Chapter 17 - Lost in the Dark

Chapter 17

My God, she is even more beautiful, when she’s angry! Riku thought, but wisely chose not to give tongue to his thoughts whilst Raul was lying by his side, nervously kneading his fingers.

Elida and Samu had been out on the small clearing for almost an hour. Raul had taken the last watch of the night, waking Riku to tell him that Samu suddenly sat in the woods all by himself, hugging his knees and shaking to and fro like a mad person. But the dawn was breaking and made it impossible for the rest of them to get any closer to their friend without being spotted.

“She has lowered the dagger now.” Riku whispered, breathing a sigh of relief. Whatever had happened between the two of them, Elida seemed furious. She was a mess and Riku had never seen a woman radiating so much power and rage, despite her tired eyes.

Still looking at her, Riku had to supress the sudden urge to run to her and take her away from this godforsaken place. Quickly he shook his head. Soon they would all leave together and hopefully find their way back through the woods and the fog. Back home, the modern era, the actual and factual present.

He and Sami had found the perfect hidden path back to the place where the weird fog seemed to have its wellspring – if that was the right word for the deep crate only about two miles from their current hiding place. The white nothing seemed to cover the landscape completely, originating from small fissures and joints in the rocks around. It had given both of them the creeps to watch it. Even though Riku would never admit it, he had felt as if the fog had suddenly approached them in slow waves but it had retreated as soon as he had stepped back. Whatever it was, it seemed to know darn well that he and his friends didn’t belong to this place and it would bring them away and hopefully spit them out in their own time and place again.

His hackles still rose at the thought of the swirling and wafting of the misty curtains.

“Alright, looks like they made up.” Raul suddenly interrupted his thoughts rudely, handing the binoculars back to his friend. “We will keep an eye on them at all times.”

Riku nodded absent-minded, watching Samu hug Elida. Through the binoculars he saw tears running down her cheeks and within a few seconds all her strength seemed to fall from her and she sank into Samu’s arms. Her shoulders were shaking and her face buried to his chest. When Riku looked at Samu, he saw his friend gritting his teeth, talking and whispering in her hair.

“Come on, mate!” Raul nudged him softly. “Let’s have some breakfast and try to stick it out for another day. Samu will send us a message as soon as he has set up a plan.”

“Wait!” Riku held Raul back, still watching Elida and Samu. The young woman had taken a step back, nodding at Samu, the dagger still in her hand. Slowly she nodded again, walking around the old oak tree before she put the knife point at the coarse wooden bark. Quite skilfully she carved something into the tree. Impatiently Riku waited for her to step back, feeling an excited shudder at the sight of a number. It was a 2. Maybe this meant two more days?

Samu next to Elida threw a look around, taking a small bough. He hunkered down on the ground in front of the roots of the oak.

When he got up again, he threw another look around before he put his arm around Elida’s shoulders. Together they made their way through the bushes and back to the village.

“Two days.” Riku handed the binoculars over to Raul. “I will check the place, maybe Samu left a few words to explain the plan.”

“Be careful!” Raul warned, throwing haunted gazes around.