Amelia Merlin and the Game for Okamila

Part 53: Does anyone even read the title of chapters?

Daniel trusted Marco. It was as simple as that. The days stretched to weeks they spent together. He was really good at hunting and he showed Daniel lot's of coll stuff about how to trap rabbits and how to look at tracks. Daniel was getting better and better everyday and Marco also taught him how to fight. Every day they practiced fighting and Daniel was not half bad at it. In the evenings they sat at the hearth in Daniel's home and traded stories. Daniel told Marco about his time with the lizards and how he met Sapana and the beautiful girl who lived in the forest who refused to tell him her name. He told Marco about the magic that killed his family and how the fighting that he was learning would one day be used to end magic throughout the kingdom. Marco told Daniel about his time training in the city of Re'na and about the love of his life. He told Daniel about the days at the beach and the nights under the stars.

They were walking through the forest when Daniel could tell something was wrong. He knew Marco well enough now, they'd spent every moment together for weeks and were practically related at this point.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he half tripped over a log.

"I'm fine, Dan. Can you not make so much noise? The deer are probably going to kill themselves out of sheer disbelief that someone could be so damn loud in a forest." he rolled his eyes. Daniel was sort of used to Marco saying things like this and it didn't really bother him because everyone said things like this.

"Marc, look-"

"For fuck sake's. Call me Marco or I'm cutting your balls off in your sleep."

"Okay, okay. Marco," he sighed dramatically. "You've been staying with me for a month and I still don't even know what you're doing in the north."

"I'm traveling."

"Now you're lying."

Marco turned around and looked darkly at him. His green eyes and stiff cheek bones made him much more intimidating than Daniel with his soft blue ones and round face. "That is a very serious accusation to make. Don't ever call me a liar unless you can prove it. Okay?"

"If you were traveling why would you come to the North?" Daniel asked as his friend started storming through the forest.

"I've never been here before." he called out.

"There's lot's of places you haven't been. Why would you want to come here?" Daniel frowned.

"Just because."

"Wouldn't you go to the Islands? Or the mountains? Or Okamila? Anywhere is better than the North. We never get travelers up here. Because it sucks up here." He yelled after Marco but he was long gone into the woods by now. But Daniel was never one so easily discouraged. He would find out what Marco was doing in the North.

....................

She woke up screaming. It had been so long since she had nightmares but this one kept coming. The tree in the courtyard and the silver haired boy. There wasn't anything specifically terrifying about it but she felt such immense hatred and anger and above all an unquenchable sadness filled her entire being.

"Amy!" Oliver burst into her tent. "What the hell is going on? You sound like you're getting murdered."

Amelia shook her head and tear rushed down her face, drowning her pores. "It's this fucking dream. I can't get it out of my head. I close my eyes and I can feel it. I can see everything as if I were there. It's so real, Oliver."

"Shit." his face cringed in pain. "Look, darling, do you want me to stay with you? I can wake you up if you start looking like you're having a nightmare."

"No. I - I can't go back to sleep right now. Can we just talk for a bit?"

"Yeah of course. Always." he smiled and pulled a chair up to the side of her bed. "Do you want to talk about the dream?"

"I don't think it's a dream. I think it is real. Remember how I told you about the time thing Lavender thought of? Well, I think I'm seeing the past."

"Or maybe it's the future."