Chapter 31: Cat Fight
Later that day, after setting up camp, they sat around the campfire not long after finishing their dinner. Axel, it seems, liked to cook for everyone, and Cilv took the pleasure of hunting any animals she could find in the area. Tonight, they ate pheasant after Cilv brought one back; they never questioned how she hunted as she never failed in bringing something back.
Yet, she never used a bow, and her only weapons were daggers, and there was no time to set up traps around the area. They needed food quickly on the road. If she did not hunt, then they would just eat the bread or vegetables they carried with them, but Cilv refused to eat vegetables alone. She was a hardcore carnivore.
The group relaxed in their seated positions around the fire. The warmth from the flames kept the chill away as the crackling wood continued to snap and pop. Crickets chirped among fields as an owl hooted on a tree nearby, occasionally waking up the surroundings of the quiet early evening.
Ronan was watching Ger and Evanna. She casually hit him lightly on the shoulder after something he said, causing them both to laugh. Suddenly, he felt a twig hit him faintly on the cheek; he looked to the side to see Cilv sprawled out on the ground near him. She stared at him expectantly, then raised her hand and threw another twig at him.
"Yes?"
"Stop pining over her" Ronan looked in Ger and Evanna’s direction after Cilv’s loud comment, but thankfully they did not hear.
"Why, are you jealous?" He smirked back.
Cilv laughed, "You wish. It just looks sad. And sad does not look good on THAT" She waved her hands up and down his body, he chuckled, enjoying the attention.
Axel cleared his throat loudly, causing the group to look in his direction.
"I know we did not have our regular breaks today, but I think I can speak for all of us when I say that I wanted us to be as far away from Kuramji and Dunhurst as possible. I did not expect word to travel so quickly about Evanna’s disappearance from the palace." He glanced at his surroundings as he spoke, paranoia kicking in as he looked at the rising moon and the shadows starting to ascend behind nearby trees.
Evanna nodded her head along with the others who sat around the fire, understanding his decision. Although they were tired, it was better they put more distance between them and Dunhurst. Besides, this just meant they were making quicker progress to Direwood forest and to the Flori, where the gemstone was.