CHAPTER 15

“You were stranded at sea for so long! Would it be okay for you to walk for two hours immediately after that? I’m afraid your body wouldn’t be able to take it yet.” Martha stated her worries as she handed me a straw bag with a gourd of water and boiled corn to enjoy on our way.

“Thank you,” I said as I took the bag from her, “I’ll be all right. I want to try my best to connect with my friend.”

“Please come back before night falls. Lysander might disagree, but his eyes don’t work well in the dark,” Martha said and I immediately nodded, “Of course, Martha. Please don’t worry. I will try my best to come before dusk.”

“It’s been ages since I visited the Holy Hill. Martha dear, some more offerings would be nice,” Lysander told his wife before she handed him a basket of fruits. At my questioning gaze, he explained, “We offer our gratitude to our deities for bringing us back home safely after sailing days in the sea.”

“I see,” I said, “Do you go to sea every day?”

“Not every day. Just twice a week. If we decide to fish deeper and farther away, it might take longer than that,” explained Lysander. “There, we are good to go!”

We stepped out of their dwelling and my heart sank when I saw no sign of Tavin. “He went to explore the beachside,” Lysander said, sensing my distress.

“Oh,” I deflated, my hands tightening on the straw bag. “Then, let’s go before night falls.”

Martha waved at us from their doorway as I began to follow Lysander down the beach. The pungent smell of fish filled the air. The area was bustling with fishermen who hollered and waved at Lysander. My run-down shoes sank into the soft sand with every step as I kept my eyes out for Tavin.

Was he really letting me go alone with Lysander? For four hours? It is not that I don’t trust Lysander, in fact, my trust in him had significantly grown, but I couldn’t help but wish that Tavin was also here with me; cloaking me in that familiar sense of security he granted. I understand his concerns, but I wouldn’t be able to rest until I clarified Larisa’s state in some or another way.

It baffled me how much the dynamic between Tavin and I had shifted ever since I met him; while I wanted nothing to do with him when I first saw him, now he was all I was relying on.

I awkwardly carried on behind Lysander, my eyes switching between the shouting hordes of people who rallied around shops and huts, selling their harvest or any other hand-woven items.

“Martha is very talented in weaving and sewing,” began Lysander with a proud look on his face. Leading me away from the busy beach and into a path of pebbles and stones that led towards a dense forest, he continued, “We make quite a good income by selling her creations. Such a talented woman. No wonder I fell in love with her so quickly. She was a stubborn woman who rejected my advances constantly. She loved playing hard to get until she finally gave in.”

A smile grazed my lips the entire way he talked about his beloved wife. His tales of his how his wife and he got together were so enamoring and entertaining which even gave me hope of finding my own true love one day. Well, it wasn’t new that I had no luck in relationships; three years of my life were wasted on what I thought was a serious relationship. I was even ready to have a stable future with him. Will I ever have a chance in love again? I don’t know, being stranded and lost had left me considering no one in a romantic light, with only the thoughts of survival being on the front.

“We fought all the time too!” Lysander was saying as he took my hand to help me over a creek. “But it is quite hard to stay mad at the ones you love. You and Tavin will surely make up as soon as you go back to the village, that I can promise!”

“Uh, w-we are not-” Flustered, I tried to correct his assumption once more, but he suddenly shushed me. “Why? Lysander, what is wrong?” I whispered, panicking at the rattling expression he was making. He squinted his eyes at something ahead in the distance before suddenly widening them.

“Get behind me. Don’t make a noise,” he urged, quickly taking us to the side of the path and crouching behind a tangle of overgrown bushes.

What was happening?

“Bandits. They are up ahead. We need to stay clear of them until they pass.”

With my breath caught in my throat, I cautiously peered out of the bushes. There was a group of four disheveled men with sticks in their hands, staggering like drunks down the very path we had come up from. I clutched the straw bag tightly into my chest, holding my breath as they came closer to us.

“Almost there,” Lysander examined them through the leaves just as the men passed the bushes where we remained concealed.

“What’s almost there?”

Startled, both Lysander and I screened away from the bushes in fear upon hearing the unfamiliar, deep and gruff voice from behind us. A tall man smirked down at us with yellowing teeth, his loud laugh catching the attention of the band of bandits that had just passed us seconds ago. “Look what I found, boys!”

The gang retraced their steps back to us while we frantically tried to grab our belongings and flee.

“Oh, you caught some goods?”

The man behind us maliciously grinned at us, “If you do not want any trouble, you better empty your pockets right now and we’ll leave each other in peace, what do you say?”

I gulped and huddled closer to Lysander. The men closed in around us, effectively blocking any possible escape routes. “We promise we don’t have anything valuable. We didn’t bring any coins with us. We simply brought offerings to the deities,” Lysander explained calmly, pulling his pockets out for them to see. The men scowled at his empty pockets before their eyes twinkled upon seeing my figure behind Lysander.

“What about the beautiful lady, here? Can’t say I have seen her before,” the man said, carefully scrutinizing me which had me recoiling in fear and repulsion. “She ain’t looking like she came from ‘ere,” another man stated. “Maybe we’ll leave you alone if the lady came with us!” He wiggled his eyebrows while teasingly elbowing his comrades and the men shared loud laughs as my face scrunched up with disgust, “I will not go anywhere with you. Leave us alone, we have nothing for you!”

The man whom we met first laughed out loud before sobering up, “Boys. Check ‘em. If they don’t have anything, take the girl.”

The men grabbed hold of our arms immediately, with me flailing about, trying to get away from their powerful clutches. “Leave her alone!” Lysander who was in an equal position as me yelled.

Oh no, if they find my phone which was inside the straw bag, I am doomed.

That realization made me struggle against their strong grips even harder, and I summoned every ounce of strength within me and delivered a powerful kick to one man’s groin, sending him crumpling down to the ground in agony. However, there was another man who maintained a firm grip on my other arm. I attempted to strike him with my free hand, only to stop when another man caught it with a crushing force that threatened to shatter my bones. I cried in pain and the straw bag fell onto the ground.

“DO NOT TOUCH HER!”

I felt a rush of wind past me and in the blink of an eye, the men who had been trapping me were sprawled on the ground. A mop of ash-blond hair whizzed past me once again and proceeded to violently beat the bandit down.

“Tavin!” I exclaimed in surprise when I saw him fighting off the men who were retaining Lysander. I quickly took my straw bag and confirmed the safety of my phone. Tavin rendered a man unconscious with a powerful blow and graciously moved to another assailant, pummeling him near death. I watched the fights unfolding in front of me with bated breaths amid the forest. Tavin delivered a relentless onslaught of strikes that left the men battered and bruised, and once Lysander got to his feet, he also backed Tavin up.

When all the men were down, barely moving, Tavin hurriedly approached me and firmly grasped my shoulders. “Candace! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

I just watched him with a shell-shocked expression. He came for me. Just like that time on the boat when he had almost given himself up to the sea before coming to my aid.

I instinctively drew myself towards him and enveloped him in a tight embrace.

“Aw, Candace, did you miss me?”

I would be lying if I said that I hadn’t felt a little emptiness at not having him by my side for the first time in two weeks, but of course, I plainly denied it to his face, “I did not miss you, but thank you for coming. I never thought you would.”

I had missed him. The feeling that arose in me when I saw him now cannot be put into words, because not even I did know how to describe it. It was a mixture of relief, happiness, warmth and security.

I smiled to myself as I squeezed him tightly once more before letting go. Tavin looked down at me with an indescribable look on his face and dazedly tucked a stray curl of my hair behind my ear. “I couldn’t help but follow you,” he whispered as he glided his fingers down my reddening cheek, “Even when I tried to keep myself distracted, all I could think about was you; if you were okay and if it was all right to leave alone just like that with a person we just met.

“I don’t agree with what you want to do. But we are a team, and we promised to stick together,” he said and took a deep breath, “I’m sorry I opposed to what you said. Just because I lost my family, doesn’t mean I should shatter your hopes of connecting with your closest friend too. It is better to try something than just assuming that she was dead. That was heartless of me, so I’m sorry, Candace.”

My lips parted in surprise at his unexpected words which brought about a gentle fluttering in my heart. Feeling overwhelmed with my heart about to explode, I pulled back from his arms and let out a broken cough, “It’s okay, uhm…you were not wrong either. It was just me being stubborn. Thank you for caring and coming to help, Tavin.”

Tavin blinked as he had come out of a daze, before letting out a boisterous laugh and flicking my forehead. I placed my hand over my throbbing forehead in pain. “When did I say that I care? All I could think about when you were gone was how careless you are, how you would somehow do something that could cause your death. And would you look at that, I was right! You almost lost your life! What would you do without me, Candy?” he boasted while I cringed at the nickname.

I peered around Tavin, a little raged at him for instantly numbing my emotions like a powerful anesthesia, and saw that Lysander was dusting himself off while beaming at us. “See, I told you that everything will be alright after you two meet! I can sense that you had a talk with my dear wife, Tavin. Glad to see that you made up!”

Tavin and I shared a glance before looking away.

“I hope they won’t bother any other devotees who come up this hill,” Lysander said in concern while looking down at the groaning gang on the ground.

Tavin grabbed the straw bag from my hands, “Give me that. Now stay with me without wandering about.”

Baffled, I watch the two men begin to ascend the hill and I quickly rushed to walk beside Tavin, quickly sparing a glance at the band of bandits who looked like they weren’t getting up any sooner.

“Are your hands bruised?” I inquired, inspecting Tavin’s knuckles which were bloody and sore. “Eh, it’s nothing. Can be easily healed. I’m just glad that my fists haven’t lost their strength and fighting spirit, though!” Tavin cheered with a fist up in the air.

I rolled my eyes and looked away, making a face.

“We are almost there, you can rest your legs after we reach the top. Days of just sitting in the boat must have strained your muscles,” Lysander commented to which we nodded in agreement. My body was already enduring its consequences with my legs throbbing in pain.

We were climbing the hill in silence, smiling at the passersby and watching the surroundings when suddenly, a woman ran towards us with a screech, her expression extremely disturbed and in panic. We skidded to a halt and watched in alarm as she unexpectedly grappled right into Lysander. “Woah!” he bellowed, stunned, as the troubled woman clutched her frazzled hair in agony. She flailed her limbs in wild gestures, tearing at her own clothes. She rambled incoherent words, her eyes wildly darting everywhere.

Tavin cautiously shielded me from the unstable woman, but I pushed him aside and gently approached her, “Hey, what is wrong? How can I help you?”

For a moment, there was a tense silence as the woman seized flailing about to stare into my eyes through her messy black hair that curtained her face. All three of us jolted when the woman suddenly grabbed me by the shoulders. She shrieked, her grip not waning as she shook me violently.

“We are going to die!”