The Journey: Chapter 4

    “What were those creatures?” I demanded the next time we stopped, which was the next afternoon.

    “Orcs,” Danicio said shortly, brushing Swift down.

    “Orcs?” I said, suddenly afraid, the word catching in my throat.

    “To see them this far east is almost unheard of,” Silverleaf added.

    “We could've beat them,” Talut argued. Danicio gave him a piercing stare.

    Talut shifted. “Well, we had the element of surprise.”

    “But they had the advantage of the numbers,” Silverleaf reminded him. “I don't fancy ten to one odds.”

    “Besides, we can't be as flexible about who we fight anymore,” Danicio said. “We have Tyra to think about. She could have gotten hurt last night.”

    Talut grimaced and threw his battle-axe in the dirt. I was still digesting what Silverleaf had said. “But why would they come this far east?”

    Danicio and Silverleaf exchanged swift glances, and I knew that they were concealing something. “The war. Looking for more places to destroy,” Danicio said briefly.

    “But there isn't any human settlements around here. None at all. Wouldn't they know that?” I looked around at the three of them. Talut and Silverleaf busied themselves, and Danicio carefully did not look at me. “What are you hiding?” I demanded.

    Danicio grimaced and sighed. “I keep forgetting that you're not a child anymore. You don't need to know right now. Later.”

    I felt a spark of anger. “Fine, I'll just add that to my ever-growing list of things I'll know when I'm older,” I said sarcastically and stormed off to the other side of camp, which really served no purpose since the camp was only about fifteen feet long. I turned my back and did some unimportant chore and ignored them.

    I heard a scuffle of footsteps and Silverleaf mumuring to Danicio, and Danicio whispering angrily back. I waited. After a couple minutes of arguing with Silverleaf, Danicio walked over to me. “Tyra.”

    I turned and looked up at him, my eyes wide and innocent. “Yes? Have you come to apologize?”

    Danicio grimaced and ran a hand through his hair, which was now longer and more messy. “You're not making this easy for me,” he accused.

    I raised an eyebrow and waited. He sighed. “Alright. Fine. I was wrong.”

    I accepted that graciously. “And now?”

    He looked bewildered. “Now what?”

    I blinked. “Um, you tell me what you've been hiding!”

    He shook his head. “No, I can't do that.”

    My mouth dropped open. “Then what was the whole point of apologizing?!”

    Danicio opened his mouth, then thought for a second. “Well, the important thing is that I apologized!”

    “But yet the apology is nothing without you correcting your mistake,” I pointed out.

    “Mistake?! I had a good reason for not telling you!” Danicio shot back.

    “And what would be that reason?” I inquired.

    “That you're not ready to hear what I have to tell!”

    “What makes you think that?!”

    “You're still a child.”

    “Fourteen years is NOT a child!”

    “Yes, it is.”

    “Um, no it's not.”

    “Yes it is!”

    “No! I'm not a child!”

    Our voices started to get increasingly louder until Talut came over and growled at us about being quiet. After that we argued some more in angry whispers. Finally, Danicio stomped off and started venting anger at Silverleaf, who quietly and patiently listened to what Danicio had to say. I steamed in my own corner of misery, having a mean pleasure in the fact that I had won that battle, but knowing that there were more to follow.