FLAMES

15. Adrianne~ XII

I stood for a long time, staring at Kelarie as she slept peacefully.

I was all dressed up for the long journey. I chose leather pants on a big woolen blouse and hiking boots. My new sword was strapped to my waist and my bag pack was worn around my back. I was ready to leave.

For some reason, leaving became hard due to the connection and pull I felt towards Kelarie. I wanted to keep her safe. I wanted to keep protecting her. Therefore leading to my reluctance to leave her behind.

I knew I was doing the right thing. It was in Kelarie's best interest. Bringing her along would be jeopardizing for her life. I eventually started to slowly walk out of the room; making sure not to wake her in the process.

I knew walking away and leaving her behind without saying goodbye was going to hurt her. But it was the best way to part or I was never going to leave. It was surprising that she had taken the news of my leaving maturely. I could see the hurt in her eyes when I told her I was leaving but she easily let me go. Now I was the one finding it hard to let her go.

I exited the house. The first light was just beginning to touch the sky. The streets were dry. There was not one soul outside. I quietly made my way down the streets, through the market and emerged at the Square.

It was a miracle that the square hadn't been affected at all by the Moli's attack. I stared at it for a few minutes before walking away. I entered the woods and continued my silent walk. The sun had fully risen by the time I got to an abandoned camp.

This has to be the Thellar's camp.

I proceeded towards the camp. There were two big connected dark tents. There was a pot abandoned above a fireplace before the tent. There were still dry remnants of the firewood they had used. I ignored it and entered the tent.

There were two huge beds with a table in the center. This is probably where they performed all the evil they did to the women.

I should have killed them when I had the chance.

I moved to the twin tent. There was just one big bed inside. A table was to the far end that contained weapons while the other table contained paperwork.

The weapon's table pulled me like a magnet immediately. I got to it and inspected the weapons it displayed. There were daggers, knifes and jades. I took the daggers, they were just perfect. I dipped two daggers each into both my boots.

I smiled in satisfaction and moved to the next table; the table with the paperwork. I scanned them, hoping to find any form of information that was connected to me. Yet I found nothing.

I was just about to leave when one paper got my attention. Only one sentence was written in it.

"Long live the Mistress," I read out loud.

My heart skipped a beat the moment I read the word Mistress. It rang a bell somewhere deep within me. It made me shiver with fear and resentment.

What does The Mistress mean to me?

I stared around at the empty tent as if answers were going to pop out of the blue for me. I eventually shrugged it off and carefully made my way out of the tents. The farther I got away from the tent, the less tense I became. The Mistress had spoilt my mood.

Chirping birds and the whistling wind kepte company as I trampled upon dried leaves. The trees were tall and they went on and on. There was no cleared path to walk on but the one filled with dead leaves or branches.

Suddenly, I felt it.

A presence.

Someone was tailing me.