The forest stretched on endlessly, a labyrinth of gnarled trees and suffocating shadows. Emmet walked with a heavy limp, his serpent slithering quietly beside him, its injuries slowly healing thanks to Tabitha’s magic. The mage walked ahead, her staff glowing faintly, casting an eerie light that illuminated the path.
“We need to rest,” Tabitha said without turning. Her voice was as cold and detached as ever, but Emmet had begun to pick up the faint traces of concern beneath it.
“We rest when we’re further from the bandits,” Emmet replied, his voice hoarse. He hadn’t slept since the ambush. The weight of their encounter still sat heavily on his shoulders.
Tabitha slowed her pace and turned to face him. “You’ll collapse before we make it out of this cursed forest,” she said bluntly. “Your siblings won’t be much better off if you die on the way to them.”
The mention of his siblings made Emmet pause. Images of their faces—wide-eyed and terrified the last time he saw them—flashed through his mind. He had left them behind in the care of a distant neighbor, promising to return with supplies and enough coin to buy passage to a safer region. That promise was the only thing keeping him moving.
“Fine,” he muttered, leaning against a nearby tree. His serpent coiled protectively around him, its yellow eyes scanning the dark woods.
Tabitha set her staff into the ground, its light growing brighter as she summoned a small barrier of shimmering energy around their makeshift camp. “This will hold,” she said, sitting down with a grace that seemed out of place in the bleak wilderness.
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Emmet slumped against the tree, exhaustion pulling at his eyelids. He watched as Tabitha quietly inspected the serpent’s wounds, her hands glowing faintly with healing magic.
“Why are you helping?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Tabitha glanced at him, her expression unreadable. “You summoned me. If you die, the bond breaks. And I prefer existing.”
Emmet snorted softly. “You’re as warm as ever.”
Silence settled over them, broken only by the distant cries of night creatures. Despite the grim circumstances, Emmet’s mind drifted to his siblings. He pictured their faces—Mila with her defiant streak and Theo with his quiet intelligence. They were just ten years old, too young to survive alone in this broken world.
Tabitha seemed to sense his thoughts. “What’s waiting for you beyond this forest?”
“A town,” he said after a long pause. “If it hasn’t been razed yet. I left my siblings there with a neighbor. They’re waiting for me.”
“And what happens if the town’s gone?”
Emmet’s grip on his spear tightened. “Then I find them. No matter what.”
Tabitha studied him for a moment, her gaze softer than usual. “You’re a stubborn fool,” she said quietly. But she didn’t press further.
As the barrier’s light flickered gently, Emmet allowed himself a moment of rest, knowing that tomorrow would bring more hardship. The journey to safety was long, and the dangers ahead were far greater than the bandits they’d left behind. But for Mila and Theo, he would face them all.
And now, with Tabitha and his serpent by his side, he might just have a chance.