Chapter 14

Destination

"We'll be riding our horses to the Redfield Springs," Kayif said.

He had brought all the others, along with myself, to the stable. There were many horses inside and I started to worry. I had never learned how to ride a horse, or, at least, I didn't remember ever learning. I stood next to Zephys, our arms barely touching, but he must have felt me shake in worry because he spoke up.

"Luna lost her memory, Kayif," he said worriedly. "I don't think she should bear the burden of trying to ride a horse on her own."

"You're right." Kayif turned to me and flashed a smile. "She can ride with someone."

"Ride with m—" Areck began.

"She can ride with me." Zephys placed his hand on my shoulder and pulled me towards him.

I looked at Areck, who had a defeated look on his face, and I felt a little bad. But I was much happier to be in the protection of Zephys. He had done a good job so far, so I trusted him.

"Everyone change into these." Kayif threw a bag of clothing on the ground in front of us all. "They're clothes similar to what Draehkim's men wear. We need to blend into the surroundings in order to infiltrate the Central Empire. Luna, wear a cape and scarf. We need to cover as much as you as we can so that you aren't recognized there."

I nodded and took a cape from the bag, throwing it around my shoulders. I flipped a scarf around my neck as well, drawing it above my mouth and nose.

All the others quickly changed into the outfits Kayif had chosen for them. Then, they all mounted their horses.

"Take my hand, Luna." Zephys extended his hand to me and when I took it, he hoisted me up in front of him on the horse. He kept one arm around me while still holding the reins in the other.

Being tucked into him like this, I couldn't help but smile. I brought the hood of the cape over my head and nuzzled against Zephys, listening to his steady heartbeat.

We set out quickly, the horses trotting along a dirt path.

"According to where you pointed on the map, we should be nearing the springs at any time now," Kayif called back to me.

We had been riding for hours nonstop. We left before the sun had even risen, and now it was almost set. The maids had packed plenty of food to last us the day, as well as water. There was no need to pause to eat or drink. I found myself enjoying the times when Zephys got hungry, because I got to feed him whatever snacks I had in the bag one of the maids gave me.

"Do you know where we are going, Luna?" Kayif slowed the pace of his horse to fall back in line with Zephys's.

I sat up straighter so I could see my surroundings better. The trees that loomed over us didn't bring back any more memories and I started to stress out. What if I led them here for no reason? I thought fearfully, What if I was wrong? Just as I thought this, something caught my eye. A smooth gray boulder was just a few yards ahead of us. "That boulder…" I whispered, and then pointed to it. "Head in that direction. I remember."

Everyone pulled their reins to lead their horses in that direction. As we moved through the path, memories of walking this same path came flooding back.

"I remember…" I said in a low voice.

"What do you remember?" Zephys looked down at me.

"I used to walk around here all the time… this is where I grew up." I could feel a headache starting, so I tried to push away the pain. "My brother and I…" I closed my eyes, and, suddenly, the face of my brother appeared in my imagination. I remember! I felt my eyes fill with tears, gleeful I regained part of my memory. I hugged Zephys tightly, trying to share my joy.

"It's beautiful here…" Zephys gazed around at the scenery.

"There it is!" I cried and pointed to a set of vines fell like a door.

Kayif, along with Heroth, dismounted from his horse and walked over to inspect it. When he pushed back the vines, my heart sank. There was just another boulder beneath the vines. It was smooth, except for a small indent in the middle of it. As I drew closer to it, I realized it had the shape of a sun.

"Wait." I squinted at the indent. I began to get off the horse and Zephys quickly jumped off first in order to help me down. I walked on the dirt towards the boulder, eyeing the shape. My necklace… I glanced down at the pendant around my neck. It had the same form as the one on the boulder. Slowly, I lifted the sun pendant and placed it into the indent. Before I could react, an incredible pain pierced me and I collapsed to the ground. Instantly, I blacked out.

When my eyes opened again, I saw Kayif, Heroth and Areck staring at me. Someone was holding me. When I looked, it was Zephys who gazed at me with a concerned face. I rubbed my temples with my fingers and sighed.

"What happened?" I murmured.

"You passed out," Kayif said nervously and placed his hand on my head. "You haven't even been out for more than a minute." Then, his eyes flashed to something behind me, and he said, "Look!"

When Zephys and I turned around, my eyes widened in surprise. The boulder beneath the vines had completely vanished! There was now a dark tunnel, which I assumed led to Redfield Springs. I looked at Zephys and moved to place my feet on the ground. He let me stand alone, but he still held tightly onto my hand.

Almost instantly, I heard the sound of hooves against the ground and I tensed. Someone was coming!

"We need to hide." Kayif looked around and pointed. "Behind these hedges, let's go!"

All of us quickly ran behind the bushes, which, luckily, were large enough to conceal the horses as well. Everyone crunched down as low to the ground as possible.

Zephys drew me close to him, wrapping me in his embrace.

Soon, a large group of men appeared on the path in front of us. One was dressed differently than the others.

"General Ghath, look!" One of the men pointed to the area where the boulder used to be.

"The boulder…" The man who I presumed to be General Ghath reached through the vines, waving his hand around as if to assure himself the boulder was actually gone. "The entrance to Redfield has been opened… This can only mean one thing-" He brought his hand to his chin, "-Miss Aurelia has returned to the Central Empire. We must bring Draehkim here immediately." After those words, Ghath turned to his men and then marched off in the opposite direction.

Once they were out of sight for a long time, Kayif spoke urgently, "Now's our chance to find the Golden Heart and get out before anyone can notice us."

All the men, except Zephys, stood up and ran with Kayif to the entrance of the tunnel. Zephys stayed next to me. For some reason, I couldn't get myself to move.

"Luna…" He brought his hand to my face and turned it to look at him. "What's wrong?"

"I…" I met his gaze. "How come I'm the only one who could open the entrance? Why can't I remember…?"

Zephys pulled me towards him and kissed my forehead tenderly. He brought my head to his chest and said softly, "It's okay. You don't need to worry. We're all here to protect you no matter what."

I felt relaxed after his words. I nodded and, together, we walked through the tunnel. It was dark for a while, but, eventually, it opened up to a crystal clear pond. Around it, gorgeous flowers spanning from every color in the rainbow circled. Somehow, even though there was no sun, these flowers managed to thrive. The curves of the water reflected onto the ceiling of the cave, creating a stunning display of blue. It all was so familiar.

Heroth, Areck, Kayif, and Zephys raced around the small cave, searching frantically for the Golden Heart. There was no sign of it anywhere and I was starting to worry.

"It's not here." Areck was the one to break the silence.

"It has to be!" I cried, running over to him.

"They must have already taken it." Heroth walked up beside us, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"No…" I shook my head.

"It's not your fault," Heroth said reassuringly.

"There's no way they could have gotten to it before us!" I switched my gaze from Heroth to Areck. "Don't you see? I was the only one able to open the entrance to get into here. They couldn't have gotten in here without me…"

"She's right." Kayif made his way towards us, looking apprehensive. "It doesn't make sense." He thought for a second, and then tensed. "We've go to get out of here." With that, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me along into a run, shouting back to the others, "Let's go!" We raced through the tunnel together and, soon, we were back at the entrance.

The forest was silent. My heart was pounding in fear. What was going on? Where is the Golden Heart? My eyes shot around nervously, trying to think of an explanation. Just thinking the words made my head hurt. I crumpled down and Zephys caught my elbow.

"Luna…" He brought me back to my feet.

"I… I think I need to… r-rest." The pain in my head made me feel dizzy, causing me to waver a little. I fell against Zephys's sturdy chest.

"There's a town nearby," Kayif said, walking towards Zephys and me. "We can spend the night in an inn there."

I took a step forward, but Zephys pulled me back and lifted me in his arms. I sighed, thankful for his support. When I glanced around, Kayif was looking at me with a small smile on his face. Too tired to think anything of it, I seized this chance to rest, safe in Zephys's hold. I must have been out for more than a few minutes, because I woke suddenly from the sound of Zephys's voice.

"Luna, we're almost at the inn." He placed me on the ground and adjusted the hood over my head.

In response to this, I pulled the scarf over my mouth and kept my face low.

As a group, we walked into a large building at the very edge of a village. It was the first structure there, so we didn't end up having to travel through the town. I stood back with the others as Kayif walked up to the woman at the front desk to get us rooms. He returned with three keys in his hand.

"K-Kayif…" I whispered, trying to be secretive. "There's four of us…"

"I know." Kayif grinned at me, and then addressed the rest of the group. "Someone needs to keep watch of Luna for the night, so I got us three rooms."

"I can—" Areck tried to speak up, but Kayif ignored him.

"Zephys, I would like you to keep track of her." His gaze met mine briefly, but then he looked away. "That's an order."

"As you wish." Zephys bowed slightly and caught the key that Kayif threw to him.

I followed him to our room, my heartbeat quickening slightly. We had spent nights alone together many times in the past, but tonight felt different. Especially because of the events from the other night… I tried to keep my face from turning red as I recounted the night in my head.

Zephys turned the key in the lock and opened the door, letting me walk in first.

There was one bed at the center of the room. It was a pretty small room, which I had expected, considering how small the village itself was.

I situated myself on the bed, taking off the cape and scarf in the process. I waited for Zephys's body to be next to mine, but he never came. I rolled over and scanned the room for him. I spotted him, but he was sitting on a chair not far from the bed, staring at me while supporting his chin with his hand.

"Zephys?" I sat up and pushed my hair back.

"What?" He responded emotionlessly.

"Are you…" I felt embarrassed asking. Why won't he lie next to me? I felt my heart yearning for his touch again, but he still didn't move.

"Go to bed," he said sternly to me. "You'll just be a nuisance if you're tired."

"I… okay…" I couldn't help but feel hurt. I turned to lie on my side again and stared at the wall. I couldn't fall asleep with so much going through my mind. I kept tossing and turning around on the bed, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in, but nothing was working. I let out a sigh and threw my arms to the side, hitting them against the bed loudly.

"Go to sleep." Zephys's growl caught me by surprised and I jumped slightly.

"I can't," I whined, sitting up in the bed.

Zephys stood up angrily, causing the chair behind him to fall to the ground. He stomped over to me and knelt down by the bed. He looked very irritated and I immediately felt guilty for causing him trouble. He had to spend the entire night awake, watching over me. Before he could speak, I cut in.

"I'm sorry."

"Just sleep… please." He looked exhausted, and I felt even worse.

I sighed and curled up in a ball on the bed, facing away from Zephys. I didn't want to let him see me cry. I sniffed once, trying to hold back the tears that wanted to come. Hoping to fall asleep soon, I closed my eyes but sleep still didn't come. I attempted to steady my breathing.

After a while, I heard Zephys get up from his chair. Then, I felt something gently stroke my hair and a soft voice murmur.

"I'm sorry, Luna," Zephys whispered to me.

He must think I'm asleep… I thought to myself, keeping my eyes closed.

"I just want to keep you safe."

These words hung in the air, and, oddly enough, I found myself falling asleep shortly after. That night, my sleep was filled with dreams of my past.