Zaiden eyed the gap in the wall wearily. If Seth was planning something he needed to stay on his toes. This wouldn’t have been the first time Abrax fell victim to one of Seth’s tricks.

“Any day now,” Seth said, mock annoyance in his voice. “I thought you were in a hurry.”

Malcolm nudged Zaiden’s shoulder. “I’m right behind you,” he whispered. Zaiden finally walked through after a few more seconds of contemplation, snatching the lantern from Seth’s hands as he went.

Emryn watched Seth closely. His smirk was disturbing. Nothing like how she remembered it. He had changed so much. That thought alone was enough to make her heart ache.

Seth motioned for everyone else to follow and disappeared through the tunnel. Emryn didn’t move until Simone’s hand landed on her back. Alex popped up next to her, a reassuring smile on his lips. They had released the Mallax soldiers after confiscating their weapons, putting trust in Seth’s word.

Emryn would have to do the same.

The tunnel was narrow, not enough space for a group this large to pass through shoulder to shoulder, and Emryn was starting to feel claustrophobic. She felt like she was inside a deadly beast and the walls would move with slow breaths at any moment.

She kept her distance from the rest of the pack, finding comfort in the little room available behind them as they migrated. But one Mallax soldier stayed stuck to her side the entire time. Emryn could feel the heat of his gaze burning into the side of her head.

Emryn spared him a few glances every now and then. Every time she did she saw a big grin on his pale face. Dark bangs fell over his black almond eyes and a few freckles littered the bridge of his nose. The way he looked at her made him seem like a puppy but the weightless steps he took reminded her he was a trained killer.

The chakram in Emryn’s hands helped put her at ease. If a fight broke out, she could lob off his head in seconds.

The soldier caught Emryn’s stare and smiled widely. With a faint lift of his hand he gently waved at her.

Something must be very wrong with him.

“You know,” the soldier started, walking closer to Emryn. “This isn’t my first time trapped in a cave.” She ignored him and kept her eyes forward.

“The first time was when I was six,” he went on, “I was chasing a massive snake. I wanted to make its tail into a rattle, but alas, the snake was smart enough to trap me and its tail didn’t even have rattle properties. Such a shame really. Do you wanna know how I got out?”

Emryn side-eyed him. “Why are you lying about something so insignificant?”

The soldier frowned. “How do you know I’m lying?”

“You’re bad at it,” Emryn clipped.

The soldier looked at her for a moment, almost like his eyes were seeing right through her. Then his grin returned. “Lies make the best conversation starters,” he said.

Emryn narrowed her eyes. Yes, something was indeed wrong with him.

Noticing her heated stare, he smiled. “Life is either boring or tragic. Sometimes it’s better to spice it up with lies than accept the truth.” He stuck his hand out. “The name’s Eiji by the way.”

Emryn glanced at his outstretched hand. “Surprised you didn’t lie about that,” she grumbled.

Eiji squared his shoulders proudly. “Sometimes I’m capable of telling the truth.” Then he leaned in closer. “Are you?”

Emryn glared. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He shrugged, turning away to look up ahead. Emryn followed his line of sight to Seth, who was too busy leading them all through the maze of tunnels to notice. Zaiden stood close by his side, clutching his gun tightly in his hands, still tense. Zaiden hadn’t calmed down at all. Not that Emryn blamed him. Her nerves were pounding in her chest.

Alex and Simone preoccupied themselves with the confiscated weapons. Each situated on opposite sides of the group, watching the Mallax soldiers wearily.

“I wouldn’t bother trying to talk to this one, Eiji.” Emryn’s sights turned on Kiarra with a glare. “I’ve tried before but I don’t think she’s all there,” she said, the lantern in her hand illuminating the stupid grin on her too-perfect face.

Emryn tossed her chakram in her hand and thought about all the ways she could dismember Kiarra. “Keep talking and you won’t be all here,” she warned.

“We should stop here for now,” a familiar voice said up ahead. Seth was already throwing a bag on the ground when Emryn looked over.

“We’re not stopping,” Zaiden argued but Seth was too preoccupied lounging to care.

“I’m your guide, Amin. And I say we rest here for now. Then we can move faster later on. It’s basic logic,” he shrugged.

Zaiden glanced over his shoulder at the tired soldiers. He met Emryn’s eyes briefly. He must have realized what she had. They were too exhausted to fight and without a clear picture of where they were, there was no telling how long they would need to walk.

“We stop here for now,” Zaiden announced. He glanced at Seth. “Try to pull any tricks O’Connor, and I pull the trigger.” Emryn didn’t miss the way Seth’s face twisted, loosing his relaxed expression for a brief moment.

The groups separated, each surrounded their leaders as they prepared to rest. When Simone passed Kiarra, she snatched the lantern out of her hands. “Use O’Connors,” she said coldly, a threat in her voice. Kiarra glared but otherwise listened.

The two groups started to separate. Abrax on one side, Mallax on the other. Zaiden collapsed near Emryn, completely exhausted. His body was pressed against the tunnel walls, which Emryn was illuminating with the lantern.

Her attention drifted off Zaiden to observe pieces of concrete plates protruding through the cave walls. Abrax’s defense mechanism against wolf-spiders. They looked like they hadn’t moved in a long time. Emryn followed the trail of concrete with her eyes. They must’ve still been near Abrax.

Emryn narrowed her eyes at the Mallax soldiers. How had they managed to stop something so massive?

“How’s your shoulder?” Alex asked Zaiden.

“It’s fine,” he lied.

Emryn turned back to them, eyeing the area Zaiden refused to let touch the wall he was leaning against. “Show me,” she demanded.

“Emryn, it’s not important right now.”

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“I don’t care what you think is unimportant. I told you to show me.” Zaiden’s stubbornness would not be the cause of his death, Emryn would make sure of it.

Malcolm and Simone watched the exchange curiously but said nothing. Alex on the other hand didn’t seem to like the idea of watching them fight.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” he said, latching on to Simone’s shoulder to lead them away. Malcolm signed and slowly followed after them. There wasn’t a lot of space in the tunnels but at least now Emryn didn’t feel overcrowded.

Once alone, Emryn’s gaze softened and she kneeled down so she and Zaiden were eye level. “I don’t like seeing you in pain,” she whispered. Zaiden looked away, almost ashamed.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered back.

Emryn lightly touched his cheek, making him look at her again. “You’re being reckless.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled again, leaning his head against hers.

“Show me your shoulder,” she said.

Zaiden signed and leaned back. Slowly, he shrugged off his jacket, wincing every so often. He attempted to move his shirt sleeve but seemed to be in too much pain.

Emryn gently lifted the bottom of his shirt, taking it off of one arm and resting the fabric by his neck so it would be out of the way. With the wound exposed, Emryn could see how bad it was. Some of the blood had dried in trails down his chest. But the area of broken tissue was still bleeding a little. The skin looked red and swollen. Emryn wished she had Seth’s ability to heal others.

“That bad, huh?” Zaiden sighed. “You shouldn’t waste your time worrying about me. I can hardly feel it anymore.”

“I have a hard time believing that.”

“You’d know if I lied,” he joked, trying to smile.

Emryn ignored his words and tentatively reached out to touch the injured shoulder. The strong muscle tensed under her fingers but Zaiden remained relaxed. Alex’s light footfalls came up behind Emryn. In his hands were a few wraps of white gaze which he handed to Emryn slowly, as if afraid to anger her.

“Where did you get those?” Zaiden asked, watching the bandages like they were a deadly animal.

Alex nervously mumbled under his breath. “From Eiji.”

“The Mallax soldier?” Emryn asked, taken back. Now she was the one watching the wrappings suspiciously. Eiji was the enemy, no matter how friendly he acted.

“He’s kind of nice,” Alex tried to argue.

Neither Emryn or Zaiden looked as though they wanted to accept the medical supplies. For all they knew the wrapping could be laced with toxics or some microscopic tracker.

“Just take them,” Malcolm chimed in, sounding as annoyed as ever. The man would benefit from smiling once in a while. It might make people like him more.

Hearing Malcolm’s insistence, Emryn started wrapping Zaiden’s shoulder. It wasn’t like they had much choice in the matter. It wasn’t like she could ask Seth to heal him.

Emryn’s fingers worked tirelessly to wrap Zaiden up as quickly as possible. Her skin would graze against Zaiden’s often, feeling the warmth he seemed to always emit. Emryn found herself wishing they were all somewhere else. A place they didn’t have to be burdened with the weight of war and hatred. Somewhere she wouldn’t have to choose who to protect.

She looked up into Zaiden’s eyes when she finished. The calm hazel of his irises reminded her of soft stones but even they couldn’t fully capture the precise brown and green mix of Zaiden’s eyes. A striking but unique color, only belonging to him. Emryn hadn’t realized she had leaned closer until Zaiden’s hand was cradling the back of her neck. He gave her a reassuring smile before gesturing the rest of their group over.

“They’re up to something,” he said once everyone was seated. “I don’t trust O’Connor but I know his tricks. We’re missing something.” Malcolm and Zaiden locked eyes. A silent conversation between the two. “There’s gotta be something that he wants back at Abrax.”

“Then why didn’t he try to take it when they were attacking?” Alex asked, fixing the position of the gun slung over his shoulder.

“Might not have had enough time,” Malcolm suggested, eyes cast on the lantern sitting in front of them.

“We’re setting up watches. I don’t know how long O’Connor will insist on staying here but while he does we’ll work in rotations. While the others sleep, one stays on guard. I need eyes on Mallax at all times,” Zaiden instructed. The others nodded in agreement and went to work assigning a rotation.

Emryn ended up on the first watch. Malcolm thought it was best to put her first since she could kill the quickest. They wanted to make sure they put their strongest on first while everyone was still trying to fall asleep.

She chose a spot in the middle of the two groups. A divider between to maintain order. The perfect place to view both groups and listen in to anything Seth might be plotting. Strangely, Mallax was quiet. Although, Eiji did keep smiling at her. Emryn couldn’t figure out if it was worse than Kiarra’s glares.

Next thing she knew Seth was by her side. His footsteps had been light, unnaturally so, like a phantom. He gracefully took a seat beside her on the rocks, throwing back a canteen and drawing the contents down his throat. Water dripped down his neck and at this angle, Emryn got a full view of his scars. One slitting his brow, the other his jaw.

“What are you doing?” she whispered, not daring to look at him any longer. Everytime she did it felt like a knife to the gut.

“Just providing my old friend some company.”

How could he be so unbothered? Did Emryn really mean so little to him now? Emryn took a few shallow breaths. She could do this. For Abrax.

The others seemed to find sleep as easy as breathing. Their snores, though quiet to others, were loud in Emryn’s ears. She glanced over her shoulder at Zaiden. He could barely keep his eyes open. Emryn could tell he was watching her but the exhaustion was overtaking him.

“Do you still have yours?” Seth’s voice felt like a siren call, urging her to a rocky shore. In his hands he held the scrappy hay bracelet she made him years ago. The one tangible thing that still tied him to her.

Emryn reached for it, tracing the frayed edges while it laid in his palm. “You still have it? Even now?” Once she realized what she was doing she retracted her hand. She almost didn’t notice how still Seth had gotten. Like a corpse abandoned on the battlefield.

“I did say I would wear it forever,” he whispered after a moment. He then withdrew his hand and the bracelet it held. The two went back to an uncomfortable silence. Lantern lights casted deep shadows on their skin but shine bright in their eyes. Emryn watched Seth closely. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul and right now his looked empty.

“I still have it,” Emryn whispered. “I never could get rid of it.”

A crack of a smile appeared on Seth’s face. “Then I guess we both have the same dilemma.”

“I guess we do,” she said.

“Do you trust them?” he asked, after another beat of silence. “Abrax and your esteemed commander?

Emryn hesitated. All the angry faces of Abrax soldiers and Zaiden’s father drifted through her head. When it came down to it, she didn’t trust them and they didn’t trust her. A part of her had always known she wouldn’t have a place with them. At first she hated them for their unwarranted animosity but now she understood. Maybe they were right to not trust her because if things came crashing down, if Zaiden, Alex, Simone or Malcolm’s lives were on the line, she’d sacrifice Abrax in a heartbeat. In a choice between them and Abrax, she would always choose them.

“I trust Zaiden,” she finally said. “I trust him with my life and more.”

“Is that so?” Seth sounded like he was mocking her. “And why is that? Why do you trust your precious Zaiden so much?” He leaned closer, till his lips brushed her ear. “How do you know he’s not using you?”

Emryn pulled her head away. “Because he’s not you,” she said. Emryn moved to face him and grabbed his collar. Pulling him close she whispered, “Zaiden isn’t the one who lied to me, Seth. You are.”

When she looked at him, Seth’s stare wasn’t cold or angry, it was blank. Numb.

“Is that what you think? Really?” he pondered. Seth hooked onto her wrist and pushed it away with surprising strength. “One of these days you’ll see what kind of person he truly is and you won’t have anyone to crawl back to, Emryn.”

There it was again, a phantom from her past. The reason she had trouble sleeping at night. Seth O’Connor transformed from her savior to the monster that haunted her dreams. Her heart ca1ved into itself. What had happened to the boy she knew?

A hand latched onto her shoulder. Malcolm stared at her and for once she found solace in those passive eyes. It was true that she had lost Seth, but now she had other people to protect. “I’m on the next watch,”Malcolm said, unbothered by Seth’s presence. Emryn strived to have his level of indifference in these situations but for now she settled for his company.

Emryn touched the hand holding her before standing up. Taking a spot next to where Zaiden had fallen asleep, Emryn curled up against his side and did her best to watch Malcolm before becoming another victim to sleep.