"I should have known and asked about it sooner. It was still active when we took her in. A rescue party is no doubt coming to find her. We need to go. They'll see the device has been destroyed, but they'll still come pick up the 'body.'"
"We need to pack rations for the journey. I looted two backpacks from the bodies of the other two scouts, as well as their shoes. Their clothes were too burnt to wear. We need food and water. There's no guarantee there will be fresh water where we're going."
"Silas, can you break apart rocks and repair them?" Rekka asked. Startled he was being put on the spot, Silas shrugged.
"I suppose I could try it. What do you have in mind?"
"We could separate a portion of rock from the waterfall. You could separate a portion of that and make it a lid. Then, you could carve a hole in it to make it a container. Every time we want to seal it you could use your earth magic to connect the lid to the edges of the container so that it's perfectly sealed with no holes."
"That's a genius idea," Silas said, awestruck at her creative thinking.
"Don't say that until it works," Rekka said, unsmiling. "It'll also be extremely heavy."
"Shouldn't be a problem. I'll carry it," Julia proffered, smiling warmly. Silas silently fumed at her easygoing attitude. He wished she would just mess up for once so that he could feel better about his lack of talent and charisma.
Rekka quickly organized the group as they efficiently and diligently removed all traces of their presence from the oasis. Saya caught several racawns that Macy wrapped in leaves. They placed them in the backpacks with the containers that Silas made. He felt slightly proud at the accomplishment, but there was still something deeply unsatisfying at it. He'd met expectations… but it was more a brief relief instead of an achievement.
They had hardly spent a day at the oasis, yet it pained them to leave it behind. It had had such promise, and the fact that they had to leave to somewhere less favorable had them on edge. Axel shot an annoyed glance at Rekka, whose failure to ask earlier had costed them their refuge. She kept her face stoic, but her eyes shone, on the brink of tears. The pressure was weighing on her heavily, she couldn't make another mistake. She put her hand on Wicke's shoulder.
Jasper had healed Wicke's arm, where the tracking device was previously implanted. He scolded Rekka for not consulting him to remove it – she had done a messy and poor job with the sharp rock she'd used. Evelynn said that her knives would have been perfect for the job, which made Silas shiver.
Rekka sighed regretfully, showing a brief sign on vulnerability before hardening her gaze and resolve and marching forward. Silas wondered how terrifying it must have been to make that sudden realization, then gruesomely extract the tracking device while holding Wicke under her spell. He hadn't heard any cries of agony, meaning Rekka forced Wicke to stand still and watch silently as she dug into her arm.
Despite the fact that Wicke was from an organization dedicated to killing humans, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl. What if she remembered everything that happened while she was under Rekka's influence? It would scar her for life, being completely controlled for so long.
Rekka determined that the best bet would be to head as far away from Lachlan as possible, around the base of the mountain. The base was covered in lush forest, though nowhere near as heavily vegetated as the oasis. It was a temperate forest with several evergreens and pines coating the landscape like a moss green blanket. The soil became a dark brown, filled with twigs and strips of bark. Sunlight shot through the canopy like bright beams of fire, dancing on Silas' face.
Suddenly, Saya stopped and whipped her head around, a low gasp escaping her pursed lips.
"Someone's following us."