Gathering Information Pt 2

It's getting late so we take a break for the night; I give the girl my blanket and some food. While she's eating I start a fire, and it starts snowing. "What's your name?"

The girl looks up at me, "Keera."

"Keera, huh? That's a pretty name. My name is Skye." I smile at her; she gives me a small smile. "We should reach my home sometime tomorrow. Why don't you get some rest, you must be tired." She nods at me, before leaning against me. I should've checked to see if anyone else was alive, I should've investigated that figure earlier, and I should've done more to save her mom. Whoever did this will pay, I swear on my life. I clench my fist hard and look up at the sky.

I pat Keera on the head before falling asleep with her still leaning against me.

"Skye." I feel someone gently push me and I wake up. "I'm hungry."

I groan as I rub my eyes. "Okay, I'll see what I have for food." I get up and look around for my horse. I peek around the tree Keera and I was using and see she's grazing. I look through my bag and find some crackers. "You like crackers?" Keera nods and I hand the crackers to her.

I pack my blanket while Keera is eating. The ground is covered in snow and it's cold; luckily she had a jacket on when she came to find me yesterday. "Do you have to do anything? Need any privacy?"

She smiles and lets out a small laugh before shaking her head no.

"Oh alright then, you ready to get going?" She nods and I help her on the horse. Once I'm on the horse we follow the road to my village, Keera petting the horse. "Listen Keera, my family is sick, but I'm going to drop you off at someone else's house, she's a healer. She's sick as well, but she slowed down the effects so you'll be fine."

"I won't get sick?"

"You shouldn't, no."

The rest of the ride is silent, around midday we reach the village. It's quiet and there's still no one outside. I ride my horse to the stables and get off, then help Keera off. I start walking to Luna's, but Keera grabs my hand. I look down at her, she looks worried. "I'm scared."

"Don't be, I've known the healer since I was little, she's really nice and amazing at what she does." I hold Keera's hand as we walk to Luna's, once we get to her house I knock on the door.

After a minute Luna answers the door, she looks the same as she did a couple of days ago but her hair is messier. "What are you doing here? Who's that?"

"Can we come in? It's important."

She sighs. "Only, if you cover your nose and mouth." She reaches into the pocket of her robe and hands me two masks.

I get on my knees and look at Keera who is still holding my hand. "We have to wear these; this will protect us from the virus." I give her the mask and she puts it on, I stand up and Luna leads us inside.

We sit in the living room; Keera sits beside me as Luna sits on her chair. "What's going on?"

"This is Keera, her village was affected as well, but her mother died. I arrived too late; she said almost everyone in the village had died already. She also said, Keera isn't sick; she kept her away from her. She didn't even get to say goodbye or anything." I look at Keera who's crying, I hold her hand and she looks up at me, I give her a small smile.

"The same is happening here, I've tried-"

"What do you mean the same thing is happening here?"

"Skye…." I get up and start walking to the door, Luna places her hand on my shoulder. "The boys….for some reason only the little ones are….I don't know how much longer they have, they're all on the brink of death. I've sent an owl to the capital for help, but they won't send anyone."

I move away from her and make my way to the house; I can hear Luna following behind trying to stop me. I get to the front door of our house and stare at it, please let them be okay.

"Skye, stop. I know you're worried but you could get sick, it's very easy to get it from them. I'm surprised you're not sick already since you've been in contact with so many people."

Keera runs up to me and wraps around my leg, I look at her and can tell she's worried. "I need to make sure they're okay."

"They're fine, I've been checking on them from time to time."

"If they're on the brink of death then we need to take them somewhere where they can get treated before it's too late."

"There is no treatment I need the source of the virus so I can come up with something to treat everyone."

"Everyone I've talked to said the same thing, it's the fog. It would affect one or two people then somehow everyone else would get sick." I turn to look at Luna who is muttering to herself.

"Not everyone gets sick though, you're not and neither is Keera, and some of the people in the village aren't sick either."

"What does everyone have-" Luna falls to the ground coughing and gasping for air. "Luna!" I help her up and we start walking back to her house, Keera following us.

Once we're in her house I lay her down on the couch. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine; you need to find out where this originated from and quick. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I'm positive someone is behind this. Find out whom." I nod. "Take her with you, she can heal you."

I look at Keera who is looking down. "You have healing magic?" She nods.

"Probably not very strong but I can tell she's a healer."

"It's dangerous though, even if she can heal."

"She'll be fine, safer than here right now."

I nod and grab Keera's hand. "You want to do this?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, let's go then. I'll be back soon." Keera and I leave Luna's house, we walk to the stables and I help her on the horse.

"Where do you think you're going?" A deep voice says behind me, I turn around to see who it is, but there's no one there. I look at Keera and she points to the side of the house next to the stable. Someone is leaning against the house. "I'm sorry but I can't let you leave." The person starts walking towards us; I grab my swords and step in front of them so they can't go any further.

"Who are you?"

"Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Maxim." He then makes a cube trapping him and me in it. "I can shift anything into anything I desire. You are Skye, I presume? You should know I don't play fair." He smiles at me and takes out a sword.