Gift- Book 1

Chapter 36

A horse galloping in the blanket of snow meets Leiea's ears. The fox barks in excitement and runs around her legs as she stops in her tracks and turns to the noise.

The two of them have been running for a while, searching for someone, anyone. It was hard in the growing layer of snow and cold, and it's not helpful when she's not that good at running in the first place. However, the fox excelled at it, especially with the thick furry coat, and seemed to know exactly where Leiea wanted to go the whole time.

To the right of her is the obvious figure of Odenne, taking heavy footfalls that are loud even with the soft ground. On her back is Sheyric. He has the rifle in hand and an extra rolled up shirt covers his lower face. Leiea let's them approach her first.

"Leiea," He says once close enough, lowering the shirt from his face. She winces at the fresh new cuts centered around his mouth, even though she saw them before. "You and the bird guy just disappeared, so what happened? We all thought you were dead. And what's with that thing?" He points to the fox and swings off of Odenne.

"He teleported me to some room and told me his edgy secrets and motivations. Then put me up against this smarty pants, then a wolf as tall as me. Oh, that guy who's been haunting us, who is King Firyah by the way, creates these weird animals with magic and stores them in the forest, intending to expand it across Kiira and kill everyone is the process."

Sheyric's mouth hangs open in confusion. "That was too vague to make sense of-"

"It's enough for you. By the way, thanks a lot for telling me about the magic in gems!" She slaps him across the face and he looks at her. Pain, mainly the emotional kind, crosses his eyes. "Because everything about that damned emerald is so perfect, Firyah's hunting it down, intending to use it to expand the forest, kill us, and create more animals."

"I never thought you'd need to know that,"

"It's not my fault you had the audacity to give me an emerald that was set to bring doom in its purity."

He runs his fingers through this hair and glances down at the fox still stepping all over them. "Who's this?"

Leiea frowns at the way he casually changed topics. "He saved me from that giant wolf." She cringes at the instant use of "he", but decides to stick with it in the meantime. "I'm keeping him around. Smart, strong... happy."

A smile cracks through Sheyric's solemn features. "Can I name him?"

Leiea blinks but nods. He bends down to the fox, scratching the creature's fluffy orange neck. "How do you like... Crevan?" Sheyric says to the fox. He barks excitedly and jumps up, landing on Sheyric's shoulders. He laughs.

"Okay Crevan. Leiea?" He looks up at her. "All the survivors are waiting over there," he points to the same area that she and Hania were escaping from the Ildful. "Unless you want to ride Crevan over there I suggest you get on the horse."

She grins and pulls herself onto Odenne before Sheyric. They leave the fox on the ground to follow. Leiea hasn't seen him run at full speed, but it's easy to see he's made to run in harsh weather.

Odenne begins galloping at full speed within a few seconds and Leiea shivers at the icy wind lashing her cheeks. They turn around the ruins of the village to the opposite side. She watches Crevan run wildly next to them, only a few paces behind. She decides it would be logical to keep him as a sort of pet. She's never had a dog in her life, but the fox is so full of love and strength, it would be hard to let go.

They turn around the camp and Leiea sees a few dozen people sitting in the snow or pacing. She sees one person bending over someone laying down and figures it's Ranulf or Vaeic. In the middle of the area she spots a taller figure holding a bow with shaky hands, the quiver of arrows on their back clicking together.

Leiea catches her breath and tells Sheyric to slow Odenne down. He complies and she jumps down immediately, managing to land on her feet, which sends sharp pain up her burned legs.

Before she can trudge through the thickening pile of the snow, a hand touches her shoulder. Behind her stands Ryn, his hair even more wild than usual and his eyes showing pure disbelief. She swings her arms around him and he returns the hug gently.

"We all thought you were a goner. Is there anything you can tell me about what happened?"

Leiea smiles and gladly explains as Crevan begins stepping on her feet and legs again. With her larger trust for Ryn, she ditched the malice from the story that she gave to Sheyric. She also explains the whole "powerful magical rocks and jewels" in depth since he knows even less about it in the first place than her. A few times she catches herself glancing at the figure in the center of the crowd, Hania.

Ryn listens intently and frowns at Sheyric giving her an emerald destined to do so much harm. As she mentions the birds' species called the Ildful, he bites his lip, an old habit she remembers seeing from him when he's memorizing something. However, he doesn't seem fazed or even happy about having Crevan. She finishes the story and he nods slowly for a minute before talking. "Can I spread the word about this? Everyone needs to know the reasoning here, and they barely know it's the Ildful causing all the fire,"

She nods. "Just don't say anything about the magic and emerald and all that. That will lead to too much confusion to handle."

"Okay," He starts turning around before adding, "Only a few are known to be dead or missing, and 3 are critically injured, out of the original population of 38." A cute smile touches his face. "I guess this lot was built for survival."

Leiea smiles too as he walks away to a small group of people close to Sheyric and Odenne. She bends down and pets Crevan, brushing the frost from his fur. She picks him up but he barks, jumping from her arms and running away to explore. She snorts and crosses her arms, continuing to walk.

Hania notices her first while still pacing. Her features soften with relief and she rushes forwards, throwing her bow off to the side. She throws her arms around Leiea's shoulders. She whispers, "You have so much to explain,"

Leiea returns the hug and rests her head on Hania's neck. She hopes her reddened face isn't too visible. "I'd rather not after doing it twice already. Later?"

"Yeah. So you have a new pet?"

She flashes a real smile this time. "Yep, a present from the king."

Hania pulls away from the hug with a raised eyebrow but smiles. "If you didn't reappear so soon we might all be dead by now. I can't tell if you know this already, but people trust you, Leiea. They see hope when you're around."

She opens her mouth to speak but doesn't manage to say anything. She's been trusted for so long before the trading trip, being hardworking and helpful in the tough winters. It's unimaginable how that trust must have evolved by now without her knowing it.

Looking up, everyone that was hovering around in the area walking back, standing in groups. Sheyric rides up on Odenne before she could ask Hania.

"Somethings coming from the forest. You probably know what it is. I suggest you go get Craith. He's in the same spot" His voice sounds shaky but determined. "Everyone," he yells to the survivors behind them. "Flee or fight. It's your choice."