Chapter 27

Rufus panted hard as he walked through the forest. His stomach grumbled loudly to indicate the hunger he felt. He stopped walking as he wrapped his hand around his stomach while his eyes were squeezed shut.. it was now painful. His stomach hurt and complained for having not taken a single thing for the past few hours forgetting the fact that he was no longer a supernatural creature.

He was now human and right now, he could not stand the hunger he was feeling. He was hungry and he needed to solve it but most trees around him were not fruit bearing trees. He had no other wise but to stay like that.

Finally, he could see the Mountain Waters channel. He was almost there. Almost there and his current troubles would be over. He would get something to eat and quench his thirst and also freshen up and rest. That's all that he wanted.

Rufus walked quickly, almost in a running stance but his legs were almost giving up and the last thing he needed was collapsing a few meters away from his destination. His lungs were burning up and the oxygen seemed to be running away from his nose, he couldn't breathe properly. He was short of air. Being human was definitely hard. He despised his life at the moment.

Rufus fell on his knees but his hands supported him on the ground. His duffel bag at his side and his head bowed down as he tried to catch his breathe. His long dark hair fell forward thus covering his face though he was sweaty thus some of it stack on his forehead.

To be honest, he hated his life at the moment more than ever but what else was he supposed to do?. His stomach grumbled again, Rufus squeezed his eyes tightly as the pain surged forth. He wrapped a hand around his stomach, while supporting himself with the other.. his stomach hurt a lot. He couldn't go on like this.

Rufus groaned in pain. The pain of hunger had intestified greatly and for a moment, he thought that death was only a couple of minutes away.

"Rufus?". He heard someone call his name but he didn't have the strength to look up and see whom it was.

"Rufus?". The voice came again. He couldn't make it out whom it was in his head... his mind had stopped working and all it thought about was FOOD! FOOD and FOOD!!.

But whomever was calling him, knew him.. and perhaps he knew the person as well.

Rufus trembled as he waited for the pain he felt in his stomach to subside even a little so that he'd have a little more strength left to see who was calling him.

He heard footsteps approach him. The person was coming towards him.

"Rufus?". The voice came again, this time it hesitated as if it wasn't sure if it called the right person or if this was just a stranger. The owner of the voice couldn't see him because of the hairs covering his face.

Having no response from the person kneeling in front of him, He decided to turn and leave besides, the scent of this particular person was different so he could have been wrong. It wasn't whom he thought he was.

Unexpectedly, the person fell over. He was frightened and his heart skipped a beat just a moment as he leaned to get a closer look at the person on the forest floor.

The person was still breathing, not dead yet though his pulse was weak.

"Humans!". He thought. "Weak and Fragile".

He brushed off the hairs on Rufus' face and gasped. It was indeed Rufus and not some other random guy as he had thought. But why had his scent changed?.

Yes, he reeked of his pack and Ambrose?... but the scents of his pack were overpowered by this new scent... He couldn't understand the sudden change of scent on Rufus but he needed to do something fast to help save Rufus.

Moreover, he was still disturbed that he couldn't find the familiar scent in Rufus. He needed to know what was wrong and why Rufus was here in that state and not at home.. in the safety of his pack.

He looked around at the trees surrounding them. There was a particular healing herb that he knew healed any human situation. He wasn't quite sure what was wrong with Rufus but he was a hundred percent sure that the healing herb would cure Rufus. .

He smelt it even before he saw it. He quickly ran to where he had located it using his nose and came back to Rufus with a few leaves.

He supported Rufus' head on his lap as he squeezed the syrup from the leaves into Rufus' mouth. Rufus swallowed hard.. was it that bitter or was he thirsty?.

He sighed as he squeezed a few more drops of the syrup into Rufus' mouth before throwing away the leaves. That would be enough. He'd just wait for Rufus to wake up but in the meantime he'd take him home.

He stood up, lifting Rufus as well. Rufus opened his eye and looked at his hero... "Dzarma?". He whispered then fell back into consciousness. Well, at least that was a good sign that he was still alive.

Dzarma carried Rufus on his shoulder such that he held his legs so that he wouldn't fall over. But before he could fly away to his place, he smelt something familiar getting closer.

"Rufus?". He heard someone shout. Dzarma turned only to meet a very agitated Hamlin and desperate Amina.. or was it Aisha.. "Why did she have to get two names". He thought to himself as they came towards him.

"Dzarma". Hamlin mumbled. He could see the worry and concern in their eyes. Something was indeed wrong. Nonetheless, he'd be lying if he said that he wasn't curious to know what was going on.

Who wouldn't?. The FireWings were the most powerful plus they had a lot of secrets which many wanted to know. He was among them.

"Mr. Hamlin". Dzarma replied as he shifted his gaze to Rufus then back at his parents whose eyes were glued at Rufus as well.

"He's fine". Dzarma added.

"Thank you for helping him out". Hamlin replied as he stepped forward to take Rufus away from Dzarma but Dzarma took a step back away from Hamlin, making his eyes widen with surprise.

"No offense, but don't you think that Rufus doesn't want to go back home since he came all the way here?. Surely, something might have happened to make him come all this way and I must know what it is". Dzarma said. "Plus, he will not be coming with you no matter what".

Hamlin took in a deep breathe, he was trying to calm himself down and this was the last thing that he needed. A confrontation from a kid. Hamlin knew better than to cause a scandal because he wasn't in his territory and his alpha was miles away.

Aisha laid a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze of reassurance. Hamlin looked at her, their eyes meeting and locking for a moment. Aisha was on the verge of crying... again!. He broke their eye contact and turned his head to look at Dzarma.

"Fine, I'll tell you everything on one condition". He stated.

"Name it". Dzarma replied quickly.

"Whatever we shall tell you, let no other ears hear of it and no lips speak of it". Hamlin requested. The current state of his son had broken him. It had made him fragile and he wasn't himself anymore... Aisha was worse and only the heavens knew what Araminta was going through back at home.

"Fine. Secrets is my other name". Dzarma answered. "But this is no place to talk. Be wary of prying ears, follow me". He instructed as he morphed out his wings and flew away, still carrying Rufus.. Hamlin and Aisha morphed out their wings also and followed him.

•••••

"Wait, you mean you smelt Aisha's and Hamlin's scent there and you didn't tell me?". Lucky asked.

Ambrose let out a desperate breathe, "I wasn't sure because I was meters away from Dzarma's chambers".

"That is no excuse!". Lucky exclaimed. "This only means that they already know where Rufus is".

"Their scents were faint meaning they were there before I arrived earlier before I came here with my report.. I just remembered". Ambrose explained. "Perhaps they don't know if Rufus is planning to leave for another town". Ambrose mumbled, trying to ease the tension that was growing between them. She needed Lucky to trust her again. She didn't know why but his trust on her was far more important than being loved back by Rufus. She admired the bravery and smartness of Lucky and... She needed to stop these thoughts from running in her mind, she needed to focus in the task at hand.

"Or Rufus doesn't know his parents were there. Either way, keep an eye on him". Lucky instructed. Ambrose nodded in accordance.

"I feel as if we are being watched". Ambrose suddenly said before she left.

Being Watched?. Did she feel it too because he felt it all the time in everything he did, everywhere he went he felt as if someone invisible was following and watching him.

If she felt it, and he felt it... then he needed to know whom it was as soon as possible.