This had been one of the most eventful months in Aria's life. From forcing her father to send her into the Gleaming Wastes, losing her entire team of well-trained knights, to being stranded in the desert with Tess and a complete stranger.
Worse, every passing day only seemed to lower their chances of survival.
"The way things are going, it won't take long for us to land into trouble." She asked the stranger sitting in front of her, cooking their food.
Zane didn't answer, instead putting his entire focus on the pot. That was expected; he had already warned her about this in the Room after all. He knew this was going to happen, and some part of her knew as well.
Bringing Tess along was lowering their chances of survival. As much as she hated to admit it, that was the truth. Losing her leg, Tess was forced to constantly use a fly spell to move around. This not only rapidly depleted her mana but also made their group very vulnerable to ambushes from the sand weavers.
It was the risk of Tess overexerting and depleting her mana that they were forced to stay and fight instead of running away at speed.
"I can't abandon her." No, she couldn't, but the same couldn't be said about the stranger sitting in front of her.
Aria had met Zane when the rest of her remaining team had been looking for The Room. Her first impression of him wasn't so nice. The man had been a liar, pretending to get hurt to try and get into her good grace.
He was also vigilant, not to mention cunning. Way too cunning for a normal hunter. The way he had identified there was something strange about the room, sneakily not taking the sleeping medicine she gave him, while also cleverly hiding the extent of his powers.
Even though she had decided to trust him for the time being, she wasn't going to stake her life on it. The man was vigilant, cunning, and a liar probably why he had lied to her about being a hunter.
It had been harder to notice at first, but after traveling together for so many days, she had finally managed to see the signs. The way he talked while consciously suppressing his highborn accent, how he walked with a deeply hidden grace. Even the way he ate his food. Those weren't the signs of a common hunter, not at all.
Everyone had their secrets. He did as well, and she respected that. That didn't mean she couldn't be wary of them.
"You should eat inside the tent." Zane handed her two bowls of stew he had just prepared.
"Give Tess her bowl and stay inside the tent for the time being. That thing is roaming around again." He pointed at the desert.
Out in the distance, one could see the figure of a red-haired girl dressed in intricate silver armor. The girl was aimlessly roaming in the desert as if looking for something or someone.
Seeing the figure, Aria quickly averted her gaze, avoiding seeing a face that was completely identical to hers.
The most important rule of the waste was to never look at your own reflection. Sadly for her, hers had been following them for the last two days.
"I'll take the first shift. Go and rest," Zane suggested and sat down on a nearby rock. A beast very similar to a Storm Raven flew out of his arm into the sky, slowly patrolling the surroundings.
Another mystery, no matter how many times she saw him do that she couldn't put her head around it. Still remembering the moment the Duskwraith had snuck up on her from her behind was enough to give her chills. She had seen summoners before, but this- this felt different, this felt sinister.
Again, everyone had there secrets including her. Not everyone out there wanted to give out complete details of their strength to random strangers, more so someone as vigilant as him.
"Wake me up during the half shift." Saying so she got up and walked towards Tess's tent.
Tess had been up for a while now; even if she tried to hide it, Aria could clearly see past that façade of hers. Tess was in pain. She had just lost a leg, and instead of resting and gaining her strength, she was being forced to fight for her survival. That was bound to take a toll on the person despite their vitality.
She was just about to enter inside when she paused. Tess was talking… to herself.
"You are being a burden to them. Your leg is slowing Aria down." Tess spoke.
"I know that; I want to help, but I am only diminishing her chances of surviving this hell," Tess replied.
"Your father was awarded for saving Mira Nyrith's life; you, on the other hand, are going to be responsible for her daughter's death."
"It would be better if she left me here."
"If only you hadn't gotten hurt back there."
Aria immediately rushed inside the tent only to see a half-conscious Tess lying down.
"My Lady, is that you? It's good you are here; that's very good; it seems like that last spell depleted all of my mana."
Aria didn't say anything, or rather, she didn't know what to say. There were cases when mana depletion could lead to temporary deliriousness. It wasn't too strange for her to talk to herself.
"You have grown so big; come, let me give you a hug." Tess extended her arms.
She is delirious, that must be it. Shaking her head to remove all her worries. Aria sat down besides Tess and began feeding her the stew.