One of my favorite chapters is coming up soon... THE chapter?

Chapter 7

A Special Nurse

The sun peeked in through the entrance of the cave. The walls dripped from the slight moisture of the misty rainfall. A young woman knelt by a man, his head lying peacefully in her lap. She had a look of pain on her face. Not from aching, but from sadness. A single tear fell from her cheek and landed on the face of the man she was holding.

When he noticed, he reached up to touch her face gently. He forced a smile onto his face, and his other hand held weakly onto a wound in his side, which had spread blood down his clothing.

"Stop crying," his weak voice murmured, "it doesn't hurt very much."

"Please, father," a woman's voice sobbed, "don't waste your energy…"She reached her hand up to grab the man's hand from her cheek. She gripped it tightly and closed her eyes.

"There's nothing you can do."

"I'll bridge the worlds to bring you back." Tears were choking up the woman's voice. She was fighting them back the best she could, trying her best to be strong for her father. "I swear. I don't know what I'll do without you."

"No," the man said soothingly, "please let myself, and the world, be at peace. You know the cost of trying to find me again. Let me be with your mother."

The woman inhaled sharply, and the floodgates she'd built burst, letting tears stream from her eyes and down her cheeks. "I'll miss you every day." She leaned over and kissed his forehead. "I love you, father."

"I love you, too…"

Something cool touched my forehead and, slowly, my eyes opened.

"Mmm…" I sighed, adjusting to the light. "Zeph…"

Immediately, a figure was before my eyes.

"Luna!" Zephys reached his hand to my head and pushed back some of my hair. "You're awake."

I looked down at my arm, which was wrapped in a sling that reached around my neck, and I could feel a bandage wrapped around my skull. When I tried to sit up, I felt a hand push with a gentle, but strong, force against my shoulder and lay me back down on the bed.

"Don't move," Zephys said worriedly. "You hit your head pretty hard."

"Wh… where am I…?" I mumbled, still dazed from my injuries.

"You fell in the woods and hurt yourself a couple days ago," he said, frowning. "I set up camp in a small clearing deep in the woods." He rubbed the side of my arm delicately, something that felt strange coming from him. "Just relax and worry about getting better."

"What… what if someone…"

"Don't worry," Zephys reassured me. "I'll protect you. Drink some water." He held a small cup to my mouth and poured in a small sip. The water ran down my throat, cooling off the uncomfortable, dry sensation that came from a parched mouth, and I sighed happily. "You can go back to sleep if you'd like."

I nodded and leaned my head back. For some reason, as Zephys stood up to walk out the tent's entrance, I felt myself reach out and grasp his wrist his wrist frantically. "Please… stay here," I murmured. With my eyes barely opened, I watched as Zephys sat back down next to my bed, and, comforted by his presence, I fell back asleep.

"Luna."

My eyes opened, and I saw Zephys sitting by my bedside, holding a bowl.

"You need to eat something. You've been in bed for almost a week."

I tried to sit up, but I flinched from the pain. Zephys's hand supported my back and helped me up. He handed me the bowl, which was full of what looked like discolored soup. I took a small sip.

YUCK! I almost said it out loud, but thankfully I was able to stifle the shout of distaste. The spices were mixed horribly and it tasted like dirt. I tried not to show it on my face, but Zephys noticed.

"I'm sorry," he said, cheeks turning pink. "I'm not much of a cook."

"No." I smiled at him. Now was not the time to be picky about food. "It's great. Thank you."

Zephys grunted and cast his eyes away. I could tell just from his actions that he was uncomfortable with my praise.

"I'm sorry," I sighed after a short silence.

"What?" He looked back at me, confused. "Why are you sorry?"

"For causing this problem." I used my good arm to gesture to myself as a whole, a pained smile on my lips.

Zephys stiffened, and turned away. "Don't be ridiculous."

"I guess I'm just a klutz," I laughed meekly.

Instead of responding, Zephys just turned back to me and held out his hand, "You need to try standing to get some exercise. Don't worry," he added when he saw my face, "I'll support you. Just lean on me." He wrapped his arm around my waist and helped me up.

My head pounded furiously at the feeling of his arm around my body. Whether it was from his touch or the pain of my injuries, when I rose, my knees buckled underneath me almost immediately. Luckily, Zephys was there to keep me standing.

"We need to figure out why there are people after you," he muttered in a tone that I thought sounded angry.

"Yeah… I guess that would be kind of nice." I forced a laugh and began to stride separately from Zephys. Slowly, very slowly, I walked outside the tent and into the clearing. The sun made me squint and enhanced my headache slightly, but it was nice to feel its warmth again. I turned to face Zephys, who quickly looked away. My eyes widened, nervous that there was something wrong. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing."

"I saw you looking at me."

"Th-the sun," Zephys stammered. "it… compliments your, ah, face… quite well." His face turned bright red, and he looked at the ground, kicking a loose pebble off to the side like a small child.

His words were so shocking I struggled to find a response to them, and the pounding of my heart in my ears didn't help me at all. "Th-Thank you, Zephys." I tried to mask it, but my heart fluttered. What was that? I thought, looking down at myself, Kayif had complimented me many times at Camp Jade… But I had never reacted this way before. I felt my cheeks flush red, so I turned to the side slightly, hoping that would help mask it. "Where are we headed after this?"

"I'm not sure," he said truthfully.

"Oh," I said, kind of let down. Am I going to live the rest of my life on the run from these men I've never seen? I couldn't help but frown. I can't be happy constantly living in fear that someone will try to kill me…

"I'm going to hunt for food." Zephys said gruffly. He turned and threw a knife at the ground in front of me. "Use this to protect yourself while I'm gone. No one should find us, but it's good to be cautious. Especially with your luck." With those words of advice, he walked out of camp and into the woods.

After I picked up the knife, I stood silently for a few minutes, absorbing the sun's rays some more. I looked around, holding my sun pendant tightly in my uninjured hand. Vines danced along the surface of boulders that lined one side of the clearing. There was very little color besides various greens, browns, and grays. A slight breeze caused leaves high up in trees to wave back and forth.

The shriek of a hawk pierced the silence and I watched as it circled overhead. I squinted when I realized that it seemed to be flying right above me. Slowly, I backed towards the tent and, suddenly, the hawk dove down towards me.

"Oh, no." I couldn't run. Not in the physical state I was in.

The hawk continued its pursuit of me, and my heartbeat quickened to a rapid pace, frightened. Where is Zephys?

In the end, the hawk simply landed just a few feet in front of me. I looked closer and realized that a note was latched on to its claw. I stepped forward, bent down, and reached my hand out to grab the paper. The hawk didn't resist, so I snatched it off. As I opened it, I read:

Luna!

Don't worry about us anymore. Thanks to Kayif's stealth, we were able to escape the forces of Draehkim's men. You can't get rid of us that easy, Luna. We've also uncovered some information regarding your past. Tell Zephys that he can find us at the Orhaven and to get here as soon as possible.

I hope you think about me as much as I think about you. I miss seeing your beautiful smile.

Heroth says hello.

Love, Areck

Relief flowed through me. I couldn't contain the joy I felt. They were alive! I smiled at the letter, folded it up, and slipped it into my dress.

Unsure of what to do with myself now, I decided to head for the tent to start preparing some spices from the bag of supplies Zephys had bought. As I opened the bag, I realized it was going to be difficult to cook with one hand. Sighing, I leaned back onto my bed. I was frustrated I couldn't be helpful, but I also felt a twinge of embarrassment that I had been so terrified of a little hawk.

While I passed the time, I took out the letter from my dress and reread it multiple times, blissful that my friends were alive. I anxiously awaited Zephys's return so I could share the good news about the letter with him. It was a huge weight off both of our shoulders.

After a few more hours, I heard some footsteps from outside the tent.

"Zephys?" I called.

Soon, the curtains were pulled back, and Zephys stepped in. Sweat dripped from his forehead, but he failed to look tired at all.

"Zephys!" I smiled brightly. "They're alive!"

"What?" He looked at me, confused.

"Kayif and the others!" I threw my good arm around his neck happily.

His body froze from its contact with mine, but Zephys's face still remained the same. "How do you know?"

"Areck sent a letter." I took it out from my dress and handed it to Zephys. "Look."

As he read the letter, he eyes softened. However, his frown deepened when he reached the end. He bent the letter carefully and tucked it into his belt. Afterwards, he folded his arms across his chest, looking concerned.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"They are quite a long distance from here. We've been traveling in the opposite direction of the base by the sea." He reached out and ran his thumb along my head. "It'll be hard to travel in this state."

"I can do it," I assured him. "If we take it slow. Plus," I added in, smiling up at Zephys, "you have orders to protect me, so I'm sure you wouldn't want to let Kayif down."

Zephys nodded seriously, and his eyes met mine. "Let's get some sleep. We'll head out at dawn when it's cool." He walked over to his bed and lay down in it.

I sat down on my bed too, wrapping Zephys's cape around me tightly. My mind wandered, excited about seeing Kayif, Areck, and Heroth again. I was restless to learn what Kayif had found out about my past, yet, at the same time, I was worried. What if it is something terrible? I thought, frightened, What if they turn their backs to me? The thoughts kept me up for a large part of the night.

I could hear Zephys's deep breathing, telling me that he had already fallen into a deep sleep. Sighing, I sat up, flinching slightly at the pain from my injuries. I slowly stood up and walked out of the tent. The light of the moon shined rays on the moss, causing them to glisten. The cool air blew my hair back slightly, and I tightened Zephys's cape over my arms to keep me warm.

I thought back to the dream I had while I was recovering. I had almost forgotten most of it by now, but I still could see the blood that caked the man's abdomen. What did it mean? I thought, wondering. However, I shrugged. It's just a dream, I thought reassuringly, it probably didn't mean anything. But why does it feel so strange?