We quickly decided the order of watch for the night and then set about making dinner. It was only a quick affair and after we had eaten, we didn't stay up long before we went to bed. After a little talk around the campsite, the three of us went to bed leaving Rosa at campfire to take her watch. I climbed into the small tent alone, while Altria and Serin both went for the other. I lay in bed for a while listening to the sound of the fire crackling and the wind blowing through the nearby trees until I eventually fell asleep.
Sometime later I was woken by the sound of voices outside of the tent. At first, I thought it was the change of shift, but then I realised that it was Serin's voice talking away to Rosa by the fire. After a minute or two the pair fell silent, and I heard footsteps approaching my tent. A moment later and Serin's head popped inside my tent.
"Oh, you're awake too." She said seeing that I was already sat up in bed.
"Yeah... Is everything okay?" I asked.
"Everything is fine. I was just struggling to fall asleep, and I thought I'd check on things outside. Do you mind if I stay in here for a while?"
"Sure, I couldn't sleep either anyway. You might as well stay here now, rather than wake up Altria again." I said lifting up the side of my blanket for Serin to join me.
"I suppose so." Serin said as she started to undo the buttons to her clothes.
She undressed quickly and stripped all the way down to her underwear while I watched on, until she joined me. Once she was done, she climbed in the bed alongside me and pulled over the cover. She lay on her side putting her arm over me, letting out a sigh as she did so.
"Are you sure everything is okay?" I asked.
"It is..." She answered before pausing to thing for a moment. "Theo, do you trust me?" She asked looking into my eyes.
"Yes, I do. Absolutely." I answered.
It was the truth. I trusted all the girls, to an extent. I had been betrayed by Lillia, but Serin I trusted the most. I had always felt that she was trustworthy right from the beginning when we had first met.
"Then why didn't you tell me about the succubus?"
"I think I should have, but I don't know if I could have told you without telling the others as well. There's so much about this world that I don't know and when I first arrived, I made the mistake of telling Lillia something Liz told me. It cost me her trust and if I hadn't done so, we might all be a better situation now. I didn't want to make the same mistake again. But it has nothing to do with how much trust I have for you."
"I see... You know when the succubus girl, Celine said that to you earlier, it took me by surprise how she could be so certain and forthcoming with her emotions..."
"You know she is under the effect of one of my abilities?"
"I know, but it is how she feels."
"I suppose."
"I wish I could say something like that to you, I know I feel strongly about you, but I'm not sure I even know what love is. This is the closest to any sort of romantic relationship I've ever had, and well my feelings are confusing."
"I don't think it gets any easier."
"You find these things confusing too?"
"Yes."
"What if I asked you how you feel about me?"
"I'd say that I really care for you, and I feel like I would want to do anything for you I could... I don't know if I could say if that constitutes love. I think so much has happened in such a short space of time, that it would be hard to be any more certain than that."
"I think I feel much the same way. Can we, can we carry on like this? I'd like to find out how I feel after some time has passed, but I want to find that out by staying with you like this."
"I would like to do that too. Yes."
Serin smiled at me, and we both closed the distance hugging and starting to kiss. Serin smelt so nice, and her warmth was enticing. It wasn't long before our hands were working their way around each of our bodies as we lay there. Just as I started to slip my hand inside of her panties, there was a slight buzz in the air.
"I don't want to interrupt..." Celine said from the far end of the tent.
"C-Celine, what are you doing. You shouldn't just appear unannounced like that!" Serin complained as she pulled the blanket up to cover herself.
"I said I didn't want to interrupt..."
"Sorry Celine. I can't feed you right now." I said hoping she would quickly leave us.
"You seem to have time to feed this one."
"That isn't what is happening here."
"I know. I left to give you some space once the human girl arrived and I wandered as far as the road. That's why I returned."
"What's going on at the road?" Asked Serin sounding a little concerned.
"There's a slow moving armoured carriage, perhaps half a mile up from the turning here and there is a search party on either side of the road carrying torches." Explained Celine.
"We need to tell the others." Serin said, almost jumping out of the tent before she realised that she was still almost naked.
"We don't know that they're looking for us." I said as I hurried to dress as well.
"We don't, but I don't think we should wait to find out if they are."
We both rushed out of the tent as soon as a were dressed and hurried over to the fire.
"What's the matter?" Asked Rosa as she wondered what was going on.
"There's a search party on the road. We need to get ready to leave." Answered Serin.
"What should I do?"
"Get the horses ready to leave."
"Okay."
"Theo, wake Altria and start packing."
"Right."
Serin poured water on the fire, quickly extinguishing it and then made her way to the small tent and started taking it down while I went to wake Altria. Despite the commotion outside she was still fast asleep until I started to shake her.
"What is it, Theo?" She asked sleepily.
"You need to get up. We have to leave."
"What?"
"Someone is coming. Come on hurry."
"Okay, okay. I'll be right there."
While Altria quickly changed, I went to help Serin pack away the other tent. By the time she was outside we had safely put it away and were busily loading it onto the carriage. As soon as we were done the three of us set to work on the second tent. Between us we made short work of the task and within a few minutes we had most of the campsite packed and loaded back onto the carriage.
"What do you want to do now? Can we make it to the road ahead of them?" Asked Rosa.
"I don't think so. I can already make out their voices." Answered Altria.
I couldn't hear a thing yet, but her senses were much sharper than mine. As we all mulled over what to do next, Celine reappeared in front of us.
"You won't be able to take the road. They've already reached the turning and it looks as if they're checking for tracks." She said quickly.
"Looks like we can't go back that way. Where does this path lead Rosa?" Asked Serin.
"I've followed it as far as the old woodcutter's cottage deep in the woods. It continues past there, but I've no idea where it comes out." Explained Rosa.
"So, it could come to a dead end..."
"It could."
"We don't have much choice, do we?" Asked Altria.
"I don't know... Celine, did you get a look at how many people were down by the road?" Asked Serin.
"I counted almost twenty by the carriage and more in the woods at either side." Answered Celine.
"Then we can't risk going back. If they are after us can't manage those numbers. We're just going to hope that we can make it out the other side of the woods if we follow this path. You mentioned before it was an armoured carriage, Celine?"
"Yes... It looks very heavy."
"Then it's unlike they'll be able to draw it down here. If they follow it will be on foot. At the very least we should be able to put some distance between us. Rosa are you able to drive us down there in the dark? We won't be able to risk any light for a while."
"I'll manage!" Answered Rosa.
"Good... Altria, you sit up front with her and keep a lookout for obstacles."
"Will do."
"Theo, let's get the rest of the gear inside and move out."
"Right."
Rosa had one final check of the horses before she and Altria climbed on the front of carriage. In the meantime, Serin and I loaded the last of the gear aboard. We had only taken a couple of minutes, but I could already make out light from torches someway off into the woods behind us. It wouldn't be long before the search party came across our campsite.
One we were all aboard Rosa slowly drove the horses forward, trying to make as little sound as possible. We rolled back onto the forest trail and steadily picked up speed, heading into the pitch black darkness of the wood.