The Lost Elixir

Chapter Nineteen

Rayne's healing process thankfully didn't take longer than a few days. She thought for sure she would be fine after the first night, but considering the arrow was enchanted, it prolonged the process just a little bit more. She even had a limp while they walked and would need to sit down every so often to push down the winded build up in her strained chest.

Jarrah was more than accommodating on her journey to learning to walk again. He'd sit down beside her, check her wound, and encourage her to take as much time as she needed. She even stumbled into him a few times, but he'd catch her with ease and wouldn't let go until she found balance again.

Currently, they sat on a log about a day's journey away from Crimson Peak. They probably would have been there the following morning had it not been for Rayne's recovery, but either of them minded. If they were going to succeed, she'd need to be completely healed for whatever they were going to endure in the land of the vampires.

Jarrah pushed on Rayne's back with a gentle hand, reminding her to keep her back straight when sitting up. She grimaced at having to fix her bad posture, but evened out the curve of her spine like he encouraged. Her lungs drew in more air with the movement.

"Thank you," she said, for the millionth time in the last few days.

Jarrah simply nodded and removed his hand. "No problem."

She sighed. "You keep saying that, but I feel like such a burden. I'm slowing us down."

"Actually, we're almost a week early."

Rayne threw him an exaggerated look. He shrugged. "What? It's true."

"You're just trying to make me feel better," she huffed. "And it's not working."

Jarrah nudged her shoulder. "Why are you so quick to bring us closer to death? Don't you want to saver our last bit of freedom before our possible demise?"

She raised a dark brow wryly. "And how do you suppose we do that?"

"I don't know. How would you want to spend what could be your last day on earth with someone you can't stand?"

Much to Rayne's surprise, a soft giggle escaped her notice. She didn't know where it came from, and why it happened, but it did and she couldn't take it back. Not even when she pressed her fingers to her lips and caught onto Jarrah's gentle stare. Clearing her throat, she moved her gaze away from the intensity of his brown eyes and took a moment to think over his question instead.

What could one really do on what could be their last late afternoon together? And in a forest no less? There wasn't much to do except wait around and--

Rayne stopped. Her ears caught onto the soft brush of water not too far away and her gaze lit up in recognition.

"Swimming," she gasped. "We should go swimming!"

Jarrah tilted his head, a quizzical look on his face. "Swimming? We don't er—have anything to swim in."

"Yes, we do! There's a lake nearby, I can hear it."

Much to Rayne's surprise, Jarrah's cheeks darkened to a rosy tinted brown. His fingers pushed the fine hairs at the front of his forehead away from his bashful gaze. "That's not what I meant."

Her eyes widened, her heart fluttering. "Oh. Well, we can just swim in our leaf clothes? We'll have time to work on a new pair afterwards before tomorrow so we'll have something to travel in until Crimson Peak."

He pursed his lips and pondered her request for a moment. She patiently hoped he'd go for her idea, as she hadn't been swimming in a long time and knew it would take away some of the nerves. Before the mermaid incident with Ronan, the two of them and Amira would always swim together. It was a great tension reliever, and nothing could compare to that feeling of weightlessness in the water.