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He nods.
“Thank you, and thank you for bringing me up to bed last night. That is, if I’m right and it was you.”
He nods again. “What are you doing today?”
“What?” Does he want to spend time with me? I feel my cheeks heating again as I think of Drez kissing me. I have liked Drez for a long time. Does he perhaps have the same feelings?
“If you are going somewhere, I need to know so that I can be ready. You have been assigned to me.”
I swear I feel my heart shattering into a thousand pieces. This is all just a job to him. I am so silly.
“I can take care of myself. Please leave.”
He tenses but does not say anything else. Instead, he turns and leaves. As soon as he closes my door, I feel a tear sliding down my cheek. I don’t need him following me out of obligation. I will take care of myself. Looking towards my bow, I frown; I am going to need to carry it around with me from now on.
I wipe another tear away; I will not cry. There is too much to do to now feel sorry for myself. We need to be ready to fight whatever is coming for us, and for that, we need to know as much as possible about our enemy.
I am going to go speak to Braun and find out what he knows. After that, I need to train, as I haven’t trained in a couple days, and later, when I’m back home, I need to work on my magic. Drez can dawdle his fingers here, because I’m not going to tell him I’m leaving.
After dressing in dark-blue tights and a shimmering blue top, I strap my bow on. Pulling my hair back, I tie it into a ponytail away from my face. Walking towards my bedroom door, I slip out. There is no one around at this early hour, so I make my way downstairs to the kitchen. Walking in, I see Selina. She looks up at my entrance, a smile brightening her expression.
“Morning, Dream. How are you feeling this morning?”
“I’m feeling fine.” She frowns at my despondent tone, but no matter how much I try, the thought of Drez wanting to protect me just because it’s his job has my mood down in the gutter.
“So, what’s bothering you?” she asks as she pushes away the bowl of dried flowers she was working on to make essences and gives me her full attention.
“Nothing, just a lot to do today.”
She frowns, knowing I am hiding something, but Selina has her own unique way of making things better without probing for answers.
“Okay then, let me get you some breakfast, and then you can tell me about all these things you have planned for your day.” She stands to walk to go prepare my breakfast, but I’m not really in the mood for a big meal and just want to get out of here.
“It’s okay, don’t worry about breakfast. I’m just going to grab an apple and then I’m off. I want to go speak to Braun while it’s still early.” Selina turns around and looks at me as I grab an apple from the fruit bowl.
“Be careful out there, Dream. We don’t know what is going on yet. Let Drez know you are going out.” I walk towards her. Slipping my arms around her waist, I hug her tight. In the absence of our mother, Selina has always been there to guide and take care of us. I have the highest regard for her, but I am not going to let Drez know I’m leaving. He can catch up if he can find me.
Pulling away, I smile before heading towards the back door. Slipping out, I look around, taking in the beauty of the forest at this early hour. Heading towards the trees, I enter the forest, hearing the gentle sway of the trees as the breeze ruffles its leaves, and the rustle of the bushes as insects and animals scurry away.
I head deep into the forest until I reach Braun’s home. His oak tree reaches up to the sky, the branches wide and heavy with its foliage, the bark a beautiful vibrant light brown. I frown as I see a deep slash on the bark as I step closer. I see another three, as if claw marks. Who would dare do this to Braun’s tree? He must be furious at the abuse of it.
“Braun,” I call. “Braun, are you here?” A moment later, I see the shape of Braun stepping from his tree. I start to smile at him, only to gasp as I see that he looks injured. “Oh, Braun, what’s wrong?” I rush towards him as he stumbles.
“They tried to poison my tree with their darkness. Braun is not going to let anyone poison his tree.” I see the gash on his bark-like body that oozes a dark substance I am sure isn’t healthy.
“You are injured; I need to help you.” Is it possible that the shadows did this to him? If that is the case, I am going to need the others to try to help him. “Braun, who did this to you?” I hear rustling from the forest, but I do not turn to see as I try to hold Braun up. I see him looking up over my shoulder, but he doesn’t tense or flinch, which tells me that it must be some animal being curious.
I start to place my hand over his gash, but my hand is captured by another before I can touch Braun. I turn my head to see Drez standing there, an angry look on his face. “Let go of me. I need to help Braun.”
“It is infected. You can’t touch the gash, as it will poison you too. It needs to be cleaned like we cleaned Brog’s injury first before you can think of healing him.”
I huff in anger. “How do you propose I do that without anything here? And why are you following me?” I say, which earns me an angry scowl from him.
“Good thing I am,” he mutters, and then he mumbles something, and the radiant blue light that surrounded him yesterday shines on his hands. “This might be uncomfortable, Braun. I’m sorry, but it is needed.” He places his hand a few inches away from touching Braun. I see the blue light penetrating the gash. Braun gasps but does not say anything else as his eyes close.
“What are you doing?” I ask as more of the black ooze slips out of the gash.
“I’m cleansing it as much as I can before taking him back home so that Selina can clean it properly.” As an Elf, Drez has similar magic to Selina’s. Their energy is pure and rich with healing powers; therefore, I do not argue. Instead, I take a step back from Braun so that Drez has more space to work. Placing my arm more firmly around Braun, I try to give him more support, but his weight is starting to drag me down.
