The Grove (Ravens #1)

viii. wake of giants

 When Emma opened her eyes, a faint light blinded her, striking an acute pain in her temples. She squinted to make out her surroundings, and saw that she was in some sort of cell. She was seated on a dirt floor, leaned up against a pole, although when she tried to move, she found her hands were bound to it. Her ankles were tied as well, and a wet rag around her mouth gagged her. A slight panic began to settle when she thought back to the last thing she remembered. She had gone to Adrian for help, but he had unsurprisingly betrayed her. That asshole, she thought.

The light came from a small skylight in the ceiling of the cell, but based off what she could see, they seemed to be underground. There was a door on the wall to the right, but she figured it was locked. Besides, she was still bound and had no way to test it. As her eyes continued to adjust, she eventually saw a small figure in the corner of the room, and her heart began to race. The figure appeared to be asleep, and judging by the strength of the light, Emma figured the sun had only recently risen. The girl's blonde hair, however, gave away her identity. It was Ellie.

A newfound adrenaline rushed through Emma's body, as her instincts to reunite with the girl ran rampant. She struggled against the pole, trying desperately to break away, but it was no use. Luckily, Ellie appeared unbound, which would be a good thing for them both. Emma sighed, leaning back against her restraints, and stared up at the faraway light. She knew what she would have to do.

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When Dylan and Nova awoke that morning, they turned to see an empty bed in their room. They were aware that they'd gone to bed far earlier than Emma the previous night, but it appeared she never came back.

"She left the camp again, didn't she?" Dylan sighed after the events had registered.

"Maybe she spent the night with Mai?" Nova suggested, "They were always friends."

"You don't believe that for a second," the first girl shook her head, "How come we're always the ones who get stuck discovering someone in our camp is missing?"

"Let's go outside. Hopefully she'll be in the camp somewhere." The two girls took a deep breath and exited their cabin. It was late enough now that most of their friends were awake, but there was no sign of a small teenager in a black bomber jacket with her long, dark ponytail. Sebastian was across the center, talking casually to Mai. He seemed relaxed, or at least as relaxed as he ever was. If he'd sent his sister out earlier that morning, he would undoubtedly be more nervous—he always was when Emma was gone.

"Corey!" Dylan waved a scout over, "Have you seen Emma this morning?"

The boy shook his head, "Is she not here?" He didn't need a spoken answer to understand. All three knew the truth. He added, "Both of her knives are gone from the weapon's vault."

"Is that unusual?" Dylan asked, "She always has a knife with her, it's Emma."

"At least one of them is always missing, usually both. She didn't take anything else with her, though. No swords, spears, guns even. Does she usually only arm herself with two knives?" Corey looked to his leader, hoping for an answer that could suggest the girl was still there.

Nova shrugged, "Depends on what her motive is." Although nobody in the camp knew the extent of Emma's tactics to gain information, Nova was one who had a fairly confident idea. Of course, she was never going to confront her friend about how many people she'd slept with, but she had a feeling it was a number Emma wasn't proud of. Or even if Emma was proud, Nova figured it was best to keep it a secret, as Sebastian would be beyond ashamed of her.

"Who wants to break the news to Seb?" someone sighed. Of course, he'd led Mai and Yasmin over to their circle, since he was able to see the palpable tension from across the field.

"Break what news?" he asked, and the sound of everyone else's stomach dropping was almost audible. They all looked down towards their feet, nobody wanting to tell the boy his sister was missing. That action, however, was enough to tell him everything. "Oh, God." he muttered, shaking his head and walking away. The other five looked to each other in silence, unsure of how they should react.

"It's the Condors, isn't it?" Yasmin muttered, "Those goddamn snakes."

"We don't know that," Corey said, "She's a smart girl, she has friends all over the place. She could be just fine."

"But the Condors have Ellie, which we do know, and Emma would chase after her," Yasmin said, "Besides, does nobody care about Ellie being missing?"

"We can't exactly send out a search party," Dylan said, "Not after Mai's run-in with them yesterday. They're going to want to kill any Raven they see." Mai frowned when Dylan mentioned that, but she didn't say anything. She wasn't proud of having become a killer.

"All the more reason to get Emma and Ellie out of there now," Yasmin snapped.

"But we have no way to know she's there," Dylan refuted.

"Ellie's there!" Yasmin shouted, "It's not all about Emma!"

"It's a trap, right?" Nova added, "They got Ellie for information purposes, but she's young so she doesn't know anything. Mainly, she's bait. They're hoping they can lure us out and capture or kill someone who actually matters. They won't kill Ellie because they know we'll do anything to protect our people."

"Emma's walking into it, isn't she?" someone else muttered.

Corey frowned, "She's the perfect target. She knows everything, and she's Sebastian's little sister. He'd do anything for her, and if he were to fall, everything else would fall."

"Now what?" They all turned to Dylan, waiting for her to make the call.

Mai, however, the old powerhouse, was the next one to talk, "It's too risky to send out anyone else. They're hostile enough that they'd kill anyone on sight, and we have no proof that Emma's actually there. Besides, if she is there, they won't kill her just yet. They'll use her to their advantage first, so we have time. She's more valuable to them alive."

Dylan nodded, "Mai's right. Nobody is going towards Condor territory." They all nodded and began to disperse for whatever jobs they had assigned that day. Mai was patrolling the southern border, while Yasmin and Corey were heading towards the east. Nova, as always, was taking over communications. Dylan sighed and looked over towards Sebastian, who was discussing something with Serena, obviously trying to hide his anxiety over his missing sister. She was desperately hoping that Emma would avoid the enemy camp, as she knew Yasmin was right that it would destroy her partner mentally, and she feared it could lead to something even worse.

She turned towards Mai, who was heading out to her position with a certain confidence, as though she knew exactly where she belonged, as though she was meant to be there. Even after disappearing for a year, Mai seemed like the perfect fit for this camp, and Dylan saw the comfortable way she interacted with Sebastian. Who was she kidding? She was sailing in the wake of giants.

"Step up, Dylan," she muttered to herself, "It's time be a leader."