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twenty-one

Morai

M orai couldn’t help the beaming smile on her face as she and her friends walked the rest of the way to the dragon’s nest. They’d come across the waterfall early in the morning, and it was a breathtaking sight, one that they didn’t have the luxury of taking in. But that didn’t stop Neoni from scribbling down in her notebook. Luka, who’d been behind the group because he had to stop several times because Noa kept wanting to be carried then put down repeatedly, hurried to the front to walk beside Morai, Noa at his heels.

“Do we have a plan?” he asked. Morai’s stomach fluttered when his hand brushed hers.

“Scout the area when we get there,” Morai said.

“The problem is, finding a place to camp, while we scout,” she continued, glancing back at Fida, Tanen, and Neoni.

“You know,” Luka said, and she looked up at him. He had a slight frown on his face which cleared into a grin he directed at her. “This is the first time we will be working together.” Morai lifted her chin.

“Who said anything about working together?” Luka raised a brow and then laughed.

“So that’s how it is.” Morai grinned.

“Definitely.”

“Do we have a plan?” Fida asked from behind them.

“Sort of,” Morai said as Luka bent once again to pick Noa up, settling him in his bag.

“We’ll find a place to camp, while Luka and I scout the place,” she said, Fida nodded.

“How long would scouting take?” it was Tanen this time that asked. Morai shrugged.

“Depends on what we find on the first try.” Morai frowned, glancing up at Luka who put her hand on her lower back to stir her away from a rock that was protruding from the ground.

“Watch your step,” he said with a grin.

“So will you be working together?” Neoni asked, swinging her clasped hands with Tanen back and forth. Morai scoffed.

“Absolutely not. We’re sticking to tradition with this.” Tanen rolled his eyes, while Luka beamed.

“Can’t you just let the rivalry go just this once?” Tanen asked.

“And where would we be without our rivalry, brother?” Luka asked.

“Working together,” Tanen said, a bit exasperated. In truth, Morai had considered it. Maybe it was because of how long their rivalry had been going on, or that she actually wanted to go against Luka on her own free will. But she couldn’t fathom them working together to steal something. Sure, she was tired when her family constantly pitted them against each other, but this felt different somehow.

“We could just reason with the dragons. I heard they can be reasoned with,” Fida said. Morai scowled at that.

“But we’re unwanted guests. Do you think they’d listen to us?” she asked.

“We could try.” Morai chewed on her bottom lip, she was certain the dragons would attack them as soon as they were spotted. After all, no human made it this far, and dragons were territorial. Morai shuddered; she honestly didn’t want to encounter one. She furrowed looking up at the trees, then she stopped walking.

“What’s wrong?” Luka asked stopping beside her.

“The feeling we had earlier,” she turned in a circle listening, “I think the forest is breathing.” Like earlier everyone stayed silent listening. It sounded like the forest was sighing in and out.

“You’re right.” Luka said with a frown.

“Do you think it’s sentient? Neoni asked shifting closer to Tanen.

“Not sure. I think if it was Kirnon would have mentioned it.” Morai said. Unless this was a secret not even he knew about.

“Do you think it’s dangerous?” Fida asked reaching for her sword.

“If it was, I don’t think we would still be alive.” Morai said. Everyone fell silent again.

“We should focus on finding the peacock and getting a feather.” Morai said. If the forest wasn’t dangerous there was no need to dwell on it. They had a job to complete. They continued on.

“Or a couple,” Neoni added. Morai raised a brow at her.

“Well, if you guys are going against each other, it would be more entertaining if you tried to get more than one feather.” Morai glanced up at Luka, who’d slowed down. She looked ahead to find that they’d finally arrived at a clearing covered with dark purple flowers. At the edge of the clearing was a mirage, a barrier that kept anyone out. Morai took a deep breath.

“Once we cross this clearing, we should come across the dragon’s lair.” She wasn’t sure if she was trying to encourage herself or her friends.

“We have everything we need?”

“Yes, we have meats for the dragons just in case, oh and here,” Neoni said, ruffling through the dimension bag, Luka had given it to her when he’d been healing them. Pulling out the mana stones and handkerchiefs Kirnon had given them, Neoni gave a stone and a handkerchief to each of them. This would help them to cross the barrier and then dissolve into dust once its job was done. Morai stared ahead of her, suddenly feeling nervous. Luka grabbed her hand and squeezed.

“We prepared for this. Probably not the rest of what has happened, but we prepared for this,” he said. Morai nodded. They tied some handkerchiefs around their nose and mouth, mostly so they wouldn't breathe in the dust. But the spell Kirnon had given them would stop whatever the dust was supposed to do.

“Okay, here goes,” she said, and they stepped into the field of flowers. The handkerchiefs immediately emitted a soft glow as the dark purple flowers started sprouting purple sparkling dust into the air.

“What is this supposed to do again?” Fida asked as they walked.

“Something about either making you sleep or hallucinating,” Neoni said. Morai shuddered. She was glad for the spell Kirnon had given them. She didn’t want to hallucinate again, just thinking about it made her chest tight. Luka squeezed her hand again, she turned to look at him, his eyes had a twinkle of amusement in them.

“Morai, breathe,” he said. Morai gulped in air, the tightness in her chest loosening, she looked away from him, her face burning with embarrassment. Luka coughed repeatedly.

“It’s not funny,” she said.

“Oh, it definitely is.” She couldn’t see his face, but she was positive he was grinning. Morai scowled, turning back to make sure everyone was doing okay. They finally reached the mirage and Morai used her hand that was still holding the mana stone to clasp onto her necklace for good luck.

“Is that mine?” Luka asked. Morai frowned at him.

“Focus,” she said, shoving the necklace back into her shirt, and stepped into the mirage.