COBALT: The Red Phantom (Book One)

Chapter 27: A Song in the Night (Part 3/3)

—————

Taking a moment to thank everyone that has nominated Cobalt for the Fiction Awards!

It's not about the competition at all. It's the simple fact that you guys are nominating it for anything. Taking the time for that really means the world to me, so thank you from the pits of my black heart, as always!

And Cobalt is #69 in adventure, you guys know what that means...

Nothing. It means nothing.

—————

          Every passing hour was more brutal than the next. The endless trail dragged time through its mess of leaves and searing heat like a shriveling snail. Káel was almost hoping one of the circling griffins would spot them hugging the side of the trail, but the thick canopies overhanging the path kept to Vera's plan.

          They weren't getting caught with Vera in the game.

          The only thing that had even remotely kept Káel awake was his grumbling stomach, and the strange games they played to pass the day. Even with the energising berries Vera had on her, time still crawled to nightfall, and the new game was on him, so he went with one of the only ones you could play stuck on a freaky reptile horse.

          "Never have I ever been on a worse road trip," Truvius muttered, watching Vera's nose scrunch as she grabbed a single leaf of grass she had bundled in her palm and stuffed it in her mouth.

          Káel caught Truvius' gaze, silently shaking his head. This was the worst one, by far. But Truvius was still looking at him instead of the trail, forcing Káel to finally click in that it was his turn.

          "Never have I ever..." Káel skimmed the empty trail. "Ran away from home."

          Vera snorted, grabbing another piece of grass to shove in her mouth.

          That wasn't surprising in the slightest at this point.

          But, after some hesitation, Truvius grabbed a piece of grass from his stash and ate it, ignoring Vera's cocked eyebrow as he nodded at her. "Your turn."

          "Never have I ever gone camping and everyone forgot to bring food." 

          "That's not fair," Truvius grumbled, shoving another leaf of grass in his mouth as Talli and Vera took theirs. 

          Káel didn't grab a piece for himself, still feeling the bitterly sweet stalk from the last one he'd tried to chew down. It was almost intensifying his hunger at this point. 

          As he caught Vera's stare, he popped a half done shrug. "I brought snacks in my suitcase, that counts."

          "I hate you so much right now," Vera growled, making sure her eyeroll was big enough to be clear from Káel's distance.

          "Well I didn't ask you guys to follow me, alright?" Káel snapped back. He didn't know if it was the hunger driving his emotions up a wall, or the heat that still managed to slither through the shade. Maybe it was even his crotch, screaming for him to get off the unsaddled Equaam before he could never sit comfortably again. Something in the list had pulled all his straws by afternoon, and Vera was playing on the final one.

          "Oh, I'm sorry," Vera hissed, tugging on her Equaam's ear to stop its trot and stare down Káel. "Do you even know why we followed you?"

          "Vera..." Truvius sighed, tugging his Equaam to stop beside her.

          Káel  gave her a dead smile. "Because you made everyone?"

          She lifted her chin, grinding her teeth to keep from snarling as a flush of red leaked into her cheeks. "Truvius called me in the middle of the night, hysterical. I bet you know what happened, from your perspective. But from his, and ours, you left a vague note about quitting in the middle of the night, you left Puff, and just a couple hours before you cut your arm open in front of us." She shrugged, motioning to her surroundings as her voice lifted another notch. "Now I don't know, maybe skat like that means something else on your planet. Here though? That's the exact crap that makes your friends check on you to make sure you didn't throw yourself off the side of the school!"