Chapter 40: The Volcanic Oasis

Detrick glanced over his shoulder to check on Cecilia again. She reassured him with a smile, though she did pick her way up the slope very carefully.

The day before, when he had told her he was going up into the mountains to investigate something the demon had told him, she had insisted on coming.

“Well then, I’m going with you,” Cecilia had said.

Detrick had given her a long, worried look. She had never been the same since she saved the little girl’s life in the town square.

She was tired more often. She needed to rest more often. He was worried about her.

“Are you sure you’re up to it?” he asked.

“Detrick, I told you I would never leave your side. Being with you is all that matters to me,” she had said as if it were the most irrefutable truth in the world.

She had been sitting in her big plush chair they had requested from the carpenter at the time. It was modeled after Mildid’s own chair, and Cilia loved to lounge in it.