Discover L (Book 2) | Complete |

~ A Problem Shared ~

The four of them set up camp in a clearing in the middle of the woods; L could sense the Golems somewhere in the distance but they seemed content enough to stay where they were. Most of the work was done in near silence, they each pitched a tent and Robbie started a fire, which seemed to amuse him greatly. L placed magical wards around their campsite so they could all sleep in peace without fear of being attacked without warning.

They sat around the fire to eat and tend to their wounds, Nyla helped L with her shoulder when she couldn't see to do it. She was ever so grateful to know enough healing magic that she could deal with it. She turned to check on Bryce's progress and found him staring at her with the same pained look on his face. L shook her head and moved over to sit on the ground beside him.

"I think we're going to check the area one more time before we all sleep."

L heard Nyla say and she began ushering Robbie away. L let them through the wards and closed it behind them, staring at Bryce while she did.

"Talk to me, what's going through your mind."

Bryce snorted, "It's a pretty long list, are you sure you wanna dive in?"

L furrowed her brow, placing a hand on his arm so he'd look at her. His eyes went straight to her healing shoulder and the pain in his expression resurfaced.

"This wasn't your fault, the Demon made you attack me, you had no control over it."

"I could have fought harder, I should have been able to stop it from making me do it. I... I hurt you, I caused you pain, I never, ever want..."

He trailed off and L could see the glisten of tears building in his eyes.

"You were resisting as hard as you could, I saw that in the way you fought. That definitely wasn't your best or strongest, you held back however you could and it made a big difference."

"Not enough of one. Your injury is my fault-"

"And yours is my fault!" L interrupted in agitation, not letting him take all of the blame. "If I hadn't tried to deflect that magic back at the Demon, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. If the Demon hadn't purposely used you as a shield, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. If I hadn't brought you on this trip in the first place none of this would have happened. We can throw the blame around all day long but it won't do us any good."

L squeezed Bryce's arm, he looked a little more thoughtful and a little less pained now. He turned away from her however and stared intently into the fire.

"The last time I met that Demon, I lost five very good friends. Five, L, all of whom were experienced in Demon fighting and who I'd known a long time. The Demon toyed with us, made us fight each other, hurt each other... kill, each other. One by one they fell, until it was just myself and the last of my party. We were pitted against each other, I tried as hard as I could to stop but I didn't stand a chance. I couldn't hold back like I did today, I just watched my own hands cause pain and suffering.

"Luckily we were saved before we killed each other. A small horde of Demons, the ones we'd been looking for in the first place funnily enough, arrived. They wanted us for themselves, they caused the Puppeteer to break its control and fought over who would get to keep us. We managed to slip away in the chaos of it all, we were both tired and injured but we ran for our lives, literally. We didn't stop until we came across a group of Nature Sprites, they took us in and helped us recover.

"From that day on, I swore I would kill that Demon if I ever crossed paths with it again. I forced myself to grow stronger, to stay on the move and keep my eyes and ears open for it. When I heard what that Demon said about you, I couldn't bear it, I could not see the same thing happen to you. And then it almost did, because of my reckless behaviour. I'm sorry, L."