The fire crackled softly beneath the overhang, casting long, dancing shadows against the ravine walls. Darius lay propped against the rock, his wound freshly cleaned and wrapped with makeshift bandages torn from Aria's tunic. The pain in his side had dulled, but exhaustion weighed heavy on his face.
Aria crouched beside him, her eyes flitting between the fire and the forest. Her hand hovered over the hilt of the small dagger she'd scavenged from a fallen one. It was barely a weapon, but it made her feel less vulnerable.
"You should sleep," she said quietly, breaking the silence.
Darius let out a short breath, part laugh, part sigh. "Hard to sleep when your body feels like it's been trampled by a troll."
Aria smiled faintly, but it didn't reach her eyes. "You're lucky to be alive. That gash was deep."
He tilted his head to look at her. "And you're lucky I woke you up, else you would be a cold corpse right now."
She looked away. The truth in his words stung more than she'd expected. "I didn't ask you to save me."
"You didn't have to."
Silence again stretched between them. This time heavier, filled with everything neither of them dared say.
A sudden rustling snapped both their heads to the side. Aria sprang to her feet, her dagger clutched in her hand as a shape moved through the trees above the ravine.
Darius groaned, pushing himself upright despite the pain. "Not again..."
Lucky for them it was not their hunters. A small figure slid down the slope, too swift I would say for them to think otherwise. But when the figure stepped into the firelight, they could see surprise in both their eyes.
A girl.
She couldn't have been older than ten. Her clothes were ragged, her feet were bare, and her wide brown eyes reflected the flames like glass.
Aria didn't lower the dagger. At a place like that, in a situation they were in, she could not risk lowering her dagger.
"Who are you?" asked Aria.
The girl looked from Aria to Darius, the back again. Sniffing the air while slowly wanting to get close to Darius seeming like looking for a certain scent she could sniff from him. Darius was on high alert, as shaken as Aria. No one would be any less surprised for a little girl to pop out of nowhere and sniff them.
The girl slowly moved away from Darius and sniffed Aria's way then she whispered, "You have the mark."
"What?" Darius muttered.
The girl stepped closer, undettered by the blade Aria held. "He bleeds the old blood. And you...you carry it inside you. It's awakening, isn't it?"
Aria froze. "What are you talking about?"
The girl reached out and touched Aria's wrist. A pulse like static raced up her arm.
"You are running out of time," the girl said softly. "You're changing. Your veins are thinning."
Aria yanked her arm back. "Who are you?"
"Better say who you are. I am not as patient as she is little girl," Darius growled.
The girl did not answer. Instead, she dropped a leather pouch by the fire. "Use this on his wound. It will keep the infection away."
Then she turned and vanished into the trees, just as fast as she had appeared.
Darius looked at Aria. "What the hell was that?"
Aria did not answer. Her fingers trembled as she reached for the pouch. Inside were crushed herbs, glowing faintly with warmth. The same warmth she felt flowing in her veins since the night everything fell apart.
She stared at the forest, the girl was already gone, and she felt the undeniable truth settle in her chest. It seemed the wheels of fate were trying everything it could to stop her from running away from it.
The girl had disappeared even before she could ask the question she had for the longest time now.
Now she knew, all this was not a coincidence. Something or someone had been keeping it's eyes on her. Her every move could be seen, and it was not a good feeling.
Darius could not fathom what to think at that moment. He was already on high alert knowing that they might be someone's muse , and that someone was keeping a close eye on them. The feeling of somebody else having the control of how your life turns up was bitter. And Darius, was someone who swore to never have his fate in somebody's hand ever again.
So whether it was a friend or a foe, they had to loose the person.
"I do not think it is safe to keep being here," Darius turned to Aria to say.
"Yes, I think it's time we make a move. We never know if the next person to find us will be a foe or friend." said Aria as she packed whatever luggage she had unpacked from her backpack. Well it was mostly medicine and some sleeping rugs.
Something was watching them, and they were not going to stick around to find out what.