This leaves Mara speechless. She opens her mouth to let out another haughty response but seems unable to come up with anything, putting her arms to her sides in a defeated motion.
"Enough of this. We can't trust these people," Jac growls, brandishing his dagger.
Kendry follows suit, pulling out his bow and taking not more than a second to aim it at Mara's stunned face.
Wren and I just stand there, keeping close watch on her in anticipation for what she plans to do next. In a split second, her surprise transforms into obvious rage, and she pulls out a large spear with a flourish.
"You king worshippers need to stay out of the forest," Mara hisses. "You're messing with things you don't understand!" Without warning, she chucks her spear at Jac. It collides with his shirtsleeve and sends him backward, attaching itself to a tree trunk and leaving him stuck.
Kendry's finger rests on his loaded arrow, prepared to shoot her and stop her from further harming anyone else. But before he can do so, she materializes behind him and sweeps her leg under his. He falls to the ground with a painful thump, his bow and arrow landing in the grass a little farther off.
The sound of fabric being ripped draws my attention back to Jac, who has just ruined his tunic but freed himself from the spear. He lunges toward Mara with great focus and punches her square in the jaw, causing her to stumble backward with a grunt. But she is not down long, for she quickly gets her bearings back and runs toward him.
I watch, frozen as the two engage in an intense fist fight. They are definitely well matched opponents, both very skilled in combat. I had no idea Jac possessed this talent, but I suppose that's just another fact to add to the list of things I don't know about him.
Suddenly, a gust of wind shoots through the air towards Mara. I whirl around to see that it came from Kendry, who has his arms pushed in front of him just like the last time I saw him use magic.
But unfortunately, she senses this before it can touch her. With her hand gripping Jac's arm, she turns to look at Kendry with a cold, unfeeling stare. In a swift motion, she twists her hands in front of her and pushes the gust of wind back. It hits Kendry's body, knocking him to the ground once again. He holds a hand to his head, teeth gritted in pain.
Wren runs over to help him up, but I have other plans. The spear that is still injected into the tree trunk catches my eye, so I sprint over to it and start to pull. I try with all my might, but it does not dislodge itself. Is it enchanted in some way? Did Mara make it that others cannot use her spear?
Whatever it is, it's frustrating me. I let out an angry cry as I continue to tug on the weapon, but to no avail. I turn around to watch the scene before me, and the odds do not seem to be in our favor. Even though Kendry and Jac are both fighting against Mara, they can't take her down. I thought that she was an even match for Jac, but it seems I was wrong. Her magic and her hatred towards us are both too strong. And there is nothing I can do about it; I feel utterly useless.
It all seems over for us until a strange phenomenon happens. Without warning, Mara is lifted into the air and shoved into a tree by some unseen force. The sudden movement offers an uncanny resemblance to her spear being launched into the tree, which probably would have made me laugh if not for the situation.
I whirl around, stunned that Kendry was able to pull off something so powerful. But then I discover that it wasn't him at all, for he wears an expression as surprised as mine. The source of the action came from someone I didn't expect to see at all: the boy.
"Leave them alone, and I will let you go. I don't want to resort to violence, but I will if needed," he calls out, eyes fixed on Mara with great concentration.
She tries to move, but the unseen force continues to keep her in a bundle at the bottom of the tree. It's as if something is pushing against her at all sides, keeping her in an imaginary box that she cannot escape. She grunts with frustration, eyeing the boy with even more hatred than she showed towards us.
"You have got to stop using that childish disguise, Abner," she sneers. "We know it's you every time. And one day, your magic won't be enough to keep you safe. Our tribe trains for hours a day, and we will soon be able to overpower you."
"Well. I very much look forward to that day, Mara. But until then, I'm afraid you'll have to undergo quite a bit of embarrassment," the boy, who I suppose is named Abner, replies with a calm intensity.
I widen my eyes at his advanced, mature words. The skittish boy we met earlier seems to have disappeared, replaced with a civilized man.
But after all, she did mention a disguise. Is Abner really a young boy at all?
Suddenly, Abner's hold on Mara seems to dissipate, for she jumps up and bolts off. She quickly disappears into the bushes, right after shooting us all a seething look.
Abner casually walks over to our group, as if what just happened is an everyday occurrence. "Are you all alright?"
It takes us some time to respond. I think we're all a little shaken from what just happened, and struggling to come to terms with what just took place before our eyes.
Finally Jac speaks up. "My ear stings pretty bad, but other than that I'm just fine." He shoots Abner a pointed look.
"Ah, yes. I apologize for that. As you could probably tell from my conversation with Mara, I'm having to constantly protect myself. I shot the arrow as a precaution, but then realized none of you were threats. You all just got mixed up with the wrong people, unfortunately."
I suddenly have the urge to laugh. The constant cycle of getting shot by people and then apologized to right after is starting to become ridiculous.
"Yes, please explain why Barrow's lot are 'the wrong people'. If it's not already obvious, we're all very confused," Jac sighs, rubbing his earlobe absentmindedly.
"Yes, honestly, I don't know who to trust anymore," I groan. I try my best to push down the guilt I feel over leading our group in the wrong direction. If I had just listened to Jac and put my past with him aside, maybe we wouldn't gotten into this mess with Mara in the first place.
"Well, you can trust me. I just saved your life, after all," Abner smirks.
Jac shrugs. "Fair."
"Let me give you some background first. My name is Abner, and I am the last living member of the lake nomad tribe. Not a lot of people know I exist, but Barlow's tribe does. They hunt me daily, so I have to constantly change my appearance. Unfortunately, though, I've started running out of ideas...I've had to use this child form multiple times."
"So...you're not a little boy?" Wren asks, eyes wide as she takes in his small height.
He laughs heartily, a sound that sounds incredibly foreign in such a little body. "No, not in the slightest. I'm quite old, actually."
"Can you turn into a woman?" Jac asks slyly.
Wren and I both shoot him dirty looks, but he chooses to ignore them.
For what it counts, Abner seems to find this amusing rather than offensive. "Oh, yes. I was just a woman yesterday; kind of looked like this one here." He jabs a finger towards me, and I laugh awkwardly in response.
"So...what happened to your tribe? If you don't mind me asking," I ask, desperately wanting to change the subject. But of course, the information I could get from this conversation is crucial too.
"Genocide. Pure genocide," he says gravely, shaking his head. "You see, the nomads used to be one united group. There were no lake nomads, no forest nomads...just one band of people choosing to work together after escaping the containment center. But we divided when Barlow and a couple of his followers decided to go to the king and offer their services for slowing down the curse."
I nod, glad to see that at least one thing Barlow discussed was true.
"Barlow is a very prideful man, you see. And I don't know what happened in his past, but being made to feel useless and unwanted is some kind of trigger for him. He became enraged and launched a plan to kill the king and all his followers. His anger divided the tribe, for half of us just wanted peace, the other half wanted to see the king dead. And once he saw that he did not have enough people to carry out his plan, he started threatening the peacemakers and forcing them into something they did not want. So the rest of us had enough and separated ourselves from him, making our home in this place you see here."
The rest of us listen in quiet horror, the humorous mood from earlier completely gone. Once Abner takes a short pause to catch his breath, I realize that I was holding my breath this whole time.
"But Barlow is also a very smart man," he continues. "It didn't take him long to find us, and his plans for us were different this time. He didn't want to try and recruit us again; he wanted to kill us all. He was so consumed with rage for the king, that he chose to take it out on everyone who did not justify his feelings. His tribe killed all of mine, and I was the only one able to escape. For days, his people dug those trenches he probably talked to you about. The bodies were thrown in there, and then Barlow used magic to create a heavy rainfall so they could be hidden. They're passed off as nothing more than rivers used for travel, but in reality – they're graveyards."
I gulp. I'm so shocked that it takes me a minute to find my words and ask the question that's been burning on my mind. "But I don't understand...what were Barlow's plans for us?"
"He was trying to do what he does with every traveler that comes through the forest: brainwash you. To this day, he's still trying to get people on his side so he can assassinate the king. He spews nonsense about my tribe being insane so that no one believes me when I reveal the truth about the whole situation. Frankly, I'm surprised you four trust me at all. I haven't had good experience with others who have come to me, unfortunately."
"But it still seemed like he genuinely wanted to help us. He had this whole plan for us to go across the river and everything," Kendry pipes up, ever the optimist.
"I'm sorry, but he was doing nothing but using you," Abner sighs. "I don't know why exactly you're here in the first place, but you must have something useful that he likes. He'll do whatever he can to get to the king, even if it means creating an army of mindless puppets. Chances are, he sent Mara – one of his best soldiers – here to scope out your allegiance to him. If you seemed faithful, she would follow you to wherever it is you're going and get the information she needs. If not, she would kill you and let you join the others in that river."
I shiver, both from the mention of the river and the discussion about our useful information. I realize with horror that I revealed something very personal – and dangerous – to Barlow without a second thought. He now knows my greatest secret, the one I planned to keep hidden my whole life. My clean face definitely makes me an important asset, and I now see that he will probably stop at nothing to get me back on his side.
The fear I've had for so long now comes to life as well. What if instead of forcing me into his service, Barlow experiments to see how he can take whatever it is I have inside me?
All I know is, we need to get away from him. Fast.
"Fawn, you alright?" Jac murmurs, breaking me from my suffocating thoughts.
I look over at him, and my worry must be clear, for his eyes are suddenly full of great concern. "No, I'm not," I admit. "I can't tell you why, but Barlow knows something about me that he could really use to his advantage. I'm afraid he's going to come after us, to get to me."
His expression quickly turns from mild concern to intense panic. He looks around wildly, and then interrupts Abner's discussion with Kendry. "Abner, we really appreciate all your help and would just love getting to know you better, but we really need to get out of here. Fawn is afraid she's in danger."
"Who's Fawn?" he asks in response.
Jac impatiently points towards me, seeming antsy.
"Oh yes, I'm sure she is. She gives off something very powerful," Abner says casually, scrutinizing me with his boyish blue eyes. "I know everything I said about the river probably doesn't make you very excited to cross it, but I'm afraid it's your only way to make distance between you and Barlow. Chances are, Mara is already back with her tribe and is telling Barlow everything that happened. He'll be on his way here soon."
I shiver, and Jac looks down at Abner with annoyance. "Yes, thank you for the lovely reminder of our impending doom. Do you know anyone who can steer a boat? None of us have the experience."
"Why, yes, I do. Me!" he replies, a proud grin on his round face.
"Are you even tall enough to reach the steering wheel?" Wren scoffs, hands on her hips.
"Good point. Being a little boy is quite silly, anyway. Allow me to change." He twists his arms in a strange, foreign motion, and a split second later he stands before us as a man. His original form is tall but hunched over from old age. Still, he can definitely reach the steering wheel now. "We can't waste any more time. My best boat is that one over there, but we'll have to swim to get onto it. You can swim, right?"
We all choose to ignore his judgment and sprint across the bank, emerging ourselves into the water and swimming across as fast as we can. With help from each other, we pull ourselves up onto the craft and seat ourselves on its planks.
Abner positions himself in front of the steering wheel as if he belongs there, steering us out of the lake with ease and onto the adjoining river.
Kendry stands himself at the back of the boat, deciding to make himself useful by shooting gusts of wind to speed up the trip. I shoot him a grateful look, glad to see us all working together to stay safe from Barlow and his henchmen.
But my happiness quickly subsides as I think through everything that I just learned. All my life I thought I had problems trusting others, but it turns out I trust far too quickly. I believed the words of a genocidal maniac, and in turn steered those I care about towards trouble. I even showed my bare face to him! How stupid could I have been?
"Trust is a tricky thing," a gentle voice says out of the blue.
I turn to see Jac sitting at my side, a contemplative look in his eyes. He then turns to look at me, now full of understanding.
I let out an unbelieving laugh. "Are you some kind of mind reader?"
"Nah, Kendry's the one with the magic powers. I just know what it looks like to beat yourself up over unbreakable habits. I do it too often, unfortunately."
"Trust issues?"
"Hmm, I wouldn't say that. More like trust insecurities. I get upset when people I'm close to don't trust me, so much so that I forget why they can't trust me in the first place. I get angry and put the blame on others rather than turning back to myself, when most of the time I'm the one to blame. My actions create a barrier, but I tend to block out the things I've done. It's a fun, fun process."
Now I'm the one who understands. What he just shared with me makes so much sense, now that I think back on all my interactions with Jac. He hates the idea that I can't trust him, but he can't control it either due to all the secrets he's forced to keep. It's a hard place to be in, and my heart goes out to him.
"Jac, I'm so sorry. I didn't know about all this," I breathe.
"Well, of course you didn't. I'm not exactly an open book," he grins, as if trying to make it all seem okay.
I want to tell him that it doesn't have to all be okay, that he doesn't have to be the guide who knows everything all the time. But I can't find the words to express exactly what I want to say, so I simply go silent and offer my company to him.
We spend the rest of the trip on the river making light conversation, laughing about the ridiculous situations we've gotten in and discussing the strange beauty of the forest. It's nice, talking to him as friends like this.
But for some reason, it seems different this time. I feel like the person I am to Jac has changed constantly throughout this trip, giving me whiplash every time I'm around him. But now that he has finally chosen to confide in me about something, it's as if our relationship has elevated to a new level that I never knew could exist.
In my humble opinion, the worth of a relationship should never be defined by how much you share with each other. Some people know everything about each other, and others are happy to just sit in silence and offer comfort. Both are beautiful. Yet, when you know someone as a human who feels, not just another number in this ever increasing world, you see them in a different light. You see yourself in a different light. Everything is different, everything is new.
Once I'm finally able to tear my gaze away from Jac, I see that night has fallen. The stars are out now, glittering across the raven sky like a million possibilities before me. It feels as if my world has opened up, offering a path that I didn't expect to ever cross.
Everything is different.