Chapter 37

A few hours later...

BOOM!

The sound of Logan's punch against a tree could be heard for miles around. Upon impact with his fist the tree exploded like shattering glass. Little pieces of wood shot in all directions around like darts into the surrounding terrain. His face was like a painting of pure rage as his chest repeatedly heaved heavy breaths of air.

"Direction! Which direction did they go in from here?" Logan shouted his question at the top of his lungs at Silvester who was surveying the area.

"From what I can tell it looks as though they are heading westward from here. They must be thinking they can escape to the land of the Void." Silvester spoke as he contemplated the idea before shaking that idea aside. As a faerie of the Void himself he knew that outsiders other then Jade would not be able to enter the Void themselves.

"Do they have a death wish? Are they toying with me?" Logan spat out the questions in a fit of rage as he too knew how ridiculous that idea sounded. He knew Jade well enough to know that he would not normally go there and he never spoke of the Void. It was obvious to him that something more was going on.

"If we keep moving we should be able to catch up with them at the gateway to the Void. At the very least we'll beat them to it and can wait them out." Silvester said with certainty. Stretching his wings out wide he glanced around the area. They were obviously not that far behind the others and he was certain he could catch up with them before long. It was only Logan that gave him a headache to be around.

"Let's move before they get much further ahead of us. I will have that man's head at my feet soon." Logan grit his teeth tightly. His bat like wings beating against the air as his body lifted upward towards the sky. Silvester could be seen from the corner of his eye following behind him. Logan was not blind to the fact that Silvester was putting on an act in front of him. He could see all the signs of the man's underhanded thoughts even if he thought he was hiding them well.

Silvester's face filled with a smile at the thought of being closer to Jade. He wondered what expression the man would have on his face when he saw him once again. When he recalled the words that Capricorn had used to warn him off of hunting Jade he could not help but feel even more excited at the idea.

Meanwhile further west..

Jade was reaching out his hand to Noel in order to help him up a steep hillside as they climbed the mountainside. Noel's hand was clasped tightly in Jade's as he pulled him upward along side him. Capricorn did not require any help due to his demi form when it came to climbing the man was simply able to jump higher and right past the both of them using the branches of the surrounding trees and the terrain. In fact he felt rather at home in the mountain.

Minutes turned to hours and hours turned the day into nightfall. Before long they were all three exhausted and looking for a chance to rest. Up ahead of them not far Capricorn could sense them coming close to a cave in the mountainside that they could all rest in for the night to wait for daylight. If they made a small fire inside the cave he would be able to surely cook something over it for them all to eat and fill themselves up for the rest of the journey tomorrow.

Before long the three of them had hunkered down in the cave for the night. Capricorn had found and caught them a few wild rabbits to eat after having cooked them over the small fire that he had built with stones and a few tree branches. It was obvious that he had been in the mountains before and was not his first time. When Jade recalled the fact that he served the second prince of the Void in the past but had never personally met him he wondered if he had been living in the mountains before being sent to the city to find him. Off to the other side of Jade he could see Noel carefully chewing on a piece of wild rabbit meat that had been cooked.

Finding it interesting that Noel never complained about being lost in the mountains with him he wanted to ask him why he was so willing to follow him. Even if he had the desire to know more about why Noel was following him blindly he refrained from asking. He was glad the barkeep had dropped everything and ran away from the city with him and he felt prying further would only ruin the mood. Reaching his hand downward his fingertips stroked against the fur of the small calico at his feet chewing on a piece of rabbit meat that he had handed it.

The sound of crickets could be heard as nobody spoke to each other. Only the sound of the wildlife and the three of them eating could be heard inside the cave. Cooked meat and sweat was thick in the air as they all felt exhausted from running all day making it hard for anyone to concentrate on the thought of making conversation with one another. Slight light began to flicker around the area as the night outside the cave entrance lit up with the fireflies. It almost looked as though the sky was raining sparks of fire from how many fireflies were quietly floating around the air. Not a single sound could be heard as they all gazed at the night view before them trying soak in the atmosphere. The soft lights from the fireflies floating about in the air causing everything to fall still and calm in their hearts.

No matter how beautiful the sight was before him Jade's gaze could not help but sweep to the side away from the fireflies. In his eyes the thing that he found himself unable to look away from in that moment was the expression on Noel's face as he watched the view. He could see the dreamy twinkle in the man's eyes as he smiled happily at the fireflies before them all without a care in the world.