"Whoa!" I shouted and rolled away from the arrow's path. It hit a tree behind me with an audible thud. "Guys, it's me!" I called out, finally entering their field of view.
"Kai?" Samantha shouted in a panic. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?" She ran towards me and looked all over me. Her hands were shaking.
"No, I'm fine." I said as I tried to calm her down. By then, the others had also reached us. Rina was the first to give me a hug, followed by a rib crushing one by Alex. "Alex – can't breathe!"
Samantha also gave me a hug while Alina and Joshua opted to do high fives and fist bumps, respectively. "Are you wounded?" Alina asked with a worried glance. "Do you need healing?"
I shook my head. "No, I'm good. Thanks, Alina."
"You really need to stop scaring us like this, Kai." Vincent said with a huge, relieved grin. "If you weren't still in the party, we would have thought you died for sure." Samantha and Alina nodded at his words.
"I'm glad you're ok." Erik said with a low voice. "I'm really glad you're still alive." He seemed unsure of what to do. He motioned as if he wanted to hug me, but then stepped back. And glanced at everyone's faces. "Samantha, can you take us back to the river? I think we should make camp for the day."
"Sure," Samantha said with a cheerful tone as she led the group through the forest.
"Kai," Erik stopped me before I could follow the rest of them. He had a dark expression as he avoided my questioning gaze. I felt nervous, had something happened?
"What's wrong?" I forced myself to ask, preparing for the worst.
"Thank you," He said with a catch in his voice. "I don't think I'd have made it alive if I was the one carried off." He was referring to the phoenix. I shook my head; I shouldn't have made it out alive either.
"Don't worry about it." I forced a smile as I lightly patted his shoulder. "We're all alive, that's what matters, right?"
He nodded with a somewhat bitter smile. "Come on, let's not stay too far behind or they'll worry."
We followed the others in silence. Erik still seemed to be feeling somewhat guilty. It was only natural since I basically almost got myself killed to save him. I caught him throwing glimpses towards me but didn't say anything.
We soon arrived at a small opening in the woods, bordering a shallow but wide river. Samantha was kneeling beside the sandy riverbank along with Alex. They seemed to be trying to catch fish. Alina was helping Vincent and Joshua set up some tents.
"Kai," She said as we stepped out of the treeline. "Give us your tent, we'll set it up too."
I hesitated. "I don't have one, actually." I said with a smile. "It's fine though, I prefer sleeping outside anyways." I said as I saw her smile shatter.
"Are you sure?" She asked hesitantly. "I can spend the night with Samantha, and you can take my tent if you want to."
"Oh, no." I shook my head. "It's fine, really." I glanced at the blue sky. "I like seeing the stars and moons."
Alina hesitated, then nodded. "Let me know if you change your mind, ok?" She gently touched my arm before going back to help Vincent.
"Here you are," Rina's voice sounded. "Do you mind coming with me a bit?" She asked with a harsh tone. I felt my heartbeat quicken. Was something wrong? I nodded and followed her along the river. Her steps had a sense of urgency to them.
Once we were far enough away, she stopped in her tracks. She slowly turned towards me and simply stared at me with raised eyebrows. Nervous and somewhat worried, I asked her. "Is something wrong?"
"You tell me," She said, tilting her head ever so slightly. "How are you still alive?" Her deathly serious expression sent shivers down my spine. "I can't figure it out, how did you survive after the phoenix carried you off?"
I flinched. I had expected to be questioned, but I didn't think she'd be the one asking the questions. And I certainly didn't expect she would be so blunt. I hesitated; how much could I tell her? I wanted to confide in her, to tell her about my suspicions. But what if doing so put her in danger?
"Kai," She insisted. "Don't you trust me?" Her voice reflected her disappointment.
"It's not that." I finally relented. "I don't want to put you in danger, but if you insist..."
"What does that mean?" She asked, no phased the slightest.
"Well," I leaned on a tree and took a deep breath. "Two demons saved me from the phoenix," With those words, I started talking. I told her about the very first time I met Delthur, how I met Vixia, how they saved my life several times. She remained calm throughout my story as she listened until the very end.
I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I hadn't told anyone about this. "So, here I am now." I finished my words as I summoned my wings. They appeared on my back with a burst of embers.
"Beautiful," She mumbled as she carefully approached them. "May I touch them?" I nodded. She carefully touched the end of my left wing with the tip of her finger. I remained silent as she inspected some of the feathers in more detail. "It looks like there is great detail to these. What does it feel like when you move them? Can you feel the singular muscles?"
I nodded as I explained how flight worked. When I finished, she nodded in understanding. "I see." She glanced at my eyes. "Your eyes are glowing."
I flinched. I motioned to hide them with my hair, but her next words stopped me.
"I think I know why they saved you."
"What?" I froze in the middle of my motion. "Please, tell me." I insisted.
"It's a bit of a long story." She said with a faint smile. "But putting it simply, we were late to find you because we stumbled upon an old demonic ruin. I convinced everyone to help me explore it. Inside, I found several murals. One of them depicted a gate of light." She glanced around as she spoke. "From it, beings came to what I assume is this world. The same mural depicted a man shrouded in shadows destroying the same gate, standing side by side with the Demon Lord."
She stared at me as her next words left her mouth. "I think the previous Keeper of Souls stood with the Demons during an invasion."