"Close your eyes, have no fear. The monster's gone, he is on the run and mommy's here. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful girl.", The mother lulled her daughter to sleep. This was the third village in the last two years, she was worried that he would catch up. She might have to go back to her Home soon. She smiled softly when her daughter latched her small hand onto her index finger while she slept soundly. The mother laid on the bed and kept the girl close, she was too anxious to sleep. She had contemplated to make a run for her home when he almost caught them in the Lavander village, but she knew that she couldn't, not yet at least. The mother sighed and brushed the short silver strands from the young girl's face, she would need to be more careful from now on. "I love you my darling.", she whispered.
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Tristan was the first one of the three to wake up. He furrowed his eyebrows and took in his surroundings. Tristan groaned as he sat up, a splitting headache made itself known. Why was he on the floor? He looked over to the beds once he recognized that they were still in Lavander's courthouse. He rolled his eyes at the two men sprawled out onto the beds. Tristan stood up with the intention of waking up Elroy, but his attention was drawn to the blackened sky. Were they not supposed to leave before sundown? He stopped in his tracks to tug at the roots of his hair, why were they still here?! Tristan swept his hands across his face in attempt to understand what he missed. He frowned when his fingers brushed over a bump on his forehead.
A scowl settled over his features when he realized what had happened. That conniving little rogue! Tristan clenched his hands as he stomped his way over to the sleeping men. He should have known better; a woman on the run for five years, why would she stop now?
"Get up you idiots!", He slapped them on their arms, but they showed no signs of waking up. He rolled his eyes and marched over to the fireplace; the fire long gone. Tristan felt the water in the pot with the tips of his fingers before he decided that it would do. He picked up the pot and walked back to them. The glare intensified the more he thought about what she did and how she deceived them. With absolutely no remorse, he dumped half of the water on Rowan before doing the same to Elroy. The chamomile leaves stuck to their hair and faces as they bolted up. "Fantastic, you decided to wake up.", Tristan grumbled. He let the pot fall to his feet.
"That was uncalled for. Who put salt in your coffee this fine morning?" Elroy whined as he plucked leaves from his curls. He would admit, though, that he felt well-rested. That nap was definitely the right decision; he would need to thank Buttercup for the soup. He looked around the room and noticed it was dark, and two figures were missing.
Rowan mumbled incoherent sentences as he tried to find his brother to glare at for the rude awakening. He actually enjoyed his sleep; when was the last time he had such a deep sleep? When he finally noticed his brother in the dark room, confusion washed over him as a cloak was thrown his way.
"Aviva is gone. She deceived us and escaped. She couldn't have gone far; it's been at most six hours. Hurry up!" Tristan urged them when he realized they hadn't yet grasped that Aviva was no longer with them. As the words finally made sense in their minds, the two realized what had transpired during their excellent nap.
"How can we search for her if we don't even know which way she went?" Rowan asked as they exited the courthouse. A servant behind them, carrying all their belongings, was jittery. He knew who they were talking about, and although he did not know where she was, he did know which direction she went. He was instructed to deliver their belongings to the Eyrie and inform the keeper to saddle up their dragons.
"You said you found her in that cave, right?" Elroy nodded in response to Tristan's question. Tristan waved his hand in the general direction before speaking again. "Then we found them by the river, so we can assume that her destination would be Barbosa Village. Chances are that she would go through the forest again, but to be sure, one of us takes the main road, and the other two search the forest.". The servant grimaced at the words. Maybe he should go before he got involved in anything.
Rowan agreed with his brother but voiced his thoughts on another possibility. "What if she knew we would think this way and used it to her advantage by running the opposite way? There's a reason we haven't been able to catch her for five years.". They went silent at the possibility. Tristan frowned; it was too late to ask the other teams for help as they had already left this morning. He sighed at the amount of paperwork he would have to complete. The three of them wouldn't be able to search the whole area in time to catch her.
"Why are you still here?" Elroy asked the servant, genuinely curious because they had been standing for at least a few minutes. Tristan noticed the servant's jittery movement and nervous eyes. He narrowed his eyes. "What do you know?" Tristan demanded an answer. Elroy crossed his arms and stared the servant down when he didn't answer Tristan immediately.
Rowan was lost in thought. What would he do if he were placed in that situation? If their final destination was Barbosa initially, then he would go the exact opposite way, leading to the Fox village. It would be an estimated two weeks of travel on foot, but the dense forest offered both advantages and disadvantages, ultimately providing cover from Dragon Riders. The area also had plenty of small caves for resting. Aviva would likely consider this for Amelia's sake. Rowan decided he would travel during the night and rest during the day, at least for the first few nights.
"I-I swear I don't know anything. Aviva rushed out in a hurry. I dropped the basket of apples and was late to my shift because of it. Then I got placed on dish duty!" The servant stammered. Tristan rolled his eyes and stopped his rambling with a tsk. "I don't care. Did she say anything? Would you happen to know where she was going?" Elroy asked before Tristan got the chance. They did not have time for a fight. "Um, no... She— I don't know where she was going, but she went that way. She ignored me when I called out to her. The Elders were very upset when they heard she was in the courthouse without their knowledge. Really, she's just a nuisance!" He slapped a hand over his mouth at the end of his sentence. He couldn't say that; she had helped him many times. Now he felt bad. He slumped away from them, muttering to himself as he made his way to the Eyrie.
Tristan and Elroy stared in confusion at his retreating figure. Neither of them knew what to make of the situation. Tristan was the first to turn his attention back to the situation of finding Aviva. He pulled them into a small circle, ready to explain the plan, but Rowan interrupted unknowingly. "I think she went that way with the Fox village in mind. That is what I would do. She is probably in the forest and not on the main roads to avoid being found by dragons. There are plenty of places to hide." Rowan pointed in the same direction the servant did. Tristan blinked in surprise before he nodded in agreement.
"That is what the servant said, but he doesn't know her destination. We will split up and try to cover most of the area. We can't delay our return any longer, so we will meet at the Eyrie at midnight. That leaves us with approximately five hours." Tristan explained and showed them the paths they will be taking. "When was the servant here?" Rowan asked. He was confused because he didn't see anyone besides them. Elroy laughed and clapped Rowan's shoulder as he walked past. "When you were in your own world. Now, if you would excuse me, I have a beautiful lady to catch, and who better than I to find her? She will surely surrender herself willingly if it is me." Elroy sauntered to the left, ignoring Rowan's scoff and Tristan's warning of their time limit.
"Don't be too hard on her, brother. She is trying to protect her sister. If in the same position, we would have done the same, if not more." Rowan tried to ease his brother's anger. He got a brief summary of what happened earlier, and although he was shocked, he did understand why. He knew how far he would go to protect his family.
"Don't do anything stupid," Tristan scoffed and briskly moved to the right, not looking back. He didn't have time for his brother's kind heart. Rowan shook his head and made his way to his assigned path, between Elroy's and Tristan's.
A bit deeper into the forest, Aviva was weaving through trees at a great speed with her sister in her arms and Kayda on her shoulders. She figured they would be awake now, and if she hadn't encountered one of the newer Elders, she would've been long gone. Although she hoped they would leave her alone, she would not take that chance.
Unbeknownst to her, Rowan has found her trail.
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