The Sword Bearer

Chapter 29

The walk was dreadful. I wanted to talk to Daren but he still seemed like he was in the zone where he didn’t want to be disturbed. The trees were constant and they weren’t getting anymore interesting. I scowled and kept walking trying to entertain myself. My hands kept fidgeting while we walked but Daren was too absorbed in his own thoughts to notice. I saw a small stone in the dirt. I had an idea to entertain myself with it but I laughed to myself because I thought it was too immature. As I passed the rock I let out a groan and took a step back. I glared at the stone for a second then started to kick it forward. I didn’t loose the rock for a while and then I got more confident and started kicking it further but soon it went to far and I couldn’t find it anymore. I sighed and found another pebble, doing the whole thing again. It was weird how when Daren used to talk about his dad like he hated him but now it looked like he cared about him a whole lot. I guess things are easier said than done. I always knew he loved his dad like he loved Twilya. I puffed out a breath. He still seemed pretty put out so I decided that he had enough time to sulk. I needed to think of a way to perk up his mood. Nothing was coming to mind. What could someone do while walking? I searched my head for an idea then I remembered what I had been doing a little earlier. I had abandoned the task a while ago because I was too busy thinking so I lost the rock too many times. It was pointless if I was going to loose the rock every kick so I gave up. I kicked one rock in front of him hoping that he would kick it too so he would get distracted. He just stepped on it and moved on. I did it again but to no avail. I thought that maybe he didn’t know what to do so I went over and gave him a smile. He smiled back at me weakly. I could see how upset he truly was. I then noticed that his eyes were red. He had been crying. I knew Daren as a strong person and I never thought I would ever see him cry. My heart melted at that moment and I forgot about the rocks. I stood in front of him making him stop and gave him a huge hug. I could feel him trembling in my embrace. At first he didn’t respond and left his hands slack beside him but after a while he put his arms around me too. We stood like that for a very long time. At one point I could feel hot tears on the sleeve of my shirt but I ignored it. Daren needed to be comforted and I was going to do it.

After a while he let go of me. I knew he was fine now so I did the same. The wind was blowing from behind me so my hair started coming in my face. In between the strands I saw Daren’s face. His smile was stronger now. I pushed my hair back and smiled up at him. My hair broke away from behind my ears just a second later. Instead of being frustrated like I would usually be I kept my smile plastered on my face. When Daren spoke his voice cracked a little “Thank you”. After hearing his voice my smile widened even more. It had felt like forever since he talked. “Anytime. I’ll always be here for you,” I said to him. His smile became even more unstrained. My heart melted as I saw it. I was the reason he was smiling like that. I wanted to do it everyday now. Then I realized what I was thinking. I mentally slapped myself but I knew I was blushing because I could feel the heat in my cheeks. Daren looked down at me with a confused expression. Instead of asking he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. He pulled me into another hug and whispered in my ear “Thinking of me?” I looked at him confused. He winked at me then I realized that he meant when I was blushing. I turned an even brighter shade of red. He smirked. I was glad he was back to his normal self. We walked in silence for a while but this time I didn’t mind because there wasn’t the intensity that had been there before. After a while Daren tried to start a conversation again. I was happy to talk to him. I could still see in his eyes that he was sad but not like before. He put his arm around my shoulders while we talked. My skin tingled where he touched me but I didn’t show it at all. I didn’t want him to know that I liked him. Who was I kidding? I liked him before now I liked him a lot. I couldn’t admit to myself so how could I tell him? I wasn’t really stressed about the sword anymore. We would get there when we did. The woman hadn’t discovered where it was hidden. I could keep going these next few days without worrying about who would reach it first. Niray had no idea where we were and the stone was in our hands. We took turns holding it and I knew that there was no way she would get the stone without finding us.