I Am Who? - Book 2

Chapter 11 - Broken

Once we left the waning light of the fire behind, it became pitch black, and to top it off, a heavy drizzle began to fall. Kotaro's steps never faltered, however, and as I stumbled after him, I wondered if his eyes were able to see through the darkness. The thought fled quickly from my mind as my feet began to drag heavily.

Whether from the vast change in emotions I had experienced or from the sudden rush of relief that overcame me, exhaustion poured through me as we walked. I stumbled, but before I could fall, Kotaro hauled me upright like I was a newborn kitten that needed safekeeping. I leaned heavily upon him for a moment before realization struck me.

Conscious of how annoyed he must be, I tried to push away from him and walk on my own to show him he hadn't made a mistake in coming for me. He released me momentarily, but then his hand gripped mine firmly. Startled, I tried to look up at him to judge what was going on, but only his profile was visible to me, and it was too dark to see what sort of expression he was making.

He hadn't said a word since he'd imparted the information that David was still alive, and the silence was beginning to get to me. I had no way to know if he was angry, annoyed, or something even worse. Biting my lower lip, I tried to comfort myself with the fact that Kotaro had never seemed to be the chattiest person I'd known anyway, but that knowledge didn't seem to help much.

In the back of my mind, where logic still reigned unapprehended by the clutches of exhaustion and uncertainty, there was a small sense of consolation in the fact that since he had come all this way for me, he probably wouldn't just leave me to die now. After all, people normally didn't work hard for something only to abandon it the moment after it had been acquired. At the same time, however, I couldn't help feeling entirely too conscious of the fact that I was completely reliant on him to keep me safe and take me where I needed to go.

A part of me was uncomfortable with the fact that I couldn't survive without someone's help—especially someone who had proved so elusive as Kotaro. Yes, he had saved me many, many times, but after the realization that at least one of those times had actually been for Una's sake, I couldn't help wondering if there wasn't something else driving him to help me even now. When it came right down to it, I wasn't so sure I could entirely trust Kotaro, for although he had risked much to save me from his father's clutches, he was a wild thing, and there was nothing certain about his next moves.

I stumbled again, and my eyes dropped from the darkness of his face to the equal opaqueness of the ground beneath me. The more time I spent on Krimoa, the more I was certain David and my uncle were madmen for loving it so much. There was nothing nice or desirous about this place. I had nearly died several times already, and I hadn't even been up here for a week. This realization was disheartening to say the least, and as determined as I was to see this thing through to the end, I felt a sense of the impossibility of actually meeting that goal growing within me.

We couldn't have walked more than half an hour before a softly glowing light caught my eyes. The drizzle had been falling off and on since it had begun, and at first, I wasn't sure if the light were a hallucination caused by the sparkling drops and my tired eyes. In another moment, however, we rounded a boulder, and I stopped mid-step at the sight that met my eyes.

Something like a little village had been set up on the leeside of an overhanging cliff. At least half a dozen thick, animal skin tents had been pitched in a scattered pattern around a small fire, and I couldn't help feeling a sense of utter relief at the sight. A small sense of irrational uncertainty fluttered to life at the same time, and I dared to shoot a glance up at Kotaro, biting down harshly on my lower lip.

"Well, it's about time!" I started and clutched Kotaro's hand tighter as Ayan dropped from the rocks above. "I was just about to send out a search party in case you'd gotten lost."