Page 12

twelve

Luka

S taring into space, Luka waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. The ordeal at the swamp caused a bit of delay, so instead of reaching Braken at night fall as planned, they found a camping site to spend the night. Hopefully, they’d reach Braken by morning without incident. Luka's eyes adjusted to the darkness as he stood from his bed and scanned the tent. The moonlight cast a faint, pale glow over everything. He had been jolted awake by something, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was. The itchiness in his hands told him that someone or something needed healing. Luka walked around the campfire that had died out leaving red coals behind. Morai, Neoni, and Fida were on one side of the fire, while he and his brother were on the opposite side.

The sound that woke him up came again, fingering his dart, Luka made his way towards the sound. He paused, wondering if he should wake Tanen, but he banished the thought just as quickly. He could take care of whatever it was all by himself. Luka was still a little frustrated that Tanen wouldn’t let him help when the chimeras attacked. As the oldest, he felt it was his responsibility to look after Tanen, not the other way around. But he knew that wasn’t a sound argument. Tanen was better with the sword than he was anyway.

Luka came to a stop in a clearing, his senses on high alert. The sound came again from behind a bush, and it sounded like it was in pain. Luka looked around for something he could use to lift the bush. Finding a discarded branch, he made his way to the bush and lifted it. Luka stared at the creature, it looked wounded, but the creature was curled in such a tight ball, he couldn’t tell where or what caused the injury. The only thing he could make out was the fur, which was a light brown with black spots all over it. Opening its beady eyes, the creature looked at Luka as he knelt beside it, discarding the branch. Luka looked around him, wondering where the mother could be. For all he knew, she could be waiting somewhere ready to pounce. The baby made a mournful sound, bringing Luka’s attention back to it. If memory served him right, the baby was called a jaguar, he’d read about them in books before; like every mundane creature without magic, they were considered rare. His fingers itched to heal. Moving slowly so as not to scare it, Luka sat cross-legged on the grass and picked it up, cradling it in his arms. It was shaking but Luka wasn’t sure if it was from cold or fear.

“I got you,” he said, looking it over. Its hind leg had a gnash on it, probably from a predator. Luka frowned, would healing magic work on a mundane creature? Luka shrugged, only one way to find out. Closing his eyes, Luka concentrated on the injured leg. He didn’t need to close his eyes, but he focused better when he did. He felt the magic swell around his hands and the warmth seeped into the leg, feeling the wound knit itself into place. Luka let out a sigh and opened his eyes. The leg looked like nothing had happened.

“Now, how should we find your mother?” he asked the creature, not that he was expecting a response. A rustling sound came from behind him. Luka turned just in time to see Morai come out of the shadows. She gasped.

“Is that a jaguar?” she asked, walking towards him. She sat down, peering at the creature. Luka scowled at her.

“What are you doing here?” If she’d been a few minutes earlier, she would have seen him use healing magic.

“I heard a sound that woke me up,” she said, her gaze fixated on the baby, who was also gazing up at her.

“Do you want to hold it?” Luka asked. Morai looked up at him with excitement in her eyes.

“Can I?” In response, Luka lifted up the jaguar. Morai gingerly took it from him, placing it on her lap.

“It’s really soft,” she said, stroking its back, content the jaguar closed its eyes. Luka studied both of them briefly before turning his gaze to the night sky. Stars dotted the sky. Should he tell her about his healing magic? Now did seem like the perfect time. He sighed, turning his attention back to Morai.

“Morai…”

“Where is its mother?” Luka swallowed the rest of his sentence.

“I don’t know.” Reaching out, he patted the jaguar. Maybe he could tell her some other time.

“This isn’t so bad,” he said. Morai frowned at him.

“What?”

“You and me, enjoying each other’s company,” he said with a smile. Morai’s face reddened, then she shoved the jaguar back in his arms.

“We should keep it until we find its mother,” she stated, standing up. Luka followed suit. He was already thinking of doing that, but he wasn’t going to tell her that.

“And why should we?” he asked with a smile still on his face. Morai frowned up at him, and he took a step back. She was too close.

“You seriously aren’t thinking of just leaving it here. And why are you smiling?” Luka grinned this time.

“I’m sure it’ll survive, and I just think it’s cute when you get flustered.” Her face couldn’t get any redder.

“I do not get flustered,” Morai said, turning on her heel and heading back to camp. Luka chuckled looking down at the jaguar who was fast asleep.

“She does, doesn’t she?” he asked the sleeping bundle.