Lost in the Crossroads

Ten - The Elf III (Hailey)

“First thing first, you can’t screw him.” Abel said, addressing Dein as she washed her shirt in the water. Having removed her blood-soaked shirt, Abel shamelessly paraded her toned upper body in her sports bra as she stood in the middle of the river and away from their work of butchering the boar. The large gash scar on her stomach was visible and so were some of her bullet scars.

Hailey’s hands stopped from the task of skinning the boar with Blake and Tabitha as a laughter escaped from her mouth. Partly knowing where the conversation is going.

“Why not?” Dein and Drishti simultaneously asked making the Captain of the Echo Squad frowned at them. They both looked at each other, stunned the other was thinking the same thing.

Both of them were wading in the deep part of the river, still in their clothes and their shoes drying off on one of the large rocks.

Hailey laughed again. This was just rich!

Oh, yes. Kael was attractive but she wasn’t one to have s*x with a guy just because he was hot. Oh no, she was not like that. Those two, though.

“He’s an elf.” Abel stated, like it would change their minds.

“Yeah. Which make it hotter.” Drishti smirked.

“Exotic, even.” Dein purred, matching the red-head’s smirked.

Abel stared at them long and hard but the two was unrelenting, winking sassily at her.

“Come on, Abel! You saw him!” Dein goaded her.

“Yeah. You shouldn’t call him a kid you know! I liked what I saw.”

“Abs, Abel. Hot Abs!”

Hailey rolled her eyes. Too much information but it was so like them to notice those obvious things.

Finally, Abel gave in and turned her head to Alex for help. She gestured towards the two and inclined her head, expression screaming exasperation; Do something to them, will you?

Alex stepped in, hands on her hips as she contemplated what to say.

The big sisters. A wide smile spread across her face with the thought. Sometimes, she thinks they were twins, born from the same womb with the way they perfectly complement each other.

“Look, we don’t know about the culture in this world. You can’t just f**k elves just because they’re hot. What if s*x have consequences with them?” Alex said, stern and firm. “Not to mention, you might catch a disease.”

“You make it sound like we’re going to take advantage of him.” Drishti pouted.

“You look eager to do so.” Alex shot back, frowning.

“Did the word ‘disease’ even registered in their minds?” Tabitha asked to no one in particular.

Hailey answered anyway. “I don’t think so.”

“I got condoms in my wallet!” Dein chimed in, raising her hand with a smirk on her face.

“I doubt he even knows how to use it.” Abel grumbled, her lips pursing as if debating to whacked their head or threw a knife at them. Probably both.

A tiny bubble of giddiness made its way in her throat because of her friend’s antics.

“Have no worries.” Drishti smiled, waggling her eyebrows. “I can teach him.”

“Oh. My. God!” Fenella groaned and lowered her head down, thoroughly mortified as she stands a good few feet from them for keeping watch for threats just like Kara. “You guys are incorrigible!”

“You can’t blame me! I haven’t seen a single man for a week! A week!” Drishti exclaimed. “I need to relieve stress from dealing with all of you.”

“Wow.” Abel breathed, sarcasm dripping heavily in her voice. “I’ve been dealing with all of you for how many years. s*x was the last stress-reliever I have on my list. Want to climb trees with me, Drish?”

“No. Thank you!” Drishti squeaked. “I have my own ways!”

A chuckle escaped from Hailey’s mouth. Tabitha was shaking her head with mirth, lips threatening to spill laughter. Abel’s way of stress-relief was way too extreme from any of them. Even Hailey wouldn’t want to climb trees just for the heck of it.

“You know s*x was the last thing in his mind at the moment.” Kara snorted, leaning on a tree as she watched for any potential threats alongside Fenella.

“Yeah. Give the kid a break.” Blake sighed, returning after dumping the boar’s innards in the lower stream.

Geneva were left along with Kael in the camp after he exhausted himself from delivering the animal in the river. They weren’t worried. Geneva could take care of herself and she was smart enough not to fall from the same trick. In fact, they were more worried about Kael. One wrong move and Geneva might kill him. She does not have the same patience of Abel.

“You guys are no fun.” Drishti huffed.

“We’re not here for fun.” Abel said, draping her wet shirt over her shoulders.

Hailey wrinkled her nose for a moment, the coppery scent of blood clogging her nose from the animal they were skinning.

“Then what are we here for?” Dein frowned, her hands creating a splash on the water.

“That’s a good question. Unfortunately, I don’t have the answer.” Abel answered, looking thoughtful.

Dein shrugged and dived beneath the water.

“So, what should we do now?” Tabitha asked, leaning back from her work of skinning the hind legs.

Hailey did the same thing and admired her work. Butchering a gigantic boar took a lot of their time and they were forced to eat fish broth for breakfast and postponed their peace talk with Kael.

“Guess we need to help the kid.” Abel answered, walking towards a large rock on the other side of the river and draped her Army shirt over it.

“I don’t know.” Kara said, frowning. “Do we have to?”

“Why not?” Alex turned to her, her eyes wide and questioning. Hailey stopped from her task to watch them.

“Aren’t you the one said he might help us if we helped him?” Dein asked, raising her voice lightly.

“Yeah, but…”

Alex groaned, “This better be not about the stone throwing incident! You threw a kettle at him! A kettle! It’s ten times larger than the stone he threw at you!”

“He tried to kill us! And It f*****g hurts!”

Hailey caught Fenella sighing, something she could understand.

Sometimes, Kara can be so immature and selfish. This was like the Santelmo event. She just couldn’t let go of things.

It was true that Kael tried to kill them, but thinking about it now his aggression was purely out of fear. Something she could sympathized with.

“Does it ever occur to you he was hurting too? He’s my patient, you know! That kid had been through enough! And you still hit him!” Alex snarled before her eyes darted searching for something that made them all wary.

Her body tensed and become alert of Alex’s movement, ready to flee at any moment’s notice. Task or not, she’s not going to get caught in the line of fire.

Kara looked like she instantly regretted what she said when Alex grabbed a handful of pebbles and dirt. Her eyes shot Abel a pleading look on the other side of the river which the other completely ignored, turning her head away.

Whining, Kara wisely ran. Alex hot on her heels, throwing pebbles and shouting colorful insults. Most of them were about immaturity.

Hailey’s body relaxed as she bit her lip to stop herself from outright laughing. Alex’s wrath might turn to her. That’s the last thing she wanted.

“Hey, I’m going to check the other side of the river.” Abel suddenly said, catching everyone off guard.

“Wait! What?” Drishti exclaimed, shooting her a worried look. “Why?”

“Recon.”

“It’s dangerous.” Hailey stated, frowning slightly. It was strange that there are no bandits lurking on the other side especially after the ruckus they made with Kael but it could be a trap.

Abel didn’t answer. She only stood there, arms crossed over her chest with an unimpressed look on her face.

Okay, now she felt stupid. Abel was also dangerous.

But, her gut twisted in anxiety. Everyone can be killed.

“Can I come?”

All eyes turned to Fenella, stunned. She glanced at them for a moment before she squared her shoulders and give Abel a determined look.

Unbidden, the warmth of pride welled up inside her. Hailey was pretty sure, everyone felt the same.

“Sure.” Abel answered simply, her eyes twinkling.

Just like that, the two went to do a recon mission on the other side of the river. Honestly, she was a little bit worried for Fenella but the woman obviously wanted to toughen up for their sake. Besides, Hailey liked to think that the safest place was by Abel’s side. Nothing bad will happen to Fenella with Abel by her side. Even if sometimes, Abel worries her.

“Abel was getting antsy, wasn’t she?” Blake asked, as soon as the two was nowhere in sight.

“Mm.” Hailey answered, slowly separating fur from flesh with her knife. “Probably because of what happened.”

Her nose wrinkled again but this time it wasn’t about the coppery scent of blood from their work but from the memory of fear and sense of vertigo of what Kael had done to them. That experience was not pleasant and as much as possible she doesn’t want to happen again.

“I’m surprised she didn’t kill Kael on the spot.” Tabitha commented, their task almost done.

Indeed, it was. Abel didn’t like treating threats lightly. Those bandits she killed were a perfect example. Alex had grumbled under her breath how she didn’t even a lift a finger before Abel killed them all, not even asking a question or giving a warning. They attacked so she killed them without mercy. Alex said it was a one-side m******e. The bandits didn’t stand a chance.

It was a mystery what compelled her to ask a question when it was quite obvious they were about to get killed and actually listened. Maybe it was the sight of her friends hanging upside down held up by roots that caught her off guard to changed her mind from outright murdering the elf.

“Is she going to be alright?” Hailey couldn’t help but asked. She doesn’t know if they noticed but Abel had been not sleeping well and a tad tenser than usual. She wasn’t sure if it’s about their situation or their environment that got her on edge.

A tense silence fell on them. The leaves from the trees rustled from the breeze and the sound the water running from the river become prominent.

It was always like this whenever they talked about Abel.

Tabitha’s grip in her knife tightened and raised her head up to face her, worry glinting deeply in her velvety brown eyes. Of course, they noticed it too.

Who was she kidding?

“She will. It’s Abel we’re talking about.” She said.

And for Hailey, she sounded like she was trying to convince herself. But that’s okay because she felt the same way.

“Don’t worry. She won’t do anything stupid with Fen by her side.” Blake said, smiling softly.

Yes. Abel won’t do anything drastic that might have scarred Fenella for life. They were the chains that rein her dangerous side and also the trigger. Hailey wasn’t sure how long they will be able to keep this up before she breaks free and never returned.

“What is this?” Abel asked, after coming back from their recon mission and her slightly wet shirt on.

Hailey inspected their work. Was that a trick question? It has to be. She glanced at Abel and nope—the woman looked serious. The meat from the boar they butcher were presented on the camp, a large leaf was acting as it’s mat.

It doesn’t look that bad, she thought tilting her head slightly.

“I don’t know. What’s wrong with it?” Alex asked, sitting in one of the above-ground roots and inspecting their work from afar.

Even Alex doesn’t know what’s wrong with it. Hailey can’t help but frown.

“They butchered the meat.” Abel said, picking up the front legs they had a hard time separating from the body. “Like totally.”

Fenella was kneeling by her side, poking at the small pieces of meat that got separated from all of their efforts. The small pieces were cut unevenly in various shapes.

“You should have waited for me.” Abel sighed, staring at the poorly cut neck of the boar.

Hailey admitted, it was poorly cut. It looked like it was grinded by a saw. If only they have a butcher knife.

“By the way, where is the head?”

Hailey blinked before she answered. “We threw it.”

“Why?”

“It doesn’t look good?” Tabitha answered lamely.

“It’s a head and ugly?” Kara added.

Abel stared at them long and hard. They fidgeted under it as they stand before their presentation. It doesn’t look that bad. Kael was curiously peering behind her and in the protection of their shelter. Probably wondering how ignorant they were in the art of butchering. It was admittedly, a bit embarrassing. It’s not like they have done it before. Abel had only told them what to do and how to properly clean it.

“And the heart, liver and kidneys?”

“They made me throw it.” Blake jerked her thumb on their direction.

Hailey and Tabitha gawked at her. Blake blinked back, feigning innocence.

Geneva snorted by Kael’s side, clearly finding amusement in their predicament.

Now that she thinks about it, some of the innards are edible too. Hailey felt the embarrass flush on her neck rise to her cheeks as she bit her lip. Like she said, they haven’t done this before.

“It can’t be helped.” Abel sighed. “At the very least you did a good job with the ribs.” She said, eyes swiveling to the strips of meat they cut from the breaks of the ribs.

Her dignity saved, Hailey beamed, giddiness fluttering like butterflies in her stomach.

It was an accomplishment! They have done something right!

“Ugh. Stop that.” Abel squinted, groaning and covering her eyes.

Hailey laughed and had this sudden urge to hug her.

But Abel hastily turned away to face Kael who snapped at attention. “Kael?”

“Yes, Lady Abelone?” he asked, golden eyes wide and inquisitive with a trace of apprehensiveness.

Abel hesitated for a moment, glancing at Fenella. Hailey shared a glance with the others, wondering what was this about.

“Just Abel is fine. Let’s drop the formalities, shall we?” she said, “Anyway, we did a reconnaissance on the other side of the river and where your village lies.”

Kael perked up, he opened his mouth yet no sound came out.

“It has been abandoned.” Abel finished, her face unreadable.

“What?” Kael breathed out, his eyes wide and searching. “What do you mean?”

“There is a possibility that they already moved.” Abel answered calmly.

Raw anguish settled on his handsome face that pulled her heart strings.

In what they initially discussed while eating breakfast was that most of his people had been captured by the bandits with unknown reason and he only managed to escaped with help of his brother’s magic to seek the Path of Silver he dreamed about for help.

There was still indecisiveness about it; whether it was really Abel or not. It was just hard to process that an elf dreamed about her. Was that even the truth?

But Kael was desperate enough to ask for their help, humans or not. He believed dearly that Abel was the Path of Silver that the Mother, Gaia, a goddess of all things, had informed him that will help him retrieve his brethren.

The revelations were mind-boggling.

They haven’t even discussed they came from another world but they were willing to help. Their opponents were just bandits.

What could go wrong?

“Do you know where they could have gone?” Abel asked.

“Would you...” he hesitated, pleading golden eyes boring into them. “Would you still aid me?”

“Of course.” Alex answered, her voice gentle yet firm.

The elf looked relieved with that.

Hailey caught Kara rolled her eyes but choose to ignore it since the woman doesn’t said anything.

“Perhaps they were on their way at the Crossroads.” Kael said, his face grim and determined. “It would take a week or two for a large group to travel towards it.”

“Crossroads?” Hailey inquired.

“You are not familiar with it?” Kael asked, skeptical.

“Can we discuss this later?” Abel interrupted before Hailey could answer no. “It’s best we moved to Kael’s village to trace the bandits trail. Is that alright, Kael?”

“Yes.” The elf answered, still confused with their ignorance of the Crossroads.

“There are also the bodies.” Fenella murmured softly catching everyone’s attention. She was still crouching in front of their presentation. “We should bury them.” The sadness oozing from her was thick and suffocating.

They all turned to Abel, stunned she had done something drastic with Fenella by her side.

“What did you do?” Alex hissed, disbelief clear in her voice and looked ready to bite Abel’s head off.

“The smoke Geneva noticed didn’t came from burning wood.” Abel answered calmly, undisturbed with their accusation.

“What?”

“They burned the bodies of my comrades.” Kael said, realization dawning on his face.

Hailey choked, his words registering like a spear deep in her mind and heart. That smoke was from bodies being burned? But that was cruel! How could they do that? Have they no respect?

“How dare they! My people should have been buried beneath the bosom of the Mother! Not burned like a couple of wretched witches! Those arrogant humans!” Kael raged, his golden eyes flashing.

Hailey took a step back, the roots around Kael were starting to move. It was fascinating and disturbing at the same time that the elf has magic that could control the nature. It’s magic. Who wouldn’t be fascinated with magic?

But they were in a forest and the elf could easily kill them with a large whip of root, out of principle. He could turn on them. Kill them all just because they were humans. Filthy humans who know nothing but destruction.

“Hey now.” Abel calmly interrupted the raging elf.

Kael blinked at her, panting and finally noticing that almost everyone has moved away from him except Abel.

“Take that anger out on the bandits when we get them.”

To their shock, the elf shakily calmed himself down murmuring an apology.