The Hidden

Chapter 44 - [Little Sister]

Avaryn did it again. He was so absorbed with his paperwork that he didn't even realize Meenu had entered the room.

     But when she stepped right in front of his desk, he looked up and smiled.

     “This doesn't suit you, you know?” Meenu said, “you're not a paperwork kind of man. It doesn't look right.”

     “It doesn't feel right either.” Avaryn said with a smile. “Are you leaving already?”

     Meenu just smiled.

     But it was right then that Avaryn took a breath and could smell it.

     Burnt flesh.

     He narrowed his eyes slightly as he took another sniff of the air.

     Yes. That was most definitely burnt flesh. 

     And he didn't need to think about it any longer because Meenu decided to tell him what it was.

     “Master Red decided to make me a full fledged warrior!” She looked very happy, but Avaryn could now see that she was wincing slightly every time she took a breath.

     “The branding...”

     Meenu nodded as she turned around. She removed her blouse for a moment just to show it to him. Of course, there wasn't anything to see except bandages since Master Red had cleaned up the burns and bandaged her up.

     She turned back around with her smile still on her face as she put her blouse back on. “I'm one of you guys now!”

     Avaryn wasn't too pleased. But it wasn’t like Master Red ever really cared about his feelings before doing something related to Meenu. So he smiled, “so what now?”

     Her smile finally faded. “I’m... going to go look for Seliaryn.”

     He knew this was coming but he still sighed. “Meenu...”

     “I understand that you’re busy, Avaryn, but I don’t think I can just sit here and not do anything... I have to find him, clear things out... He's my friend.”

     “It might be dangerous. He might hurt you.”

     Meenu chuckled. “Seliaryn won't hurt me.” She really believed that… despite what had happened with him when she last saw him.

     “He attacked you before he vanished. You still haven’t told me exactly what happened... Master Red said you were very upset–”

     “He didn't attack me... He was mad.” Meenu simply said. She knew that she should tell him exactly what happened... But just the thought of Seliaryn’s threat sent a shudder through Meenu... And if Avaryn knew the threat then Meenu was quite confident that he would never allow her to go find him. He would do everything he could to stop her. Even if it meant locking her up. “He was just angry... Really angry.”

     “And he’s probably still mad.”

     “I’m still going to go, Avaryn.”

     Avaryn sighed again and started to pace. He wanted so badly to at least go with her... But he knew he couldn’t. “Where are you going to go?”

     “Home first... I need to tell my parents... Then I’ll figure things out from there.”

     “Meenu...”

     “Don't worry about me,” she smiled, “I'll be fine. I know I will.”

     “You can’t leave with those burns on your back.” He said. At least he could attempt to buy time.