The Healer ✔

Chapter Twelve

A strong breeze whipped at Elora's hair, the smell of the earth permeating the air around her. They were still walking along the cliffs. Riba stood in a crumbling heap far behind them. If she listened hard enough, she could hear the crash of the waves against the rocky cliffs nearby.

Nyal walked next to her and stared out into the distance. Ragen and Mikhail were ahead of them, talking quietly to each other. It had been mostly quiet since they left Riba, the only sounds were the waves, footsteps in the grass and the occasional muttering from the pair in front of her.

Nyal hadn't spoken much since he found her in the courtyard in Riba after Gaizma had flown away. She didn't know why and didn't want to ask. She could only assume it had something to do with Riba. His home was gone, destroyed, and there was no one left but him. Elora kept an eye out for what could be people as they walked, but so far, she had seen nothing. It seemed that no one, Zlohiel or otherwise, wanted to be found in the south.

Nyal had rushed to heal her when he found her in the courtyard only the day before, despite there only being an ache in her chest. The water had soaked her clothes, but it didn't matter too much to her. There were more important things.

He told her that he had heard Gaizma roar. He'd been wandering the city trying to calm down and had rushed over when he heard it. He thought Elora had been killed. He'd looked so panicked, so terrified. Ragen and Mikhail had shown up not long after that, having heard the same thing.

Elora then explained who Gaizma was, why he was important, and of course why he hadn't killed her. Nyal's face had paled at the mention of war, and Ragen had grown angry. She couldn't blame either of them for their reactions, she wanted to do the same thing.

They had left Riba not long after that, not wanting to stay in one place when the Zlohiel, specifically Gaizma knew where they were. It was too dangerous for them, who knew when the dragon would come back. Who knew if he would change his mind and kill Elora before the war? She didn't want to wait and find out.

They didn't know where to go. The night before Mikhail had suggested returning to Dreeva, the centre capital of the realm, to see if there was anything there that could help them. Ragen wanted to go back to Fiume, one of the many kingdoms to the east, but all four of them knew that there wouldn't be anything left of it. Dreeva was an option. They would have the most luck of finding something there if it would be barely standing.

Their arguments had been shut down when Nyal asked if they could go to Voda, the other southern kingdom. He had wanted to see if there was any chance of anyone being still alive. He told them that he needed to know. They had agreed without a moment's thought. She wasn't sure if it was out of sympathy or pity.

Voda was only a day or two away from Riba, which made her doubt that anyone was still there. If the Zlohiel could take out Riba, there was no doubt they could destroy Voda as well. Still, she was going to allow Nyal to check it out. Even she was desperate to see someone that wasn't in their little group.

She hoped that once they passed by Voda that more shelter would be available. Despite the lack of attacks while they walked out in the open, she still felt like an obvious target in the wide green fields. Some trees would do them well, they would hide them from the Zlohiel better than anything on the cliff side ever could. All they had to do was find them.

She sighed, feeling exhaustion wash over her. It seemed that no matter how much rest she got, she was still tired. They would need to find shelter sometime in the next few hours, or else they would be sitting ducks in the dark. She knew there were farms and small villages in between Riba and Voda, all they had to do was find one that was still standing. Judging by the destruction at Riba, it would not be an easy task.