We all hike with determination until the sun is disappearing from the sky. Luckily, during the day the high trees were blocking most of the sun but that didn't stop the heat from hitting our skin. We stop and make camp and I feel drained. I wasn't used to this type of endurance—I know with my demonic enhancements I was stronger, faster, and my stamina was ever-lasting but sometimes I still would curse my human needs—I need water and food soon.
We all sit around the fire and I spat annoyed, "We all didn't think to pack more food?"
Iris opens her pack and pulls out various pieces of wrapped cheese and bread from her pack. "I took these from your mom's—" She trails off. "—however, there is so much left."
I growl annoyed and the others look at me oddly, "What?" I frown.
"Your eyes." Iris whispers. "They are usually only purple when you are in your demonic state—"
I swallow my throat dry and my skin uncomfortable. I abruptly stand and pull out my daggers squeezing the hilt. "I'll go hunt." I don't give anyone a chance to follow. I disappear into the dark trees—I'm not sure what is happening to me. I thought I was fully done with the transformation but my sight was becoming clear and my hearing was becoming stronger. I roll my shoulders again—I hear something shift nearby and I take off in a sprint. It doesn't take long for me to pounce onto the deer and drive my dagger through its chest—killing it instantly. I stare at the blood on my hand in wonderment. I stick my tongue out and lick the blood curiously before spatting it on the ground in disgust. "Okay." I sigh in relief. "You're not completely an animal."
I hear something nearby and I stand in a fighting position. "It's me." I exhale again and Sasha presents herself from the shadows.
I narrow my eyes suspiciously. "Are you stalking me?"
Sasha snorts and rolls her eyes—she glances at the dead deer at my feet. "I just got here—" She says coming closer to me and the animal. "—it wasn't difficult to track you." She explains. "I will teach you to hide your tracks."
I cock my head to the side, confused. "Why?"
Sasha snorts again shaking her head, "Because I'm sure we are being hunted—"
I move away from the dead animal and curse myself for not killing something smaller—like a rabbit or something. Sasha is still staring at me amused as if she can read my thoughts. "Shut-up." I tell her.
"I didn't say anything." Sasha replies with that stupid snarky smile on her face. She leans down and instructs me on the easiest way to get the deer back to camp. We both carry the deer back and finally, we reach camp. We drop the animal by the fire.
Atlas just raises his eyebrows and Iris looks surprised.
Sasha pulls the dagger from her boot and she continues to teach me how to skin the animal and give me pointers on hunting and covering my tracks. I listen and watch her closely as she cooks the deer meat. "We can slice the leftovers and eat for breakfast but don't ever kill something so big unless you're feeding more people—you never want to waste a life." I chew on my bottom lip, guilty. I didn't think of that—I was so blood lust that I didn't think of the consequences. Now all this meat will go to waste. I think back to my old school and the class I took on sustainability and the chapter we covered on hunting and poachers.
Sasha squeezes my shoulder, "It's fine." She pauses and takes a bite out of the meat. "We will wrap as much as possible and eat it for lunch."
I nod my head and take a bite out of the meat myself. I'm surprised by the juiciness—it didn't have seasoning and it definitely wasn't on Queen's level but at this moment, it is heaven.
Sasha kicks me awake the next morning and I roll my eyes and look around. The camp is mostly packed up and Atlas is kicking dirt on top of the low crackling fire. I rub my eyes and Sasha looks down at me, "Time to move, Sleeping Beauty."
I run my fingers through my tangled curls and stretch but soon I'm up and trying to freshen myself up as much as possible. Iris was smart enough to grab toothpaste, brushes, and mouthwash. We hike with purpose again and I lead the group through the narrowing and twisting trail until the sun is beginning to set again and it is complete darkness.
We set up camp, exhausted and Sasha teaches me to prepare a fire. I watch her closely and try on my own. I can feel Atlas's eyes on us but I have come to ignore him. However, Sasha is always catching his eye and it's as if they are having a silent conversation. I hate it—I don't like feeling left out.
Especially, after being betrayed one too many times.
"What do you think about Atlas and Sasha?" I ask Iris two days later. We are bathing in the nearest river and it's cold but it feels amazing to feel clean. I dip my head underwater before coming back up. Iris is watching me oddly but she answers anyway.
"I'm not sure. Why do you ask?" Iris wonders her silver-ish wet hair sticking to her face.
"I don't trust them." I answer.
Iris cock her head to the side, "If you asked anyone, they would say you and Sasha are best-friends—"
I roll my eyes at Iris's smile, "My father taught me to always be one step ahead and smart." I'm not sure why I come to my defense so quickly. "—Sasha is teaching me survival skills and at least I'll know how to cover my tracks if she betrays me again."
"Right." Iris replies—dragging out the word as if she doesn't believe me.
I splash water at her. "I'm serious." I frown but Iris keeps that stupid smile on her face and it's nice to see her this way. I would have never thought that it would have been the two of us in the end. Especially, with Javier pinning after me so hard. She looks free as she laughs and splashes water my way. "Why did you leave?" I question.
Iris stops splashing and chooses to float on her back. "I had no reason to stay." She pauses. "I had no family and Javier didn't want me as much as I wanted him."
I chew on my bottom lip, awkwardly.
"It's okay." Iris tells me. "It wasn't your fault but you coming to town made me come to the realization sooner—and I know you didn't like him like that."
I exhale gratefully, "I didn't." I tell her. "I swear."
Iris gives me a knowing smirk as if she knows something I don't. "I know." She winks before swimming to shore. I turn around—my back facing her as she dries herself and put on her clothes—giving her privacy but I still scream, "What is that look for."
"Nothing silly." She laughs.
I then swim to shore and dry off—Iris's face is buried in the book as she flips pages and compares them to other notes. I come and take a seat next to her. I nudge her, "I don't trust them but I trust you—if anything was to happen, we have to have each other backs."
Iris nods her head with a smile and I turn my head when I hear steps coming our way. I smirk and yell toward the trees, "You're getting louder."
Sasha presents herself and she's freshly washed and her sides are freshly shaved—I'm curious as to how she does that so well. She comes closer to us and explains with a roll of her eyes but a playful smirk on her face, "I wanted you to hear me coming, idiot." She pauses and clears her throat becoming embarrassed slightly. "I didn't want to disrespect your privacy."
I arch my eyebrow, "Thanks." I chuckle amused. "We're all girls." I tease. "No need to be embarrassed."
Iris rolls her eyes and butt in, "Says the girl who turns her back when I get out of the water."
I nudge her playfully, "Shut-up. You suppose to be on my side—"
Sasha folds her arms and tries to be serious but I can see the twitch in her lips, "Hurry. It's time to move." She then disappears and I narrow my eyes at her back. I look at Iris who is watching me with amusement and interest. "She's such a wanna-be leader. She can't get to the sinister key without me."
Iris snorts, "I'll always have your back, Hal. But, I'm positive you have nothing to worry about. Sasha will never betray you—"
"Yeah, yeah." I reply. "You don't know her as I do—she's sneaky and always throwing me on my back."
"Really?" Iris snorts.
I roll my eyes at her and hurry back to the camp that is fully packed. We begin hiking again until nightfall. We set up camp and finally I get the fire started, I jump to my feet in joy and Sasha roll her eyes at my success and say, "I know a five-year-old who would have succeeded on the first night—"
"Whatever." I dance in joy. "You will not take this from me."
Sasha snorts and Iris laughs our way. Atlas comes out of the trees and he's carrying three dead rabbits on his back—we all take turns hunting, cooking, and packing up the camp. Atlas drops the rabbits aggressively in front of us. I look up annoyed but I still hold a smile, "If you didn't want to hunt, we could have swapped—" I say. "—I hate packing up camp."
Atlas rolls his eyes, "Why?" He snarls. "So, you and Sasha can disappear in the trees together?"
"Atlas." Sasha stands with fury in her eyes.
Lately, Sasha and I hunt together but it's only because it's a competition—a game to see who can catch dinner first. We are currently tied.
"We are all pulling our weight." I also stand suddenly irritated.
Atlas snorts, "We've been hiking for days—following behind you and we're still no close to the sinister key and you all want to joke around as if we are on a camping vacation." Atlas ends with a spat and I can see the veins in his mocha brown skin as he rants—he doesn't talk much so each word holds meaning.
Sasha steps forward but I squeeze the hilt of my dagger. "You're right—" I say and begin to strip the skin of the rabbit. "—I'm not sure how this connection work but I know it's pulling me in the right direction. We are getting closer each day, however, I won't feel guilty for having a little fun. This is a suicide mission, Atlas and I never asked you to come."
"I never wanted to." Atlas sneers.
"Then why are you here?" I shout.
Atlas clenches his jaw and he eyes Sasha before standing, "I'll be here to save the day once I've been proven right—" He turns and disappears in the trees muttering something about taking watch. I turn on Sasha and she's clenching and unclenching her jaw.
"What is talking about?" I force her attention my way. "Did you two make some type of deal or something? You're going to betray me again—"
Sasha's face becomes passive and I haven't seen this look in a while—actually since before the amusement park in San Francisco. "I won't betray you." Sasha ends the conversation and moves to the other side of the camp. I squeeze my fist before helping Iris with skinning the rabbit meat. I cook alone and the meat is dry and not as good as when Sasha or Iris does it but I don't care and I'm even more annoyed because usually Sasha will tease me about how bad my cooking is—how I should be naturally gifted because of Queen but it's only silence.
It's silence for the next three days—Iris tries, in the beginning, to break up the awkwardness and anger but soon she gives up and buries her face in my father's journal instead. The survival lessons stop between Sasha and me. So, when Iris is not reading the journal, I take advantage of the free time and flip through the spells—
"I don't understand the language." Iris approaches me. "I've tried to figure it out but I believe it's more of a code than a language. Your father was a very intelligent man—"
"People keep reminding me." I reply in a bored tone but I keep my focus on the text in the book.
"Do you understand?" Iris questions peering over me.
I exhale and shut the thin journal that is spelled to carry infinite pages, "No." I stand and hand it to Iris. "You'll probably beat me to it."
Iris shakes her head with a smile, "I doubt that."
We approach a witch cabin in the middle of the woods a few days later. Iris is the first to speak, "We should check it out." Before anyone can argue she is approaching the home and knocking softly. It's more of a shop than a home. There are various meat, wine, and potions. I grab a few things and I can see Sasha staring closely at different daggers—I speak before I can stop myself. "Don't you have enough daggers?"
Sasha grabs the one with a blue warped hilt. "You can never have enough weapons." She then turns and stares at me. She opens her mouth to say more but then shuts it—Atlas calls her and I continue to explore the rest of the shop. We pay in American dollars and the witch woman doesn't seem to mind.
"Very, valuable." She explains. "Here." She hands us a few odd silver coins. "Just in case other shops don't recognize this paper."
"Thanks." I say politely—and we're on our way. We are hiking the back trail and I know we're close. I can feel the intensity of the pull. Iris tells me that sometimes my eyes are purple—only for a couple of minutes but now they last hours and even the entire day.
I am currently flipping through the spells in my father's journal trying to figure out the code text. But then something moves silently in the distance but not well enough—I immediately stop, "What?" Atlas asks, annoyed. "It will be nightfall soon."
"Shush." I snap. I'm still confused about what his problem is. But I don't have time to argue with him. The erratic steps get closer and closer and then—a group of hooded assassins soars down the hill and a powerful blast shoots Iris onto the ground.
"Help her." I shout towards Atlas. He scowls but listens to me. I pull my daggers and Sasha follows my movements fluidly pulling Athene from her sheath. She dodges the blast the Elder assassins shoot her way and she is upon three of them swiftly swinging her sword gracefully. She defeats them quickly and effortlessly and sometimes I even wonder did I only win the solo battle because of luck—and extreme demonic power.
I phase—and I use my claws to swipe against one of the Elder's throat. Blood hits my cheek and I drive my dagger into the last Elder. He falls to his knees and I grab him by his cloak. "Who sent you—" He chuckles madly and soon he is dead. I drop him.
Iris comes out of the trees and she's limping slightly but her first reaction is the lost journal on the ground. She rapidly grabs it flipping it over making sure it's fine. "Don't ever abandon the book." She shouts—and I've never seen her this way.
"You're welcome—" I mutter. "For thinking about you over the book."
Iris shakes her head annoyed. "Without this, we are lost—lost." She repeats the word the second time, firm. Sasha snorts and heals Iris's wounds before approaching me. She touches me but I shrug her off.
"Not my blood." I snap at her. "I don't need your help."
Sasha stares at me with a passive look and I hate that it's so difficult to get underneath her skin. "I'll make sure you bleed out next time—" She says.
I barely hear it but it's there—I move so fast that Sasha doesn't know what's happening until her back is hitting the ground and I wish I have time to tease her about how it's usually the opposite but I feel a pressure in my chest and I glance down for a second to see Sasha clenching her jaw as if I have knocked all the wind from her lungs. I cover her body with all my weight, and Sasha's eyes widen as she sees the second arrow sink into the tree—
I hurry back to my feet, reach for my knives, and throw the blades into the treetop with all my might—there's a brief shout, and then a body falls to the ground with a thud. Sasha finally gets to her feet and arrows are shooting into the distance but a horse is rushing away into the sunset. Atlas grits his teeth at missing—I move to rush in the direction but Sasha is stopping me.
"What?" I ask looking Sasha's body up and down for injuries. "Are you okay?"
I inhale and suddenly it becomes difficult to breathe. I look down and noticed the arrow protruding out my upper shoulder, "Oh" I conclude. "There's the first arrow."