Shadows Peak |✔

Chapter 40: Sydney

Sydney watched as Casey moved further into the forest. He never looked back, not even when he was so deep in that he was out of sight.

"What are we waiting for?" she asked Reid, tapping his arm. "I'll go ahead and make sure everything's alright. If you don't hear me shout out a warning, then you're in the clear to bring them in after us, okay?"

When Reid nodded his head, she ran forward, hoping her confidence would rub off on the timid group.

Stepping into Shadows Peak, the sensation was similar to how she felt when she stepped off the plane near Yorke. She was entering unfamiliar territory and she didn't know just how dangerous things would be. The Western Region proved to be less harmful than she imagined, but she knew better than to give this forbidden section of land the same benefit of doubt.

With her guard up, Sydney moved further into the forest, her eyes viciously surveying her surroundings the deeper she went.

Where did he go?

Feeling uneasy about her inability to spot Casey, Sydney rested her hand on one of the old throwing knives he'd given her that she had strapped to her thigh, along with a handful of others. It was eerily quiet, and looking back, it didn't seem like any of the villagers were following her in. Darnit, Reid.

So far she hadn't seen anything off-putting about the forest; it seemed just like any other, aside from the fact that it led to the one thing both east and west stayed away from. But, the unsettling thing that was slowly making her stomach tighten was that she couldn't find a certain curly-headed brunette; and the further she walked, the denser the forest became.

The sun was high in the sky, but Sydney realized moving further alone would be foolish. She just wondered why Casey would choose to do so.

Turning around to head to the clearing before she couldn't find her way back, something fell from the sky, pricking the skin on her neck. Instinctively pressing her hand to the stung spot, Sydney lifted her eyes to the forest canopy.

"Casey?" she questioned, squinting her eyes to see clearer through the suns rays that bled through the plentiful ceiling of leaves. Casey was squatting on a thick branch, his other hand secure on it to keep him balanced. "What are you-"

She stopped talking when she made out his panicked gesture for her to be quiet. He brought his finger to his lips and widened his brown eyes in warning before pointing in the direction she was beginning to walk in, back toward the others in their group. Immediately, Sydney returned to alert, backing up until her back was to the trunk of a very wide tree. She was now only visible to someone coming from the direction of Shadows Peak; anyone coming from the west would not be able to spot her.

Sydney kept her eyes on Casey, waiting for some kind of signal or sign of what was going on since he had the only vantage point out of the two.

You're my eyes. Please don't let me down.

She held her gaze on him, her ears keen to all sounds since it was the only sense she could rely on in that moment. Casey's eyes stayed focused on the direction in front of him, and her heart raced when he quickly ducked behind the trunk of the tree he was in.

"Did you see that?!" a gravelly voice asked, sounding about forty meters away. "I think I saw something up there, in that tree!"

"Like what, a monkey? Get a grip, Don," another man said, his tone short and mocking toward the other.

"I swear I-"

"Both of you cut it out," a woman chastised, her voice cold and calculating. "This girl's not a simple civillian. She was one of the top in her class. Don't give away our positions."