The Heart of Camilo (A Camilo Madrigal x Reader Fem Y/N Story)

No Turning Back

*Y/N*

The darkness beyond the lantern's light was overwhelming. I had never been in the forest at night, and the sounds were disorienting. Everything sounded so close, every insect shrill, every snap of twigs, every rustle that could be god knows what animal. Armonia and Cancion walked briskly through the forest, guided on by our affirmations and pats despite the darkness enveloping us. It had to be past midnight by now.

"I wonder if they have noticed we are gone yet," Mirabel said, breaking the silence.

Speaking aloud in the dark when all noise was heightened almost felt like a crime. I shushed her without thinking and she laughed.

"It's probably best to be a little noisy, we want the animals to run away from us, not think we are friendly," she said.

"Right ... what kind of animals are out here, exactly?" I asked tentatively.

"I'm not really sure. The ones that we are worried about? Jaguars, mostly. But again, they will move away from noise. They're scared of humans," she explained.

"Uh-huh..." I trailed off, my eyes widening in the dark at her confidence. "To answer your question... hard to say. My father went to sleep early and doesn't usually check on me in the night if he wakes. Then again, it hasn't exactly been a typical last few days."

"That's for sure," Mirabel breathed, as we came out of a thick thicket and into a clearing. I could hear water nearby but couldn't see the source.

"Maybe we should let the horses have a drink," Mirabel suggested, lifting the lantern high to cast more light further into the clearing, looking for the water.

My horse suddenly whinnied, as if scared, and turned around abruptly. "Whoa!" I said, grabbing the reins to steady myself. "What's wrong, girl?" I asked her, patting her neck.

I heard Mirabel's horse make a similar sounds. "Something's wrong," she said, concerned. "We should keep moving."

My heart began to race. We were in the middle of nowhere, following a map given to Mirabel by some stranger, following some story from a book based on the assurances of a rock made out of gold. I swallowed, wondering if we had made a massive mistake. 

"What was that?" Mirabel whirled her horse around. 

"What?!" I asked, finding it hard to breathe as the terror was setting in. No one knew where we were. If anything happened to us, it would be like we just disappeared. Panic seized hold of my chest and threatened to stop my breathing entirely. I held my hand up on my chest, trying to force calm as my horse began to pivot around again and I had to hold on.

"There!" Mirabel shouted. "Who's there?!"

She had lifted the lantern high, and at the edge of the pool of light, I could see it, another horse, with a man wearing a heavy black cloak atop it, his face obscured from view. Had they been walking around in the dark without a lantern? When the man's horse began to walk towards us, my horse's patience ran out. He reared up, throwing me from him, with a shrill whinny that cut through the night. I fell hard on the ground, yelling out in pain as I felt my leg break. The pain tore through me like a knife.

"Y/N!" Mirabel screamed, turning her horse towards me, barely able to control him, and then jumped down to run to my side. The lantern had fallen on the ground not far from us. I pulled myself up, gasping in pain, as Mirabel came beside and held my hand. "Don't move, don't move!" she said frantically, staring at my leg. I didn't dare look.