The Devil's Bane: (slightly more than) a short story

Chapter XXVII

Dess was not looking forward to fighting the Devil.

But if it meant he could save their friends, his family and their world, he was all in for it. He wanted to help even if he turned to The Devil's side. That was probably the most terrifying thing that could happen to a person at that time. As Dess, once again, woke up and walked out of his tent, he saw Felix already cooking a big ten pound salmon.

Dess saw everyone else start getting out of their tents, and decided they would ask Felix how he got a fish already.

"Hey Felix, how did you get that big fish so fast?" Dess asked.

"I woke up early today," Felix responded. "It is about six now. We have around an hour before we should start moving again."

Everyone else eventually woke up and gathered around a camp,

"How do you think our parents are?" Charlotte asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"I don't know," Dess replied.

"Yeah, hopefully they are alive and somewhat healthy," Charlotte added.

Felix stayed silent.

Dess found this interesting because, usually, Felix was the talkative person.

As they stayed around the campfire, Felix broke the silence by saying, "Hey, we should get going now."

He put his scythe on his back and started off, with his iron pack floating behind him. Everyone else packed up pretty swiftly, as Felix had made the tents ninety percent iron. Charlotte studied the beautiful scenery as they marched through the jungle. The dark trees and pure green plants. It was quite enchanting actually. She glanced at Dess. The scenery really fitted his outfit today. Their dark hair flowed in the soft wind. Charlotte flushed. Why was she thinking about that? She started to study the scenery again. This time, her thoughts were not interrupted.

When they got to a mountain ledge, Dess thought about where the other elves were and how they were doing in the city. Probably having a good ol' time. Dess sighed.

"You good?" Felix asked, half-concerned and half-as a joke.

"I guess. This is all getting too real." Dess answered honestly.

Felix said, "I see what you mean."

The silence was strange after that. "So, what is everyone's favorite color?" Charlotte surveyed, trying to make it less awkward.

"I personally like dark purple," Dess replied, almost tripping on a rock.

"I like gray," Felix replied.

Charlotte let out a small laugh. "I like light pink. More pastel colors honestly," Charlotte added.

"Cool," Dess said, smiling lightly. Charlotte smiled back and Dess looked away quickly, he was a little red in the face.

"I like green, any shade of green," a familiar voice said.

Everyone turned their heads to see Anthony, Gerald, and a Chinese girl standing there. Cade was noticeably absent. "I know we haven't interacted in awhile, but we have some news that we need to get the entire group back together to help with."

"What news could possibly be this bad?" Dess asked. "I mean, we are--were--rivals."

"Cade's....well, he's disappeared."