One step closer

"Are you sure she would have been caught?" A gruff voice asked, the only feature of his visible was his hand which had been adorned with rings.

"Calm down King. I'm a hundred percent sure she was caught. She should even have a few burn marks by now." A boy giggled. He seemed to be in his late teenage years, only just entering adulthood. His eyes were a bright brown colour that seemed to swirl like mud was stuck beneath his gaze. His Nik'sati kept moving unnaturally, changing its pattern every five minutes. This seemed to unsettle the King who moved his fingers rhythmically each time he saw it.

"How do you know that?" The king asked, the clouds moving to reveal the bright moon which shone on his face and revealed a white beard.

"I remember Khari telling me what happened." The boy replied, shaking his head slightly as he rose his hand to remove the strands of black hair that had fallen in front of his eyes.

His Nik'sati moved again and the King snapped.

"Stop that!"

The boy lost his cheery demeanor and a simple look reminded the King why he was afraid of the young man.

"You may be King." The boy spat, "But I give the orders around here... Faery." The King stiffened up, ready to retort when the boy raised his left hand up.

"Shall I give you another reminder?" He asked, causing the King to sigh.

"I thought so. Wait for her to return and remember, you must not tell her of our plans."

The boy left the room afterwards and the King slumped against the wall. "What have I gotten myself into?"

***

"I will not ask again. Who are you?" The question followed a kick to the stomach that had the woman hurling over and spitting out blood. A side of her face had been singed black like someone had thrown a fire ball at her.

Fjammi was awake and was staring at her like she was a possessed creature.

"A bloodsucker, defending an anomaly. What a joke!" The woman laughed with bloody teeth and Sica raised his leg to kick her again when Wara abruptly shouted. "ENOUGH!" Her eyes glowed with fury as she glared down at the woman.

"I have had just about enough with everything and everyone! First Pax says I should kill Zola and then you send that ptica after him and since that did not work, you came to finish the job yourself! If you do not confess why you are after him, I promise you, you will beg me for death!"

Her voice went lower with each sentence, sending a chill down everyone's spine. The woman had lost her smile and her face had paled.

"I don't know why they want him dead. I normally won't even dare kill a child." She sighed and stood up slowly. "I'm only doing this because if I don't kill yours, they'll kill mine."

Wara frowned. There was something about the way the woman spoke. She spoke quickly and slurred her words together, almost like the way Nak spoke.

"Besides, I don't even belong here."

That statement caught everyone's attention but her appearance started to fade. "If you really want that child to live, kill the source of his problems because no place is safe. I won't be the last person sent after him. I'd check on him if I were you."

The woman disappeared after that and Wara frowned. This only added to her confusion. Who exactly was after Zola and why?

She did not sleep that night, pondering on the fact that maybe Zola was a threat to their world or something else.

She stared at the child that had slept through the whole ordeal, not even stirring once despite the ruckus that had gone on.

Wara suddenly realised he had been sleeping a lot more lately and her heart thudded. "I'd check on him if I were you"

The woman's words echoed in Wara's mind and her heartbeat quickened as she rushed to the boy's side.

She recalled he had been sleeping a lot more ever since the time she had sent him somewhere "safe" with magic.

She pressed her palm to his chest and saw he was still breathing. She sighed in relief until the boy's eyes snapped open and the dormant grey in them began to swirl rapidly. His heartbeat quickened as grey veins spread slowly from his eyes across his face.

"Zola? Zola what is it? What is wrong with you?" Wara tapped him repeatedly as the veins kept streching.

"Zola!" The boy let out a gasp and a breath and then the glow died down. He fell asleep again and the veins stopped glowing but did not disappear, only fading to black.

The boy's heart beat had slowed but was slower than normal. A few tears escaped from Wara's eyes as she stared at the limp boy in front of her. She did not notice the people behind her who had gathered at her first shout until Sica spoke.

"There is a witch doctor in a human village nearby who might know what to do."

Wara sniffled and replied with a hoarse voice. "Human?"

"No a witch doctor. He might know what exactly is wrong and perhaps a few solutions."

Although there lay the "under maybe " factor hanging in the air, that statement gave Wara hope that the said witch doctor might know exactly what was wrong with Zola and would bring her one step closer to finding out who was after him.

Her voice was clearer this time as she spoke. "We leave at dawn?"

"Settled"

Everyone went back to sleep afterwards, unaware of the shadow that had witnessed the whole ordeal.