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Morai

T he first half hour of the trip to Braken was uneventful to say the least. Morai was the first downstairs, with a smug smile when Luka came down right after her.

“I should ride on the coach first,” Morai said. After breakfast, they’d all made it out to the stables only to discover that Luka was getting ready to ride on the coach with the reins in his hands. He smirked at her.

“I got this my Morai,” he said. Her face grew hot at the name, but she pressed on.

“No, I’d rather ride first.” She made a grab for the reins only for Tanen to snatch it from his brother.

“Neoni and I will ride,” he said, giving them an exasperated look. “Besides, neither of you know how to.” Morai folded her hands across her chest.

“That’s not true. Fida gave me some lessons.”

“Lessons you weren’t keen on,” Fida said, hopping into the carriage; she was wearing her usual armor. Morai sighed, then eyed Luka, he smirked before making a dash towards the carriage.

“Oh no, you don’t,” Morai said, tripping him with her foot before running over to get inside. She grinned when she heard Luka curse.

“Seriously, can’t you guys just let go of competing?” Neoni asked, a smile in her voice. They finally left for Braken the two bickering back and forth about nonsense. Morai was in a good mood once they got closer and closer to the swamp.

“Okay, remember the plan,” Fida, who was now riding in the coach, called out to them in the back. There wasn’t much to the plan except to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake the mermaids, or attract any of the creatures that lived in the swamp. Thankfully, the stone bridge that was built over the swamp would prevent the mermaids from reaching them, but that would not be the case if they fell into the swamp. The bridge had been built during the day, as it was the only road to cross into Braken. And while the mermaids were nocturnal, a sleeping potion was still used in the swamp to keep them asleep while the bridge was being built. Needless to say, they were not at all happy when they discovered a bridge over their beloved home. They gleefully tried to get any merchants who were unlucky to travel at night or wake them up and decided to use the vines on the trees to their advantage.

As planned, Neoni went up to the coach and took the reins from Fida who sat next to her, unsheathing her sword. Tanen went to the back of the carriage, sword in hand as well. While Morai and Luka were capable fighters, they weren’t experts, so they decided to stay in the carriage. Morai had a dagger in her hand just in case though, and Luka fingered his many darts that he kept sheathed around his belt. The midday sun made the swamp smell even more aggressive, making Morai gag a little. How did the mermaids even live in it? A dense forest of leafy trees surrounded the swamp, with rope like vines hanging everywhere and once in a while a bird would chirp and another respond.

Morai sipped on her waterskin, wondering not for the first time if she could take off a layer of her clothes. Not that she could, she wore a long-sleeved black shirt, with a matching pair of pants, with black boots. She’d thought it was a good choice once they’d started out, but with the heat becoming unbearable, Morai wasn’t so sure. Maybe she could cut off the sleeves, they were beginning to stick to her. Movement in front of her caught her eye, glancing up, Luka’s shirt was halfway over his head. Morai quickly glanced away but not before catching sight of his toned torso.

“Should you be taking off your shirt?” she asked, pointedly looking to the front of the carriage. Tanen, who’d been watching their surroundings outside, turned at Morai’s question. He frowned at Luka, who’d already taken his shirt off and was folding it.

“It is unwise for you to take off your shirt,” he said. Luka only grunted in response.

“I’m hot,” he said.

“So am I, but you do not see me taking off my shirt,” Morai said, irritation entering her voice, the heat was really getting to her. Luka glanced at her with a smirk. Morai huffed.

“How long has it been?” she called to Neoni.

“About half an hour,” Neoni responded from her spot.

“We shouldn’t have been so worried about the creatures. The heat alone would kill us.” Luka decided to use his shirt as a fan. Morai agreed with him, but she didn’t say it. They were at the midway point of the bridge when Morai furrowed her brow.

“Did you hear that?” she asked. Everyone fell silent, the only sound were the lizards and the wheels of the carriage. The sound she’d heard came again. It sounded like a growl, but Morai wasn’t sure what kind of creature it was.“Let’s hope they leave us alone,” Fida said. Morai wiped her hands on her knees both from the sweat and because she was nervous. The growl came louder this time. The carriage stopped so abruptly that Morai, Luka, and Tanen surged forward.

“Sorry,” Neoni said.

“What is that?” Fida asked, looking straight ahead. Morai, after getting her bearings, scrambled to the window that overlooked the coach where Neoni and Fida were sitting.

“What is that?” Luka, who’d joined her, asked. The creature was covered in swamp mud that undulated; it looked like a chimera.

“It looks like a chimera, but I’ve never seen one like that before.” Even though Morai considered herself to be well traveled, she always traveled in areas with lots of people and little to no dangerous creatures. She’d only ever seen a chimera in pictures. From what she could remember, they had the head of a lion, dragon wings, or was it a bat, and the tail had a snake head on it. She didn’t remember it being covered in mud that moved.

“Perhaps it’s a swamp chimera.” Luka offered. Morai, who was trying to not let his closeness affect her, gaped at him.

“Really, I didn’t realize that,” she said, but Luka only shrugged.

“What should we do?” Neoni asked from up front. The creature stood in front of them a few paces away, blocking them from moving forward. Fida responded by jumping off the carriage.

“Are you going to put your shirt back on?” Morai asked. Luka gave her a cheeky grin.

“What? Don’t like what you see?” he asked, and Morai rolled her eyes.

“We’re about to be attacked by a swamp chimera, but sure be naked.” Morai watched as Fida jumped down from the coach and ran towards the creature, sword raised.

“We’re going to run once Fida clears a path,” Neoni announced. “You might want to grab onto something.” Morai scrambled back to her seat and pulled her bag closer to her. The bottles inside clinked with healing potions. After making sure they were safe, she looked around for something to hold. With nothing to hold onto, she grabbed onto the edge of the seat, hoping that would keep her from flying about. She glanced at Luka who thankfully had his shirt back on and was also grabbing onto his seat. Morai heard a yell from Fida, then a splash, then the carriage rushed forward. Morai’s knuckles turned white from gripping the seat so hard. She heard a thump on the roof of the carriage and squeaked.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Just me,” Fida shouted. A roar came, and the carriage tilted to the side. Morai had enough time to shove her bag out of harm's way before her grip on her seat slipped and the wall of the carriage met her face.