Cold Breath

The night was quite. Everybody found their respective corner and stayed there. Knox headed towards some trees. He climbed them like it was second nature and disappeared. Jervan disappeared into the tent next to Caia. Alan took the next tent to them, before entering it he muttered a few choice words and a fire bloomed to life in the fire pit. Instead of Thaddeus and Adelita going to their tents they each took a seat at the fire. Thaddeus was literally in the fire. He sighed in content and closed his eyes. Adelita shook her head at Thaddeus, but soon her eyes were swallowed in white light. Her posture relaxed and she didn’t move at all. Dash walked up to his tent and moved his arms. Suddenly the tent became stone, soon after he disappeared a raccoon followed him in.

“Come on Briar let’s get to bed.” Tate led Briar to her tent. “See you in the morning.” Briar opened her mouth to wish him good night, but he had already turned his back on her. Tate took Caia’s tongue lashing hard. He knew what it felt like to lose family, but to be completely alone was another matter. He felt like a jerk.

Briar watched him disappear into his tent across the way. She bit her lip in unease. Tate was just trying to protect her. Caia shouldn’t have bitten his head off. Everyone has problems, even if some are worse than others. No matter what everyone suffers.

Briar ran her hand through her loose hair, she was wired. Her mind wouldn’t stop wondering. Her dowel found its way into her hand. With a gentle way and little concentration, an illusion wavered into existence. It shifted and moved. It rolled over. It was Briar fast asleep, having a restless night.

She crept behind her tent avoiding the campfire and other tents. Once she was far enough away her stride changed to a more comfortable gait. The night was cool and calming and seemed to help her racing mind slow down. She smiled at the irony. She was fearful of many things but the night seemed to not scare her.

On the night their mother, Leoni, became bedridden, their dad, Leighton, took her away from the horrible scene to trade a terrible memory with a good one. It was her introduction to insects. There was no moon that night and the utter darkness was frightening. Leighton just kept his arm around her, telling her there was nothing to fear. Briar now knows it was a lie, but the treasure in the darkness was worth it.

Briar knew the chances of her seeing one were slim, but she could hope. She avoided the trees Knox dubbed as his tent. The more she walked the calmer she became. Once she started yawning she started back towards camp. She stepped around a grove of trees and stood stock still. Fluttering in the clearing was a luminescence butterfly. Briar slowly followed it until she lost it in the trees. She turned her face up to the stars with a secret smile. She felt comforted knowing someone was watching over them, someone she could trust.

With a few hours till sunrise, Briar headed back to camp. As she came up closer, she stopped short. People were talking a distance away.

“It’s bad.” The voice was high and nasally with a lisp. Briar shifted quietly to see the speaker.

“How bad? Have you seen the summoner’s or the demon?”

“No.” The female was thin with not an ounce of fat, all muscle. She was unusually graceful, with long blonde hair that moved with life of its own. Her skin seemed to glow white, and shimmered every time she moved.

“But they have a following. People are worshipping what they are doing, their sick and twisted. You better have some awesome team, because the people you’re up against are not sane.” The women then got in his face. “I was able to get some Intel from some drunken followers.” She became silent.

“Oralyn, what? What did you hear?” Jervan gently touched her shoulder.

“They know of your team.” It seemed like the world came to a standstill. Jervan tensed. Briar’s muscles tensed, her heart beat tripled.

“Are we being hunted?” Jervan asked voice emotionless.

“In a way yes.” Oralyn hesitated. “I won’t be joining you. The Conclave wants me to remain anonymous. I will keep in touch. But watch your back.” She turned to go, but stopped. “I suggest keeping them in the dark as long as you can.” She turned back her voice dropped. “My advice break up your rag tag team, before you get them killed.” She turned and left without another word, disappearing into the darkness.

Jervan let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his face and went back to camp. Briar didn’t move a muscle for a spell, she was too terrified. She didn’t know how much time passed before she caught her breath and slowly made her way to her tent. Neither Thaddeus nor Adelita had moved a muscle. The illusion was wavered into dust and Briar fell into her roll and lay there until sleep forcefully took her.



Excuses were made for Oralyn’s absence and it was decided that they would leave that morning to Centrum Mundi. The tents were recalled by Alan. The campsite was gone in a matter of seconds.

“From here we will walk to the gates. We don’t want unwanted attention.” Jervan’s voice was strong and commanding as usual. If Briar didn’t hear what she heard, she wouldn’t have seen the subtle movements and gestures of Jervan’s nervousness and uneasiness. Caia was as cold as ever and kept giving subtle glares over shoulder. At first it seemed like it was at Tate only but everyone got one of her glares. It was like a good morning smile. Tate was usually quiet and avoided Briar.

Briar’s shoulders slumped as she tried to talk to him and he gave her the cold shoulder and walked away. She didn’t understand why she was being punished. Her eyes got teary and then anger began to rise. She pursued Tate, but was intercepted by Adelita.

“Leave him be.” Her voice left little room to argue. Her gaze held a warning. “Trust me. Time tells all.” Adelita arched her eyebrows and walked away. All Briar’s hot air vanished and her shoulders slumped even more.

Everyone slowly followed until Briar was last in line. Suddenly an arm wrapped around her shoulders. She jumped slightly. “Friend. What’s got you so jumpy?” Knox’s voice was smooth and kind. Briar shrugged, trying to get out from under Knox’s arms. “You’re depressed that Tate is ignoring you.”

“I’m that obvious?” Knox tugged Briar along and chuckled.

“You wear your emotions.” Briar hid her face with her hand and caught sight of Thaddeus watching Knox. “Speaking of which, how about you and…” Briar tilted her head towards Thaddeus.

Knox scoffed. “He’s not gay. He’s actually a little slow on the uptake. He just thinks I’m overly friendly.” Knox shrugs. “There are plenty of other guys. Dash, Tate, Alan, or Jervan.” Knox smiled as Briar gave him a shocked look. “Plus Centrum Mundi is a large city. Who knows?”

Briar couldn’t disagree. Anything was bound to happen.