24.

By the time we stop walking, the sun has risen, eating through the fog. Cassia and Eric gather dry wood and pitch them together. I perch on the edge of a log and watch as Elias faces his palms towards the sticks. There's something alluring about the way Elias can create flames. As his hands heat up, his skin takes on a golden hue, like sunshine trying to peek through his pores. The fire is crackling before I can blink.

"There," he says, stepping back and rubbing his hands together as if to stamp out the heat. "We shouldn't let it burn too long or we'll create a smoke marker."

"Just long enough to cook," Cassia says. "I'd rather avoid raw meat if we can."

Eric scoffs. His arms fold across his chest and a scowl settles on his face as he leans nonchalantly against a tree trunk, his arm inside his jacket. He looks fine, but I note the way his hand covers the bare skin on his arms. I walked away from that fire unscathed, but Eric wasn't so lucky.

"Something to say, Eric?" Cassia probes.

"At this rate, we'll starve."

As if on cue, Malik appears behind me. I jump in fright, spinning around to face him. A grin spreads across his face and he holds up four rabbits. "Sorry to keep you waiting," he says dryly, shooting a pointed look at Eric.

Eric just grumbles beneath his breath. "Thanks, Malik," I say, taking one of the rabbits from him and pulling out my dagger. I settle on the log by the fire and get to skinning, the action nearly methodical as I stare at the flames.

In the fire, I see the remains of the tunnels, burning along with my childhood. After we ran, there were no signs of hollowers, and Elias made sure to trace back and check. They may have been immortal, but they're well and truly stuck down there.

Eric settles beside me and hangs his rabbit over the fire. I look up at Elias surveying the area. Sunlight pierces through the canopy above, creating shadows on his face.

"Ugh," Cassia slumps down. "When we get back, I'm going to have a day-long bath and no one is going to interrupt me."

Eric scoffs. "We still have to get ready for when the hollowers attack."

"Do you have to ruin everything? Let me have this."

"I'm just saying there won't be time for—"

"Shhh." Cassia waves her hand. "Just let me imagine, Eric."

I conceal a smile, turning the rabbit over. "Sadly, Eric has a point," Malik says. "When we get back we have to be aware that the hollowers could strike at any moment. They're not afraid of us anymore, especially the immortal ones."

Cassia huffs. "You guys both suck."

"What're we going to do?" Eric asks, looking at Elias.

He sighs, still staring out at the trees. "The hollowers are coming to our village, we can be sure of that."

"We have the shadow, but there's only one, and Elias is the only one who can use it," I say. "What if you send some people into hiding? The ones who can't fight. The children and elderly, maybe."

If Elias had his way, he'd send us all into hiding and face them himself. But he knows nobody, not even in the village, would leave him to face this on his own.

"That's an option," Cassia murmurs. "Maybe you could take them to your village, Malik. It's so far away and the hollowers won't be targeting it."

"They'd be more than welcome," Malik says, "but if you think I'm leaving you all to fight the hollowers without me, you don't know me at all."

I smile gratefully at him. "Maybe your guards could take them. The ones you left at the village."

He nods. "That could work."

I pull the rabbit away from the fire, turning it over on the stick. It's charred black. Elias' eyes drift to mine and I hold it towards him. He shakes his head. "I'm going to keep watch. I don't think there are any hollowers around, but just to be careful."

He turns around and starts to clamber up the hill, out of sight. I sigh, turning back to the fire.

"You'd think he'd be in a good mood considering what happened back in the hollowers village," Malik says. "It was amazing."

"You mean running for our lives from both hollowers and an angry blaze?" Eric says. "We have different definitions of amazing."

"Okay, so amazing was the wrong word, but did you see Elias? He lit that place on fire like a torch, with the hollowers in it. I know I'd be patting myself on the back."

"Elias doesn't take joy in any kind of harm," I say sharply. "Even when it's the hollowers."

Malik meets my eye, his easy grin falling. I look away and back at the fire, shoving away the guilt that conjures at his expression. Elias has killed people before, and even if he didn't kill those hollowers, he trapped them down there for a long time with nothing but burnt tunnels. Maybe that sort of fate is worse than the idea of death. I remember when I killed Darius, what Elias said to me: you never get used to it, you just get better at dealing with it. I'm not sure he's so good at that at all. Does building everything up and torturing yourself with guilt count as dealing with it?

Cassia pushes to her feet. "I'm going to get some water."

"I'll come too," Malik says. He gathers a few of the bottles and follows after her, weaving amongst the trees.

"How's your burn?" Eric asks.

I hold up my arm. I discarded the bandage a while ago. It was charred and covered in ash and dirt, and wasn't needed anymore. The cream Malik put on did wonders. The skin is still tender, but the blisters have completely gone away.

"How's yours?" I ask.

He shows me his arm. "Fine."

The skin is blistered, even worse than mine was. I wince. "That doesn't look fine." I grab my backpack, riffling through to look for the cream Malik gave me. "Just let me put this—"

"I said it's fine, Milena. I'm not a human like you, my body doesn't take weeks to heal."

I raise an eyebrow, pulling the tub of cream out. "Not a human like me?"

"What?"

"You do realise how condescending that sounds, right?"

He shrugs. "It's only an insult if you take it as one."

I roll my eyes. "Just give me your arm." He opens his mouth to argue, but I cut him off. "I won't take no for an answer."

He begrudgingly holds his arm out to me and rests it on my lap, looking back at the fire. I dip my fingers into the cream and press it against the wound.

"You know," Eric says, "your life would be so much easier if you just did what people told you."

"Yeah, well, your life would be so much easier if you weren't such a stubborn asshole," I murmur, pressing a little harder than necessary on the burn.

"Ah, but then people would think I actually like them."

"Would that be so horrible?"

"Yes," he says, deadpan.

"Don't you want people to like you?"

"Definitely not."

"What about Cassia and Elias?"

"They're my family, they don't get a choice."

I can't help but laugh. "How lucky. By the way, thanks for getting me out of those tunnels. I know you probably could've run faster if it weren't for me." He grumbles in response. "That's it? No lecture? No shouting at me for following you down there?"

"It was a stupid thing to do, Milena, so it didn't surprise me."

"Wow, thanks."

"Like I said, your life would be easier if you did what people told you."

"The only defense we have against them is the shadow," I say. "It was the only thing Elias could've used to kill them. He needed to have it."

"That's the only reason I didn't want to murder you when I saw you were there."

"So why'd you shake your head when I showed it?"

"The hollowers were looking for it," Eric says, wincing slightly when I apply more cream to the wound. "They knew we had it somehow. I think Malik was right—they want to destroy it before it can destroy them."

"Look at you, talking about this weapon you swore was mythical a couple of weeks ago." He huffs. "Would it be such a bad thing for them to try? It's activated now," I say, "if they tried to destroy it, they'd die."

"But so would Elias, remember?"

The realisation sinks in. The shadow can't be destroyed without destroying the creator. It seems almost cruel that the one thing we have that can take the hollowers out could also be the end to Elias. And maybe it's selfish, but a fleeting thought crosses my mind—maybe we never should have activated it at all.

 I screw the cap back on the cream and brush my hands on my pants, admiring his arm. "All done."

"Thanks," he says.

I stand up. "I'm going to get bring some of this rabbit to Elias. He should eat. Do you want to come?" He shakes his head, covering his arm with his shirt. I turn around and start up the hill.

"Milena?" I turn, looking at him over my shoulder. "I'm glad Elias didn't listen to me when I tried to convince him to give you to the hollowers."

"Careful, Eric," I start, "or I might start thinking you actually like me."

He scowls and looks away, but not before I see the grin tugging at his lips. I shake my head and turn back around, the half-eaten rabbit in my hand as I head up the hill Elias' wandered up. 

~

sorry, a little bit shorter than usual! sorry if there are a few mistakes, just got home from work and had to type this all up at once. 

DISCUSSION:

1. What do you think the best plan is once they get back to the village?

2. What do you think will happen next?

3. What TV shows are you obsessed with right now? I'm binge-watching Superstore