On My Own

Villagers quickly found Tia and helped her carry Anju in bed. He was extremely exhausted and that was the reason why he had fainted. As Tia was sitting on chair by his bed, she couldn't stop thinking about Anju. She realized that she actually didn't know anything about him. *Can I trust him?* she kept asking herself in her mind. *If he is Kale's son...* she frowned. *No. I can't trust him.* She made a hard decision in her mind. She looked at his sleeping face for the last time and left the room he was in. The village leader appeared in front of her when she tried to leave the house. "Are you leaving?" he asked her with surprised face.

"Yes, I am." she answered while looking on the floor.

"Without him?"

"I have my reasons. Please take a good care of him."

"Don't worry about that but... what should I tell him when he wakes up?" She was quiet for a moment but then she answered his question.

"Thank you, for everything". She said while looking in leader's eyes. He could see the confusion and fear inside them. "Tell him I said that."

"As you wish." He answered. She turned around to open the door behind her but before she could leave he said "Good luck. You will need it." She smiled and with no more words she left the house and went to stable for her new horse Flash. She left the village after a while. *Maybe he is not a son of Kale. Maybe it was just coincidence." One part of her wanted to go back, hug him and believe that he is a normal human who just wants to help her. "But I can't take such a risk." But the second part, which was the more careful one, won the conflict inside her mind. She wasn't coming back. She had to find Artrog. Without Anju.

*

Many hours passed since Tia left. Anju woke up. He was staring at the ceiling and thinking about everything that had happened. But he couldn't remember anything after his fight with Gobbo brothers. *It happened to me again huh?* It terrified him. *I couldn't control it.. again...* But he realized there was no time to waste. He looked around. "Where am I?" he asked himself but an answer came from someone else.

"You are in my house. Don't worry, you are safe now." he looked at the man who answered him. It was the leader who he saved before.

"So what happened? It was you who found me in the forest?" he asked the old man.

"No, it was that girl who found you. Tia."...That made him feel little better. *So it was her huh. I should thank her when I see her.* Anju thought after he heard the news.

"Is she in this house too? I need to talk to her." but the leader frowned. Anju could already guess something was wrong.

"She left the village few hours ago. She didn't tell me a reason but she gave me a message for you." Anju was shocked. *What?! She left?! Why?* he tried to calm down a little as he got out of the bed.

"What's the message?" he asked.

"She said she thanked you, for everything." Anju was full of emotions. Rage, sadness, everything was boiling inside his body. *Why did she betray him? What have I done to make her do this?* he looked at the leader.

"Thank you. I will be leaving too." But leader's face looked little worried.

"You should rest. You are not ready for traveling." but he shaked his head.

"I have to find her before someone else does." The leader frowned and said.

"Fine. I guess I can't stop you. There is still one horse left in the stable. It's yours, take it." Anju came closer to him.

"Take your men into the bandit camp. There are many things from your village they had stolen. Take them back before someone else does." They shaked their hands.

"I'm glad I have met you, Anju."

"So am I."

"And by the way, Artrog is in Melisse. She is going there." Anju couldn't waste more time in that village. He quickly grabbed his things and mounted the horse he got from the leader. And then he left the village too, trying to get to Tia before Kale or Arachne would. His wound hurt everytime the horse made a step, but he had to continue. For her.

*

The further Tia got into the Zaryan's part of the forest the more different things she could see. Plants of all colors were growing in many strange shapes. She could see small animals she had never seen before. She could swear she saw a frog with wings! Even though she had never been in Zaryan before, she was sure she was going the right way. There were wooden signs that showed the way to Melisse. The road was getting wider and soon the trampled dirt changed into stone tiles. The silence got suddenly interrupted by howl which sounded like if that animal was asking for help. Tia dismounted from the horse and went to look for the source of the sound. After walking through a dense bush she saw it. It was young wolf, which had blue-gray fur, was laying on the ground. An arrow with green feathers was pierced through its leg. The wolf noticed her and looked at her with its eyes which were begging for help. Although she didn't know any healing spells yet, she had an idea. She opened her bag and found a healing potion which Anju gave her before she left him. With potion in her hand she slowly walked towards the wounded wolf. She knew it was dangerous. But she couldn't let it suffer. She slowly put her hand on its fur. "It's okay. I will help you." She couldn't tell if the wolf understanded her, but its eyes looked more relieved. "This will hurt but I have to do this, sorry." she said as she put her hand on the arrow. She broke the part with feathers because she wouldn't be able to pull it out with it still there. The wolf stare at her. It knew what was going to happen next. "Sorry." She said as she quickly pulled out the rest of the arrow from its leg. The wolf whined because of the pain. The whining was quickly changed into growling. She opened the potion and dripped few drops in the wound. The wolf stopped growling. "Does it feel better?" she asked it. The wound was slowly healing. "See? It's good now." She said when the wound was healed completely. *So the potion works differently on animals. Interesting.* she thought. It stopped the bleeding and healed the wound completely but when she gave the same potion to Brig few days ago she had to bandage his wound anyways. The wolf tried to stand up but it was still hard for it so it fell on the ground. Tia patted it. "Don't rush yourself." The sky above them was becoming cloudy. It was going to rain soon. Tia decided not to continue on her way but find a place to stay the night instead. She took the wolf in her arms and went to look for a good spot. After a few minutes she found a small cave. She put the wolf there and went back for her horse. When all animals were there she fed them and prepared a campfire. The sky was black and loud thunders could be heard coming from the distance. The wolf snuggled to Tia and fell asleep. She looked into the flames. "I wonder what you are doing right now... Anju." she said as the lightning enlightened the cave.