"Somewhere ahead of them death's stopwatch ticks."

- Peter Porter, "Somme and Flanders"

*****

Soundtrack of the chapter: The Cross of Antiquan by Two Steps From Hell

Media: Some old banner of THoS I made a year ago

*****

Chapter Twenty-Two: Myopia

With a loud ziiiip, Cady tugged the drawstrings of her pouch, so hard she snapped one of them.

"He knows," she whispered, her breath hitched. "He knows I'm a Walker."

Zoroth brushed a kiss against her mind. "Don't panic. Let's see how things turn out. If not, we get plan B."

"What is plan B?"

"I have no clue," he admitted. "But one thing is for certain, we run."

"Another thing, why is Jasper dragging me out on this stupid trip?" She found other strip of cloth to make up for the torn strap and threaded it across the seams.

Zoroth sat, silent for a while before he came up with a reply.

"Blood Flowers grow only in the Hall of Shadows. Perhaps he wanted you to visit your real home?"

"Maybe," she said through her scrunchie she had stuffed into her mouth since both her hands were busy holding her hair up.

A sharp knock on the door startled Cady. She dropped her hair in one go, spitting out the scrunchie.

"Thomas, you scared me!"

Thomas Soleil leaned against the doorframe, his eyes black circles in his pale face. He wasn't wearing his usual eye-patch, Cady noticed. His blind eye was closed, in which Cady was curious to know what it looked like beneath his eyelid. Being tactful, she didn't ask.

He looked much better than the first few days during healing. Thomas had retched a scary amount of black liquid which Jasper had proclaimed as Mandrake poison. It threw the entire Hall in chaos, for anyone who had access their food were insiders. Feorhs were detained in interrogated, but none pleaded guilty, much to the High Priest's frustration.

"You're leaving now?"

His voice was a hoarse whisper, the after effects of his screeches during the day of the attack.

She nodded. "Jasper plans to leave in an hour."

Thomas took a step forward, his hands clasped tightly before him. "Is there any other way for you to stay behind? I mean, I promised Josh your safety, and now you're heading off to a dead place..."

He trailed off, a whisper fading into nothingness. Cady could feel his distress. He was mad at the attackers, mad at whoever who planted the poison inside him, mad at the Walkers and most importantly, mad at himself for being unable to fulfill his promise to her brother.

She punched him on the arm, lightly and playfully.

"Hey, you don't have to worry about me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

Cady winked and darted to the side, snatched up a Celestial Blade and directed it at Thomas' throat. He parried it at once, his eyes catching up with Cady's stance and speed. His hands closed around a pair of metal candleholders which came up to meet her blade with a loud 'clang!'

She feigned a stab at the left in which he fell for. Cady couldn't resist a smirk as she dropped to the ground and swept Thomas' feet off the ground and he fell down with a satisfying crunch.

The sword point pressed against his chest, glinting. "See what I mean?"

"That's because I'm still sick," he grumbled as Cady withdrew her blade. "You wouldn't even be able to stand if I am in my full health."

"Rubbish," Cady disagreed, helping him up to his feet. Thomas brushed the dust off his pants, his face and ugly shade of maroon.

She chucked the blade aside and touched him on the arm. He looked as if he was about to hurl.

"Tom?" she asked tentatively. She had never called him Tom. But her concern for him made her abandon all formality about names. "Are you alright?"

"The shadows awaits," he spat. Little spasms started jerking through him, snatching up his fingers which splayed and recoiled, reminding Cady of the giant metal claws of excavators back in the New World. An eerie glow spread from his eyes, the blind one suddenly snapping wide. Cady regretted ever thinking about wanting to see it.

The iris, unlike its warm twin, was an ugly shade of blue. Like worms, little tendrils of darkness wriggled sluggishly around the dead matter.

She backed away as Thomas advanced, a slow step at a time. "Tom?"

The wall came up to meet her back. She flattened herself on it, as if it would somehow melt away under pressure.

"Tom?"

The desperation in her voice seemed to have struck a chord inside Thomas, for the malicious glow went out and both eyes returned to their normal color, except for the blind side which remained a little gray.

His legs gave way and he slumped onto the ground, his hands raking through his hair, trembling like a leaf.

"I did it again, did I?"

Cady dropped down beside him, her heart still hammering in her chest. She seized his hands gently, bringing them down so they wouldn't injure him any longer. Thomas suddenly pulled her into an embrace. He rested his chin on her head, and his hands around her neck. Although surprised, Cady didn't stop him, but rather turned him the hug, comforting him.

"I leave you for one second and you get distracted by some pretty boy." A voice appeared at the door, jerking them apart.

"Jasper," Cady breathed, hurriedly brushing her hair, which had became a colossal mess, back. "You said an hour."

He took a dismissive glance at the huge water clock standing by a corner.

"An hour has long passed, sweetheart. You can kiss pretty boy goodbye now. We need to get going."

Cady sprang to her feet, flushed. Thomas, on the other hand, rose slowly, eyeing Jasper carefully.

Jasper was looking rather incongruous. Long gone were his Master Physician robes. In its place were loose breeches and a fitting shirt. Slung across his powerful shoulders was a sling pouch where little vials hung from. Looped around his waist were a few Celestial Blades and his ever faithful Gilded Tarot set. In his left hand dangled the handles of a weathered knapsack in which Cady had no doubt were full with supplies for the journey.

Ignoring Jasper, Thomas leaned in and gave Cady another quick hug.

"Stay safe, especially around that guy," he stole a whisper into Cady's ear in that few seconds of contact.

He drew back. Cady nodded. "Don't worry, Jasper is actually pretty nice."

Doubt was written all over Thomas' face. Nevertheless, he stepped aside and watched Cady sling her bag over her shoulders and head out.

With a slight tilt of Jasper's head, they moved out. Trying to catch up with Jasper who strode forward with an air of determination, she couldn't help but to notice how his arms shifted with his posture. Every movement seemed to send ripples through his lean and well build body.

Zoroth gave her a mental slap. She scowled at him.

"Stop looking at his butt!" he ordered.

"I am not!" she retaliated with a huff.

"I have eyes, you know."

Embarrassed and annoyed, she banished Zoroth to the deeper recesses of her mind, so he couldn't pry through her eyes. She felt his cry of indignation before it vanished into a silent echo.

A faint shadow loomed at the entrance of the Hall, ready with a couple of Stellars, the fast horses in Esvanira, normally used by messengers or Stelliums to reach their destinations in a shorter time. Eli gave them a terse nod as they approached, his sunshine golden hair shining under the rising red sun.

"You're earlier than I expected," he said.

Cady elbowed Jasper. "I told you an hour wasn't up."

"Whatever," he grumbled, massaging his arm. "Don't do that, it's not ladylike."

She felt the air leave her in one go at his unctuous remark and she gave him another punch. "I act as I like."

"This is not the time to fight." Eli uprooted the early seeds of a squabble by moving in between them. "The Hall is depending on your two now, don't delay and stay safe. It is dangerous out there in Erilou."

Jasper gave Eli a speculating look. "How would you know?"

"Walkers, dead or alive, are dangerous. Erilou reeks of them."

Hearing Eli's indifferent remark about Walkers, Cady felt a part of her wither inside. She could never show her real self to him, not when his hate for Walkers ran bone deep in his soul.

Throwing his knapsack onto the darker steed, Jasper fastened the straps with a snort.

"I've been around Erilou, even travelled to the Burned Plains. I think I can handle some dead people."

"Whoa, dead people don't reanimate," Cady cut in, mirroring Jasper's actions and clambered up her mare.

Jasper took a flying leap and pushed himself onto the saddle by the stirrup. "Only once, when Yana called forth an entire army of the dead with the Iambicum Trimetrum."

The slight flush of colors drained from Eli's face the moment those words left Jasper.

"Don't mention that...thing. It has been lost for centuries, buried with Yana's last direct descendants. It brings misfortune upon us all."

"Evil exists because we gave them a name," Jasper said. "The sun is rising, we must go."

Eli wheeled himself beside Cady's mare and looked up. Cady looked into his eyes which seemed to have hardened over the few days, from pain and suffering. What he had been through was enough to drive anyone insane.

"Be careful." Eli directed his words at Cady, knowing that his care and concern would just bounce off Jasper. His words weighed bricks on her shoulder. She didn't know what awaited her at Erilou, or Jasper's intentions on dragging her along on the trip. As far as she was concerned, she wanted nothing to do with 'herbology' or anything that concerned plants, unlike how he had reasoned. His words were enough to mind wash Raphine, but not her.

Cady kicked her mare by its sides, lightly. It whinnied before it broke into a slow trot, gathering speed as it followed Jasper's lead.

"Don't worry, Eli. I will."

She didn't look back. There was a tugging in her heart, as if something was calling to her from afar. Cady suddenly found the sluggishness weighing her down melting away as both horses raced toward Erilou, their heavy hooves sending wet earth flying. A sweet chime echoed beyond the hills and Cady knew what it really was—a call from home.

Together, they races across the grassy lands which gave way to corrugated plains, rising and falling to the rhythm of the rain which fell lightly, as soon as they have left the Oracle's borders. Cady pulled up her hood and blinked water out of her eyes. Her mare didn't seem to mind the rain, for it raised its head, snapping at the fat droplets.

"At the rate we're going, I estimate that we reach Erilou in a couple days," Jasper said.

"A couple days?!" Cady groaned in dismal. Her butt ached from all the bumping and her shoulders were stiff, even if she had been riding for just two hours. She didn't dare to imagine what two days worth of riding would do to her, perhaps she would end up with a fractured hip.

She imagined what her tombstone would say if she died from riding, and grinned: Cadence Gates, 16, perished from riding a horse for far too long.

The ride to Erilou was uneventful, apart from the fact that the skies opened up and dumped more rain on them. They soon reached the mountains, its many dunes jutting out like fingers. Black ringed the bottom before it culminated red at the top. For a few times, they stopped for a quick meal and to relieve themselves (much to Cady's horror and embarrassment, she had refused to do so until Jasper was at least half a mile away). Cady was beginning to wonder if her own death prophecy to be real when Jasper put up a hand, signaling that it was time to camp.

"Night calls, we would be rather safe in these mountains. No one passes them nowadays."

A thankful sigh lifted from Cady's lips as she eased off the saddle. Almost immediately, her knees buckled and she grabbed at her mare to prevent toppling over.

Watching Cady massage her waist and butt and complaining aloud, Jasper laughed.

"What, can't take half a day of riding?"

Cady shot him a murderous glare. "This is my first six hour long ride, thank you very much."

Jasper unhinged something from his horse and threw it at Cady. It landed with an ungraceful thump in her arms. She recognized it at once: a tent.

"Stop complaining and help me set up camp, unless you want to be eaten by wolves."

She gaped at him. "You said these mountains are safe!"

He looked bored, unrolling a couple sleeping bags.

"I said, rather safe, not safe. You want me to go back and strangle all the Stelliums for not placing solid facts in books?"

"You're annoying," she grumbled, yet again. Cady did a good long stretch, feeling the tightness leaving her muscles with every stretch and movement, before moving on to set up the tent.

Eventually, Jasper had to pitch in, for Cady soon became helplessly entangled with the canvas and the ropes.

"Can't you do anything right?" Jasper said. His voice came out muffled for he had a rope held between his teeth.

"Hard to prepare yourself when you're dragged off into the wilds without a second's warning," she retorted.

He released the rope and secured it around a tent peg. "Excuses, excuses."

"If you're so smart, then set up the freaking tent by yourself." She dropped a load of canvas on Jasper's head and walked off in a huff. "I'll go find some wood."

"Have fun," he said when he emerged from the thicket of cloth. "I'd rather set up the tent, you know. I'm not gonna volunteer entering those woods at dark."

Cady pretended to not hear his remarks. For precautionary measures, she slid a Celestial Blade through her belt and a little Celeslight lamp. The sun had retreated into the shadows, its light nothing more than dying spokes. The glow from her lamp was enough to illuminate her way through the trees.

The rain must have missed the mountains, for plenty of dried branches littered the ground. Delighted, she started gathering the larger boughs and shoving dried leaves into her pockets. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a broad and round branch wedged among a few rocks. She hopped over and added it to her stash.

Something purple glinted in between the trees. Cady blinked, and it was gone.

"Zoroth, did you see that?" she whispered.

Zoroth ignored her.

"Aw c'mon, please don't tell me you're still mad," she pleaded.

"Ask your precious Jasper, I know nothing."

"Fine," she said. "Have it your way then."

Pissed that even her own Consort was made at her, she stormed back to the campsite. Seeing that Jasper already had the tent up and sitting there with a most contemptuous smirk on his face added to her already messed up mood.

"Seems like you finally got the wood," he said, putting his hands behind his head. "I was starting to think the wood grew on you."

She dropped the whole bundle on Jasper's feet. He sprung up in pain when a larger branch landed on his toes.

"Watch it!"

"Set up fire then, smarty pants," she said.

Jasper gave an inward groan. A chilly breeze had tipped from the mountain top, drifting down. Apparently he'd rather swallow his pride than to freeze into bits throughout the night.

Watching Jasper stack up the wood solemnly, Cady felt a prickle of guilt. She crawled over, trying to be as silent as she could and started brushing the smaller twigs together. Jasper turned around and grinned.

"Decided to join the party after all, huh?"

Cady threw a twig at him. "Shut up."

Very soon, they had the fire up and roaring. They huddled by the leaping tongues of flames, watching the shadows of the trees dance in the distance. Their horses munched on the wild grass by the side, sending an occasional whinny toward the twisted woods. Cady pulled out the wrapped jerky a Feorh was kind enough to pack for her and unfolded it.

She offered a piece to Jasper. He took it with silent thanks.

They sat and ate without a word, both glancing at the skies where the stars eventually emerged, blinking.

Cady searched for the dragon star. It was easy to spot. That particular star forever hung in the sky, undaunted by the weather. Sharp spokes of light surrounded the dragon star, and she was convinced it once unfurled its wings and roared a magnificent sound.

Jasper leaned in when she was not noticing and stole another slice of jerky.

"Hey!" she said. "Give that back!"

He waggled the dried meat in front of Cady's face. "Sharing is caring."

Before Cady could utter another word, Jasper stuffed the entire jerky into his mouth and stood up, brushing the dirt off his pocketed breeches. The Gilded Tarot jangled by his side, like little tinkling Christmas bells.

"We rise early tomorrow. You better get some rest."

Cady wrapped the rest of her food and made a mental note to sleep with it under her pillow so that Jasper couldn't launch a sneak attack on it.

Jasper had already laid out their sleeping bags inside the tent. He clambered in first, pulling his blanket along with him. The moment his head touched the pillow, he was out cold.

She rolled her eyes before she felt fatigue crashing down on her. Her bones ached as she stood up and curled into the sleeping bag beside Jasper. The lambent light from the fire was enough for her to make out his features: his tall cheekbones and long lashes. Sleep, it seemed, to have the ability to remove stress and worry from someone, for a burden Cady never knew Jasper carried was lifted. His dark hair fanned around him, and his chest rose with every breath he took.

Her eyes ran down his shirt and landed on the little gem Jasper always wore, like an amulet.

Cady knew she shouldn't be ogling another guy in his sleep, but Jasper was a fascinating creature. Watching him sleep was fascinating as well. If Josh saw her right now, he would never let it slide.

At the thought of her brother, her lips curled up at the sides. She stifled the laugh that might wake Jasper up. She wondered how he was doing in the Hall of Warriors. He didn't write to her, although he promised to.

Perhaps he was too busy. She reasoned. Josh will never forget about me.

Jasper's gentle snores soon made Cady drowsy, too. Casting one last look at Jasper, she closed her eyes and slept.

*****

A low moan outside jerked Cady from her dreams. Jasper must have sensed it too, his hand had already jerked to his belt, where the Gilded Tarot lay.

Cady squinted. In the darkness, she could see very little. Jasper silhouette was barely visible in the dying embers. He pressed a finger to his lips and he made a slow gesture with his hand, motioning to himself before directing it outside. Cady nodded.

She tightened her grip on her Celestial Blade as Jasper clambered past her and lifted the tent flap with deliberate slowness.

A large, dark hand wrapped itself around Jasper's leg and dragged him out. His surprised yells startled Cady who brought her blade up at once, the tip bursting out into blinding lights.

Jasper was gone. With her heart in her mouth, she got out of the tent and came to face with a monstrous creature. Aquiline claws, thin and long like a slim sword dangled from its many fingers whilst its bulbous face was contorted into a hunger sneer. Four malignant purple eyes blazed back at her. Vestigial wings flapped and waved, like broken sails on a wrecked ship. It trained its eyes on her, huge penetrating purple ones swirling with endless dark galaxies.

She pointed her blade at the monster, trying to figure out whatever was happening.

The horses neighed deafeningly, tugging hard at their ropes.

"Jasper!" she shouted. "Where are you?"

A figure emerged from the bushes. His face was already covered with scratches and bleeding freely from one side of his head.

Jasper's eyes burned with absolute fury.

"Cady, run!"

*****

A/N

Evil cliffie! >:) Now both Jasper and Cady are in trouble. It seems that Decanates love popping up at the most unexpected moments! ( And not to mention Thomas was being creepy).

The Casper ship is sailing! Slowly, Cady would get to know Jasper better. Any thoughts on what would happen next?

I can't believe that THoS has hit 60,000 reads! You guys are the absolute best!

M&Ms,

Stef