Adalene came back sooner than expected. Luke sat reclined on his bundle of supplies, watching as she made her way through the thick bushes that surrounded their camp.
Silent as a mouse, the elfe crossed over to Luke and handed him the bag of food. A few hard loaves of bread, some unripe fruit, and a bag of what looked like stale jerky.
“Yeesh,” Luke said as he put the bag down, “Who knew Dueglestein had such bad food?”
“I wouldn’t say it’s the whole country,” Adalene told him as she pulled her hood down, revealing her pointy ears and shimmering white hair. “It seems like it’s just this town.”
Luke bit his lip, troubled. After a moment, he said, “Adalene, you don’t have to hide your accent around us. It’s just for when you’re in public.”
“It’s fine,” she answered rather quickly, then leaned over to Luke and whispered, “Besides, ve don’t know who could be vatching.”
Despite Adalene’s suspicions, Luke still felt guilty that Adalene’s frequent trips for supplies caused her to mask herself from the world–both in her features and her voice–because they were afraid she’d be found out as an elfe and make the whole group at risk.
But Adalene was persistent in getting the group the supplies they desperately needed. She would tell them how many soldiers were in the different small towns and villages, and the number of wanted posters with pictures of them. But Adalene, it seemed, wasn’t wanted. Yet.
“I don’t know, Adalene,” Luke nervously ran a hand through his hair, “What should we do? We’ve been camping out at the border for almost two weeks now. Do you think they’d still be searching north of the mountains for us?”
“Of course, they’d still be looking for you,” Adalene insisted, “Do you know how much she wants to have you in her clutches?”
“You still haven’t told us who “she” is,” Luke crossed his arms, rubbing his tired eyes. The nightmares were becoming more frequent, and despite Skylar and Adalene’s fighting to get him to sleep, it would never be for long. And the worst part was that Luke didn’t know what the nightmares were about, only that whoever “she” was, had been the culprit of his dreams.
“I cannot tell you that,” Adalene shook her head, nervously playing with a ring on her finger, “You must not say her name. “
“Why? Will it tell her where we are?”
“In a way,” Adalene continued to fiddle with the ring, “She draws power from anything that mentions her or her plans. That’s why she figured out we were in Dueglestein. She knew that by me telling you about her plans once we were in Dueglestein. Because we mentioned her. But we must never say her name. Never.”
However, Luke was still curious. “Do you know her name?”
Adalene scoffed, “Do I know her name? Of course, I do. It was the mention of her name that nearly destroyed my entire culture. Every elfe in Hilgaria knows her name.” She sounded like she blamed herself for it, staring at the ground with a glare. 268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1gWR0LGsy0
There was a bitterness in her voice, harder than any stone that made up the mountains that loomed to the south, laughing at Luke as he knew it would be nearly impossible to cross them.
Luke gulped at the thought of their impossible journey.
“What should we do?” Luke asked again, staring at the imposing Attalaitan Mountains.
Adalene turned that way as well, her face betraying the conflicted emotions swirling inside her. Luke took note of how unsure she had become, nothing like the headstrong and confident ex-queen he met after Peter and Alice introduced her to him. She had been so strong, so wise. But now…
Now she didn’t know how they should approach the mountain problem. Now, she seemed like she could hardly keep herself going, let alone the group of them. He felt guilty. Luke felt the weight of everyone's safety on his shoulders. He didn't want anyone in danger whom he couldn't protect.
“We need coats,” Richard said out of nowhere, and Luke whipped his head around as he saw Richard yawning, stretching his arms.
At the sight of the two staring at him, Richard asked, “What? I mean, we do. It’s already cold enough and we haven’t even gotten close to them.”
Richard was right. Before they could get anywhere near the mountains they’d need supplies. So they needed to go shopping.
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“What do you mean, I need shoes?” Helen complained as they stood next to the clothing vendor’s counter.
Helen stared at her bare feet, covered in dirt and callouses. Luke had almost forgotten how she’d never had shoes once in their entire journey, but before they had been in more temperate climates. Now they needed something to hold up against the cold weather and sharp rocks the mountains had in store for them.
“Helen, please,” Richard pleaded as the vendor offered some boots for Helen to try, “We don’t want you getting hurt.”
“But they might squish my feet!” Helen argued, pointing to her tiny toes.
“Helen,” Skylar now tried, kneeling so she could look her in the eye, “Have you heard of frostbite?”
Helen shook her head.
“Well,” Skylar continued, “If you don’t get shoes here soon, your toes will get so cold, they’ll turn black with frostbite. And then…they’ll fall off! Now, do you think you want those shoes now?”
Helen sighed. “Oh, alright. Just please don’t be too small.”
Skylar nodded, then turned to Luke.268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlp4xgDGIsk
“Good save,” Luke muttered, “She looked about ready to throw some boots at that poor vendor.”268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgMKydKxih
Skylar laughed; a sound Luke hadn’t known how much he’d missed until after Skylar had gone missing. He was so glad she was back. 268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9UhArhLmS
Skylar and Luke walked over to quite a peculiar sight; Peter trying on a huge fur coat while Alice looked on with a conflicted expression. Luke realized his mistake of going coat shopping with Alice’s no-animal-violence rule. 268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfOOtgHiOoS
“Oh, hey guys!” Peter shouted, his voice muffled from the amount of fur covering his mouth. “Would you mind helping me? I’m afraid I’m stuck.”268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcs23iHqvv
“...What happened here?” Luke let out a low whistle and Skylar fought a snicker as the two watched Peter struggle under the layers of fur. 268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡel8LYKx1dm
“Well, he couldn’t find which side he had to stick his head through, and accidentally got it stuck through the arm of the coat...” Alice explained, “...and now he can’t get the thing off.” She fought a smile, but still looked at the coat as if it would hurt if she got anywhere near it.
“Hey!” Peter protested from under the coat, “It’s not my fault that I’ve never put a coat on! At least where you’re from you wear some light jackets every so often,” Peter continued to pull against the coat, his next phrase strained from him struggling, “Me? Never…a coat…in my life. Bellonese and…Hilgarian winters…are pretty…temperate.”
“Yeah, I get that,” Luke agreed, “But…do you seriously not know how to put a coat on? I mean, it’s pretty similar to a shirt.”
Peter peaked his head out from the sleeve, his face almost as red as his hair.
“I haven’t changed clothes in a while, okay?” he admitted, then finally pulled the sleeve over his head and threw the coat on the ground. “There,” Peter said triumphantly, “I know how to take a coat off.”
“But can you put it on correctly?” Skylar raised an eyebrow.
“Apparently not.”
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With their shopping spree finished, the group realized they needed a place to stay other than the sandy beach they had been sleeping on the past two weeks.
“We need to find an inn,” Luke announced to the group, “Or something else to stay in. But I’m not sleeping on the ground again.”
“I miss beds,” Richard muttered, “Soft, fluffy pillows…satin or silk sheets…”
“And a quilt handmade by your mother,” Luke finished, remembering his own bed at home. “Your brothers snoring softly next to you, so even when you’re asleep, you’re never alone.” Then he stood there for a moment, the homesickness building up inside of him.
They searched the town for a cheap inn they could pay for with the quickly dwindling amount of money they had left. Luke made a mental note to sell some extra catches from his next hunting trip, which should get them at least a little pecunia. Wait…no, they would need shepels. Dueglestein had a different form of currency.
A deep rumbling caused Luke to look up at the sky and saw it quickly become a grayer shade, thunder sounding in the distance. It would rain soon.
He was a little afraid of it raining now, especially since the last time they were in a storm, there was…an accident.
Poor Richard, Luke thought, if only he had been there for him, maybe Richard wouldn’t have been scarred from the storm and relentless Dueglesteinish ship that had chased them to Thuron.
He still felt guilty for the permanent damage to Richard’s face, although Richard seemed to brush it off whenever Skylar had asked what happened.
The rain began to come down, sprinkling the dirt streets as they began to turn to mud.
They got out their cloaks, a gift Adalene had gotten the six of them while they spent their short stay in Thuron. Luke passed them around until he realized they were one short.
Skylar didn’t have a cloak.
“Here,” Luke handed Skylar his cloak.
“Luke, you don’t have to-” she protested, shoving it back at him.
“No,” he argued, “You have to have a cloak before this storm gets worse.”
“Luke, just wear the cloak.”
“No. Skylar, please just take the cloak.”
Skylar sighed, then took the cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders. She gave Luke a look while she pulled the hood up.
“I’ll be fine,” Luke guaranteed Skylar, as the rain increased. “Let’s just find an inn.”
They searched the town, asking around where the nearest inn was. But people began to close their shops, heading to their homes as the storm picked up.
“Th-there has to be an inn s-somewhere…” Luke’s teeth chattered as the rain soaked his clothes. He shivered, a shake deep in his bones that made him feel colder. He was chilled to the bone.
Skylar glanced at him, concerned. “Are you alright, Luke? You know, you can take the cloak if you-”
“No,” Luke interrupted her, “I-I’m fine…”
The shiver continued as the rain steadily became worse. His clothes stuck to his skin, clinging to him as the cold ache filled his heart. Luke’s mind wandered to thoughts of a fire, and a nice, warm, bed. He just had to keep walking until they found a place to stay.
A strange feeling filled his head as if it were becoming numb, a voice whispering into his mind that sounded strangely familiar.
You are feeling very sick, the voice urged. Luke nodded in his mind. He felt tired and sick and cold. He just wanted to sleep.
Sleep. There was a sharp cackle as Luke felt his eyes grow heavy, his body becoming weak as his vision went black.
He stumbled forward before falling into Richard’s back…
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