The pleasant sounds of chirping birds did not lessen the uncomfortable silence between them. Rays of light started to appear more often as they got further from Anna and Lucy’s home. Hirow glanced back at Talia, who was beginning to trail behind.

“We’re almost out of the forest. We can take a break then. So don’t get lost.”

No response came from her, and Hirow decided to slow his pace. Was she still upset that they had to leave, Hirow thought? We attract danger. She has to realize that by now. He ran his fingers over the bark of each passing tree. The unique texture of every tree gave him something else to think about other than Talia’s silence.

After what seemed like a few hours, they arrived at the edge of the forest. The midday sun revealed the grassy plains dotted with trees and boulders. The deep green blades rippled in the wind like an emerald sea.

“Isn’t it great to finally be out of the forest,” Hirow exclaimed as he basked in the sunlight.

“Sure,” Talia responded dully and continued walking past him.

Guess she didn’t need a break. Hirow followed, adjusting his sack over his shoulder. He peered into the distance, checking for any signs of Obsidius soldiers. The natural landscape stretched to the horizon with no signs of human life. Talia was already putting considerable distance between them, so he decided to catch up.

Her silky white hair bobbed back and forth at a constant rhythm as she kept a steady pace. Hirow caught up, hoping for her to acknowledge his presence or even slow down a bit. Once again, there was no response.

“You know I’m here for you. Whatever is bothering you, we can talk about it,” Hirow said, trying to hide his building irritation.

“I’ve been thinking,” Talia muttered in barely audible tones. “Thinking about these past few days. So much has happened. It feels like I don’t have time to think. But you just accept everything as it comes. Ready to move on to the next thing.”

Hirow could still only see the back of her head. Her voice had a nervous tinge to it. It quivered not for lack of things to say but because of building pressure. Because of that, Hirow knew Talia was still hiding her real problems.

“How about you tell me what you’re thinking about,” Hirow suggested. “I’ll just listen. That's all.”

“And listening is all you will do,” Talia questioned, tightening her shoulders. “No excuses, no nasty insults, or selfish requests.”

“Sure, but I don’t think it’s necessary to request that.” Hirow quickened his pace to try and get closer to her. “I just want to listen, that's all.”

“I know you blame me for what happened in Celestate. Don’t you?” She paused and let the tension out of her shoulders. “You do. You don’t say it, but I know you do. I’m just a liability and an excuse.” She turned back, her face hot with anger.

Liability, he had taught her that word only two days ago. Hirow stopped walking. This was the first time he had seen her like this. “Liability, excuse? What do you even mean?”

“Listen.” Talia shivered to shake off the last of her reservations. “I was your excuse to leave it all behind, the life you had before. You couldn’t bring yourself to leave it no matter how many things pushed you away. You were just waiting for something to sweep you off your feet and onto a grand adventure, but that adventure isn’t what you expected.” She clenched her jaw and glared at him. “You’re stuck with a girl that brings nothing but death. I never asked for these burdens. You made me think you would help me, and I mean truly help me. I was fine being your excuse as long as you gave me a reason to believe I had a place in this world. But you don’t believe that. Once you knew the danger I bring, you began to think of me as a liability. Yet even as you realized that you're still too much of a coward to abandon your excuse.”

“Is this about what I said earlier? About you dragging others into our problems? You’re not the one bringing death. It’s those soldiers from Obsiudus,” Hirow responded, still processing everything she said.

“But I attract it. You and others have made that very clear to me. You may see it as selfish when I try to connect with others, but that's all I have. I don’t have to be logical when I show kindness because that's all I have to offer. Because maybe one day my kindness will make up for the curses I bring.” Her lips quivered; whether it was sadness, anger, or frustration, Hirow could not tell. “If you make a promise to listen, then keep it because if you can’t do that, how can I expect you to keep your promise to protect me.” She sighed, letting the last of her stress leave her body. “Sorry if this isn’t the adventure you wanted.” She kicked the dirt beneath her feet and turned her back to him.

They both continued in silence.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

✵ ✵ ✵ ✵

The sun cast an orange hue over the land that enveloped the cloudless sky. Talia’s words ran through Hirow’s mind in the hours that had passed. Quite the outrageous narrative she spun, he thought to himself at first. Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was some truth in her words. Maybe she is my excuse, he began to accept. But I’m trying to protect her. She just doesn’t fully see that, he reassured himself. He sighed and took his mind off her words for a moment. They had made it back to the road. It wasn’t a main road. They couldn’t risk that again, but it was clear of enough foliage that it could be called a road. Despite the flat path he was on, Hirow’s legs were still immensely sore. He had learned to ignore the pain and keep the rhythm of putting one foot in front of another. It helped except during the times when twilight began. The setting sun always seemed to remind his body how tired it was. He stared down at his feet. Just a bit longer, he encouraged himself. One foot in front of the other.

He bumped into Talia’s back and raised his gaze from his feet. “Why’d you stop?”

“Over there.” She pointed a few paces ahead to the right side of the road. Hirow peeked around her head.

A dark trail of blood curved across the road to a boy sprawled on his side. The boy held a strange sword in one of his outstretched hands. Its back edge was serrated, like a saw used to cut down trees, while the front edge was sharpened, like a traditional sword. His matted black hair was crusted with mud. Armour covered most of his body below his shoulders, but it was nothing like the sleek metal the soldiers of Obsidius wore. The different pieces were made of a material that looked like woven leather that was crudely coated with patches of misshapen metal. The side of his breastplate facing the open air was falling apart. It also seemed to be the spot where the blood originated from. The leather chords around his chest tensed slightly as the boy drew a weak breath.

“He’s still alive,” Talia muttered as she approached him. Hirow was weary to stop her, so he carefully watched the soldier’s movements.

Talia touched her palm to his shoulder. “Not like this, you scum,” the boy coughed. Talia briefly backed away as if the boy was a wounded animal ready to strike. The boy’s breathing slowed, and Talia approached again. Using her slender fingers, she delicately unknotted the straps binding the chest plate and back piece of the boy’s armor. The boy grunted, but this time he didn’t have the energy to muster another retort. Talia slid the armor from his chest and pulled up his undershirt to reveal the wound. She winced at the sight of the blood-stained gash and took a deep breath to regain her composure. She motioned for Hirow to come closer.

Hirow kept silent as he approached. There is no harm in doing this, he confided to himself. The wound wasn’t as bad as Talia’s expressions had made it seem. He leaned in closer to examine it. The cut wasn’t very deep, but it extended across most of the warrior’s side.

Talia’s eyes darted between the ground and Hirow. She opened her mouth to say something, then clenched her jaw. “Can you do something? I don’t know any healing,” she said curtly.

Hirow smiled, trying to be as accepting of Talia’s request as he could be. “I don’t know much, but enough to administer first aid.”

“So . . . so what do we do?” Talia kept her gaze on the ground.

“Well, first, we need to remove that clothing. It looks like you already started doing that. Let’s remove the undershirt next.” Talia began to slide her arms underneath his shoulders as she prepared to remove his shirt. “Wait, don’t do that!” Hirow put out his hand to stop her.

“I’m just doing what you told me to,” she responded in a frustrated tone.

“We need to avoid moving him as much as we can. We don’t want to make any of his injuries worse.”

Talia rolled her eyes, “So what do you suggest we do?”

Hirow rummaged through his bag and pulled out a knife in a leather sheath. He pulled the warrior’s undershirt taut and cut a clean line down the side. After he finished, he resheathed the knife and moved the cut cloth to the side. Hirow held out his hand. “Next, I need water.”

Talia uncapped her water canteen and handed it over. Positioning the canteen over the wound, he let a steady stream of water fall out. As excess blood washed away from the wound, Talia’s expression lightened. “It’s not as bad as I thought.”

Hirow handed the container back to Talia. “Now we just need to stop the bleeding. Give me your extra shirt.”

She turned to pull the clothing out of her sack, then hesitated. “You used my water, so use your shirt.”

“This was your idea,” Hirow grumbled under his breath.

“What was that,” Talia perked up.

“Nothing, I’ll use my extra shirt.” Now was not the time to argue, he reminded himself. After rummaging around in his sack, he pulled out a thin white shirt. He ripped the seam on the left side and spread out the remaining cloth. “Get on the other side and GENTLY lift him. Just enough so I can get the shirt underneath him.”

Talia slid her hands underneath the right side of the boy’s chest as Hirow stretched the cloth around the boy’s wound and across his back. “Now.” Hirow slid the shirt underneath his right side. Talia set him down gently, and the boy responded with another grunt. Hirow tightened the fabric until it was taut, then tied it off.

He sat back on the dirt road. “Wish we had ointment, but that's all we can do for him.” After a few seconds, Hirow lept up and grabbed his sack.

“You're not leaving, are you?”

“We helped him. That's all there is to it,” he said as his face hardened.

Talia mustered a glare to match. “We’re staying until he wakes up.”