VI

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I was still wearing the fur coat that Malakei had given me during breakfast.

It was warm and kept me safe from the cold getting in on me. I was going to hand it back to Malakei before we began the journey to the Dry Lands, knowing he would probably be wanting it back for the journey and be cold without it but he insisted that I keep it. He said he had many more at home and he can bare the cold for the remaining few hours before we reach land.

Reach land.

That terrified me. I didn't know what awaited me. I couldn't bring myself to ask Raen. Not that he would tell me anyways.

Raen had refused to speak to me throughout the entire journey. I didn't mind though as I was also holding a grudge against him. I didn't want to entertain him with my words if making sure that I didn't run off was such a chore for him. I still don't know who gave him the right.

By not talking to him, I also refused to sleep. Battling with my exhaustion the whole journey just because I didn't want him to see me weak when I sleep. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that I was still sick when I told him earlier that I wasn't.

I tried to keep a distance between us while on the horse. It was childish I know but not letting his body come within a centimeter of mine made me feel more in control. I didn't feel like I was being forced against my will to sit on a horse as that was how he made it feel all of 99% of the time.

I glare as I watch him hop down quickly when the shout in front of us to stop was heard and the horses stopped their trek. Dry Landers hoping off and glad to be getting food and a rest before we were going back on the horses.

It made me wonder why they would go through so much travelling and possible hypothermia; all for an elf kid that they didn't know. It didn't make sense. Thinking about it only made me come up with ridiculous scenarios in my head. Anxiety was building up within me and I tried to be calm as to not become even more sick than I was last night. I needed to stay calm.

The short time spent away from our journey was uneventful. We ate quickly whatever we were given and packed the horses again for the journey. I could only wonder how far more this journey was going to be. It was dangerous and I only wondered if I would make it through. I wondered what would happen to me when we finally got to their destination.

What would happen to me?

I kept silent as I stared down at my food. It was that stew we all ate yesterday. I brought the food up to my lips and ate slowly. My appetite having gone ever since the goose fat incident this morning and the thoughts of eating whatever now made my stomach churned. The only reason I was forcing myself to eat was because of the eyes boring into me. Raen scolding me when I wasn't eating and just staring down at the food after one of the others had given it to me.

He helped me up onto the horse afterwards in silence. Still refusing to talk to me although his eyes were not as harsh as they once were and his fingers didn't dig into my sides as much. I knew for sure that my sides were going to be littered with finger marks and bruises from his harsh grip. Not to mention the large red handprint on my upper arm from where he had pulled me up onto the horse this morning. It didn't help that I bruised easily, my body seemed to welcome any infliction made on it. Tobias made sure of that too.

Soon enough, the cold air started to lift until the fur coat was becoming too much as the horses made their way down one of the slopes. As I looked up from my emotionless stare I gasped.

I could see the ground and we were descending at a moderately fast pace, the mountain floor was not covered in snow anymore and was a grey stone. Tufts of grass seeping through the fissures as we got closer to the earth.

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