When I next woke up, the sun was in the middle of the sky and I was resting with my head on a root. Once my consciousness returned, so did all of the pain from my injuries. The bleeding had stopped and the wounds were already starting to heal, but that didn’t exempt me from the pain. My groans seemed to catch everyone off guard except for Silva, who simply looked irritated.

“Enjoy your sleep, leader?” She put an extra amount of snark into that last word.

“Not particularly. Hoping I wasn’t out for too long?” I rubbed the back of my neck as I sat up, and realized that there was an odd furry substance covering my arms. Placing them in front of me, I found that they had been wrapped up in the fur of the shade wolves.

“Only till the afternoon, according to your timekeeper. We definitely lost some time, but it's nothing catastrophic.” Sera said while toying with the timekeeper in her hands. I noticed that the tips of her dark brown hair were still charred black. It reminded me of Ruby’s red tips, something which she herself had never explained.

“It would have lost us even more time, if I hadn’t restructured our route. While you were out, Mell and I got to some scouting. Instead of going in a straight line, which would have led us directly into a mountainous area, we’re going to take a western route around it to save time and energy. The lake south is large enough that a small detour shouldn't change our trajectory.” Her prideful grin shone brighter than the sun rays peeking through the treeline. “All of this without a map of the geography to guide us. You’re welcome.”

“Thanks. And what did we do with the wolves?”

“Wanderer skinned some of them and suggested we use them as cloth and, in your case, bandages. Apparently he’s familiar with their fur. I thought they were only in Corith, but apparently there’s some similar type of wolf in Irebor. Apparently the meat isn’t that good since it's a carnivore, and might have parasites in it.” spoke Sera, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “Even then, we can’t really carry all of it. I don’t know if we’ll get punished for leaving some of their parts behind, but it’s not like we hunted them.”

“You mean we’re at risk of a penalty?” Alex said with a look of pure horror. He seemed the most scared of potentially incurring the forest’s wrath thanks to his attunement. I wanted to feel bad for him, but my lingering resentment was preventing that.

“It’s not like we can really avoid it. There’s a pretty clear difference between predator and prey, and we were the prey in this situation. I’d expect to be feeling some ire right now if we’d just broken another rule.” She sighed as she looked at the trees surrounding us. “In my opinion, it’s best not to risk it with the wolves and try hunting sometime soon. That’s up to North, of course.”

“And what exactly would we hunt? The ketrochs were fairly safe with our attunements, but the only person who can really do hunting is myself, you, and probably Mell with how strong is throwing arm is.” Silva crossed her arms and glared at me, probably trying to send a silent message about how useless I was. I simply grinned in response.

“Fiavus…” Sera bit her thumb. I could tell by her voice that she was reluctant to propose the idea.

“Didn’t you say we couldn’t bait those like ketrochs?” I asked, recalling the conversation we had a few days ago.

“Yes, but that was back when we were all in shape and could fight. Ketroch hunting would only make our situation worse.”

I feel like you’re doing more of the leadership stuff than I am at this point.

I shook the thought out of my head. Sera tended to be right more often than not, and that was enough for me to put my trust in her. I stood up, cringing as every single movement of muscle caused my body to ache. Taking a deep breath, I immediately laid out a plan.

“Sounds good to me. Mell and Ruby, you will be on surveillance duty while we’re walking. If you spot anything that’s the size of a strig, call back to us quietly. Silva, Mell, Ruby and I will act as the hunting party. Everyone else will stay behind and protect our gear. Once we’ve finished hunting, we can reconvene and prepare the animals for travel.”

I had to take a deep breath after speaking, both for how long the orders were and how surprised I was that I had just improvised a plan so easily.

“If everyone is on board with that, let’s get moving.”

***

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Alex’s head perked up when he felt a tap on his shoulder from Silva, and understood what it meant. Being the day after the hunting decision, it wasn’t even the afternoon when Ruby had apparently found something that was a Fiavus. They immediately stopped after finding a small clearing nearby and placed down any unnecessary weight before heading off.

North took one last look at Alex before he left. It didn’t feel hateful, angry, or even sad. It was just a look of disappointment, of an emptiness that Alex knew he was the cause of. Alex wanted to put him at fault, to shift the blame onto the Corithian and say that his actions were in good faith. He didn’t know that anymore, and his doubts of both Silva and North had only grown thicker.

As they faded into the distance, Alex found himself a comfy area on the ground and threw down one of the wolf pelts, using it as a cover. After planting himself down and crossing his legs, his eyes naturally moved forward, and found themselves resting upon Wanderer. The branded deserter stared at him from his position sitting on a root. His hand was rested on his sheathed blade, which had been placed into the ground and ready to be drawn at any moment.

He was not focused on protecting the supplies or even Sera. No, Wanderer looked at him and him alone. Instead of just leaving the moment to itself, he decided it was best to confront him.

“What’s with the look?” He said, holding his hands in his lap to prevent them from scratching at his rust.

Wanderer, to his surprise, merely shrugged while never moving his hand from his sword. “I’m just watching. You're still considered a risk, both by North and myself. It would tarnish my honor as a warrior for me to leave such things unattended.”

Alex briefly laughed at his retort, donning the smile he used to provide positivity at the camp. Now, this grin took on a mocking form. “Honor? I think you’d given up on Ireborian culture. Last I remembered, the only other Ireborian I know wanted you dead on sight. Maybe I’m not battle crazy enough, but I can’t think of any sane reason to care about honor at this point.”

Alex could hear the swordsman’s grip tighten around the hilt of his blade, and his once plain face turned into a bitter scowl. “You shouldn’t be one to talk about honor, Nacilian. You betrayed the man who led you out of bondage. The only reason you two are here is because of his mercy and our desperation.”

“Desperation that could have been avoided.”

Wanderer’s gaze narrowed, and he leaned forward from his seat. There was a good distance between the men, but it felt as though he had just closed that distance in an instant without moving.

“And what makes you think she could have done better, Nacilian?”

Alex’s mind flashed over many memories at once. Sitting with his mage battalion. Orders being shouted at him. Hiding in trenches while dodging burner fire. His first kill on the field, which was celebrated with a night of drinks.

At the center of every memory on the battlefield was Silva, shining and leading the way through it all. Those in his battalion would lay down their lives for her at an instant, no matter what. She was a person who set an example and pushed forward no matter what. No man or woman was unimportant to her, and she was always able to use their attunements to the best of their abilities.

A true leader, through and through. If it weren’t for the falling of Nacilia, she surely would have climbed through the ranks like the rising star that he knew she was. The willpower to fight was there, and it had resurfaced once again.

Alex trusted North. He believed in Silva.

“She is a leader by trade. North is one by circumstance. One of those has much more experience than the other and is more likely to bring us to victory against our enemy.” His face became resolute as he stared down the Ireborian.

Off to the side, Sera finally took her moment to interject.

“But not all of us are soldiers. Except for you two and Silva, we all grew up as normal civilians.” She seemed reluctant to look at either of them, instead focusing on the supplies. Alex couldn’t blame her with how heated the tensions had become.

“That’s also part of it. She had military experience, while North has nothing except for stupid grit and a hell of a lot of luck.”

Actually, with the hellhole that we’re stuck in, that luck part is debatable.

He shook off the extraneous thought. Wanderer simply kept scowling at him, although the right side of his lips seemed to curl into what must have been the tiniest of grins.

“But she’s not someone who could work with people like us. She’s used to leading Nacilians, and only Nacilians. That experience doesn’t just suddenly translate to a bunch of slaves.”

He bit his lip in frustration.

“If you want to hate me for it, go ahead. I truly believe that we would be in a better situation if Silva was-”

Reality stopped. And then it hit.

Hate.

A sensation like a heartbeat permeated through Alex's body, filling up his veins and coursing through the entirety of his body. Pure, primal hatred that permeated through the air. It stirred in their hearts and stomachs in a torrent of bloodlust and rage. All of them were feeling it, even the unattuned Ireborian.

The ire of the forest moved through the air. Although it held no tangible form, they could sense it flow in the same direction the hunting party had gone. No words were spoken, yet the three of them knew exactly what this sensation meant.

A rule had been broken, and the forest was going to punish them for their sins.