Running From Myself

No.37 - Sneaking around

Aria's POV

We had been marching for hours, but the adrenaline running through the veins of my fellow warriors had barely ceased. I watched them sing songs with their friends and laugh amongst themselves, all together for the last time. The weight of the upcoming events weighed heavily on my drooping shoulders; I sighed as Crystal walked up beside me.

'Hey. It'll be alright.' She whispered as she rubbed my arm softly.

'I hope so.' I muttered as the weight of the world rested on my shoulders painfully.

'Hey lads, let's have a pitstop. We'll camp out in the woods until sun rise, where we will then continue on to the palace.' Mason announced, releasing grunts of glee and sighs of relief that brought a smile to my face as my army dispersed to find food, water and branches to make shelter and a fire.

I walked over to the 7, dropping my scythes on the floor in front of them. I sat down between Crystal and Jason and smiled over at the rest of the group who returned my smile with smiles and nods of their own.

'How are you feeling?' Jason nudged me softly.

'Like I'm leading hundreds of thousands of people to their graves.' I answered bluntly.

'Well, technically you are.' Jaxon stated with a smirk.

'Thanks Jaxon. Really appreciated.' I mumbled sadly as I stared blankly into space, trying to blink away the tears. Jason smacked him upside the head and stared at him furiously. He sighed and smiled at me apologetically. I rolled my eyes and looked away. As I started to get up to leave my attention was demanded by none other than Crystal.

'Would it make you feel better if you saw how crappy their army really was?' She suggested trying in vain to lighten the mood.

'It would make me very happy. But that's not the case.' I said slightly aggravated with the entire situation.

'We'll see.' Jaxon muttered. I didn't even spare him a glance.

I sighed as Mason walked up to us with many logs under his arm.

'Hey guys. We're gonna make some wooden bungalows, a couple of fires and have the witches spell the area so Ivy can't find us. Other than that, once we catch some deer, we can have dinner and sleep. Got a big day tomorrow.'

I nodded and watched him as he laid the logs down. Scarlotte snapped her fingers and the logs instantly ignited. I smiled softly at her, she nodded in response. Her and I had a silent agreement. Even though we didn't talk, we had each other's back. Very soon people came with deer, wild rabbits and eek. Enough to feed us all. Thanks Nat. As I roasted my little rabbit, I pondered about the day ahead. I was really starting to feel the pressure of the entire situation and it forced a frown onto my face.

'Come on lads. Time to sleep.'

Luke walked up to me and offered his hand. A silent gesture of a truce. I smiled and took it softly, drawing a smile from his lips. Hand in hand we walked over to our bungalow. The witches and pixies had worked quick, lifting things with various spells and powders, speeding up the building process. I blew a kiss at the lot of them as I made my way inside the little bungalow. As I stepped in I saw Luke already laying down a sleeping bag. He smiled sheepishly and gestured at the bag. Yawning, I crawled inside the bag. Expecting him to join me, I was flabbergasted when I saw him leaving the bungalow.

'Where are you planning on sleeping?' I hurried out, trying to catch his attention before he left.

'Probably outside near the fire.' He muttered as he continued to walk away.

'Lucas wait!'

He stopped in his tracks. Frozen. I hadn't called him by his full name in a while. Must have been a shock.