Oh no," I said, my dark side recognizing the king's men. Reuben and the others stood up as I quietly took cover in the trees. Five men on horses approached them.
"Have you seen this girl?" one of them asked, showing them an illustration. I couldn't see what it was from where I was, but I suspected it was me. Reuben stepped forward to look, and after a few seconds, he spoke.
"Nobody came by here for a while. This is the Outlands, not many visitors come here. You'd know," he said. The man looked annoyed, but he nodded and they turned around to leave. As I was about to step out of my cover, they came back.
"We will look around in case you missed her," their leader said. He clearly didn't trust Reuben.
"Go ahead," Reuben said, sitting on the ground and starting to eat. My stomach rumbled, but I remained hidden as the men dismounted. Four of them started looking and one of them stayed with the horses.
One of the four started walking in my direction. My mind spun, and I decided to climb a tree before it was too late.
I jumped up, grabbing the first branch and I pulled myself onto it. I wasn't high enough, so I kept climbing until I was close to the top. I tried not to disrupt the birds, but they flew away in spite of my silent climb. I hoped that the man didn't see them fly away.
I saw him look around, and then he looked up. I held my breath, trying to make him look away by using will power, but I wasn't a mind wielder, so he kept looking. I then remembered that I had other Elements, so I made myself blend in. His eyes shot past me, and he continued looking elsewhere.
I didn't know how long I was there, but it seemed like hours. Finally, I heard them leave. I waited some more, just in case they came back.
"You can come down now!" I heard Cath shout. I sighed in relief, coming down branch by branch. In most stories, that's the time when a branch breaks and the person on it falls down.
Luckily, no branch broke and I came down safely. I brushed leaves off my bloody clothes and pulled a twig out from my hair. Then I walked out of the tree cover to join the others. The sun was high up, and it was getting hotter and hotter. I sat down, looking at the meat. I resisted the urge to swallow it whole, and I took a smaller piece instead.
I couldn't make myself eat it slowly, and in a few seconds, I was eating the second one. Then the hunger left me.
"They were looking for you," Barn said.
"Were they? I couldn't tell," I said sarcastically, for which I got a mean look from Barn.
"You should be thankful that we're covering for you," Reuben said. I frowned.
"Oh, I thank you, the great saviours! Oh, what would I do without you! Most likely have a shoulder that isn't wounded, and probably have a body that isn't bruised," I said spitefully. They didn't actually do anything helpful. Adam narrowed his eyes at me, and I saw his fist flying towards my face. I caught it and stood up, dragging him up with me. He tried to kick me, but I dodged him, pulled his arm behind his back, dagger on his throat. It took me a second or two to do that.
"I might be wounded, but I am still stronger," I said, pushing my dagger to his throat until I saw a drop of blood. That's when I let him go. He fell to his knees, shaking his arm. I didn't break it, but I was tempted to.
"Don't mess with the monster," I said coldly, after which I turned around and went to a spring I saw earlier to wipe blood off my face and hands. It was quite deep, so I kneeled in front of it, careful not to fall into the icy current. As I lowered my hand into the water, I felt teeth close around my hand, making me yell out as I pulled my hand from the water. A fish with rows of sharp teeth was chewing my hand. I tried waving it around, but that made my skin start ripping off. I yelled in pain again as I tried opening its mouth, but it refused to let go.
I decided to kill it. My dark side was more in control than I was, and I lowered my head to bite the fish off with my fangs. I didn't kill it, but I bit it hard and my sharp teeth pierced its slippery skin easily. It let go of my hand and turned around, trying to grab my face instead. It managed to scratch me under the eye, but then it fell back to the water.
The wound on my face stung a bit, but my hand was a mess. It was bleeding heavily.
"That doesn't look very good," a voice said from behind me. It was Cath. I turned around, trying not to scream in agony. My hand was shaking, and she motioned for me to follow her. I didn't. I tried remembering what Jack told me about herbs as I pulled out a bandage.
I looked around and saw a plant that resembled Jack's descriptions of a plant that stopped bleeding quickly. I took a few leaves and put them on my hand. It hurt even more, but Jack said it would until it closed a bit. I wrapped the bandage around it, almost biting my lip, which would be a very bad idea, considering the sharpness of my teeth.
Cath was still waiting for me, and I followed her back to the camp with a grim expression. The others looked at me when we came out of the trees. They were ready to leave.
"What happened? You were yelling in what sounded like pain and agony," Barn said, his face emotionless.
"A Toothfish bit her," Cath answered for me. I picked up my pack, tying it to my waist. Adam grinned at her answer, looking at my bandaged hand. It still hurt a lot, and it was my sword hand. I couldn't use a sword in my other hand very well, but I could use a dagger.
We started walking without a word. After a few hours in extreme heat, we stopped to rest. I was the only one that was affected by it. Reuben looked at me knowingly.
"You're a Datonx. You should be immune to fire. You seem affected by the heat. Did you live close to an Atonx?" Reuben asked me. I nodded. He smirked.
"I know how to solve that. I watched Shade himself do it when he came to the Outlands. He seemed like a nice guy back then. Adam, do your thing," he said, and Adam grinned, standing up. I stood up as well. I didn't like his smile very much.
"What are you going to do?" I asked.
"Just stay still and don't defend yourself," Reuben told me. Was he crazy? Did he think that I was just going to stand still while Adam did who knows what to me?
I pulled out my dagger and summoned a shadow being. I had never done such a thing before. It looked like a dog, and it was darker than black.
I wasn't going to let them kill me.
"We're not going to hurt you. There is a way to make you resistant to heat," Reuben said, standing up. Then he launched himself at me. I couldn't react in time, since my shoulder was still giving me pain.
He managed to get hold of me, and even with enhanced strength, I couldn't shake him off.
"Try not to burn me!" Reuben said as Adam's hands sat themselves on fire. He approached us with a toothy grin. The fire got larger. I started wriggling harder, trying to escape the heat.
He was getting closer, and I closed my eyes as he set flames at me. For a second, all I could feel was pain. Then it stopped, and the flames didn't feel so bad. I wondered if I was dead. I opened my eyes and saw fire. I heard Reuben curse as he let me go.
"I told you not to burn me!" I heard him yell, and I heard a sound that reminded me of a face getting punched.
Then I was not on fire anymore. My clothes were fine, the fire even got the blood out. I wasn't on fire, and my bandages weren't either. I had no burns on me. I looked around in amazement. It wasn't hot anymore. I switched my gaze to Reuben, who punched Adam once more. He turned around to face me, and I saw that part of his face was burned. He had a few big scars, and he looked like he was in pain.
I winced, glad that he was right about my immunity. He looked angry as he put some herbs onto his face. Adam was knocked out.
"We should keep moving," I said to break the silence.
"What about Adam?" Cath asked silently. I shrugged as I approached him. I kicked him once, just to check if he was faking. He wasn't.
I sighed and took his leg as I began dragging him. My extra strength was the only reason I could drag him and keep up with the others.
Again, we were walking/being dragged without a word. I was getting tired by night-time, but Reuben didn't stop. I didn't want to look weak, so I didn't complain.
After a few hours, I almost collapsed from exhaustion. Our speed was that of a snail. Everyone was as tired as I was, except Reuben, who still kept walking.
"Enough," Barn said, panting heavily. He sat down and so did Cath. Reuben turned around.
"Did I tell you to stop?" he asked sternly.
"Keep going if you wish to, but we're spending the rest of the night right here," I said, sitting down as well.
Adam didn't wake up once, but he was still alive. Reuben frowned, but he sat down beside us. He wasn't pleased, but I didn't take orders from him.
We ate what was left of the deer, and left nothing for Adam. He was still sleeping. We decided to do the same, and they told me to keep watch for some time.
I didn't even have a chance to protest before theystarted snoring.