Dauntless Raiders

Chapter 24 - The Undead King

I didn't get a chance unfortunately, to tell Beverly anything. Because Michael was around. And Nolan was missing.

"Where the heck is Nolan?" I asked.

"I have been wondering the same thing." Beverly replied.

"Is anyone hungry?" Andrew said, scratching his head, trying to keep his drooping eyes open.

That moment, Nolan appeared from the woods. He held a large fish in his hands. Looking at Andrew, he answered, "I'm glad you asked."

"That is one big fish." August said.

Nolan handed the fish to me. I frowned in surprise.

"Could you uh, grill that or something?" he asked.

I understood what he meant. So I gave him a look.

"My powers are not for you to use for petty things." I said, gripping the fish by its tail tightly in my hands.

Just then, a burst of flame engulfed my fist and the fish. Although my fist was unaffected by the fire, the same could not be said about the fish. It was cooked. Literally. Nolan stabbed a twig into the fish and took it from me.

"Thank you. I appreciate it." He replied, smirking a little.

"God, I hate you sometimes." I said.

"I know, love."

"Next time you use my powers for stupid things, I'll do one thing useful with them and wipe you off the face of this earth."

"I doubt it. After all, you're the one who finds me attractive."

I swallowed when he said that because he created an awkward atmosphere. August turned to me, as if searching my face for something. But I dared not look at him. Not at this weird moment. I even felt like Nolan did that on purpose, just to make things awkward between me and August. To quickly get out of this spot, I followed Nolan into the cabin. And the others came in after me. He began dividing the fish into equal proportions with his sword, which was the size of a large knife. It was really interesting the way he could control the size of his sword. Which explained everything. Because I often wondered just how the hell he could bear that giant blade on his back.

"Bon appetit." He said, after he was done. He cleaned the knife then replaced it in a sheath.

The rest of us dug into the fish. The lot of us were starving so much that the fish felt like luxury. Each bite could be cherished. Michael and Beverly were muttering something to each other. I looked at Nolan and he couldn't care less. He was enjoying his piece of fish. I hope he didn't forget about our plan.

Eventually, we were ready to get back on the road. A good night's rest and good food, we had our energy back again. Nolan kept an extra flask of water just in case. And we continued on our way.

**************

The journey through the woods was a silent one. No one spoke. Not even Michael. Our way was led by Nolan and his pirates, who kept to themselves most of the time. They barely spoke. Darwin happened to be walking close by. I went up to him. God knows why.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" I said, in a low tone.

"Brief." He replied, in the same tone.

"Such a charmer..." I muttered to myself, which he heard. He turned to look at me and I said, "Sorry... Look, can you keep an eye on Michael?"

"Really." He answered, "What do I look like to you?"

"Never mind." I fell back, feeling so stupid. What the heck was I thinking?