<h4>Chapter 36 - 36</h4>


    "So Aiden, how long have you and Zirani known each other?"


    "About a week," I said, carefully stepping over arge log, taking care to keep the sleeping girl on my back still. Unlike an hour ago she''d stopped kicking and moving and was now peacefully silent and still, the only sound was the inhtion and exhtion of air. I didn''t want to disturb her. She''d finally stopped only a few minutes ago.


    "Only a week, but…"


    Her words trailed off and I shot Zirani another questioning look, but like thest time, she just shrugged and gave me a ter'' look.


    "I guess your techniques and your strength make more sense now," She said.


    "Yeah I''m a lucky man," I said, although I was unlucky as well. The raid, the vampire, the death of Lucas. Yesterday had to have been the worst day of my life so far. I hoped that the string of bad events was over and done with and we could reach safety without trouble, though the thoughts did sound rather optimistic if I was being honest.


    "The same could be said for you," Zirani said to Sandra.


    "Fair point," She replied then nced back at Misty. "How much longer is she gonna be asleep?"


    "She should have woken up by now, but I did give her a big dose," Zirani said. "So it might take a little longer."


    "The longer the better if you ask me," Sandra said. "I didn''t even know Aether vampires were a thing."


    "They aren''t here, not normally at least," Zirani said. "They usually are only found below the great scar and far to the south. Misty is a… unique case. She found some sort of artifact that caused the change."


    "Is her aether meant to be like that?" Sandra asked. "I can''t believe I didn''t notice it back at the camp."


    "She hadn''t fed then, she was still technically unawakened, her core dormant. When she fed on you it burst into life. I''m going to have to carve an aether array into her or tattoo it on her skin to hide it. If she walks into any city or camp like that, at best they''ll cage her and poke and prod her to try and figure out what she is, and at worst they''ll just kill her."


    "Never heard of other types of aether besides the normal types," Sandra muttered.


    "You live in the northern ins. Those below the great scar call this ce the peacefulnds and see it as a backwardnd, and no offense, but their right. The level of the arcane here is awful, and there are key things missing. I would imagine it gets better the closer you get to the border cities, but even then I doubt they evenpared to the lowest of the sect beyond the scar."


    "So were stupid is essentially what you''re saying?" Sandra asked.


    "We''re?" Zirani asked. "Is that the right term for you?"


    Sandra''s eyes widened and she nced at me before coughing. "Well anyways, should we take a quick break?"


    "We don''t need to," Zirani said. "But a five-minute break to eat won''t hurt."


    "So you do have food," Sandra. "I didn''t get a chance to grab anything when we… ran."


    Thest word came out as a whisper and I could see her fighting back the emotions that wanted to escape. For my part, I too pushed away all those thoughts. I''d deal with them when we were safe and not a moment earlier.


    We stopped in a small patch between two trees and I passed Misty over to Zirani before I focused on my storage ring. I pulled out a few dried pieces of steak and two sks of water. I handed some of the steak and a sk to Sandra who nodded gratefully before I dug in. It wasn''t particrly tasty and was a bit hard to chew, but it was still better than the meat porridge I''d had after I''d first met Zirani. That had not tasted like food at all, more like cardboard covered in sauce. I shuddered at the thought of it.


    "Do you think we''re going to run into any twin horn disciples?" I asked.


    Sandra shrugged. "It depends on who they had with them. If they were smart then they would have brought their best trackers and hunters so that no one could escape but we both know the twin horn aren''t the smartest. If we keep at this pace and stop only for the minimal amount of rest we need then I think we can make it without any run-ins with them. We can start running in short bursts when the blonde wakes up."


    We''d tried to run, but had stopped after Misty had fallen off my back twice. She moved far too much when I was running, so it was fast walking for us.


    "So what did she say to you?"


    Sandra froze with a piece of steak halfway to her mouth. "That between me and her. She''ll tell you if she wants to."


    I narrowed my eyes, my interest rising. What exactly had they talked about? Zirani must have told some stuff to keep her calm and she obviously thought the girl wasn''t going to say anything about her, but she must have something or knows something to be confident the girl wouldn''t speak. She''d said something about secrets. Did she know Sandra''s secrets and Sandra was scared that Zirani would reveal them? Or was I looking too deeply into things? I did sometimes have a tendency to overthink things.


    I remembered that time where I''d spent an hour on a puzzle in ss that was only meant to take five minutes. That had been embarrassing. Leyton hadn''t let me live it down for a few months. The thought of my best friend made me wonder what he and Thomas were doing. Was he hunting with his father? Was Thomas in the forge with his father, making weapons and armor? Did they know the fate of West Vale lied in the fate of a war they had no part in and no knowledge of?


    As I was taking a drink from my sk I felt Zirani stiffen, worrying through our bond. I nced over to her to see an annoyed look on her face.


    "What is it?"


    There was aether dispersing around her feet and I saw enough before it fully dispersed to know it was a green pulse.


    The next words she spoke were full of anger yet determination.. "They''ve found us."