Wait for them

Elihu sighed as he opened his eyes, he could not sleep, not at all, he was resting on the base of a tree, as he tied his horse not too far away from himself.

"Oh blasted morals of mine that I am forced to live with" said Elihu as he sighed and he opened his eyes again.

"For all I care that woman can rot, but no, Mero will not let me be, he will not let me rest at all" said Elihu to himself as he scoffed, Mero was a horrible person, leaving him to have to take care of this blasted woman who he would have preferred to die.

"This woman will not kill me, she is horrible person, making me worry about her, now, I have to go find out where in the world she went to" said Elihu as he got up and he scoffed as he walked to where he had last seen her, hoping that the woman had not gotten herself killed by wandering away from him.

"That woman better be close by, or else, I will have no choice than to tell Mero that I tried my best, but that blasted woman went on her way on her own accord" said Elihu as he kept on walking and he stopped walking when he saw Darla on the ground as he sighed in relief, thank goodness that she was still here.

Elihu was about to turn back when suddenly he heard something that sounded like crying as he heard sniffing, he wondered if that woman could be crying.

"She is crying" said Elihu to himself in surprise as he heard her sobbing, Darla was sobbing, it was such a surprise to him, he did not know that such a wicked woman like Darla could cry.

Elihu decided to turn around and walk away as he was not ready to get himself involved in something that did not concern him at all, this was none of his concern at all, if she wanted to cry, then it was all her own problem.

Elihu was about to leave when he felt something prick him as he heard more of Darla's muffled sobs, he cursed his training as a knight, he should not have come to look for her in the first place.

Elihu cursed himself and his good values, so he walked to her as he stayed a considerable distance away from her.

"Are you alright?" asked Elihu as Darla froze and she stopped crying as she kept her head buried in her knees.

"What are you doing here?" asked Darla as her voice came out scratched from all her crying.

"Are you alright?" asked Elihu once again as he ignored her question, he did not have time for this, he was sure that his conscience would not leave him be if he did not at least try to find out what was wrong with Darla.

"Did you not say that you wish that I die?" asked Darla.

"Go away! Leave me alone! I have nothing to say to you, leave!" said Darla as she shouted at Elihu and she quickly rubbed her tears away as she looked at him, she was thankful that they could barely see anything in this darkness that they were in.

"Very well then, if that is what you want, so much for me trying to be considerate, even your cries are deceitful" said Elihu as he scoffed and he walked away, he should have known better than to even try to understand this vile woman, she was just a very miserable person.

Darla started to cry even more once Elihu left, he was just such a horrible person, she regretted that she was stuck with him, she just felt so alone, no one liked her, everyone hated her, even her own brothers had deserted her and wanted nothing to do with her, Liam the man she loved was now upset with her just because of that woman, oh how much she hated her with all her might, she just wanted her to die.

"I should have known, a woman that is capable to dare spit on me is a horrible one at that" said Elihu to himself as he scoffed and he got on the ground as he rested his head on the base of the tree and he closed his eyes and he drifted off into sleep, well here he did try, you could give him that.

…

"Where is everyone? They are not here" said Nora as she looked at Mero, they had reached the small town, where there were many lights and people everywhere as they could not find Zuph, Elihu and the rest at all.

"They were supposed to meet us here by now, they left before we did" said Mero as he turned to look at Nora, he was starting to get worried as well, even Liam and Wura were still nowhere to be found.

"What if something bad happened to them? I knew that it was not a good idea for us all to spilt up" said Nora as she sighed, and to make matters even worse, they could not see Liam and Wura anywhere, Nora was very worried, what if they were wrong? What if everything did not go according to Mero and Liam's plan.

"Nora calm down, there must a reasonable explanation for why they are not here yet" said Mero.

"Which is?" asked Nora as she looked at him.

"Maybe they realized that they were being followed and they decided to stay away from the town as so not for anyone to follow them, in that case then we would need to stay here till morning while we wait for them" said Mero.

"And what if we still do not see them?" asked Nora.

"Then I will have to go and look for them" said Mero as Nora sighed, she did not like this at all, not at all.

…

"Zuph are you sure that we will be safe here?" asked Malcom as he looked at Zuph.

"Yes, I am sure, it is too dark for us to continue on, so it is best if we stay here for the night" said Zuph as he looked at Malcom and Dothan nodded, he agreed with Zuph.

"Besides we are in the forest, the giants will not be able to get us here, but just in case, I will take watch for the night" said Zuph as he threw some blankets to Dothan as Dothan caught them and he laid them on the ground.

"Yes, you are right" said Malcom.

"I wonder where Liam and Lily are by now?" asked Dothan.

"I am sure that they should have reached the town by now" said Zuph as he yawned he was honestly tired, but he still had to keep watch.

"I hope so" said Malcom as he sighed.

"Dothan, go to sleep now" said Malcom as he looked at Dothan and Dothan nodded.

"Are you not going to sleep as well?" asked Zuph as he looked at Malcom.

"No, I will stay awake to keep watch with you" said Malcom as he shook his head.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Zuph, he admired that Malcom wanted to help to stay watch, but the night was very long, and he was sure that he would eventually fall asleep, even Zuph himself had been guilty to failing asleep when he was supposed to keep watch.

"Yes I am, you do not have to worry about me, I can stay awake for a night, it is not a big deal" said Malcom.

"Well alright then, whatever you say" said Zuph as he yawned and Malcom nodded.

"I will be back, let me go and check on the horses" said Zuph as he walked away to where he had tied both their horses.

"Malcom" called Dothan as Malcom looked at him.

"Yes Dothan? What is it?" asked Malcom.

"Will you ever forgive Darla?" asked Dothan as Malcom sighed.

"Look Dothan, it is not that easy to say, she did something terribly wrong, and worst of all, she still does not feel sorry for what she did, I know Darla and all her apologies were nothing but false" said Malcom.

"But she is still our sister, our older sister" said Dothan as he laid on the blankets placed on the ground.

"I know that Dothan, and because I am angry with her does not mean that I do not respect her, but I am just showing her that I am not happy with her decisions at all, she could have chosen to speak to Lily rather than to resort to making a deal with the giants to take her away, that was unfair to Lily and to us all" said Malcom as Dothan looked at her.

"But I do not want us to be upset with her anymore, she is hurting" said Dothan.

"I know that Dothan, and I am not upset with her anymore, I am just disappointed, I thought that my older sister would think better, but no she did not and she disappointed me, I know that she had tried her best to make things work out for us, she has sacrificed a lot, but that does not mean that she should feel so entitled, she did not need to be so mean to Lily, Lily did not deserve it at all" said Malcom.

"I know Malcom, I know" said Dothan as he sighed.

"Good, now go to sleep Dothan, if you want to forgive Darla, then that is your own choice, but as for me, I know what I am feeling, and I am not going to forgive her anytime soon, the only way Darla will learn Is if she sees the consequences of her actions, and these are it" said Malcom as Dothan did not say anything anymore, he knew that everything Malcom had said was right.

"Stop worrying Dothan, everything will be alright, just close your eyes and go to sleep, goodnight" said Malcom as he smiled at Dothan and Dothan nodded as he closed his eyes and Malcom sighed internally, he only hoped that Liam and Lily were alright.

…

Wura yawned as she opened her eyes as she realized that the sky had turned a bright blue, as it was morning, she did not even know when she managed to fall asleep.

Wura stood up as she saw Liam untying the horse from where he tied him to last night.

"Good Morning Lily" said Liam as he smiled and he saw Wura as she was walking towards him.

"Good Morning Liam" said Wura as she smiled at him.

"I can see that you had a good night's rest" said Liam as he smiled.

"Considering that we are running away from the giants, then yes" said Wura as she laughed and Liam laughed as well.

"Well we should get going now, I am sure that Mero and the rest would be waiting for us by now" said Liam as he smiled.

"Alright then" said Wura as she smiled and she walked back to fold all the blankets as she put them back in the leather sack attached to the saddle of the horse as she got on top of the horse and Liam followed behind her as they started to ride.

…

"According to this map, we should reach the town just after we pass through this forest" said Liam as Wura held the map and he pointed to the forest.

"I see" said Wura as she nodded her head and they entered into the forest as they made their way past the trees.

Wura put the map away as somehow she felt uneasy, as if there was something or someone watching them.

Wura was sure that maybe she was just overthinking, after all, they were the only ones in this forest, and still yet, there was this uneasy feeling, telling her that something was wrong, and she could not try to supress it.

"Liam" called Wura as Liam looked at her.

"I feel like we are being followed" said Wura as she whispered so only he could hear what she was saying.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Liam as he whispered back and Wura shook her head.

"Alright then hold on" said Liam as he quickly turned their horse from the right to the left as they started to move faster and Wura held on to him.

…

"Too easy" came the voice of a man dressed head to toe in black as he stood on top of a tree holding a bow in his hand as he scoffed.

"You make it too easy Madam" said the man as he brought out an arrow from his quiver, he dipped it in a yellow potion as he shot it, and another one, and another one, and another one as he let them all go.

"Good luck surviving, I have done what I was paid to do" said the man as he jumped down from the tree and he landed on the ground as he walked away out of the forest.

…

Wura could not help but feel even more uneasy as Liam could sense her uneasiness, and it worried him.

"I think it is best if we stop for a while, just to be safe" said Liam as Wura nodded and he stopped the horse as he got down and he helped Wura down.

"I am sorry Liam, maybe I am just overthinking and hearing things" said Wura as she apologized and she looked at Liam.

"There is no need to be sorry Wura, I understand it is alright, it is better to be safe than sorry" said Liam as he smiled and Wura smiled at him as in the same moment, Liam suddenly cried out in pain as he fell down to the ground on his knees,

"Liam!!" said Wura in shock as she rushed to Liam, she did not know what happened at all.

"Liam, speak to me, what happened?" asked Wura in worry as Liam felt indescribable pain, he could not take the pain at all.

"Liam say something, I beg you, what happened?" asked Wura.

"I… I have been shot" said Liam as he knew that he had been shot by an arrow, he could feel it.

"What?? You have? Where?" asked Wura in worry.

"Re… remove my cloak" said Liam as he was panting, he started to feel light headed.

"Alright" said Wura as she quickly removed Liam's cloak as she looked in horror when she saw not one, not two, but four arrows that had hit Liam, two in the front and two in the back, she did not know where they came from.

"Liam you are bleeding, you are loosing a lot of blood, oh what do I do? What do I do?" asked Wura as she felt like crying right now, she did not know what to do, who shot multiple arrows at Liam.

"I need… I need to rest…" said Liam as he panted and Wura rested his head on the bottom of a tree.

"Liam how do you feel? What do I do? Oh you are bleeding so much" said Wura as she did not know what to do, the shirt that Liam was wearing had now been soaked in blood.

"Lily, please relax, you have to… you have to break the shaft of the arrow" said Liam as he was starting to feel dizzy.

"What? No!, it will hurt you if I touch them… I…" said Wura as she was cut off.

"You have to break them, it will hurt me even more if they are left in" said Liam as Wura looked at him she did not want to see him like this, she started to cry.

"Listen Lily, it will be okay, you just need to… you need to break the shaft, it will not hurt me, you will not hurt me, so please do it, I cannot do it myself" said Liam as Wura looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"Really?" asked Wura as Liam nodded.

"Yes" said Liam as he nodded and Wura took a deep breath.

"Okay" said Wura as she moved her hand to the first arrow that was lodged in Liam's abdomen as her hands were shaky and she used all her force to break off the wooden shaft as Liam groaned in pain and Wura continued on to the next arrow as he broke it off.

And then she moved to Liam's back where two more arrows were lodged as she quickly broke off their shafts as well.

"Liam, what do I do now?" asked Wura as she looked at him.

"We have to reach the town now, we cannot try to pull out the arrows" said Liam as he closed his eyes, he could not open them anymore, he felt so tired and short of breath.

"Alright, okay we have to go now" said Wura as she took his cloak and she tied it around his wounds.

"Come on" said Wura as she tried to lift him up, he was so heavy, but she helped him place all his weight on her as she walked to the horse.

"Liam, you have to help me, I cannot get you on the horse, please" said Wura as she pleaded with him and he tried his best with the remaining strength that he had to mount himself on the horse as Wura sighed in relief and she got on the horse.

"Hold on Liam, I beg you, hold on" said Wura as she heard Liam groan as he rested on her back and she pulled the reins of the horse as she rode as fast as she could.

…

"Nora" called Elihu as he and Darla saw Nora as she was pacing back and forth right next to a little tree.

"Elihu?" called Nora in a mix of surprise and relief as she finally saw Elihu and Darla as they got down from their horses and they walked to her as she did not look or speak to Darla at all.

"Where is Mero?" asked Elihu as he looked at Nora.

"He went to go and look for Liam and Lily" said Nora.

"In which direction did he go?" asked Elihu quickly.

"In that direction" said Nora as she pointed to the right and Elihu nodded as he rode his horse in that direction leaving Nora and Darla alone as they said nothing to each other at all.

Wura sighed in relief when she saw the many little houses, she was even more relieved when she saw a tree, and she saw Nora.

"Help, Help, someone help!" shouted Wura in a panic as Nora and Darla turned to the left as they heard her calling for help.

"My lady??!" asked Nora in a mix of relief and worry as Wura stopped the horse as quickly as she could.