Silver: The Lost Royal

31 | Red Blazing Eyes

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Illis ~ eel-is
Qina ~ keena
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THE morning brought relief from the biting cold, yet Jamie's icy personality persisted, undeterred even by the blazing sunlight that failed to melt his cough away.

"Finally, you're up. We need to get moving," Jamie said, his voice as hoarse as a crow.

"Moving?" Salome asked with wide eyes. "Aren't we going to freshen up?"

"Do you see any water? Do you hear any running springs? No. So we move," Jamie snapped.

"Talk about waking up on the wrong side of the bed," Karyn muttered before she asked, "Were you able to contact any of them last night?"

"No," he grumbled.

She couldn't tear her eyes away from him, noticing the slight tremor in his hands and the weariness etched on his face as he packed up his tent.

"Did you get any sleep?"

"What matters now is us moving ahead. Later on, I'll try again. We need to find out how to meet up with Gema and Marcela, work on getting your memories, and then head back to Whiscanter. But to do that, we need to get out of this forest first."

Excitement coursed through her at the thought of retrieving her memories, not only because they held a vital piece of her life's puzzle, but also because she yearned to see her parents again, to feel their love, and finally appreciate something she believed she had never had.

Yet the excitement paled in comparison to her concern over the Sapphirian's health. His coughs had turned drier, and heavier, and he had to pause now and then to let it out.

"Getting enough rest also matters. You can teach me how to connect with them so I can do it instead. You don't look any better and I'm pretty sure that's also affecting you getting through to them."

His frown deepened. "My well-being is not important right now."

Her response was a groan, but before she could speak, Salome cut her short.

"Please, it's too early. Let's just move on. Maybe we can find water somewhere in this dead forest."

Karyn let it go only for the young girl's sake. "Fine."

Nothing but the sound of their movements surrounded them as they cleared the area. Packing their tents and all they had used back into their rucksacks and tent bags. No one said a word even as they followed Jamie.

Until Zack spoke. "Didn't any of you find the collapsing portals weird?"

Salome answered him with a question of her own. "Weird as in?"

"Yes, unstable portals cause a sort of dominos effect, spreading their instability to the nearest portals, but something must have started the chain reaction."

Both Jamie and Karyn remained quiet, taking in Zack's words and wondering where he was heading.

"You think something must have caused the portals to collapse and they couldn't have done so on their own?" Salome asked.

"It might be possible," Jamie started. "The one that girl passed through was..."

"Supposed to take us to Myriando. The one that collapsed in front of us was to Nertiva and the last led us here," Salome completed for Jamie. "But what does that have to do with the collapsing portals?"

"Myriando, Nertiva, and Cathurva are all far from Whiscanter. The magic drain that's been occurring could have affected the portals that are far from the capital," Jamie suggested.