Page 11 of Imbalance
For now, at least.
CHAPTER FIVE
Ama
"Shit!" I squeaked as the rain began to pour in heavy sheets through the large tree canopy. I tried to cover my face, but all it did was make my visibility worse. Which was why I almost face-planted when I stepped into a puddle that was far deeper than expected.
I let out a small cry, knowing it was going to hurt.Falling always hurts. I had no idea who landed gracefully, but that person was absolutely not me. You’d think that my wings would save my ass from hitting the ground, but they weren’t always quick enough.
A hard arm snapped around my waist, saving me from falling. The person behind me grunted, and my head snapped up to say thank you, only to hit Damien right in the chin.Shit.
He groaned as I winced and tried to separate myself from him. Instead, he lifted me up and continued forward making my eyes widen. I mean, was I going to complain about him carrying me? No. Was it surprising? Yes.
"Thanks," I whispered as Damien offered me a small smile.
"No problem," he chuckled, "You will just have to owe me big time, since I saved you… then you almost broke my jaw just now… and now here I am carrying you."
I appreciated him trying to lighten all of this up, and I couldn't help but laugh. "Hey! I didn't ask you to save me! You could have let me fall. Plus, breaking your jaw? I call bullshit. I don't think I could break any of you, Damien."
"I would be willing to test that," he chuckled softly, the heat in it making my throat suddenly dry up.
Thunder rumbled overhead, distracting and breaking me from the moment as I looked ahead. Within five minutes, the rain lightened, but it wasn't because of the storm. No, it was because, as Drayven had said, there was a super thick area of trees that reduced the rain to just a light misting. The ground was dry, and when Damien put me down, I kissed him spontaneously on the cheek, eliciting a low rumble.
"Good find," I told Drayven, as the Reaper's eyes jumped happily. The moment took me aback because it seemed like he was authentically pleased with my words.
I twisted my hair to remove the excess water from my dark locks and dried my face off with my top. Mind you, the shirt was also damp, but it was better than nothing.
"What are you doing?" I asked Finias as he murmured an incantation, his words soft as he brushed a rune in the space right below the hollow of his throat, "Incrementum."
Almost immediately, more branches began to sprout out from the trees around us, moving towards the center to create a large ceiling-like structure that was so tightly intertwined, the rain all but completely stopped reaching us.
I offered Finias a smile, and he winked then grabbed some extra branches, placing them in the center of the clearing. Everyone watched him as he murmured another word, and suddenly, smokeless flames appeared in his hands. He transferred them onto the branches, creating a fire that instantly warmed the space.
"Damn," Nico muttered, his brows raised in appreciation.
"That's cool," I agreed as I examined the other runes on Finias' body. He really did have a lot...which, of course, meant he was extremely powerful, but that didn’t surprise me. I now wanted to know what each and every one of them did.
Was that possible? I mean, it would take a bit, and he would have to be naked, but I wasn't going to complain.
"So, what's our big plan?" Colt asked sarcastically, sitting down and seeming to appear less combative than before. Most likely because he was taking Finias’ threat seriously. Smart man.
"I found signs of people passing about a mile north of here," Adrien reported. "I didn't see any sign of a city or indications of who had passed through. But it looked like someone had been camping there. The fire looked recent, which means they couldn't be too far."
"I didn't find anything outside of this shelter," Drayven grunted.
"Still good," I pointed out. "What about you, Finias?"
"Nothing," he grunted. "Well, except that the smoke from the volcano seems to be getting worse and thickening. I think we made a good choice in getting out of there."
My brow dipped, feeling like something was evading my memory. I couldn't tell what, but it was tugging on me. Trying to invite me back into that haziness from my dream. It was like someone was trying to talk to me, but they were right out of reach. It was a very odd sensation.
“Agreed,” Damien nodded. "So, what do we do?"
"We go to where Adrien was? Check it out, and see if we can walk further to find anything?" I hedged. All of them seemed to nod in agreement, which made me feel a bit better about the idea.
"We should grab a couple hours of sleep," Damien suggested.
"How about two, and we split shifts for the watch?" Drayven amended.
