Chapter 28: Spooked
Evanna groaned after feeling her hair being tugged at. Opening her eyes, she looked to the side to see Nesrin holding a lock of her hair in her hands. Blinking, her mind caught up with her as her sleep-filled daze slowly disintegrated. Nesrin beamed at her while she sat up. The sun was yet to rise, but the early mornings were starting to become more manageable. At least she did not try to stab anyone within a meter of her when she woke up.
The small chirping sounds of birds in nearby trees were the only signs of other life nearby. Evanna looked to her side to see that Cilv was not in the tent; she often wondered what her sleeping hours were but quickly brushed the thought aside. Leaving her tent, she found Axel curled up against the fallen tree, hugging a huge axe, the wooden part the size of his torso. Evanna sighed, shaking her head before stepping forwards and tapping him on the shoulder. She jumped back immediately after he clenched his axe tightly, and his eyes looked at her bewildered, she watched as the sleep left his eyes and he relaxed his body.
"Look alive, Axel!" Evanna could not help but laugh at his grunt as a response; Nesrin soon followed with a giggle. He rubbed at his eyes before standing tall, causing Evanna to tilt her head back to see his face.
"You’ll be the death of me, girl" Evanna smiled cheekily back at him as Nesrin continued to giggle.
Axel began grabbing some bread out of his bag and dangled it in front of Evanna; she shook her head, not quite feeling hungry yet. It was far too early to eat.
"This will be the only chance you get until past noon.." Axel said while shaking the bread lightly in his hand, waiting for her to accept it. She grabbed it, breaking it in half before returning the remaining bread she knew she could not eat.
"Don’t mind him, Raven. He eats like a horse."
Evanna looked up after hearing Ronan’s voice. He sauntered his way over and took a seat next to her, smiling. Axel grunted as he continued to eat as she heard a horse neigh from behind them. She chuckled quietly to herself without needing to turn around. She knew it was Midknight protesting at the comment Ronan made.
Not long after, all of the group were gathered around the extinguished fire, eating the bread. Cilv kept her distance from the men and sat quietly next to Evanna.