Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
TYNAN
Iwatched as Frid inspected Victor's wound.
He was complaining a lot, but for some reason, it felt like he was enjoying the attention.
I frowned, hating that every time someone got hurt, the first thing that came to my mind was that I had to make sure it was not a bite.
But the look Victor gave me when I did that made me feel shitty and absolutely worthless.
And yet, I would do it every time, and hundred times more, to protect them.
I expected everyone else to do the same thing for me when my time comes.
My eyes shifted to Alina and lingered on the outlines of her body, her hair, the soft sigh that escaped her lips while she slept.
It was getting more difficult to stay away from her.
I could not stop my eyes from returning to her.
It took me almost everything I had not to touch her when she was near.
I could hardly control it. I had no idea if she liked my attention.
It was possible she put up with it because of necessity.
The situation was humiliating, for any man, and I hated to be a part of it.
I looked back at the valley. Very soon, we will be back in Darragh, the place I used to call home and the place that disowned all of us.
I nearly forgot the feel of the cold, tranquil air up in the bluffs, the abundance of black, polished rocks, the fjords covered with ice and the mountain rivers.
I used to believe that you only get attached to people, not places, but I was wrong.
I missed these lands of mist and fog. The impossibly green grass that looked like it could not be real.
The mountain range that created glorious patterns while I flew above them.
My heart ached when I thought about the sunrises I used to watch from the top of the rock formations.
So many things I had to give up when I left this place behind.
My tired gaze landed on the outlines of the dusty hills. I hated the sandy, dry wind and the endless struggle to survive against the beasts, even though I chose this life, and I would choose it again in a heartbeat.
It took us another two days of flying to reach the border of Darragh.
I could almost taste the change in the smells; the thickness of the wind filled with moisture and the freshness of the mountains.
Alina had looked frail and exhausted when she climbed on my back, and I promised myself that it would only take another day.
I convinced myself that she could take it.
Sol was even more quiet than usual when we saw the peaks of the black rock.
Only Victor and Frid did not seem any different
“Damn, I didn’t think I would ever come back,” Victor said.
“What do you think they’ll do to us?” Frid wondered aloud.
“Nothing good, if they even allow us in,” Victor responded.
“They wanted us to quit the service, didn’t they?” Frid continued.
“No. They wanted us to turn it down when we were recruited,” Victor said.
Victor was right. We were expected to serve the council, but the clan demanded all of us to refuse; and bear the punishment.
“This is a good idea, right?” Frid asked.
“I don’t see any other options,” I said.
Silence followed my words, because I was right. Darragh was our only chance to stay alive for another week. What they might try to do to us was a concern, but staying in Riolle was no longer an option, and hiding in the wastelands meant imminent death.
“We could try to cross the border,” Frid suggested.
“I don’t think we can,” I said.
“But Alina got here somehow. I believe her,” Frid continued.
“Do you really think it’s possible? That there’s a land somewhere free of the crawlers?” Victor asked.
“I believe it, and I want to go there,” she said.
I could detect a stubborn note in her voice. I looked at Victor who still favored his injury.
“How’s your arm?” I asked.
“Fine, never been better,” he snorted in reply.
“He’s lying. I can see that he’s in pain.” Frid repositioned herself in the air to get closer to Victor.
“Why are you always doing that?” he asked.
“Because you never take care of yourself,” she added.
“I’m a grown man, not a child,” Victor said.
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
I sighed, realizing that the truce between them had been short lived.
Alina adjusted her body on top of mine and my attention turned back to the girl.
I did not have to guess; I knew that she was at her limits.
She was too delicate, too gentle for the endless struggle to survive that we all grew accustomed to.
One look at her told me that, long before I even got to know her.
She would have liked this land with its wide, plentiful fields and gardens, overpopulated cities, music, and art.
I could still remember Talman the way it was before the outbreak.
On the rare occasion my father took me with him to the city, I could forget the hell that awaited me back at home, at least for a short while.
Since that first trip, I have always wanted to leave Darrah, it became an obsession of mine.
No matter how hard my life got, I could wait, make myself be patient, and know that one day, I would be free.
The outbreak changed many things, these lands became abandoned within a matter of the first few years.
The cities fell, people vanished or turned, and by the time I was ready to leave my clan, there was no place left to go.
Alina moved and I could feel her forehead pressing against the scales of my back. She was close to fainting. I still did not understand how I knew all this about her, I just did. I shifted my focus to the view ahead, searching for the right place.