The grass swished as Roe'nika ran through the forest. Coming to the brook, she jumped clean over it, landing effortlessly at the other end. She soon reached Quantum, who had noticed her minutes before.
She clutched her chest, as it thumped wildly.
"You look out of breath. You didn't have to run so quickly…"
Roe'nika's heavy breaths filled the air.
Quantum's couldn't be more wrong.
She wasn't breathing hard from her running.
The forest closed up on her. Even the harmless mist seemed to bite on her skin. She could feel the touches of particles ringing pain on her skin. Her hazy surroundings had trees that stood like executioners, their heads hidden, facing her.
Roe'nika nodded as she clutched her knees.
The act sickened her.
She raised her head and began, between breaths.
"I didn't encounter much. Most of the soldiers had gone east. However, I saw a small group of soldiers on horsback, breaking out north. They would be about a kilometer from here."
She ended, pointing to the trees in the east.
Quantum followed her finger. He couldn't sense anything.
Not yet.
"Really?" he said, narrowing his blue eyes.
Roe'nika could feel his aggressive gaze bursting past her side. For a moment, she had second thoughts about the plan. There was no room for second thoughts, however. It was quickly silenced.
"Yes." Staring at him, she added, "Probably, they branched off at a point. Maybe, that's why you cant sense them…"
Her heart continued to pound like tolls of a deafening bell.
Her composure cracked.
"I believe so," Quantum finally said.
Roe'nika wheezed within.
"Let us continue. The shelter is past a hill in the distance. We will reach it soon."
Their rhythmic steps, muffled by the grass, earth and curling roots, rung alongside Roe'nika's beating heart.
It hadn't calmed down since then.
As they trudged on, the mist slowly began to clear. The veil of white grew more transparent. Streaks of sunlight began to fall on the grass, shifting with the swaying of branches above.
Quantum's cloak swayed with his gentle steps. His face was neither bent in a smile or a frown. Just defiance against circumstance itself.
Nekea walked at his left, looking up to him from time to time.
Nhea looked around the forest, absorbing everything she saw. Her yellow eyes filled with wonder, she reached out at and touched the bark of trees, holding on to Quantum's hand.
Roe'nika watched the three from behind.
It didn't sicken her anymore, and that fact confused her.
Her heart blared danger and wrath, but her mind was silent. She had already made her decision. The die had been cast. Passing a little mound, Quantum suddenly stopped.
His sudden stop pulled the other three to a stop.
A strange silence sung, as the last mist livened in the air.
Quantum's eyes had caught fire once more, as his head slowly turned to the east.
He seemed to be staring straight through the mound of earth.
Nhea turned her head, her brows furrowed in innocent confusion.
Nekea followed his gaze, puzzled at where it suddenly ended.
"What do you hear," Nekea said, her voice laced with fear.
Her suspicions were right.
"Horses," Quantum said with dark absolution. "The ones you saw, most likely."
Roe'nika's heart jumped.
Nhea turned to her, almost noticing her fear.
"Are you sure?" Roe'nika asked, almost desperate. Quantum didn't answer.
'No way. The Erref are more than a kilometer out. There's no way he can sense them. With all the trees and vegetation...Or did I misjudge him?'
The thoughts waved like flags in her mind.
Quantum's ability was unreal.
"Lets head west. We shall turn north after a while."
He began turning, almost taking a step.
"Wait."
Roe'nika's desperation leaked from her crimson eye.
"There are large herds of deer in that break in and out of the forest. I doubt the soldiers returned. The Akar Forest is expansive. Looking for Rahiel, there is much to search, they cant dwell in one region."
Quantum froze, his gaze on Roe'nika.
There was a short silence. The trees looked down in anticipation.
His hold on Nhea's hand tightened slightly. Nhea looked up at him with concerned eyes.
"True."
Nekea's soft voice was strange in Roe'nika's ears. Like the voice of a stranger. The darkness within her could not recognize it.
"Herds like that roam the deeper parts of the forest. However, they periodically move closer to the fringes. They were probably disturbed by the soldiers."
Death's cold choke on Roe'nika loosened, her tense muscles relaxing.
Quantum stared at Nekea for a while, and continued on his way, still giving a bit of his gaze to the east. Nekea followed. Nhea was quickly distracted by the buzz of a beetle.
The three went on. But Roe'nika stood still. She desired to move, but the constant remembrance of Nekea's voice froze her again and again. A dreaded feeling crept over her. A feeling that she wouldn't see Nekea again.
It disappeared suddenly, as though sacked by an oppressive force.
Roe'nika followed, her heart pounding more than it did before. Its pulses made the world rattle around her.
It only grew worse as they approached the hills.
Nhea skipped as they went along, her sandals happily dancing on the grass.
The large trees were fading behind them, being replaced by sparser, thinner ones, with more bush and taller grass.
They were climbing gently.
The mist had cleared completely, and the morning sun beat down on the four.
Nekea and Quantum were conversing. They had been doing so for quite a while.
"There isn't much to using the Breath," Nekea said.
Quantum listened to her intently, Nhea's playing rippling in their conversation.
"Just breathe."
Her warm voice graced past Quantum.
For the first time, Quantum was confused.
"Just…breathe?" he asked.
Nekea stared at him with amazement.
"Amazing. So that's what you look like when youre puzzled…"
She laughed, filling the air with her lovely ambience.
Stabbing Roe'nika.
Quantum smiled.
"Even confused you still look unfazed," she added.
With every step they took closer, Roe'nika's heart screamed.
Within her all she could hear was 'Why…Why…'
A little girl crying over her dead mother.
Nekea went on.
"You can feel it around you, right?"
Quantum nodded.
"Exactly. All you need to do is visualize it. Grab it. Play with it in your hands. Smile with it. Frown with it."
Nekea gestured, her hands flowing with a subtle energy.
"Live with it," she finally added, holding Quantum's hand. She pulled herself close to him as she spoke, her voice growing softer.
"The Breath is more than a mere tool. It is an essence of life itself. And it seems to have taken a great liking to you," she said, looking up at him.
Quantum looked into the two shimmering crimson dots gazing at him. The dark circles under her eyes complimented them well. Strands of her black hair fell on her face. Her beauty beamed from deep within. A great manner of a wonderfully crafted clay vessel, holding the essence of life itself.
"So I shall," Quantum said. His tone shook the air around him.
Nhea attacked a poor little praying mantis, flicking it into a bush. She gasped, seemingly shocked that it went that far.
"I know you will," she said.
Nekea's smile cleared from her face. Her tone changing, she added.
"Quantum, religion is the life of Karakh. Every act of pain is centered on it. There are the poor believers, then the fanatics, the manipulators and the real people in control; the priests of Calor."
Nhea giggled, intently staring at a line of ants on the bark of a tree.
"They know me, those priests. They hate me with their very lives, because I threaten their power."
Nekea breathed deeply. Her steps rung synchronously with Quantum's. She clenched her fists.
"They have turned me into a myth, to charge their own faith. Their power is evil. It stands against the Breath. It stands against everything right. Yet, no one wants to stand against them. They accept their oppression, as though it is their nature. I just don't understand."
She laughed as she ended. Her laugh was clearly masking a deeper pain.
"I am glad you wish to destroy this pitiful system. I am even more glad, that I am part of that plan."
Nekea smiled, her tone rising. They passed a hill, looming over them, high and mighty. The forest became darker as they passed more trees and more bush.
She gently let go of him, placing her arms behind her.
"These priests center their power around five temples. I only know of one; Sael."
Nekea's voice fell as she continued. Roe'nika began walking faster.
"I am not sure what exactly they do. I only entered once, and never entered again. You should find them. I believe you will achieve what we seek over there."
Nekea's dress brushed past the leaves of short bushes. A small clearing came into view.
Quantum nodded; his mindset charged. He would certainly bring everything to completion.
Turning from Nekea and looking forward, he drew closer to the clearing.
Quantum stopped.
Again.
Roe'nika glared. Her breathing became erratic. Though, it was barely noticeable.
Only barely.
"Quantum, what is the matter?" Roe'nika asked, glaring at the clearing.
Quantum stood still, squinting. His eyes tore past the shifting shadows. Reality shifted at the corners of his vision. And it was at that particular spot and its surroundings. Something was there, but he didn't know what.
His brows furrowed.
"Nhea!" he called.
Nhea turned from her little adventure and run to him, looking up at with wondering eyes. She tugged at Quantum's cloak.
"Stay close," he said.
Nekea followed his gaze, watching the clearing ahead.
Roe'nika sensed disaster.
Adrel breathed slowly, his sword tight in his grasp. He was away from Rahiel, his silver eyes peering through the shrubbery. His hands shook intermittently as his will to live blared in his head. Rahiel was about twenty meters away from the clearing.
'Has he discovered us?' Adrel pondered. His grip on his sword tightened. The veins on his face became prominent. They had to win. All around the clearing ten Erref were hiding. A ring of Rotzeshel was cleverly hidden in the grass.
Roe'nika thought fast, her mind pulsing with each heartbeat.
"There is something in the clearing ahead." Quantum said, his blue eyes like shields.
"There is nothing there," Roe'nika insisted, her voice cracking.
'Nothing'. Quantum could clearly see something.
Roe'nika moved fast, pulling Nhea and Roe'nika back slowly.
Sighing, Roe'nika stepped forwards. A few paces into the clearing she turned, checking through the surrounding bushes. After a short inspection, she said, "See? Nothing."
She smiled, the corner of her lip twitching slightly. She rubbed it. It refused to stop. She cleared the smile from her face.
Quantum slowly approached the clearing.
With each step it became darker, as a cloud passed above. His arms swayed gently, his sharp eyes still scanning. His instincts were telling him that there was definitely something.
The bushes seemed to part as he drew closer to the clearing. The grunge in his vision began to spread like a disease.
His leather boots swished through the grass, pacing carefully. Roe'nika timed him, and began returning. Her talisman clinked slightly with her steps. Nekea and Nhea watched from behind, their hearts relaxed.
Everything would be fine.
Roe'nika and Quantum slowly passed each other; Roe'nika stepping out of the clearing and Quantum stepping into the clearing.
In a single dreadful moment, rustles filled the air, as white cloaks emerged. It was a strange colour within the green and brown of the forest. Quantum tracked the cloaks billowing within the second. Swords glinted in the darkened sun. Blades of grass flew as men trampled on them.
Quantum turned his head, his gaze falling on Nekea and Nhea at the very corner of his sight. The grunge devoured them, removing them from his vision. There was a searing pain in his chest as three arrows struck him. He couldn't tell when they had been launched.
Within a second, Roe'nika's expression had turned from proud friend, to shamed foe.
A ring of fire lit around him, disturbing the air. Chips of light flew upward within that single moment. Quantum saw them as they burned through the air.
Roe'nika stood a few paces from him.
Her face was everything at once—fear, confusion, conviction and destruction.
Quantum yell tore through the forest, quickly followed by Nhea's cry.