Emily had been left alone again. Now, I really wish I asked Mother about her trips to The Void. I didn’t realize it would cause all of this. She slowly got up and out of bed to be greeted with yet another effect of her trip- her legs were deeply sore. Every step was pain and she was nearly stiff-legged-ly waddling around. She looked down at herself. I’m a mess. I wish I had other clothes to wear. As much as she knew that she probably didn’t want to make the other women uncomfortable by taking off her clothes at night, the leather outfit didn’t bode well for a good night’s sleep. I wish I had my own bed and own room with Mother again.

“Ready to go?” Chelle spoke from the doorway to the bathroom. A while had passed and Emily was watching out the window.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose,” she responded. She turned around and went to the door with her before going out into the main room. The interrogation chair and bindings still sat there with a bit of blood around the floor. Lucelle was sat at the table and Caviere was overlooking the map, probably planning out the route they were going to take. Before she really had much time to think, Emily’s mind lit up with Lucelle’s voice.

“Listen, I know you like her and have some kind of connection with her, but be careful. She was tasked to find you so that you could be captured and probably tortured or killed by Akan. I don’t want that for you, so I apologize if I get a bit defensive around her.” Lucelle dropped her glance to the table after finishing.

Emily stopped in the middle of the room when she started listening. Afterwards, she looked over and gave a small smile. “Thank you,” she sent back.

“Listen up, ladies. We all have a job to do today and for the following few days,” Caviere began. “Luce, you are in charge of her-” he pointed to Chelle, “safekeeping and making sure she always has a good image of Der’jak in her mind. You have the portrait still, right?” After Lucelle nodded, he turned his head to look at Chelle. “Your job is to track Der’jak and guide us to him. This means you won’t have your leash on. Try anything sneaky to get away and we will know. Don’t think I won’t shoot you again.” Chelle dropped her head in understanding, and Caviere finally looked to Emily. “Lady Everlock, your job is to keep yourself safe. Do not, by any means, put yourself in harm’s way if one of us can take the hit for you. We’re here for you now, after all.” Emily gave a short nod and stayed silent. “If there aren’t any questions, let’s move.” Like before, he led the group out the cabin door and made sure the door was securely shut once they were all outside. Finally, it would be time to leave this old cabin behind.

The four of them went back on the same trail they traveled the day before. Emily stayed next to Chelle with Lucelle close behind the two. Caviere led them a few feet ahead with the crossbow slung over a shoulder. It was a custom bow, Emily could tell. Wood carvings etched delicate yet strong details into the wood. The string looked very durable, though it was able to prove its flexibility in combat just yesterday. The bolts in the quiver next to it had golden-feathered ends. The crossbow must have cost a fortune to acquire and then maintain. It was clear that this was Caviere’s favorite weapon.

“Lucelle?” Emily dropped back a little bit to walk with her.

“Yes, Emily?”

“What were you doing, well, before Caviere and I left the castle?”

“Mainly getting ready to get him out.”

“Oh... I bet I made that much easier, huh?”

“That’s right. I couldn’t believe our luck.”

Emily smiled. “Mm... you two didn’t know I was there?”

“We didn’t know that you even existed, Emily. You were a complete secret kept between you and your mother.”

“Right, you said that.” Emily quieted down afterwards and turned her eyes back forward. She wanted to talk because her legs were absolutely killing her, though she had no idea what to talk about. “Did you do your own hair today?”

Lucelle’s hair was worn in a single ponytail pulled back with a lock of her left bangs hanging down near her eye. “Oh, yes. It took almost no time, though.”

“It looks good. That style suits you well.”

“Do you think so?”

“I do. Your independent and courageous attitude matches an equally strong appearance.”

“That’s an odd way to put it, Emily, but thank you.”

“Of course.” She stopped again. Is this what friends are like? Minimal talking but constant traveling?

“Grass gets a bit tall up here, so keep your guard up,” Caviere’s voice called back from ahead. It was true, they were headed into a deeper part of the forest. It was where Chelle was taking them, at least. Emily was a bit worried. She hadn’t traveled so much in so little time before. She felt a bit dizzy and her legs were barely keeping up, but she didn’t want to pull the group back. She did all she could to make sure that her mind stayed focused on staying with them, but it was difficult. She found her thoughts wandering every which way no matter how much she tried. I wonder if we are almost to Der’Jak. Will he be a big threat? What did that message in The Void mean? Is Chelle going to be in trouble?

As time went on, Emily stopped paying attention to the trek in the forest. She walked blindly forward... straight into a tree. *Thud.* She instinctively backed up while putting her hands up to her nose. A stray root below caught her foot and she found herself falling back. She landed on the ground and her head whipped back against another tree. Before the group had completely taken notice of Emily’s accident, she was lying unconscious against the tree.

“Emily, are you okay?” Lucelle dropped to her knees next to her and lifted her into a sitting position. Her head dropped down limply and she barely let out a groan. Lucelle lifted her chin up to see blood running down from her nose. Her skin was pale and thin; she had barely been hydrating at all lately, it looked like. “Oh, this isn’t good,” she said.

Caviere had stopped and moved over to them. “What’s going on? What happened?”

“She... I don’t know, hit her head or something? One second, she was walking and the next, she was on the ground.” Lucelle shook her. “Wake up, Emily. Come on...”

Emily groggily opened her eyes back up, producing a, “Huh...?” After a few more moments of shaking, her eyes snapped into position and she looked alert once again.

Lucelle let her go. “Oh, thank goodness you’re fine. Here-” She reached into her bag and handed Emily a large flask of water. “Drink this, you need it.” She took the water and nearly downed it all in one gulp. “Emily, you have to make sure that you’re getting the proper fluids you need.”

“Uuuhnnn,” Emily grumbled. She looked up and peered past Lucelle and Caviere, then her eyes opened wider. “Chelle...” she said weakly.

Caviere turned to look at where Chelle was. She was running ahead through the forest. “Damnit,” he said under his breath. He looked back, “Get her up and follow.” He turned and began sprinting after Chelle.

“Oh no...” Lucelle took the flask back and said while putting it back, “I knew this would happen, I just knew it. Come on, Emily, we’ve got to move.” She began helping her up, who just kept mumbling Chelle’s name over and over again.

The forest seemed much different at this pace. Emily was being led in a sprint by Lucelle and they were following the grass trail that was left behind by Caviere and Chelle. The chasing got their heart rates up and Emily felt the blood around her nose start seeping through her lips. It was unwelcome in her mouth and she began to feel sick, but managed to keep herself together. At least not until we stop, please, she pleaded her body.

The forests dropped into a valley clearing where Emily could see Caviere up ahead. He was close to Chelle, who continued to run. Lucelle ran ahead and Emily slowed a bit before starting to walk while watching from the hill. Caviere, in a few moments’ time, dropped to a knee, unslung the crossbow, and readied it to fire at Chelle. Emily tried to yell out, but it was no use. Her shouts could not stop Caviere as he pulled the trigger. Then, everything stopped.

Time slowed to a halt as it began to happen. Emily felt her heart slow to less than a beat per minute. The leaves falling in the area were now floating in mid-air. The entire area just stopped its march through time. Even after she got up again, the grass below her stayed matted down. No wind or air could be felt as she walked down the hill. There was no sound as she put one foot in front of the other. Passing Lucelle, Emily could see her stopped mid-stride down towards the two. It only took her another few seconds before she was next to Caviere, whose eyes were dead set on Chelle, his target. The crossbow’s string was halfway to the end of the rail and the bolt was nearing the beginning of its flight. Emily leaned over and looked down the sight, seeing that the bolt would go straight on and pierce Chelle’s back if it was let to go free.

Emily continued over to Chelle, who was trying to escape. She no longer had the necklace around her neck, which Emily expected. She must have ditched it in a bush after starting to run so that it couldn’t be found again. She did have what Emily did not expect, however. She was crying. Her eyes were set forward into the empty clearing and she was not ready at all for the bolt that was coming her way. I can’t let this happen, Emily thought.

Emily expected that as soon as she touched something, the mass spell would be negated. She looked around, weighing her options. As she did so, she noticed little changes. The air was a bit thicker and low hums for sounds came to her ears. The spell- it’s wearing off! She had to act quickly, so she backed up, and then began running at Chelle. She went to tackle her and as soon as she made contact, a flurry of sounds hit her. She felt herself drop to the ground with Chelle under her and she heard the bolt fly by them. A gasp and confused “What?!” could be heard from Lucelle and Caviere as the two of them, Emily and Chelle, ran into the ground.

Chelle fell onto her side and rolled to her back, looking up at Emily. She showed an apologetic look and then closed her eyes.

Caviere called out, “Everlock, get back!” But it was too late. Chelle opened her mouth and a deafening siren scream echoed in the area. Emily slammed her hands against her ears and fell back, writhing on the ground. Caviere and Lucelle put their heads down and covered their ears as well. The scream drowned out all other sounds and lasted for as long as what felt like forever. Once it was all over, Chelle was back to running away. The other three, however, needed to recover, which took the two away from the origin of the scream just a minute or two. Emily, however, was a different case.

Lucelle spoke in her face, but Emily couldn’t hear a thing. Her lips were moving and she was looking into Emily’s eyes as if talking to her, but nothing was coming out. All sound had disappeared from the world. All she could really hear was the little voice in her mind. She betrayed us, Emily. She made you trust her and think you were a friend, but it was all fake. It was an elaborate lie to gain our trust.

“Emily, listen to me,” Lucelle’s voice began echoing in her head. “Can you hear this?” Emily nodded, snapping away from her thoughts, not before, however, she got her eyes to start watering. “Good. You might not be able to hear for a while, maybe a few hours. You need to stay right next to me for the rest of today. Do not go running off on your own, do you understand?” Emily nodded again, then took the hand Lucelle offered to help herself up. Lucelle kept hold of her hand, probably to make sure she didn’t get lost, and then began to follow Caviere. Caviere was already moving with a quick pace in the direction Chelle went.

Emily focused on the physical connection between her and Lucelle. She sent a message into her mind, “I’m sorry I let her go.”

“It wasn’t your fault. You just did what you thought was right and she reacted negatively.”

“I trusted her.”

“I know you did, and that is why Cav isn’t furious with you. You did the right thing, Emily.”

Emily stopped sending messages. I don’t feel like I did the right thing at all. I feel like I ruined everything by trusting her. She wasn’t about ready to put full faith into what she was doing anymore, yet she didn’t really have much of a choice. Those around her may be lying to her, but Caviere and Lucelle would have hurt her or imprisoned her by now if they were lying, right? Right?