Chapter 54: The Final Mark

CAW!

Startled by the horrifying sight of a crow circling overhead, Sky reminds herself that she must step up as a leader now more than ever. Not just so she doesn't lose her own head but for Violet and Hazel's sake.

After a deep breath, Sky beckons, "Hazel- the torch…"

"On it."

Thankful and relieved for her present-mindedness, Sky glances over to see Hazel tilting the torch, setting the tree next to her on fire.

"We need to start heading back to camp…" says Sky, attempting to rack through and decide on the best course of action.

Beginning to have a panic attack, Violet starts frantically sputtering in between quick breaths, "Th-this can't be ha-happening. Cr-Crow is actually he-here? N-now?"

Doing her best to conceal the dread spreading through her body, Sky maintains her brave face, smiling through the fear littering her insides.

Turning toward Violet, she says, "Violet, everything will be okay. There's no need to worry. We are heading back right now."

Ditching the torch after recognizing a thin line of smoke climbing into the sky, Hazel informs Sky of her completed task, "Done!"

Giving her a curt nod, Sky says, "Good job."

Fixing her attention back on Violet, Sky calmly tells her, "Let's go."

Wiping a hand across her face, Violet sniffles and bobs her head. Smothering the fear festering in her gut, Sky walks off, acting as the strong, dependable leader and friend she’s pretended to be since the beginning.

"I know our way back. Follow me!"

After confirming that they were ready to go through some hasty eye contact, Sky picked up the pace, weaving in and out of various tree branches that, every so often, partially barricaded the pathway back. Although Sky knew she wasn't going very fast, she also understood that her friends probably wouldn't be able to keep up if she ran any quicker than she was now.

Additionally, although the group sacrificed speed, they maintained the ability to keep an eye on their surroundings, and it didn't take long before one of them spotted something.

After noticing some black markings on a tree to their right, Hazel voices, "Wait! Sky, there's something on a tree here!"

"Are you sure?!"

"Positive!"

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Coming to a stop, Hazel and Violet do the same.

"Where did you see it?"

Hazel walks back a few feet and touches the backside of a tree, "Right here, look at this."

Her conflicted feelings toward stopping evaporate as Sky identifies what Hazel saw earlier. A series of black markings in the shapes of circles and lines are grafted into the trunk.

"We don't have time to think about this. Let's write this down quickly."

Unzipping her backpack, Hazel finds the piece of notebook paper and a pen, holding out both items. Grabbing them from her hands, Sky clicks the pen as Hazel consoles a worried Violet, whose body hasn't stopped shuddering since they decided to take their little detour.

Not wasting any time, Sky begins copying down the displayed foreign series of dots and marks.

CAW!

"Sky, please hurry…" whimpers Violet.

"Almost done…"

With beads of sweat now dripping off her forehead and onto the paper, Sky finishes writing down the final mark.

••••, — — —, •—••, •

—••, •, •, •— —•

•••, •— —, ••, — —

"Done!"

After clicking the pen again and poorly folding the piece of paper in half, Sky swiftly hands both items back to Hazel, who shoves them into her backpack. After watching Hazel zip up her backpack halfway and getting a nod signaling she's set, Sky says, "Let's move! Do your best to keep up!"

Trying to make up for some lost time, Sky jogs a little faster than before, with nothing but their footsteps and heavy breathing informing her that Hazel and Violet are keeping up behind her.

CAW!

Currently, inside one of Crow's many powers, Ace’s confusion about Crow’s ability only increases as Sky runs right past them, not seeing either, although they were out in the open.

They must not be able to sense us at all. Right now, I guess the only positive takeaway is that I somewhat have an idea of how Crow has been able to manipulate certain sights and sounds in our previous battles.

Still slightly out of it, Ace has slowly regained his cognitive abilities since encountering Blue and Cliff.

There's no mistake, I killed a person. That's a fact. And because of that, Crow said I'm… one of them, a warrior...

And although his guilt almost seemed overbearing, something else bothered Ace. It's that uncanny feeling people get when they know something is off.

I've never felt anything like it. It was exhilarating. And I feel… an essence of contentment, no. An essence of gratification on the tip of my tongue, as if I can still taste the buried high I felt when I finally allowed myself to let loose. It felt… good, like a huge weight had just been lifted on my shoulders. At the moment of the kill, I truly felt alive. I felt free, and it felt right.

So, this is how it feels to be a warrior…?

Not even realizing how lost in his head he was, Ace becomes startled as Crow nudges him, pulling him right out of his thoughts.

"Can't say I've been fully convinced on what's bouncing around in your empty brain yet. That said, remember you're still just an expendable pawn at my mercy, so get your head back in the game."

Ace snarkily replies, "Yeah, I gotcha. The same goes for you, though. I expect to get some answers after all this, considering I've already done my part."

Crow snickers, "Well, you've grown a lot in your short time here. I remember when you were scared shitless by the mere sight of me; now you're being all cheeky. Might have to ramp up the intimidation factor, or else you'll forget your place. As for my end of the deal, that'll just have to wait. It's time for round two. You ready?"

"I'm not the one wasting time here…"

"Then you better keep up. We have a lot of ground to cover."

And with that, the two set off, swiftly closing the gap on their newfound prey.