Eliuteria

Chapter 28

My eyes flew open, searching for the source of the sound. Camille stood frozen in her scream, her eyes up.

Standing, I followed her gaze toward the sky. It was it was only as I followed her gaze that I realized we were under a shadow. Above us was the largest craft I'd ever seen, but it was also the only one not meant for personal use that I'd ever seen. As my eyes settled on the craft moving above us.

They can't see us, I reminded myself and then forced the words aloud.

"They can't see us," I assured Camille and the others who'd woken as well. "The shield around us will keep us hidden until dark."

Camille quieted but remained staring up, frozen with fear and waiting to see if I was right about the shield. We were all sort of waiting to see if I was right. The craft continued to move until we were no longer blanketed in its shadow and the sky revealed that we didn't have long before the sun set.

The craft that passed above our heads was not alone. Spread out over a large distance were several other crafts, each moving slowly toward the tree line.

"Are they here for us?" Rae asked, a quiver in her voice.

"This was a bad idea," Camille said. "We shouldn't have left." She looked around, her eyes wild as she took in our surroundings. "Where did the Morri go?"

Pulling in a breath, I prepared myself for their reactions.

"They left."

"What?" Camille's voice was shrill.

"Aurael is..." I didn't know how to tell them the things I knew.

"I knew we shouldn't have left," Camille interrupted before I could find the right words.

"We'd be dead if we stayed."

All four girls turned to face me now, horrified. It probably wasn't the best way to break the news, but it was the easiest.

"Leaving was so easy for us because the human resistance attacked and had the paestra's attention. Juleen is rounding up every human and, according to Ro, killing many on sight."

Tears spilled out of Camille's eyes and she crumpled to the ground as if the news left her too weak to stand. I understood the feeling.

"They're all dead?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "The paestra is locked down, but they were trying to get in an get any survivors out. That's why the Morri went back, they didn't abandon us, they went back to help. We can see the tree line and I know the way."

"We don't have long till dark," Analiese said. "We should gather everything and eat."

"What are we going to do about the crafts?" Fairyn asked.

"I don't think they're here for us," I said. "Juleen assumed the outlands are working with the resistance and the laeres of Sieraul and Eoezelle. They're probably trying to prevent reinforcements from getting to the city."

"They could still see us."

She wasn't wrong. Just because they weren't looking for us didn't mean they wouldn't kill us if they saw us. We were coming from behind while they were monitoring the trees and I hoped that we could get close enough that by the time we were in their sight, we'd be able to get to through the trees and lose them in the forest.

I kept the thought to myself, but I wished I asked one of the men to stay. If one had, they would have a solution. I bet they could have shielded us the whole way. I couldn't do that. I couldn't do much. If we were spotted, I could only get myself away, if I managed that much. If we were lost in the forest or encountered and animal I would not have been able to save anyone. So I tried my best to say the things Ro would have said, if I couldn't be a warrior, I could at least act like one for the sake and confidence of everyone else.