a warrior preparing for battle.

Shadows cross my vision and come running out of the trees before I have a chance to warn Elias. He turns immediately in their direction, scims raised ready for attack.

"Molly?" I step out from behind Elias. My hood is drawn so and first she doesn't recognize me.

"Laia," she whispers. It's the quietest I've ever heard her. Molly's thin red hair is stuck to her forehead by sweat and her scarves are disheveled around her shoulders. She's panting and based on the condition of her shoes it looks like she ran all the way out here. A snap echoes in the distance and Molly's eyes widen as large as they can possibly go. "Run!"

Then she's off again, sailing past us in a blurry of knit scarves and red hair. I gulp behind Elias. "I think we should follow her," my voice shakes.

But Elias is listening, his fixed in place starting at the forest clearing were something has emerged. Not a something, a person. It takes a step closer into the light and I realize it's only a little girl. Her blonde hair braided in pigtails and her eyes are as blue as the sky. She's wearing a torn up school girl dress, the cloth hanging in threads at the end. She looks normal and innocent, but something is off.

She stares first at Elias, then at me, then back to Elias. Her lips curl up in an unnatural way. "Murder" she whispers in a scratchy voice. The girl is still starring at Elias. Looking unimpressed with the lack of response she says it louder. "Murder!"

Elias flinches but doesn't move. "Murder! Murder!" She's screaming now. "You killed them all. You murdered them all!" Her banshee screaming continues until I have to kneel over on the ground and hold my hands over my ears. "They're dead, all of them! You murdered them dead!"

The little girl takes another step forward, her steps thundering through the forest sending birds fleeing. "You did this! You killed them all dead! Murder!" Elias is still frozen. His breathing is no longer even and a thin sheen of sweat has developed on his brow. Looking satisfied the girl shifts her attention to me. I'm still kneeling on the ground like a coward.

Her mouth opens wide, wider than it should for a normal girl, but she is no normal girl. Before I have time to decide what she is she starts screaming again, this time her words are directed at me. With her first word I'm thrown into a world of blackness.