The Soul Keeper

As soon as we were out of sight, Alina grabbed my wrist and smiled. "Come on, I want to show you something." She pulled me deeper into the greenery.

"What about the firewood?" I asked, slightly confused, but she just chuckled. "It's fine! They can wait five more minutes." She led me through the greenery and we soon arrived at the shallow river's shore.

"Look." She pointed west. "Isn't it beautiful?"

I looked at where she pointed. "Wow," was all I could say as the view had taken my breath away. "It really is."

The setting sun had dyed the to a golden-purple hue. The undersides of the rare clouds reflected the crimson light of the sun. The wide river seemed like it wasn't water flowing there, but gold.

"I knew you'd love it." Alina softly said. I turned towards her to see a golden shine in her eyes. She showed me a small, silver talisman. "It's a gift. I filled it with my own magic. It's a healing spell, if you ever find yourself badly wounded, all you have to do is release the magic in here."

The talisman was made to resemble an eye. At the very centre of it, where the pupil should have been, was a small, blue gem. She touched the gem as she spoke.

"I can't accept this." I protested; this was clearly valuable. I tried to step back, but she quickly followed me. "I want you to have it. Please." She reached around my neck and hooked the pendant's chain. "It suits you." She said as she stepped back.

"I…" I took a deep breath as I relented. "Thank you, Alina. It's beautiful." As soon as the words left my mouth, she showed me a beautiful smile. "I'm glad you liked it. Anyways," She looked away as blood rushed to her face. I glimpsed her cheeks blush as she stepped back and turned her back on me. "I'll go back to camp, you can take care of the firewood, right?"

I nodded and she quickly ran off.

"What the hell was that?" I mumbled to myself as I touched the pendant. I blinked a few times and then shook my head. That didn't mean what I thought it meant… did it?

A short while later, I returned to camp with an armful firewood. "This should last us through the night." I said as I dumped it not too far from the fire.

"Thanks, man!" Joshua said with a grin. Vincent handed me my dinner on a large, flat stone he used for a plate. "This smells amazing." I said, glancing at the young man. He nodded and forced a smile.

He was clearly preoccupied with some other thought. I hesitated but decided to keep quiet about it. If he wanted to share whatever he was pondering, he would do so in his own time.

I ate in silence as the others talked about random things.

"Oh! What happened to the sorcerer? Asher Morgan, was it?" Samantha asked all of a sudden. I flinched. I had forgotten about that.

"He got away." I said with a sigh. "he used that invisibility of his and I lost him."

Vincent raised his eyebrows as Samantha and Aline mumbled something under their breaths. I only caught a few words of what they were saying, but I think they said something about shooting an arrow at him.

"That's a shame." Erik said with a sigh. "I'm sure he knew a bit more than Astrid. She couldn't even say the name of the guy who hired them."

I shrugged. "I'm sure he didn't know much more than her." Having finished my meal, I rose on my feel. "I'll go wash myself."

I once again walked through the greenery to get to the shallow river. Once I was there, I undressed and stepped into the cold water. The cold didn't bother me too much this time as I submerged my entire body. I summoned my wings and washed them too. It took me a while to get rid of all the dirt stuck in my hair and feathers.

Some time later, as darkness settled in completely, I returned to camp.

"Oh, he's back." Joshua said with a grin as I stepped out of the woods. The first thing I noticed was the lack of females in our group.

"Where did the girls go?" I asked as I sat by the fire again.

"For a walk. Alina seemed somewhat flustered, so Rina dragged them away." Erik said with a sigh. "I'm sure they will be fine, since Alex is with them too, but I still wish they wouldn't stray too far from camp."

"They'll be fine." Vincent mumbled. He seemed a bit down. "Both Rina and Alex are ridiculously strong."

"So, Kai." Joshua chimed in with that same grin. "What did Alina want to talk with you about?"

I flinched. "Nothing much." I said with a shrug. I felt blood rush to my face, but my ridiculously pale skin and inability to blush properly saved me. "I wonder if something happened… Wait!" I glared at him. "Did you tell her something weird about me?"

"What? No!" Joshua shouted. It took quite a lot of my willpower to not grin or laugh. Now, with the attention on him, rather than me, I enjoyed the evening breeze as Erik started questioning the rogue.

"You did tell her something, didn't you?" He said, pointing his finger at the other man. "Stop spreading lies…" Their bickering continued as I glanced at Vincent. Usually, he'd be the first to leap at the chance to shout at his brother. I wondered what was on his mind.

"I'll head off to sleep." Vincent said after a short moment. "Good night."

"Good night." I mumbled while the other two didn't even respond – they were too busy messing with each other.

I also laid on the grass and once again let myself be taken by the dark embrace of sleep.