I was on my feet for a few seconds, and then stars started dancing in front of my eyes, and I sat down rapidly.

“Are you alright?” Speedy asked, kneeling beside me.

“I’ve used a lot of energy,” I gasped, putting my head between my knees.

“Here,” James said, offering some berries into my line of vision.

I forced myself to sit up slowly, then took the berries and slowly began to eat. Silver dots still danced in front of my eyes, but they started to fade.

“Can you get up? We need to move. The jungle isn’t safe at night, and it’s almost dusk,” Sara commented, looking up at the trees.

“Why isn’t the jungle safe?” I asked, finishing the last berry. I knew kind of what her answer would be. Hopefully.

“There are...things...that come out in the night. We’ve lost people to the shadows.”

James and Speedy both made a three finger cross after Sara mentioned the shadows.

Good. They didn’t need to know just yet.

“Sounds bad. I can move, but not very fast. If I pass out, someone will have to carry me,” I told them, rolling to my knees, then lifting myself to my feet.

“I’ve got you,” James said, coming to stand beside me and wrapping an arm around me.

“Thanks,” I responded. “Let’s go.”

We slowly made our way through the jungle, James supporting me, and Speedy staying close to Sara. There were various rustling noises as the night rapidly got darker, but nothing approached us.

I couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad thing.

It took us about thirty more minutes to reach the rebellion camp. By the time we got there, I was ready to fall asleep on the spot, and Sara was gritting her teeth and wincing with every step.

As we entered, a bunch of people glanced our way, but nobody came over to help. Most just ignored us.

It was like they didn’t care.

We made our way over to what looked like the biggest tent in the camp and entered.

There was a table in the middle, with a map and a bunch of little figurines. After glancing at it, I realized they had marked the location of every Guard Compound in the area. They were missing a couple though. Some secret ones that I guess they didn’t know about.

There was a middle-aged man, about thirtyish, talking to a guy in his twenties who looked kind of pissed.

“So you can only locate one more? There are five tier ones. Five. You’re one, Banes is another, one is dead, and you can only find one more. You’re useless,” said the thirtyish man.

“I don’t know why I can’t find the fifth. It’s like they’re off the grid,” the other guy replied.

As we stumbled to a stop, they both looked at us.

“Good, you’re back,” said older dude. “Is this Banes?”

“Yes,” Sara replied, drawing herself up.

I willed my eyes to focus on the other guy. He looked familiar…

Wait. Shit.

“Wait. She’s Lyra Banes?” The younger guy asked. “I know her. She told me her name was Amber.”

They all turned to look at me.

“That’s true,” I admitted, staring the one I assumed they called Way in the eyes. “But that’s the only thing I ever lied about.”

Please don’t say anything.

“Where do you know her from, Way?” Sara asked, taking a step towards him.

Way locked eyes with me. Please don’t tell them.

“I met her in the jungle once. She saved me from a jungle jaguar. A big one,” he said, opening his arms to emphasize his words.

Whew.