Galaxy of Hyperion: Mystic Heir

Chapter Fifteen: Whispers of Flame

The process of leaving behind Cloudpeak was far slower than Jay would have wanted, if she was being perfectly honest. The rest of the day was a blur, and once she fell asleep, she didn't wake up again until well after the sun had set. Only Lana had been awake at that point in time, and she insisted that Jay eat some of the leftovers that Ronan had set aside. Jay had been happy to oblige, but she could tell that there was something on Lana's mind that she wasn't yet aware of. 

Every part of Lana seemed to be guarded and suspicious. Given how long she had lived, Lana was undoubtedly fully aware of how dangerous it could have been to trust others. Jay thought that she had already done enough to merit that respect, but it appeared that she was wrong. As she dug into the food that had been left behind by the rest of the group, Jay looked out of the corner of her eye to try and see what she could figure out about Lana. However, no matter how hard she tried, she was unable to fully pick apart what was going on inside the other girl's head. 

After eating, Jay crashed once again, and she had to confess that she didn't realize how exhausted she was until after she had hit the cushions of the couch once again. She knew that magical withdrawal was exhausting to put up with, but this was on a new level unlike anything she had ever seen or experienced. She had slept like a rock for almost eight hours after the rescue mission, and after finishing up her dinner, she wound up falling asleep for another twelve. It was bordering on ten in the morning when she next awoke the following day. 

Jay slowly pushed herself into a position that somewhat resembled verticality, and she let out a yawn before raising one hand to cover her mouth. She rubbed at her eyes to try and remove some of the lingering exhaustion, finding that she was in far better condition than she had been before. She had really needed the sleep, it seemed. After all that she had dealt with, Jay was glad to have gotten the chance to rest so much. She was almost dreading the time when she would have to get out and face the rest of the world once again because of how nice it had been to take life at her own pace for a few hours. 

Ronan was humming to himself when Jay first woke up, and he was packing a bag of essentials for their travels. He had an oddly jubilant expression on his face despite all that he had gone through in the past few days, and Jay couldn't help but wonder just how innocent Ronan was due to his isolation from the world. As far as she was aware, he had never seen a reason to leave Cloudpeak, so he grew up and lived for his entire life within the boundaries of the desert town. Jay, who had been born to travel, didn't understand how such a lifestyle could have been appealing, but she wasn't there to judge Ronan, so she simply watched him from afar with silent fascination. 

Arian and Lana were already awake as well, though they weren't bustling around the building the way that Ronan was. Instead, Lana was sitting on the couch next to Arian, and the two were examining a holographic map of Skylia that Lana was projecting into the air. Lana dragged her fingers purposefully across the surface of the globe of light, clearly searching for something but not saying what it was. 

Jay didn't even need her to explain. She already had the sneaking suspicion that she could figure it out. They were still looking for the Skylian Mages just like they always had been. Finding Ronan was a step in the right direction, but there were still others who yet eluded their grasp. Lana was undoubtedly trying to track down any clues that would be able to tell them where to go next. 

"Morning, sleepyhead. Feel any better?"

Lana didn't even look up when she addressed Jay, and the latter almost jumped out of her skin out of shock at being spoken to. When she managed to regain her composure, she nodded. "Yeah," she answered, to herself at first and then to the rest of the room. "Yeah. I think I just needed to sleep it off. I feel fine now."