The Hawk Warriors

XXII

"Hazel?" I softly call out to her. Leaves crunch beneath my shoes as I walk closer to her.

"Sorry for storming out like that." She says with no emotion. "I shouldn't have done that,"

"What do you mean by that?" I ask her, confused. "You could do anything you want. Hell, you could and should have ripped Tyler to shreds with your words."

Hazel turns slightly to look at me, and I could see a hint of a smile, "he would like that too much."

"I'm not going to lie, he probably would," I reply as I suppress a laugh. Silence sets over us once more as we stare at each other. "I was on the phone with Ruby," I inform her.

Hazel raises her eyebrows, "about what?"

"About the gate that is close yet so far away," I reply.

"Is she there yet?" She asks with a look of genuine concern.

"Yeah, she's there already. The guards are also out there." I say, which makes her curse under her breath.

"How many are we talking about?" She asks me as she tosses her hair to the side.

"She told me about three dozen," I reply.

"Yeah, she can see three dozen from where she is, so that makes it a couple of dozens. Remember that no inch is ever left uncovered." She reminds me.

"It's a weekday, so I bet they don't expect this to happen." I try to reassure her. Hazel shakes her head in disagreement.

"The council is far to smart to let anyone leave their grasp." She says as she crosses her arms. "Plus, he is still out there." I grab hold of her hand and softly stroke it with my thumb.

"I won't let him take you back," I vow to her. "You deserve true happiness." Hazel looks at me with a sad smile.

"You know you are the only person I have ever known who loves me for being Hazel and not for being the strongest warrior." She softly says.

"One has to appreciate the whole work rather than just an aspect of it to understand it truly." I softly say to her. Those sharp hazel eyes look into my blue eyes with unshed tears.

"You are too good for me; you know that, right?" She playfully says as she puts her warm hand on my cheek.

I smile at her, "I could be saying the same thing."

"I get that you guys are in love and all that stuff, but we have to go..." I hear Tyler's voice say from behind me. Hazel looks over at him and glares at him. Turning my head, I see Tyler locking eyes with her and a smug grin on his face.

"I think we need to talk," he finally says after a couple of seconds.

"You've said enough," I tell him.

I feel a hand on my shoulder, "leave us for a quick second." I open my mouth to protest, but her eyes plead me to walk away. Huffing in annoyance, I make my way to the car to get everything ready. Turning on my heightened vision, I look at their direction. They seemed engulfed in a deep and serious conversation. All I can see is Hazel's face of fear and anger.

"Keep your eyes on fixing your armor rather than gawking at them," I hear Hamlet say to me.

I tighten the buckle of my bronze armor on my forearm, "almost forgot you were here, buddy," I reply as he sits on the roof of the car.

"And you forgot how to put on armor." He takes a jab.

"Like you can do better!" I say as I wrap my distressed brown scarf around my exposed neck.