Sapphire (16 page)

Everyone stood in shocked silence. Shawna heaved
Orin off her. He groaned from the long gashes in his back but
remained partially unconscious. Even Antares looked pretty shaken
and ready to give up his position as guide and guardian. Mira
stepped over to Orin, touched the tip of her horn to his wounds,
and sealed them within seconds with white flame. He awoke with a
gasp and groaned in pain. After lying there for a few minutes, he
turned onto his hands and knees and stood up shakily. The flame had
healed him, though long scars down his back were still visible.
Shawna suddenly wanted to throw her arms around him. He looked at
her, an exhausted smile across his face, and without hesitation she
flung her arms around him. He bit back the stinging pain as he
hugged her back.

“Well,” Lula piped up in a false overly-excited
tone, clapping her hands together. “I can’t
wait
to find the
next realm.”

Shawna laughed, though it was guilt and not relief
that touched her eyes. Orin smiled, but it also did not touch his
eyes as he looked down to brush the dirt off his clothes. Antares
just groaned and lashed his tail as they all turned to journey,
quickly, away. They were all more than glad to put distance between
them and the pillars, but Shawna lagged a little behind.

Mira waited for her to catch up. “Look at your
necklace.”

Shawna looked down and saw another stone had
transformed into a sapphire.

“That proves you were right in doing what you did,”
Mira said, stepping over a patch of pink flowers. “You listened,
but not to fear, not
our
fear.” She hung her head. “We were
wrong to try and destroy the guardian.” She looked up and nudged
Shawna’s hand now holding the new sapphire. “You, however, were
right.”

If Mira were human Shawna would have noticed her
unease, the odd way she looked at her like something dreadful were
about to happen. Shawna noticed none of this strange language in
the twitch of her hide, the flick of her ear, or the way her
nostrils flared. Mira lengthened her stride until Shawna was left
to her thoughts again.

I was right?

She had been so afraid to hear that she’d put them
all in danger for a selfish, careless, stupid, reason; to have lost
Sparkle for such a reason. She felt more relief from that than from
having escaped death, but a lump rose in her throat and her eyes
stung. She would never again hear Sparkle’s happy little squeak, or
watch his big brown eyes squinch shut as she scratched his
foxy-face.

She felt like crying from both the relief and their
loss, but Orin appeared by her side. “You really were amazing.” He
felt a bit of guilt hit him from her distress, but he remained
silent about the bat.

The bat’s eyes had been green, not brown. Something
he didn’t want to explain if he could help it. She cleared her
throat, blinking, not wanting to blubber like a little girl in
front of him. Orin looked like he was about to say something else,
but he just glanced at her then jogged up ahead to scout with
Antares. Lula flew over.

“What’s wrong?” Shawna asked. “You know, Lula, it
wasn’t your fault either that Sparkle—”

“It’s,” Lula said, scrunching up her nose.
“It’s…it’s not that, though I think I will miss that stupid b-bat.”
Shawna saw a couple tears caught in her tiny lashes before they
were wiped away.

“Then what?”

“I just feel like there’s something I wanted to tell
you. Something important, but now I can’t remember. I was going to
tell you right after we escaped.”

Shawna remembered seeing Orin talking to Lula not
too long ago. “Was it something you and Orin were talking
about?”

She stared at Shawna. “That’s what’s bothering me. I
can’t remember what we were talking about either.”

“Your skull’s not as thick as I thought. Your brain
must have fallen out when you hit the ground.”

Lula choked out a giggle then sniffed.

“I’m really glad you’re okay,” Shawna said,
smiling.

“Thanks for coming back for me.” Lula gave her soppy
eyes. “My herooo,” she sang, clasping her hands together.

Shawna rolled her eyes.

“It’s good to have crazy friends,” Lula said.

“
That’s
for sure, Miss
Attack-a-Giant-Walking-Skeleton.”

“Yeah,” Lula laughed sadly.

They exchanged slightly tearful but grateful smiles,
then Shawna turned away to catch up to everyone else. Lula just
fluttered in place, letting Shawna walk ahead. She hovered there
watching Orin a few yards in front of them and raised a hand to her
temple. It was like her attempt to save Sparkle and the last
moments of watching him disappear had been wiped from her mind.
What was it that had been so crucial to tell everyone?

A bird swooped down to snatch a worm from a freshly
clawed trench in front of the marble pillars. A giant paw appeared
from the doorway, thumped to the earth, and crushed the little
bird. The paw dug into the ground with massive force as another
huge paw smashed long claws into a last solid hope of salvation.
The claws slipped a little but then reached forward again, refusing
to lose their determined grip. Slowly, like being born from the air
itself, the strong paws pulled forth the enormous body of a one ton
Agonian bear. Its muzzle was contorted and snarling with a
ferocious will to live, every fiber fighting against the whirlpool
of light behind it that was trying to pull the bear’s strength
away.

Just as the realm’s last remaining foot hold of
earth fractured into pure light, the bear threw itself forward and
collapsed onto its side. Deep huffs of air blasted from its large
lungs. The breaths grew weaker and quicker, till the sound of
gasping tinier lungs could be heard. The man’s green eyes flicked
open, full of bitter hate and revenge. He raised himself and stared
at the faint trail of trampled grasses fading into the distance.
Instantly he transformed into a hawk and flew after the traitor.
Orin had betrayed him, had betrayed both of them.

Though they traveled at a swift pace, it felt that
they were meandering through rugged mountain foothills for weeks.
Mira and Antares had been acting odd after their harrowing escape.
They kept a watchful eye on Orin, Antares practically stalking him.
When Shawna tried to ask them why they were acting like Orin was
their prisoner they just denied her claims. Orin pretended not to
notice or care.

“Tell me what’s going on, or I’m not taking another
step,” she finally insisted of Mira one day. “You never answered
about that bear, where it might have come from. You don’t tell me
why you keep watching Orin. You don’t talk to me about
anything.”

Everyone else was either ahead of them or, like
Lula, off looking for food. Mira turned around and snorted.

“It does not concern you.”

“Does not
concern
me? I’m the one with
special
powers you’re all guarding, remember? And if it
concerns
him,
then it concerns
me.
” She glowered,
arms crossed, and stood firm. The sword was tied around her waist
by a strap Orin had given her.

Mira pranced in place for a second before she shook
her mane, her ears back, and said, “You will continue walking, and
you will not ask me such questions.”

She felt her leg start to twitch, but she fought
against the desire to move and took a deep breath. “I will not, and
I will.”

Mira looked ready to throw a tantrum herself. Shawna
wondered what a unicorn tantrum might look like. She didn’t have to
wait long. Mira exhaled through wide nostrils, laid her ears flat,
threw her head high, and stamped the ground with her front feet.
Slivers of rock ricocheted in every direction.

“
Walk.
” She thrashed her tail.

Shawna almost moved again. “No. Tell me first.”

Mira tossed her head. The whites of her eyes flashed
as she half reared then slammed her feet back into the ground,
flame curling up her legs. Shawna raised an eyebrow, realizing that
the outburst was because Mira’s power had probably never been
defied before. She smirked.

With one last snort Mira said, “Do not get too close
to that boy.”

Shawna narrowed her eyes.

“I cannot
feel
a falsehood in his heart,”
Mira continued. “Either he is telling the truth, or else he is
powerful enough to hide it from me, but after what Antares observed
I am not sure he can be fully trusted.”

“Can’t trust him?” Shawna uncrossed her arms.
“Why?”

“That may not have been Capella’s bat. It may have
been an imposter. Antares is almost certain he saw the pink bat fly
ahead of us the day Karuna’s people found us. He also believes the
bat and the bear were perhaps one in the same.”

“The same?”

“A shape-shifter which would make our pursuer very
powerful indeed.”

Shawna couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“And you think Orin had something to do with that?
Then why did he try to save Spar…the imposter? He
swore
to
help us.”

“Did you see him try?” Mira turned her head to look
up the path winding through old twisted trees.

Shawna followed her gaze.
Had he tried to save
Sparkle?
She couldn’t remember exactly.
Of course he’d
tried.

Mira ignored the mutinous looks thrown at her when
she turned back around. “We’re not sure where his loyalties lie.
He’s proven himself thus far. Still, we’re not taking chances.” Her
eyes sparked with intensity. “I don’t want
you
taking
chances. Stay away from him as much as possible, and say nothing of
this to him.”

“That’s just…
speculation
,” said Shawna to
Mira’s retreating tail as she continued on up the path. “You just
want
to distrust him. He swore to protect me!”

Mira laid her ears back. If she hadn’t been scolded
to keep her distance she may have heeded the warning, but some
defiant side of her wanted to rebel.

They’re being unreasonable. Keep my distance.
Ridiculous.

Orin came jogging back to them, nimbly dodging the
uneven ground, and threw her a dashing smile before glancing at
Mira then back at her. She smiled in return, glanced down, and felt
a flutter in her stomach that flew up to her chest like tiny wings
tickling her throat. When she looked up again, he had turned and
disappeared into the woods, probably to look for their supper
tonight. Antares appeared and slunk after him.
He wouldn’t
betray us.
But the memory of him staring indifferently at the
doomed bat flitted across her mind.
He wouldn’t.
However,
there was one thing on her mind, like iron hands, heavier than even
her suspicions towards Orin.

After they had found a protected area to sleep, and
everyone was lying down for the night, she began walking slowly
towards the forest. Mira noticed her retreat and nearly trotted
after her, but decided to let her be when Shawna sat down upon a
fallen log.

She needs to be with her own thoughts,
Mira
said to herself.
I cannot protect her from her own fears.
Then, abruptly, Mira felt a sharp pang of loss she had not felt in
a long time. A painful memory tried to reawaken, but she stamped it
down into the recesses of her past. Eventually she fell into a
restless sleep. Lula was snoring along with Sparkle, Antares was
growling from a dream, and Orin was curled under his fur
blanket.

Shawna was alone for once. She hugged a knee to her
chest as she sat on the log. When deep night began to cover her
sleeping companions, she quietly slipped away.
I won’t go
far.
But soon her feet were carrying her further and further
into the forest.