CHAPTER 481: HE’S NOT HERE

With that confirmation, it was a slight weight off of his shoulders. He still had a lot remaining, but he was glad that at the very least, Brent wasn’t in here. He was outside.

Kellen stared down at his sleeping sister, his chest aching, and he turned to Bree.

"We’ll move once the night sets. You get some sleep, Bree. I’ll keep an eye out for all of us." Bree looked like she was going to protest, but Kellen’s glare told her she had no legs to stand on. Bree gave in, letting Kellen take over so that she could rest.

Why would she resist? She knew who Kellen was, trusted him. He was the man who had made sure that she made it this far. She wasn’t going to put up as much of a fight, and Kellen knew that.

So, he stayed, leaving every once in a while to deal with a threat that was getting too close, his knife in hand, and would return, watching over the girls as they continued to sleep. He also made sure to check underneath them so that a plant wasn’t harassing them that way, or hurting them.

Kellen was glad that he had, since a sneaky fucking vine was trying to hurt his sister while she slept. The knife ate well.

Soon, the night came, and the forest grew quieter. It was about two hours into the night when Gwen stirred, and Kellen held his breath.

He watched her quietly, noticing as she began to wake up. She started off quiet, normal, like she was back at home, before jerking suddenly, worry and fear on her face as she looked up at Bree, checking on her. She was asleep, as Kellen had told her, and Kellen watched as Gwen checked her pulse, checked around her, not even realising she was wearing a new mask, and began to panic.

Kellen spoke up then.

"She’s fine. I told her to rest." Gwen froze at Kellen’s soft spoken words. Then, she jerked, turning, and when she saw Kellen, really saw him, she started crying. His baby sister crawled over to him, wrapping her arms around him and Kellen held her. Just held his baby sister as she sought comfort from her older brother.

Kellen squeezed her, holding onto her. Everyone had told him that it was a lost cause. The look on his Dad’s face, the lack of light in his Mom’s eyes. The way that the others had dismissed saving them, all validated in this one moment.

Kellen fought back tears, his throat so constricted he could barely breathe. He just held her as she sobbed, his senses still on, still observing so that they could have this moment safely. So that no one else was in danger in this moment.

"Is this really you?" She finally asked, her words warbled, her breathing labored.

"Yes Gwen. It’s really me. I’m not a dream, or a hallucination or one of those fucked up monsters." Kellen told her and she squeezed him tighter.

"Really you?" She confirmed and Kellen nodded.

"Really me." He confirmed.

"Are you alone?" She asked and Kellen sighed.

"No one else came with me." He said and Gwen jerked.

"What about the Captain? Why isn’t he-" She cut off when she turned her head upwards to look at her brother. Kellen wasn’t sure what his face looked like, but it was startling enough that Gwen shut up. She bit her lip, her eyes purple, and her face pale. "We’ve lost people already." She said and Kellen nodded. He didn’t want to tell her that he actually expected it to be more people at this point, but that was okay. Gwen didn’t need to hear that from him right now.

"We won’t leave them alone." Kellen told her and watched as her eyes clouded over with more tears and she nodded. She gulped air in, holding onto Kellen still, before she let out a shaky sound.

"Is it always like this?" She asked softly and Kellen’s heart shattered. He looked above her head, unable to meet her gaze. He couldn’t.

"Not always." He told her, but she could tell what he wasn’t saying. They sat in silence for a while, until Bree began to stir.

"Guide Woods?" She called quietly, blinking a few times and Gwen pulled away from Kellen, sniffing.

"He’s here." Gwen told her, and Bree shifted over, taking in Gwen’s tear streaked face before her expression softened.

"Yeah. He is." Bree agreed, and Kellen just hoped that he could rise to the hopes that they had for him. He knew that they probably had a lot of faith in him, but Kellen just wasn’t sure he could rise up to it. He was just one man, but he had no other choice.

He had several people who he needed to not let down.

"Do you two need to rest more? If you don’t, we should get moving." Kellen said, and both girls scrambled to their feet as Kellen rose to his own. He checked his bag, shook off the hardened sap on his knife hand, and both girls stared at him like they hadn’t seen something like that before. Kellen just chuckled.

Gwen took the lead, either out of obligation, or through training, while Kellen made Bree walk between them and Kellen took up the rear. He wanted both of them in his line of sight, and he also needed to gauge how affected they were by the poison.

~

It became clear by hour two what kind of poison had affected them. Hallucinations, and seeing things that weren’t there. Gwen would go invisible sometimes, almost as a defense mechanism, and Kellen would have to yell at her to come back, and show herself.

He actually gave up at hour 3 and tied a rope around her waist that connected to him. Bree used it as something to hold onto while she walked since she was so unsteady on her feet from the lack of energy that she had. Gwen pouted significantly after that, but honestly, he was sure it gave everyone some peace of mind.

Kellen could yank her back he needed to, she was able to know that what she was seeing wasn’t actually there, and Bree felt protected.

Thankfully, the group that had split off from them had continued to mark the way, and when Kellen checked his compass, he knew that they were going in the right direction.

The flint and steel burned a hole in Kellen’s pocket. He really, really wanted to just set the whole forest on fire once they touched the core. Once someone touched the core.

They continued moving forward, and it was nice to have others with him. Kellen had never really considered himself a social person, he had been a loner most of his life. Now he realised that he’d been so immersed in Guild life that he couldn’t imagine living as he had done so in the past. He didn’t like being alone like that anymore.

Rhys had ruined him in the best way possible. He just needed to get back to him.

Kellen mentally went through the small checklist he’d made for himself for this rescue mission. He’d accomplished one of his goals, now it was just the core.

Kellen had a feeling that they were going in the right direction as the forest got denser, and finally, the air around them began to shift. It became heavier, murkier. Thick, viscous, and even the new masks struggled with filtering out the filth here.

He worried about the two that had gone ahead of them, and it turned out he had a reason to do so.

When they found them, they weren’t dead, but they were close to. Kellen ordered Gwen to tear off their old masks and fit them with the new ones and they were going to retreat into a safer part of the forest.

Bree was beside herself with worry, especially since the Guide that had gone with the older Esper was one of her closer friends. Kellen remained grim, serious, and the person that everyone could rely on as a difficult situation happened.

Kellen had hoped that they wouldn’t come across them like this, but given the density of the poison here, and how shitty their suits were in comparison to his own? There was no chance for something like this to not happen.

Gwen carried the feet while Kellen had one arm wrapped around both of their torsos and carried them that way. Bree was the one with the gun and knife as they moved. Kellen was grateful that it was nighttime, because he had a feeling that this part of the forest was incredibly active during the day.

Grim, but determined, Kellen poured some of his powers into the Esper as they moved, and when they got to a safer part, he made sure that the Guide got some more nutrients into her body as well. Gwen and Bree stood watch while Kellen did his best to help them given the circumstances. He wasn’t a medic, not really, but he did know everything that he was supposed to know and a little bit more.

Kellen almost wanted to leave Bree and Gwen here so that he could do some scouting, be the one who forged the path ahead, but guilt ate at him. And fear. He didn’t want to let them out of his line of sight after having just found them.

As time ticked on though, and they remained alive, but quiet, Kellen didn’t have much of a choice.

"I have to go." Kellen told them and both Gwen and Bree, who had been standing watch, swallowed.

"You’ll mark your way?" Gwen asked and Kellen nodded. Bree looked hesitant.

"Are you sure you’ll be okay? They collapsed and-"

"I have a newer suit, a newer mask, and two-three days on you guys. I should be able to handle this better, but I promise to turn back if I feel it’s too dangerous. It’s going to be dangerous because it’s near the core, and nighttime is our best time to approach. It could be even more dangerous in the daytime." Both girls looked grim as they realised that he was right.

"Stay...safe." Gwen said, her voice closing and her expression full of fear for Kellen. Kellen nodded, making sure he had his knife hand ready and primed.

"I’ll be back soon." Kellen told them before he turned his back to his sister and his star pupil. He was going to be back. No matter what.

7 people found, 5 to go.