The complete silence of the forest etched a great sense of unease into Sica. He quickened his steps and turned to check whether anyone had followed him.
"No one has followed me. Good." He whispered slightly into the air. Huffing and sighing, he wiped beads of sweat from his brow. His stomach rumbled greatly and he blanched.
"No. Not now." He groaned.
His teeth began to ache and his stomach rumbled again.
He began to sweat profusely and hastened in his steps even more. He did not mind where he was going this time to realise he was going in circles.
All that was on his mind was to get away from the open field as far as possible.
***
Nak stomped through the forest, grumbling in distate to himself.
He now had two women who could end him in the blink of an eye breathing down his neck.
A twig snapped and chills ran down his back.
Thanking whatever gods that were watching out for him for reminding him to bring his bow and arrow, he reached for one and drew it immediately.
Squinting his eyes and aiming at where he heard the sound from, he drew the arrow back.
He heard a snarl and he startled, almost dropping his weapon.
"Sica? Sicarius?" He called, a bit frightened by the sudden silence in the forest. A face appeared behind a tree and Nak's blood ran cold.
Without even being told to, he turned on his heels and ran.
***
"So where are you from?" Yhra asked Wara asking they sat on the floor in the spare tent. Zola lay on the floor fast asleep as he used Wara's lap for his pillow.
"Do you mean where I hail from or where I presently left?" Wara asked, a bit eager to talk to the woman who saved her.
"Where you came from?" Yhra said, unsure of what Wara meant.
"We came from an Āsimati village not far from here. We had to leave for some confusing urgent reasons." Wara softened her voice at the end, stopping to stroke Zola's hair. She tried to speak once more but her instinct would not allow her.
Just because the woman saved her did not mean she could trust her. She could not trust anyone after the attack on her dear one.
Yhra had questions, a lot of them but sensed Wara did not feel fit to answer them.
She took a peek at the untouched bowls of stew that Wara had hidden behind her back and sighed. She hoped she was just passing by like she had said.
According to what the men had told her, Wara seemed like bad news and chaos. It was an inauspicious time to recieve people but something in her gut had insisted.
She turned to look at the open curtain of the tent and frowned at the setting sun.
Where on earth had Sica run to?
"Is something the matter?" Wara asked, noticing the frown on Yhra's face. The woman in question shook her head as if to tell Wara not to worry about it.
"Did you hear it?" Yhra asked after some moments had passed. Wara cocked her head to the right in confusion though she had an inkling to what Yhra was going to say next.
"The song." Was all Yhra gave. She frowned to see a wide sinister smile on Wara's face.
"You heard the song of death. A great calamity shall befall on whomever listens to the song." Wara spoke as if possessed.
She had no clue as to why she knew what the song was. It was as if it had been in her memory all along.
"Song of death. Death death dea... Sica!" Yhra jumped and suddenly left the tent with no explanation only to run back in moments later with Nak hot on her tail.
Wara jumped to her feet immediately, scooping up Zola into her arms.
"Where is my dagger?" Yhra screamed impatiently at Nak who was too afraid to process any of the words Yhra had screamed at him.
"It's coming. It's coming. It's coming." Nak kept repeating in a frantic state. His eyes as grey as ash and his Nik'sati glowing with the same color.
"Nak what are you doing?" Yhra screamed again, slapping his arm harshly.
"It's coming, I keep us safe." Nak replied in a monotone voice. Suddenly, the ash marks began to darken and blood dropped from his ears and eyes.
Yhra grabbed his face and kissed him, transferring her energy to his but that was not enough as he kept draining both their energies.
Wara had seen enough and with one hand, pulled Yhra away from Nak. Raising her hand in perfect aim, she slapped reason back into Nak.
Yhra groaned and held her head, she swayed as she tried to steady herself. She grabbed onto Wara's arm and suddenly felt a rush of energy.
She immediately let go, staring at Wara with a shocked expression but stopped when the air suddenly felt cool.
"Where's Fjammi?" Yhra whispered and said boy ran into the tent.
"I could not stop it. The force field fell and I cannot burn it!" The boy exclaimed with tears flowing freely down his face.
Yhra hugged him and shushed him , reassuring him there was nothing he could do and they were just unlucky.
She immediately recalled what Wara had said about the song and decided maybe it was just her fate.
She felt the air get even cooler and noticed the absence of a certain purple haired woman.
Suddenly she heard a screech come from outside the tent and a wail of a man.
There was a grunt and then a cry of pain. "Please stop!" Came Sica's voice and Yhra frowned.
Never had she seen anyone deal with a blood sucker that easily before.
"Who exactly is this woman?"