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“Think there’s any dragons out here?” Archie asks from beside me.

I glance sideways at him, rising up to my feet and dusting my pants off. “We probably scared them off by now.”

“Stay where you are,”I warn Daeja.

“Look,” Archie says, still lying on the ground. He shifted to laying on his back, his hand outstretched and pointing to the sky.

I follow the direction of his finger toward the star-studded sky stretching out above us. “Have you…never seen the stars before?”

“No, it’s just…this far north. At this elevation. They’re so clear here.”

I lie down next to him, shifting close to him for body warmth. Leaning my head against his shoulder, we stare at the stars in silence.

“That looks like a soup ladle,” he says, pointing at a collection of stars. His arm sways as he struggles to keep still. “A...spinning...soup ladle.”

“Maybe that’s just the hunger talking,” I whisper.

He laughs. “You’re probably right.”

I shift my attention back in the direction of the forest. “We should get back. Before something hungry this way comes and thinkswelook like a soup ladle.”

“Is that supposed to be scary? Because it’s not.” He flashes me a toothy smile. The kind of smile that warms his whole face, the crinkles near his eyes deepening.

I giggle. “I might be a little drunk. So I’m not sure how much sense I’m making.”

We both help each other up. Stumbling back to the camp, we say good night with a hug, and part our separate ways. I watch him go with a drunken smile.

He might be my first friend here.

twenty-four

THE EXISTENCE IN BETWEEN

A dull ache pounds in my skull, a remnant of last night’s shenanigans with Archie. I rub circles on my temples as sunlight leaks into my room. With a groan, I push up to my feet.

“Daeja?”

“Mmphmm?”Her voice is gravelly.

“How has practicing the disappearing thing been coming along? Any luck?”

“No...no luck.”

I frown. That’ll make things a bit harder, considering we’re to stay in camp until Cole gets the map.“That’s okay, keep practicing. Cole says he’s working on getting a map for us and we’ll wait for a moonless night and be on our way to the Dragon Lands. In the meantime, I’ll be practicing sparring. If you feel any sort of pain...don’t worry about me. I’ll let you know if I’m seriously hurt. Don’t come barging in to save me, okay?”

She snorts in annoyance, the sound loud enough I flinch.

“No promises.”

“Daeja,”I scold. “I don’t need you to save me, I won’t be in danger. And if someone sees you, you’ll blow our cover. At least for the next few weeks, I need you to keep a low profile.”

Her growl rumbles in my blood. “Fine. But I refuse to stand by if your life is at risk.”

Little does she know, our relationship alone is grounds for that.

“Thank you.”

She falls silent as she slips back into sleep, further proving my theory she’s something nocturnal. Tucking the bottle Archie and I drank last night into my side underneath my tunic, I head to the healer’s quadrant. Hopefully, I’m early enough to beat Marge so I can return the bottle unnoticed. Cole’s mention of inventory counts rings in my mind, and I wonder if they also tracked the supplies in the healer’s quadrant. Though, I recall Darian hadn’t appeared to be concerned. Even Marge’s biggest worry seemed to be drinking etiquette. As long as we weren’t drinking directly from the bottle like Darian was…oops. Guess what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.