The Last Goddess

Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Four: Ready

Samara

If Aryan could feel my mortification, he showed no sign of knowing it. I couldn't quite meet his eyes, and yet, rather unabashedly, I still took his hand and relished in it. Though, the only thing I wanted to do with my hands in this moment was cover my face! I was of two minds on it, and both felt strangely wrong but also... completely right.

What was I thinking!? I scolded myself. Why did I have to kiss him to give him air?? I could have made him an air bubble, but...

But when I saw him drowning—saw the way his face contorted as he held on to his final burning breath, I just... reacted. And on top of that, I was insistent on it!

Aryan must think... Actually, I don't know what he thinks. His thoughts are sometimes hard to follow. He would normally scowl at me or scold me for doing something unnecessary, but now that I think of it...

I watched our clasped hands as we neared the bright entrance that led out of the Oasis. If he minded so much, would he grab hold of me so nonchalantly? I wondered, a spark of joy coursing through me.

"Get ready." He called, not looking back as he spoke. "We're entering the Pastel Desert."

And I was. Ready. It was time to help another goddess, but just before we were to exit, I thought I heard the sound of water splashing behind us. We both froze. We looked down the dark stairway, but couldn't see anything. We heard some slight mumbling, like someone was whispering commands.

The grimace on Aryan's face told me all I needed to know. Soren's soldiers were close behind us. I never imagined they would actually dive into the Oasis, but they were of the determined sort. So, I suppose I should have expected this.

This time, I pulled Aryan out into the desert, and as I scanned the alternating turquoise, coral, orange and yellow sand. It swirled slightly, and as I looked at our surroundings, I realized that there was nowhere to hide. Soren's soldiers were surprisingly swift. And if we could see them from a distance then they could see us.

Aryan seemed ready to bolt, but I released his hand, and took a breath. I could only think of one thing to deter them. I focused, moving my hands left and right as I raised the sand of the entrance to the Oasis. I packed it down, covering the entrance with a sand dune, and hoping that this would give us enough time to make our way to Zephyr.

My companion smirked before gesturing for us to get going. "Smart." He commented. "But it won't hold them for long. They did originate from the ground after all."

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We traveled well into the night, and while I knew Aryan would have kept going, I could not. The night air was freezing now that the sun had set, and my legs were aching between all the swimming, climbing, and running we had done to put distance between us and the Mineral Guard.

From what I could see, it looks like my little trap set them back. So, I stopped, and sat on the beachy sand.

I could hear some amusement in Aryan's voice as he said, "If you needed to rest, you should have said so."

I chuckled a bit as I patted the sand beside me. "I need to rest."

He shrugged off his backpack, beginning to take out our water bottles. He passed mine to me before taking a swig from his own canteen. The water was refreshing despite being a little warm. After a moment of silence, he passed me the last apple we had.

"Eat it. You need your strength." He insisted.

I held the red fruit carefully to my lips, took a handful of bites before passing it back to him. "Let's share. Eat the rest." I smiled.