35. Lora
Lora
Erion and I followed the river until we reached a village clinging to the water’s edge.
Luckily, they had a moon seer, and we sent word to the Queen’s council—informing them about what had happened and that we’d returned to the original plan to seal the rift during the eclipse.
We also asked for funding, since the handful of coins Caldera had given us wasn’t enough for transport and supplies.
I sent another message to my father and sister, promising I’d see them soon.
While waiting for the Queen’s response, Erion and I formed a plan.
We’d follow the rivers southeast until we reached the larger towns south of Six River City.
Their canals would allow us to travel between towns before heading upstream the last stretch to my home village, where we’d rest for a night.
From there, we could head into Blightlands, then slip over the border into the Sun Kingdom.
Something hollow ached inside me at the thought of my father and sister.
Before the monsters attacked Brookfalls, three days had passed since my last message to them, and they still hadn’t replied.
What if the village lay in ruins? What if monsters had swarmed through while I’d been gone, leaving nothing but rubble behind?
Nausea twisted in my gut and I shoved the images down.
Since our village had no moon seer, my message had been delivered to a neighboring village. It would take at least a day to reach Rootmere, and another for the reply. It had probably just been delayed.
The Queen’s response came within a candlemark. She promised handsome payment to anyone helping us—enough crystals to make the moon seer’s eyes go wide. With that written promise, we secured supplies for a week and convinced a weathered fisherman to part with his boat.
The vessel creaked and smelled of old fish, but it floated, and the current carried us faster than our tired legs ever could.
The journey southeast unfolded in strained silence. Erion’s mind was likely as occupied as mine with the horrors we’d been through. But when he caught me massaging my aching muscles, he insisted on taking over.
A twinge of guilt squirmed in my gut. I’d been so cold toward him, yet he still looked out for me.
With a warm smile, I let him take the stern while I settled at the central yoke.
I talked him through the basics—how to sense the current and redirect the flow without fighting it.
His callused hands moved with growing confidence.
I relaxed, letting him settle into the rhythm.
As I watched the passing landscape, I sensed his gaze lingering on me, something intense burning in those hazel eyes. I glanced back at him, and when an earnest, charming smile spread across his face, a tingling warmth stirred in my chest.
The sensation pulled me in two directions at once. Like standing at the edge of ice too thin to hold my weight, craving the warmth on the other side.
In the monster cave, I’d felt nothing when his lips brushed mine. But now, watching his hands move above the water with increasing skill, something in me leaned toward him. Like a plant seeking the sun.
But I couldn’t allow myself that sunlight. Happiness was for people who deserved it. People who hadn’t led their own mother to her death.
I slammed a lid over that thought. Bitter self-loathing would lead me nowhere.
“You all right?” His forehead creased.
“I’m fine.” I waved him off.
He kept staring, as if debating whether to move closer.
A small part of me wanted him to. The part that craved nearness—the one I’d succumbed to with Corin or the occasional passing traveler.
But Erion’s gaze didn’t stir the same jolt of excitement I’d felt on those nights. This was something else. Something closer to an aching need to just be near someone who actually cared.
Another face flashed in my mind and my pulse stuttered. Sharp features, strong jaw, flaming red hair in a tangled mess—those expressive amber eyes flickering between rage and something like fascination.
Currents take me, why did my mind keep circling back to him? I was so deep-rotten lost.
To break the tension, I steered the conversation toward planning our crossing into the Sun Kingdom. We discussed timing and location, what lies to tell if we got caught by sun guards, and what to do next if we succeeded.
The planning filled the silence and gave me something to focus on besides worry about my family—or the way Erion’s gaze snagged on me every time I looked the other way.
Days blurred together as we glided downstream. We stopped at different inns each night, keeping our heads down and voices low, trading pleasantries with innkeepers and travelers—nothing more. No mention of the Dual Wielder, no talk of the rift or the prophecy.
Just two travelers making their way home.