IT WAS STRANGE TO BE leaving the forest after so much time was taken journeying so deep into it. The trees were constant companions to the three, rising above their heads like towers of a great, never-ending castle. Brown trunks, green leaves, and black stones were all there was to see, and that scene had grown old.
The night passed with much solitude for Nahtaia. The men fell asleep long before it was even a notion for her, especially after Oren’s brave declaration.
Love. She thought on the word. It was most definitely not something she ever imagined in the foggy portrait of her future. Then again, Oren was never in that image either. She pondered on the words he’d said the night before.
“I’ll go with you,” he had said. How could he say something so stupid? His entire life had been pla
