Half Moon was suddenly startled by an unfamiliar sound, her heart racing in her chest. With a sharp circular motion, she observed the thickets of grass that surrounded them. She must have dozed off a bit; but it was still dark. The stars could not be seen, hidden by the clouds that passed, high in the sky. Everything was gloomy. There was nothing suspicious, yet she could not calm her anxiety. She just had to stretch out her arm to shake Hawkeye. He gave a grunt, opened one eye and struggled to his feet.
"What?" he grumbled.
"Didn't you hear anything?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "But I'm sure something woke me up."
"It's the anxiety! And certainly, the atmosphere of this damned Walk... "
"Are you suggesting that I'm suggestible or am I dreaming?"
"No, it's not that! I'm also on edge, except that I was sleeping..."
"Sorry! But if it had been serious, you would have thanked me!"
"Yes! Yes, I would have! But it is not the case. Go back to sleep, the day will be long and if you don't rest, who can I count on?"
"You're right. I... I need to sleep."
She lay down and wrapped herself more tightly in her coat, closing her eyes. Only to open them again immediately.
"What's really worrying you, Moony?" said Hawkeye in a low voice.
She turned her face to him. He had come closer, to her level. For a few seconds they would stare at each other. It was no longer time to spare him, he was a man now...
"I'm not at all reassured that we are alone in this huge swamp... If we were attacked, we..."
"You've already been in this kind of situation and you know how to defend yourself, I've seen you train, you know?" he said with a relieved voice.
"Yes, I know how to defend myself, but this is different: the children... We were not supposed to be among ourselves..."
"Among ourselves? You mean without adults?"
"No, I mean without strong warriors..."
"I can't believe you're not happy that they're way behind those ones! Well, I like it better this way! I don't trust them at all."
"You're not wrong - even if I miss the presence of Childeric and the twins - but I don't trust them completely either... It's true that I feel more serene away from them, but on the other hand, we are also more vulnerable."
"Why do you always have to imagine the worst, Moony? It doesn't have to be bad for us and we don't have to be attacked by a bunch of bad guys!"
"No, but there are not only bad guys in the world... And... I know this world well enough to know that there are much worse. I'm worried about the children, we'll never be able to defend them only the two of us if there's a real problem."
"They can defend themselves too, you know?"
"Monsters exist, Hawky... Really. And they don't disappear with the sunrise like in Quicksilver's tales."
"What kind of stories do you think Quicksilver was reading us in the dome of Elwìnn? You should have come to listen to him more often, Half Moon. But you're not telling me everything, there's something else, isn't there?"
"Yes," she confirmed. "I'm having more and more doubts about this whole thing. There are too many strange and suspect points. Why weren't the mounts teleported with us? Where are we really going? And most importantly..."
"...what are we looking for?" finished Lynx Eye. He nodded in unspoken agreement. "Yes, I've been going over all these questions in my head ever since we left. The wizards who teleported us are not idiots and neither are the kings who "organized" this quest. And yet we are in a total blur! We are looking for something but we don't even know what it is! It is completely stupid!"
"I can't help thinking that things have been hidden from us, you know? Childeric was strange in the ruins and especially..." she hesitated... "I felt something, as a veil of secret..."
"A what?" he said in surprise.
"I recognized the magic of Childeric in the ruins."
"Recognized? What do you mean? In the ruins? What does that mean?"
"How can I explain...? You know, when you use magic, it permeates you, every fiber of your being and some magic vibrates, like sounds... like a smell or a voice. And every voice, is inimitable."
"And you recognized the magic of Childeric?"
"Yes! And it was recent. I felt it stronger on the stone he was showing the troll... Gir thingy. I don't know exactly what he did, but I can assure you that it's not very clear. And the worst thing is yet to come: I'm sure that Big Oak himself told him to do what he did in those ruins!"
".... The King!" he corrected. "What makes you say that?"
"A hunch. I'm sure these great men hide secrets that are not very pretty."
"Yes, certainly," agreed Hawkeye "but maybe it has nothing to do with our expedition?"
"Yes, perhaps," she admitted grudgingly. "But that doesn't make me feel any better, imagine that they know something important related to the Quest but haven't said anything because it's one of their damn secrets?"
"If we start like that, we can go on imagining things, each thought more horrible than the other, but I can't believe that our King voluntarily risked the lives of elven children."
"Voluntarily, no."
"So where do we go from here? Do you have an idea?" he said, as if to change the conversation.
"We're going east."
"Because Little Feather said so?" he continued, visibly surprised.
"Yes, and because the stone indicated the same direction and because I don't have a better idea right now. We don't know what to look for, but that's no reason not to try. And you are the children of the prophecy, everyone is convinced of it and Ounà confirmed it to me, so I guess it's not so stupid to follow the indications of one of you!
"I am also one of the "children of the Prophecy" as you say?"
"Well yes!" laughed Half Moon softly. What did you expect?"
"I'm not a child anymore!"
"It's just an expression, Hawky!" She said, smiling at him tenderly. "So, we're heading east, and we'll see if we find anything on the way!"
"And the others? Should we wait for them?"
"It would be wiser," she said with a sigh she couldn't manage to repress completely.
"But you don't want to be wise, do you?"
"No, it's not that, it's just: I can't trust them. "
"Not even Childeric?" the young man said with surprise.
"He lied to me, I'm sure of it, but we'll sort it out together, in private. Despite it, he's one of those people I trust. But you know what? I think the nine of us are going to move on our own a little bit more. We'll see how far it leads us. If I'm right, we're going in the direction of the city where our mounts are supposed to have been successfully teleported to. We'll make a decision there. In the meantime, we'll have to be vigilant, you and I: even if it seems deserted, we're not all alone."
Hawkeye looked at the sky differently now, as if a huge weight had fallen on his shoulders. He had always taken care of the other children, it was normal, he was the eldest after all, but now, as if it was an incredible revelation, he felt the weight of this responsibility. And he began to be afraid. Not for himself, no, but for the others, for those children who had always shared his existence. And he wondered if he would really be able to defend them if needed. He realized with terror that he didn't know. He looked back at Half Moon and wondered how she was coping with this horrible pressure. And he understood her concern. He drew his sword from its scabbard, just to hear the reassuring sound of the sword obeying the command. Half Moon opened her eyes and stared at him, her eyebrows furrowed, she had heard and recognized the sound.
"It's nothing, it's me: just wanted to check..."
She relaxed and looked at him more intensely. He could have blushed. Maybe he was blushing.
"Don't worry, I'm here. As long as we're together nothing bad will happen to us."
Did she really mean it? He doubted it, but it was good to hear it.
"What's the name of this town again?"
"It's Yrchk," she answered, a smile in her voice.
*****