The night had passed uneventfully, Knox's shift had ended and he and Mara where relieved from duty by Trask and Vanessa. Knox had not found it difficult to sleep, his sleeping bag had been warm and cozy, and everything was strangely quiet, not even Tempest made a sound. Sleep overtook Knox quickly.
The morning was cold, Mara had helped Tanu make a fire while Trask retrieved everyone's coats out of the knapsack. Knox had decided he would not leave his sleeping bag until it was time for them to get up and moving. Warren caught on to what he was doing and joined him in his challenge. They had both looked like ridiculous caterpillars as they joined the others for breakfast. Knox had done a weird caterpillar crawl while Warren managed to get to his feet and do a sort of weird bunny hop.
Vanessa rolled her eyes at the sight of her approaching finance, Kendra and Bracken snickered at the approaching human caterpillars. Warren had been about 10 feet away from Vanessa when he lost his balance, face planted, and chipped his tooth on a rock. Vanessa proceeded to yell at him for being an idiot. Bracken had taken away the pain and managed to heal some of Warren's tooth with his unicorn magic.
Tanu and Mara whipped up a breakfast of trail mix and canned fruit. Trask had denied them s'mores, he had said they could have some after dinner. Knox had found breakfast surprisingly filling and he was still cold but his thick jacket helped. The fire was also warm and welcoming, they had all huddled together during breakfast trying to conserve warmth.
After that they set off at a quick pace trying to cover a lot of ground, Knox had enjoyed the first few hours until his legs started to get tired but no one else was complaining so he had kept his mouth shut, with the exception of asking questions about the various animals they saw. They hiked for about 5 hours before stopping for a lunch, everyone sat in a circle munching on sandwiches when Vanessa broke the silence,
"How did Rex Montem know we were at the castle? Did the Sphinx tell him then run to the giant queen or does he have an accomplice?" Everyone froze, Knox could tell that none of them had thought about that.
"Do you think Ronodin might be here?" Kendra asked timidly.
"Ronodin?" Mara asked clearly astounded and shocked.
"Did they not tell you that Ronodin has resurfaced and is causing us most displeasure?" Trask asked Mara.
"No, someone, left that out during my debriefing," Mara answered she glared at Tanu,
"I did not want to freak you out while your mental and physical health was still so fragile." Tanu apologized, Mara rose to her feet and still glaring at Tanu.
"Just because I was on my freaking deathbed does not mean you can withhold that the villain of my childhood has resurfaced." Mara countered, frustration and anger rising in her voice,
"Well, Ronodin is back and on the move now more than ever, what more do you want me to say?" Tanu returned, rising to his feet almost matching Mara's impressive height.
"How do you know Ronodin?" Kendra asked trying to break up the argument, Knox was curious about that but not surprised, it seemed that Mara knew everything about the magical world.
"Ronodin is the kinda guy that my parents would use as a threat; don't do that or Ronodin might come after you; come inside Ronodin might be on the prowl tonight. He is someone we all knew, and all of us feared, some could not even utter his name. If you fear for my mental health and the strain on my heart Tanu, please, alert me about my childhood nightmare when I am not out in the middle of nowhere in a dangerous area with rumors that you know who might be around." Mara responded while glaring at Tanu her dark eyes fixed and unblinking,
" There is no use working yourself up about it now," Trask added gently, Mara ripped her gaze from Tanu and fixed her eyes on the ground,
"You're right Trask, there is no use working myself up," Mara admitted, sitting back down on to the grass, drawing her knees up to her chest, she was still refusing to look at Tanu, she was staring at a particular piece of grass like it was responsible for all her frustration.
"If Ronodin is here we can't afford to be arguing, I know that the past couple days have been stressful but try to keep your tempers in check please." Bracken requested, Trask nodded, Mara gave a sigh she rubbed her fist into her forehead pressing her knuckles deep into skin as if she was trying to keep her skull in place. Knox saw Mara trying to keep the pain and frustration off her face but she was failing, Tanu was watching with concern, but did not move in yet, Trask rose to his feet and walked over to stand near Mara, he crouched and put his hand on her shoulder when he did not receive any response.
"Headache, I feel faint," Mara said, not further elaborating, Trask looked to Tanu, who—from what Knox could tell— was trying to diagnose the source of Mara's discomfort. The only guess Knox had concerning Mara was that she was still suffering grief from her injuries she sustained at Jade falls but why when they stopped and why not when they had been hiking? Trask knelt and put two of his fingers on the base of Mara's neck to check her pulse, he was silent for a minute,
"Are you ok?" He asked,
"Just give me a second, I don't feel so good all of the sudden," Mara murmured, Trask took his hand off Mara's neck and started to stroke her hair, starting at the apex of her head and working his way down massaging the skin. They sat in silence,
"Who taught you that one," Mara muttered leaning into Trask's touch, Trask had no reply he continued to silently stroke her hair. "I hate to break up this moment, but, Mara can you stand? We should be getting moving," Warren commented, Vanessa punched him lightly on the shoulder,
" I think I need to rest, I will ride Tempest," Mara whispered, her voice now raspy and breathy. Tanu nodded and walked the griffin to Mara, Trask helped Mara struggle to her feet then on to the griffin. ############################################
Kendra walked next to Bracken, holding his hand. That afternoon had been weird she had never seen Tanu and Mara argue, thinking about it Kendra had never heard Mara argue with anyone Mara was always so quiet and reserved. Though Kendra saw Mara's reasons for getting upset, Kendra would also want the full story about what she was going up against no matter how badly she was injured, though Kendra had been curios why arguing had zapped everything out of Mara, she had been fine earlier during their walk, but then she had gone downhill rapidly.
Tanu had explained that it was from a rapid heart rate, he explained that because of Mara's blood loss her heart had to beat faster to pump blood to her vitals when she argued her heart rate went up dangerously higher. That was also why Tanu had neglected to tell Mara about Ronodin. If Mara's heart went too fast Tanu explained, she could have a heart attack or stroke that would likely kill her. Kendra had thought that Tanu had not made a smart move to neglect to tell Mara about the dark unicorn, but, she now saw why Tanu did what he did. Kendra was not eager for Mara to die either.
Kendra looked to Mara who sat astride Tempest, she had not spoken since this afternoon, Kendra did not know if this was the silent treatment or just tense Mara, sometimes it was hard to tell. Mara had not been chatty even before she had lost almost everything. Kendra was wondering if Bracken had seen inside Mara's mind yet to try and see what attacked her.
"I looked inside Mara's mind this morning," Bracken whispered to Kendra, almost as if he had read her mind.
"What, when?" Kendra asked, her curiosity now peaked
"It took some coaxing, she doesn't trust me a ton. But I managed to convince her right after breakfast as everyone was getting ready to start moving."
"What did you see?" Kendra asked
"Things that belong in nightmares, Trask did not exaggerate anything that happened at Jade Falls, if anything he made it sound better than it really was. I am shocked that Mara is still alive, she was very lucky that Trask regained consciousness when he did, Mara had truly been on her deathbed. She made me promise not to tell the whole story to anyone, I think she did not want more fuss from Tanu. She wants to be independent but she needs rigorous care honestly, I think Mara should have stayed back at Fablehaven" Bracken fell quiet
"Is there anything you can do for her?" Kendra asked,
"Her physical injuries are probably curable, but might lead to future disability or chronic pain, her mental wounds are irreversible," Bracken responded, Kendra felt a stab of pity for Mara, no one should have to go through all of that it was simply unfair,
"I feel the same way," Bracken said, Kendra blinked and looked down at her hand, her fingers intertwined with Bracken's and realized that he was reading her mind,
"Hey! Cheater!" Kendra exclaimed, but she did not pull her hand away, she did not mind Bracken reading her mind at the moment.
"Thanks," Bracken said, Kendra blinked again Bracken was still reading her mind, Kendra decided to try thinking in Silvian and see if it worked. Kendra focused and switched her thinking to the fairy language, "The clouds are pretty today." Kendra thought, trying to be simple so she could focus on switching languages.
"Good work, Kendra," Bracken praised Kendra assumed that that meant it had worked,
"Would people listening to my thoughts hear Silvian," Kendra through switching back to Silvian and directing her thought to Bracken
"Yes," Bracken's voice entered her head, Kendra realized that he was speaking telepathically
" Sweet," Kendra thought back, now she and Bracken could have long-secret conversations though Kendra would have to be careful with her thoughts, Kendra imagined how horrified Kendra would be if Bracken found about the time she kissed Warren or when she met Bracken and thought he was super cute and... Kendra froze looking down at her hand in horror, her fingers were still intertwined around Brackens. Bracken burst out laughing at the horrified look on Kendra's face. Kendra yanked her hand away from Bracken's mortified and ashamed at her carelessness
"It is ok, I won't tell anyone," Bracken promised, trying to keep his face sober. Kendra put her face in her hands, she would seriously have to watch herself next time. This was probably the most embarrassing to ever happen to her, Kendra severely hoped she was not blushing. Kendra and Bracken resumed walking and walked in silence for a while. #################################################
Knox found out that he did not enjoy hiking for hours on end, he hadn't even seen any dragons which Mara had said was a good sign. Knox had seen this weird horned rabbit with wings that Mara had said was a wolpertinger. He had thought she had been joking about the name of the strange creature until Trask confirmed Mara's information so either this was the most convincing group joke ever or that creature had truly gotten the short end of the stick when it came for getting a name.
Knox had stuck with Mara for most of the hike walking alongside Tempest, sometimes Mara had offered him a ride up on Tempest, most of the time Knox had accepted her offer and either sat behind or in front of Mara on the griffin. Mara didn't talk a lot, she would answer any question Knox asked but would always fall silent after. She had been pale the whole afternoon her skin pasty, and light.
"The sun is starting to do down," Trask observed,
"Do you think we should make camp for the night?" Tanu asked
"Yes, we don't want to be moving around after dark, see that overhang, let's camp there," Trask said, Knox scanned the area for the cleft Trask was talking about, after a second of searching Knox spotted a small overhang coming off of a large hill the overhang was sheltered and hard to spot between the dense trees and undergrowth, it was the perfect place to camp that would keep them hidden and out of any rain or snow.
Trask made a fire while Tanu got stuff for dinner, they ended up eating sandwiches again. Tanu also prepared some hot chocolate, it was rich and creamy. S'mores were made, Knox and Tanu would simply set theirs on fire then eat them charred, Kendra and Vanessa waited patiently toasting their's golden brown. Bracken tried to get golden brown but ended up burning all of his. Kendra offered to toast Bracken a marshmallow, and he graciously accepted.
"Do you want a s'more Mara? I can ask Trask for another roasting stick." Knox offered Mara, she was leaning against a large rock scanning the surrounding area, only her eyes moved if she just stared straight forward she could have been a statue or a brown-tinted shadow because of her dark clothing and skin.
"Thanks for the offer Knox, but I am good," Mara responded, here eyes never stopped moving and her body never moved. "You're sure?" Knox questioned,
"Yes, I am thinking of retiring soon."
"I mean you could, but you would have to complete this mission first and you seem to still be in your prime," Knox muttered, Mara looked at him with confusion, then she started to laugh, her laugh was musical and light, basically the polar opposite of her voice.
"By retire, I meant to go to sleep not quit the knights," Mara answered after her laughing had subsided, that made a whole lot more sense to Knox now.
"When are we on watch tonight?" Knox asked,
"She is not going to have a watch shift tonight," Trask stated as he strode up to Knox and Mara.
"What, why?" Knox and Mara asked in unison.
"Because you need rest Mara, you have barely slept for three weeks and I don't want your judgment impaired by lack of sleep, Bracken volunteered for an extra shift so you can't argue," Trask answered,
"Tell Bracken he can sleep I can do my shift tonight," Mara countered
"Please Mara, I am really worried about you, I don't want anything to happen to you because I wasn't careful with your health." Trask pleaded, stepping forward and putting his hand on Mara's shoulder, Mara's eyes softened and her shoulders slumped.
"Fine," Mara sighed, Trask nodded not saying anything more. Knox felt like he wasn't supposed to be part of this conversation so he tried to blend into the shadows trying not to be noticed.
Trask turned to Knox, "You will probably want to turn in soon, Knox you do not have the night off," Trask said, affirming Knox's suspicion that he would not have the night off like Mara. Though Knox was not jealous of her Knox would rather be up for a few hours in the night than be in Mara's shoes any day of the week.
###############################
Seth approached the large island in the canoe he had used before. The leviathan had announced their arrival at Titan valley not long ago but the shores were to shallow for the leviathan to get any closer. So, Seth got a workout trying to paddle the boat to shore.
Seth had gathered some of the food from inside the leviathan and put some in his bag that Kendra had called his emergency kit. Calvin currently sat on his shoulder giving Seth advice and encouragement.
"You are almost there only about another 30 yards!" Calvin exclaimed. Seth looked up. Calvin was right, seeing his proximity to the island Seth rowed with renewed vigor, now that Seth was closer he could see the shore more clearly, the shore was covered in white stone instead of sand, the shore was a rocky landscape for about half a mile until it faded into a lush forest. Seth could see large mountains in the distance. Seth had no idea where Humbuggle's castle was located and it appeared that he had quite the hunt ahead of him. Movement on the shoreline attracted Seth's attention. Seth's jaw dropped, and his eyes widened. On the shore staring right at him, wearing a smirk, stood Ronodin.