Chapter 5

Infamous

"You have such a heart of gold, child…" I heard a voice say. I looked around rapidly, searching for the source of the sound, and, eventually, I located a man speaking with a little girl. He looked like her father. I tried to call out to them, but no noise came out of my throat, as if something was blocking the passageway.

"What does that mean, papa?" the little girl asked, holding onto his hand.

"It means that you are very special," he whispered encouragingly. "That you have something that no one else does."

Suddenly, a storm began to brew and rain poured relentlessly. The wind picked up speed and debris began flying everywhere, blocking my view. I could hear the girl shouting for her father but the wind was whistling too loud in my ears to be able to distinguish any words she was saying. I covered my face to protect it from the sticks that flew by in the gusts and, as I turned, I noticed the wind had torn up a tree by its roots behind me, sending it tumbling down towards me…

My eyes shot open and, for a second, I was confused. Am I back at Camp Jade? I thought, but then I felt a blow of air against the back of my neck. My face flushed in embarrassment, realizing again how Zephys and I had slept last night. After a couple more seconds of expected awkwardness, I calmed myself down, and my thoughts drifted elsewhere.

What was that dream about?

Carefully, I sat up in the bed, so not to disturb Zephys's slumber. The arm that had been wrapped around my stomach fell into my lap with a painfully loud thud. Scared that may have woken him up, I quickly glanced over at him, relieved when I saw his eyes were closed peacefully. Then, I found that I couldn't stop staring at his face as he slept. It wasn't as hard and cold as it was when he was awake. He looked like an innocent child…

I sighed, shaking my head to stop the strange thoughts, and lay down on my back again.

"Mmm… stop moving…" Zephys's groggy mumble sent a ripple of worry through me. I could never predict his actions, which made any situation an uneasy one.

I turned my head to face him and watched as his eyelids slowly fluttered open. When he looked at me, his eyes widened and he immediately pulled his arms away from my waist, almost sending himself tumbling off the bed and onto the floor. Before his face turned away from me, I saw his cheeks turn a touch pink.

After his gauche reaction, my face warmed and I knew I was blushing as well. In order to break the silence that plagued us so often, I said, "Good morning, Zephys."

"We need to keep moving," he responded, agitated. "They'll probably be able to track us here if we stay too long."

I blinked and nodded, more than a little relieved that he had blatantly avoided a conversation about the previous occurrence.

Zephys slipped on his protective vest, strapping on hilts for his katana and his knife. He threw his cape around himself then turned to face me. "Are you ready to go?"

I stood up and looked at myself in the mirror. It wasn't the prettiest sight, but there wasn't much I could do about it at this point. I combed my hair and tied half of it back into a ponytail, and then I grabbed my belt and strapped it around my stomach, latching on the money pouch as well. Lastly, I slid the pendant of my necklace to the middle of my chest. When I turned to walk towards Zephys, he had an irritated look on his face.

"Let's go," he muttered.

We both walked out of the room together and back out onto the city streets. The sun wasn't very high in the sky, just an hour or so past dawn. Everyone was already out and about on the streets.

Zephys moved briskly through the streets, weaving in and out of people with ease. I kept bumping into them, however, so I began to lag behind him. In an effort to keep up with him, I reached out and grabbed on to the top of his arm. He didn't show any reaction to it, so I held on, taking his lack of response as affirmation to keep doing so.

As we continued, I started to notice some strange stares from the public as we walked by them, many people taking double looks with narrowed eyes.

"Uh… Zephys?" I whispered.

"What?" He responded irritably.

"Everyone is looking at us strangely." I gestured to the glare from a mother who passed by with her children, feeling a little hurt when I saw her pull them closer to her body protectively.

Zephys quickened his pace and soon we reached a tree that stood in the middle of the square. As we neared, I noticed a few papers attached to the bark. Then, Zephys's body stiffened.

"Oh my god." I drew my breath in sharply when I saw a picture of myself nailed to the tree. Wanted for treason by Draehkim's Army: Luna Aurelia. Reward: Riches to last you a lifetime. "Aurelia…" I murmured, recognizing the name as my own.

"Wear my cape." Zephys placed his cape around my shoulders and flipped the hood up over my head a little more forcefully than necessary. "We need to hide your face… Hurry."

I was much shorter than Zephys so his cape dragged on the ground behind me as I chased after him. Once we reached the edge of the city, I noticed a long dirt road that led into the mountains in front of us.

When I looked at Zephys, he was clutching the wanted poster tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning a foreboding white. The city began to grow distant from us but, suddenly, Zephys grabbed me fiercely by the shoulder and pinned me against a nearby tree.

"Zephys…!" I gasped at the vicious actions, which were made worse by the pain that came from slamming against the bark of the tree. "What are you—?"

Still holding me with one arm, he held up the wanted poster. "Luna…" he growled, staring into my eyes. "What the hell is this?"

"I-I don't know!" I squeaked, unable to maintain eye contact with his severe blue gaze.

"Why are you wanted by Draehkim?!" He shouted ferociously at me, causing my body to begin shaking.

"I-I…" Tears stung at the corners of my eyes. "Zephys… I can't r-remember… please…"

"It says you committed treason! That's a serious crime!"

"I-I don't know! I can't remember a-anything."

"STOP LYING TO ME!" He pushed me harder against the tree. "You have to know something!"

"Zephys…!" I pleaded.

Sighing, he released me and turned to walk down the path again. "If I weren't on direct orders to protect you…" he grumbled, not finishing his sentence.

I blinked, shocked, and inhaled deeply to recover from the airtight hold Zephys previously had on me. I was struggling to comprehend the drastic difference between his actions now and last night.

"All you've done is create unnecessary problems. Because of you some great men may be dead."

His words felt like they grabbed my heart and crushed it as hard as they could. "Why are you so cruel, Zephys?" I whispered, wiping the tears that fell from my eyes. "I thought… last night…" Maybe you had begun to open up to me. I finished the sentence in my head.

Zephys frowned and looked towards the mountain. "I needed a good night's sleep so that I can follow my orders and protect you," his eyes hardened as he spoke. "If you continued crying, I never would have fallen asleep."

I stopped walking and stood silently, not wanting to continue with him. After a couple more steps, he turned and looked at me.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't want to go with you," I said angrily.

"Don't be a stupid child," he rolled his eyes irritably. "You will not survive without me. They'll find you within a day."

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. However, I remained still.

"Stop wasting my time." Zephys turned and began walking towards me again. His stomping suddenly made me become frightened and I flinched as he gripped my wrist. "Kayif, Heroth, and Areck may have given their lives to save you. And to repay them, you're being an immature little…" He inhaled deeply and let go of my wrist. He raised a hand to his temple and rubbed it.

I tried to maintain my composure, but his words clawed at my heart. Finally, I took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry… Zephys."

He let out a sigh and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry," I repeated.

"I heard you." His frown became less severe, and I felt the tension of the situation loosen.

"I-I'm sorry," I said hastily. "I'm just really s—"

"Stop." Zephys began to walk down the path. "Let's just… go."

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