Page 15 of Marked

Blair's eyes fluttered open to the sound of a soft scrape against steel. The dim light of dawn filtered through the thin fabric of the tent, casting long shadows on the ground. Her eyes began to close again but the sound of metal-on-metal made them spring back open. She adjusted the way she was lying to peer out of the crack in the tent’s fabric.

Sitting cross-legged just outside the entrance of the tent was Damien. Carefully running a stone along a blade, he looked like he hadn’t slept much.

Damien didn't look up as she emerged from the tent, his sharp features shadowed by the low overcast light. His dark auburn hair glinted faintly in the dimness.

"Morning, princess," he said, stopping the movement of the stone to look over his blade.

"Don't call me that," Blair replied, her tone sharp as she stood in front of the tent and stretched her back. She looked around, trying to blink the light out of her eyes. Noticing how dim it was, she looked up at the clouds that seemed especially dark. Rain?

Damien took one last look at the small hunting knife he had been sharpening and placed it through a loop in his belt. " I would suggest getting dressed in something that could withstand the weather, we have to head out soon.”

She nodded and stepped back into the tent.

The smell of smoke clung to her hair as she moved her head around, pulling her shirt over her head.

She found another outfit in her bag and quickly pulled the long sleeve shirt on, as well as matching pants.

The clean clothes felt warm but did nothing for the dirt that coated her skin.

Pushing the thought of a hot bath aside, she pulled her hair together and threw it up in a bun using a small piece of twine from the bottom of the bag.

For the next few hours, Blair blindly followed Damien as they hiked a path through Ashwood.

They both remained silent, only stopping to use the bathroom or drink.

Each moment that passed gave Blair more time to think.

She thought of her warm bed, the tavern, and the million reasons she couldn't trust Damien.

By the time her legs became weak, they had been walking through the dense forest for more than half the day.

The afternoon air was cool and fresh against their bodies, but their stomachs growled in unison as they turned down a new pathway marked with purple flowers.

Blair pushed past the hunger pains and sharp cramps in her stomach.

A few minutes later, her stomach was complaining again.

"We need to find food soon," Damien muttered, wiping sweat from his brow.

His eyes searched the trees for anything that they could cook.

He paused, taking off the bag that was bound to his back.

It was larger than Blair's satchel, and she had guessed it contained more than just clothes and water.

He opened the top by unlatching the brown leather and pulled out a small bow and quiver .

"So, not just Blacksmith skills, huh?" Blair suggested, nodding her head at the bow.

Damien shrugged, "Something like that. I guess you can say I like hobbies."

Damien looked around again and positioned the bow against his shoulder.

A baby bunny flashed in her mind, and she stepped toward him.

He eyed her suspiciously, lowering the weapon.

After a moment, he prepared the bow again, the tension in his body taught as he aimed toward a flickering movement in the woods ahead of them.

Another vision of a baby deer popped into her head, and she stepped in front of the bow.

“I-uh, I can’t let you just kill animals.”

“What?” Damien retorted, keeping the bow in place as he eyed movement in the brush.

Blair rolled her eyes and stood straight, “I’m not here to explain my morals to you.”

As Damien pulled back the string, Blair found a large twig close by to stomp on. The snap was sharp and loud in the stillness of the forest. The animal, a deer, bolted past a nearby tree, its tail disappearing into the shadows. Damien sighed in frustration.

"Out of all the people in the world to be traveling with..." he whispered, turning toward her.

Blair shrugged, feigning innocence, "What? I tripped."

His eyes narrowed in annoyance. He shouldered his bow and aggressively shoved the arrow back in his quiver with a sigh.

They continued to walk for a few minutes until Damien came to a halt.

A white rabbit, small in form, caught his attention.

Once again, he unslung his bow and wrapped his fingers around it.

Then came the sound, a rock clattering loudly on the ground, echoed throughout the trees. Before he could even knock his arrow, the rabbit bolted away, vanishing into the thicket of green nearby.

Damien ground his teeth, "Stop. You're doing this on purpose."

For the first time since leaving SilverDawn, she released a genuine smile at his frustrated state.

"Wow. You do have emotions; look at that.

" She looked at her hand that was still holding pebbles and tossed another one in the opposite direction of them.

That caught Damien's attention just long enough for another deer in the near distance to run away.

Damien stepped toward her, and she lightly pushed him. The movement wasn't out of fear or anger. With just enough pressure to make contact, she mocked, "Oh come on, who's the feisty one now? Or is that just when you get hungry?"

Damien let out a long breath. "I’m not doing this with you. If we don’t eat, we won’t have any strength.”

Blair looked around, her expression shifting as she became aware of the situation at hand. "Alright, alright, I'll be quiet, but only under the circumstances that we find some type of nuts or berries to satiate our hunger instead of a cute little woodland creature."

Damien looked at Blair with an irritated stare, "You’ve got to be kidding me. "

He looked like he was about to fight her but then the thought left his eyes and he smiled smugly.

"Fine.." He said, a certain gleam in his features, "and when your stomach eats itself from starvation, you have to beg me for food."

Blair cocked her head to the side, her smile returning. "Deal but you will wait a very long time for that."

Damien smirked, "Good, it gives me time to teach you how to be quiet ."

He shifted his bow to his other hand and opened his bag, carefully placing it inside. He then put an arm through one strap followed by the other as he stood and stared at Blair.

Blair watched him, trying to anticipate his next move.

He waited a few moments before glancing at the trees around them and then landing back on her hazel eyes.

"Alright, you're up. Find us something." Her face blanched, but she turned before he could register her bluff.

Recalling anything and everything she knew about plants in the wild, she led him up the path.

After searching for a few minutes and turning over different leaves, she came across blue and purple berries sprinkled across knee-high bushes.

Her eyes lit up at the sight of Crescent berries.

A rare fruit that only bloomed during a certain type of year.

She smiled as she noticed how large the patch was, and she recalled how her class had enjoyed them as a snack a few weeks prior.

She pulled the bottom of her shirt away from her stomach and gathered them, holding the fabric up high.

The berries fell in her makeshift pouch as she plucked them off the bush.

Damien watched her fill it, the satisfaction clear on her face.

They moved to a nearby patch of grass and sat, exhaling at the rest their bodies so badly needed.

"So," Blair said, popping two berries into her mouth and laying the rest on the blanket underneath them. "Where are we headed?"

Damien picked one up, cautiously examined it, and bit into it slowly, pulling away the fleshy skin and assessing the soft purple filling.

"We'll keep moving until we are in a safe area. We need to stay out of sight for a while, especially with the Hunters around and multiplying. We can either go Northwest toward the Gorge for refuge or Northeast toward Lynnwick.” Damien bit down on the fruit he had obviously never tried.

The look of relief that washed over his face confirmed Blair's assumption that he would like it.

"Okay, so let's say I'm going to stay with you and not because I want to but because realistically, I have no other choice. What does that mean for me?" Blair said, shoveling another handful of berries into her mouth, the juice beginning to dribble down her chin.

"It means you probably won't die immediately," Damien said, smiling at her as he carefully placed a few more in his mouth.

Blair rolled her eyes at Damien,” Cool but that’s not what I meant. I have to be able to trust you." Her eyes narrowed in on him, and she waited to see how he would react to that statement.

"I'll give you five questions." He replied, a playful smile tugging at his lips as he continued to eat .

"Five?!" she coughed, choking on a berry that she had inhaled.

"On one condition, you find more of these berries." He lifted the last handful and popped them into his mouth.

She scoffed at him with a dramatic tone, "Hey, some of those were mine!"

He shrugged, shooing her away with his hand.

"Fine." she stomped, grabbing her bag and heading in the direction of where they found the berries.

"I'll use this, so I don't have to ruin my shirt more than I already have.

" She said the last few words with a clipped tone and turned her heel, leaving him.

Damien nodded and watched her walk away. "Stay close."

As soon as he was out of her sight, she ducked behind a tree and looked around.

This was the chance she had been waiting for.

Steadying her nerves, she took off in a dash back towards the way they came.

Not stopping until her lungs burned from exertion, Blair finally slowed.

Gasping for breath, hunched over with both hands on her knees, she sucked in the air around her.

Suddenly, she heard a sound coming from in front of her.

"Huh, you didn't make it as far as I thought you would." Damien chuckled, walking out from the shadows of the trees that lined her path. "Good effort though." he says with a wink.

Blair's face flooded with heat and anger so strong it escaped in the form of a scream.

Damien watched, appearing unphased, and as her voice cracked and dwindled out, he asked, "You done? "

All the adrenaline left Blair in a rush, and she collapsed onto the floor.

Slowly, tears begin to streak down her face.

"I just want to make sure my students are safe.

Don't you care about your friends!?" She sniffled, the tears coming harder as she looked up at him.

"All of the people in town? I just need to know they're okay. "

Damien watched as her body sagged; his demeanor changing as his face softened. He knelt beside her and sighed. "I wouldn't consider anyone there friends but I understand where you are coming from."

Soft droplets of water dropped from the sky.

They sat in silence for a few moments as the rain fell. Blair gained control of her breathing and stopped the tears from falling. As her chest rose and fell, Damien placed his rough hand on her knee.

"Listen, I understand that I didn't have connections in the town that you did.

I guess I wasn't thinking about anything else except getting us out of there but Blair, if the Hunters get hold of you, they are going to do anything they can to extract information.

They know about the dagger, and it wouldn't be as easy as handing it over or telling them about me.

They would torture you, and you would never escape; I've seen it.

" His soft tone continued as he squeezed her thigh and let go.

"This isn't about me kidnapping you or not letting you return.

It's about staying away from them. If one of us gets found, it dooms the other.” He pulled her up from the ground, raising his hand to shield her from the rain as it picked up in intensity.

“If we go North to Lynnwick, it’s only a half-day's journey.

Once we get there, I can hire a runner and send them to check on your students and see what damage was done to the town. "

With his words, Blair physically relaxed and wiped her face. "You would do that?" she asked, raising her voice over thunder that began to crack in the sky.

"I would do whatever to get out of this rain, Feisty.”