Eladea: A Hopeless Age

Chapter 22: Liam

Chapter 22: Liam

Wow, look at this, a braaaamnndd neeeewww chaaapptterrrr! ʸᵃᵃᵃᵃᵃʸʸʸ

》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚《

I had never felt so vulnerable in front of someone before. But as I lay in Reid's arms, broken down to dust and tears I felt a strange sense of security. I'd be all right.

After who knows how long we found our way back to the campsite. We collapsed in a heap and fell asleep not long after. I fell into a dreamless sleep, the kind where you feel like you've blinked and suddenly it's been a whole night.

I groan, heaving myself up, rubbing my eyelids free of sleep. I yawn, stretching out my muscles and finally take a look around. The fire had long died out, reduced to nothing but a small pile of ash. A cold breeze filters through the trees, shaking the most stubborn of the fall leaves off their branches and onto the ground with their brothers and sisters. It must be mid-morning, the sun set high to the east. A thin layer of clouds cover the sky, creating a translucent barrier that would surely be burnt off by noon.

I toss my hair, taking some tangles out with my fingers. It's dirty and at least a shade darker than when we left. Then again, so is my skin. And my clothes. And the others.

Wait. The others.

Realization hits me like an intoxicated rat as I glance frantically around our camp. Where are the others? I stand, ice cold fear seeping into my heart.

They wouldn't leave without me…right?

I walk around. Not a single thing was left behind to signal where they went, just flattened leaves from where they had been sleeping previously. I try to calm myself as my breathing escalates. I pause for a second to get my all-too-familiar anxiety under control before forming a plan.

After I calm myself, I move in a slowly widening circle around the campsite to try and see any clues as to where they might have gone. They couldn't have just vanished…or could they?

I stop and move back a step, crouching down at something that caught my eye. I run my hand over the dew covered ground, shivering slightly in the cold. I look closer, desperately trying to make sense of what I'm seeing. Then it dawns on me. A dragon print! A flicker of hope ignites inside me as I look to where it's pointing and look for another. And there, not that far away is the next. And another.

Soon I realize it's a path, winding through the trees and deeper into the forest. Occasionally I see a boot print or two in a patch of mud or sand and it raises my spirits even higher. Maybe they just went to go get firewood or something. But as the camp grows out of my sight and I've been walking for a good few miles, I realize something else. There's tinier footprints.

I crouch down, looking at the small intentions in a patch of sand. They're similar to how Amber's are, but more animalistic and tinier. Maybe it's a squirrel or something. I continue on.

But the longer I follow this path of footprints the more it seems the tinier ones appear. Starting as one being it grows and grows until there are so many little prints they almost drown out Amber's. I have to look harder now to find my way.

I'm so focused on the ground I don't realize when I've stumbled into a clearing. It's stunningly beautiful, a sheer cliff jutting out from the forest, white frothy water pouring down its side into a large watering hole at the bottom. But what catches my eye the most is the pedestal in the center of the water. It's grand, royal and pretty darn big; it juts out from the water only a few feet and behind it the waterfall roars.

But the thing on top of the pedestal was the most breathtaking thing.

The closest thing it could be described as would be a Sphinx. With a powerful, muscular lion body and large, majestic hawk wings. A regal head perched upon its magnificent mane. Its fur glistens with the mist from the waterfall behind it as it lounges on its platform, staring at me with a bored expression.