Golden thorns chapter 47

It was midday by the time they got to the road. They emerged from the treeline to find themselves on a wide asphalt strip stretching as far as they could see in both directions. Weeds and tree roots grew out through cracks in the road and a dry, dusty wind blew through the air. A pale sun filtered down through the grey, overcast sky and the air still bore the frosty chill of that morning. Coran's spirits, which had been seriously flagging, were lifted at this emergence into the open air and he felt a genuine smile cross his face for the first time that day. He closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath of the sharp, refreshing air and he felt a wave of clarity wash over his mind.

"Was anyone else really starting to hate that forest?" he asked, opening his eyes again.

"I know what you mean," Devlyn responded, "it felt like we were never going to get out."

"Hey, Azura. How far are we from the mine?"

"Well it took us all morning to get here, we came in at an angle…" she paused for thought, making geometric shapes with her hands. "It should be another six miles. It appears that we suffered quite the detour back in the woods there."

"Well at least it's going to be easier to move now." Jo said, taking a few strides to the east.

"Yes, but we're more exposed out here. If anything's lurking in the tree line we are not going to be able to hide." Azura said as she scanned their surroundings.

"We're not totally incapable you know."

"I hope we don't have to test that statement, Johanna."

"You really do have an affinity towards the dramatic, don't you?" said Devlyn.

"I like to keep things interesting. Now let's keep moving."

Once they got on to the road, their progress was much swifter. The more stable ground meant that Coran could fall into a rhythm, allowing him to distract his mind from the pain in his leg by observing his surroundings. The weather remained unchanged and the persistent cloud cast pale shadows onto everything. For most of the time they did not speak unnecessarily for fear of discovery by the creatures of Grimm, but eventually, after many hours without any sight or sound, even the cautious Azura relented and joined the hushed conversation. Marie jogged to catch up to Coran and walked next to him, matching his pace.

"Hey, Coran. How are you holding up?" she asked brightly, but not without concern. He realised that they hadn't actually spoken one-to-one in at least two weeks.

"Not gonna lie, it hurts but I'm coping. It got quite bad about half a mile back but I've been feeding it a little of my Aura ever since and the going's a bit easier. How're you doing? Those are some real shiners you've got there," he asked, gesturing at her colourfully bruised arm. "Hard landing?"

"It was a little. I was expecting to grab a solid tree, but the branch was rotten and it broke as I took hold of it."

"Well I guess you could say that that was some… rotten luck…" he grinned at her, feeling somewhat pleased with himself. However, he was somewhat deflated when he saw her unimpressed expression and heard Devlyn quietly say "boo…" from up ahead.

"Sorry," he continued, "I guess Yang is beginning to rub off on me." He gave a half-hearted chuckle and she grinned suddenly.

"Don't let Devlyn hear you say that or he might get the wrong idea. I am not sure that the team would be able to cope with the rivalry." This was accompanied by another shout from Devlyn, this time in protest and using language that he would never have used if Azura really had worked at Beacon.

"It's okay bro, we're just winding you up. Again." Coran said, before turning his attention back to his partner. "And speaking of getting lucky, you looked like you were having fun at the dance the other night." She blushed and looked down as if to hide her smile.

"Yes, it was... Fun. How did you find it?" she asked evasively.

"I… left early." When she looked up at him with a raised eyebrow he stuttered an answer, "Oh you know me. Too many people being social in too small a space, not exactly my element."