Our Destiny: Bearers of the Dagger

Journey South, Part 3

The trees began to thin so gradually the farther they moved south. At first, they found more clearings amidst the woodlands, but now there were great plains before them and the safe cover of the trees was few and far between.

Michelle didn't like it. She felt vulnerable walking across these grassy meadows, exposed in the open for anyone within miles to see. Even if she was in the company of her friends, some of which who could do amazing miracles (herself included), she couldn't shake off that eerie sensation of a blade hanging above her head.

The nine were now moving across a large grassland, passing various rocky outcrops between the woodland groves. They reminded Michelle of the tors back home on the moorland, how the giant stones jutted out of the ground like that. She wanted to tell Steve about it but as she turned to him, she saw the long-haired boy was staring into space, lost in his thoughts. He looked like he was a million miles away.

'Hey,' she asked. 'You okay?'

Steve turned to her and nodded. 'I'm fine.'

'What were you thinking about?'

He was silent for a second then he smiled. 'I was thinking about us.'

Michelle's heart stopped. She swallowed.

'Us?' she repeated. 'You mean... you and me...?'

Was Steve having that conversation now? The pair of them had avoided this for so long. Edging around it, ignoring it and sometimes doing everything but talk about. Was Steve finally going to say...

'The group,' he explained and she deflated a little. 'All of us. I was thinking, we've all gotten stronger now.'

Michelle turned away and nodded quietly. It was strange. She felt relieved and yet disappointed.

'Oh. Right,' she agreed. 'Yeah. I suppose we have.'

Steve was shrugging to himself. 'We've all got power now. Yet we're all different. Each one us can do something unique. But that doesn't matter. I mean it does, but only when we're together. I guess what I mean is we all have a power than can help each other out. Take you for example.'

Michelle frowned at him. 'Me?'

'You're a sorcerer,' Steve grinned. 'You can control fire. I mean no one else here can. That means you protect the group with your gift. Your own power.'

She hadn't thought about that. She would only use that frightening but magical talent of hers to protect her friends.

'Okay,' she nodded. 'And I suppose Emma protects us with her summons?'

'That's right,' Steve agreed. 'We all protect each other.'

'Interesting...' Michelle glanced at the ground. She would always protect Steve no matter what. Maybe that was all she needed to say? She swallowed and turned back to him, 'So, as this journey is going to take a while, I was thinking, Steve...'

But he wasn't looking at her. He staring right past Michelle, westwards towards some distant treelines on the hills.

'What was that?' he muttered.

Michelle frowned and looked in the same direction. There lots of small woodland thickets and more of the rocky tors but nothing else on the hillsides. No animals or people or anything that seemed out of the ordinary.

She turned back to him but Steve was no longer walking beside her. He had stopped and was staring westwards, frowning with confusion.

'Steve?' she asked.