Ep. 72 Road to Eldor Part 3

After walking most of the day, evening fell upon us, and we decided to settle down next to the road for dinner. Just like before, Maya made the fire while Rowan and I set up the sleeping bags and gathered food. We sat around the campfire eating and talking, the air filled with laughter and warmth—it was nice, a rare moment of normalcy amidst our journey.

After we finished eating, Maya gave Rowan and me a devious look before jumping to her feet. We looked at her confused and, honestly, a little scared.

"Maya?" Rowan asked cautiously, probing for what she was planning.

Maya smiled broadly. "Let's play monster tag!"

A funny expression crossed my face as Rowan and I glanced at each other before letting out bellowing laughs.

"M-monster tag? Really?" I said, barely able to contain my laughter.

Maya's face turned into a pout. "Yes, monster tag, and you don't get to say no, so get up, let's play!"

I finished laughing and spoke again. "Why do you want to play monster tag all of a sudden after all this time?"

Her pout transformed into a smile. "Because I want to, okay? Now get up, let's go!"

Reluctantly, I looked at Rowan, who grinned and shrugged his shoulders before making his way to his feet. Shortly thereafter, I followed suit.

Monster tag is a game we came up with at the orphanage, and to be honest, it's pretty much no different from normal tag. The only difference is we would pretend that the taggers were monsters trying to kill us. A subtle change, but for some reason back then, it just made it that much more fun.

We got up and walked away from camp, deeper into the clearing, and huddled up to establish the rules.

"Okay, Rowan, you're the monster first," Maya declared.

Rowan's face contorted in bafflement as he immediately argued, "I'm always the monster first! Why can't you or Kai be monsters?"

Maya smiled innocently. "Because Kai's the birthday boy, and I don't want to."

Rowan was obviously frustrated by her logic but pushed no further. After a couple more moments, he counted to five, and then he was off, chasing us through the clearing.

I was running fast... very fast, but when I turned around, I saw that he had chosen to target me first. When we were younger, I used to have a chance at outrunning him, but now that he's so good at air magic and can do that ever-so-annoying air propulsion trick, I knew I was dead meat in mere seconds.

And sure enough, a moment later, I felt the soft touch of his hand grazing my shoulder. I slowed down until I was at a complete stop and tried catching my breath before talking.

"This game is no fair now that you're this fast," I complained.

He smiled. "Looks like we're both monsters now... let's go get Maya."

I smiled back and straightened up before we started to run after her. She was already deep in the distance. Not too long after that, Rowan was already closing in while I was still trailing behind, trying to catch up.

Then, while they were in their intense chase and just as Rowan was about to catch her, Maya planted her feet and spun around unexpectedly and... SHOT A FIREBALL AT HIM!!!

Rowan stopped in a hurry and used his wind powers to disperse the flames quickly. As I caught up, you could see the shock on my face.

"MAYA, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU? YOU CAN'T USE MAGIC!" Rowan yelled out angrily.

Maya smiled and giggled. "I don't remember seeing that in the rule book."

Rowan got even more irritated and began to walk slowly up to her. But from behind, I saw an opportunity... an opportunity that didn't come often, as usually I was the one getting picked on by them. So without a shadow of a doubt, I took it.

Out of nowhere, while Rowan was focusing his attention on Maya, I tackled him to the ground, causing us to roll a couple of times before I ended up on top. He looked even more shocked than before.

"Kai? You're on my team, you're a monster," he reminded me, confused.

I giggled, looking down at him. "I switched teams."

Rowan's face was unreadable for a second before he grinned, understanding what we were doing, and said, "Fine, you guys wanna play... let's play."

And with that, he suddenly used his wind magic to launch me up in the air and back a few feet. After that, for the next half hour, we playfully sparred until we were all so exhausted and tired we had no choice but to call it a night.

Now lying in my sleeping bag, looking up at the stars, I thought about how today was a good day, the first truly good day I've had in a long time. And for the first time in a while, I was going to go to bed with a smile on my face.

Still looking up at the stars, Rowan and Maya said their goodnights to me and gave me one more "Happy Birthday."

Twelve years old. I'm twelve years old now. That means I've been in this world for four years. Time really flies. A lot has happened since I first showed up at the orphanage—a lot of good and... a lot of bad. But all that matters now is the fact that Rowan and Maya were here and safe. For now, that would be enough.

And with those final fleeting thoughts, I dozed off much easier than on previous nights, the stars above watching over us as we rested, preparing for whatever challenges tomorrow would bring on our long road to Eldor.