Jade sat on the edge of the water inside the cave and took a deep breath. She bend forward and put her face through the waters surface. The icy cold water stung her cheeks. When she came back up the water dripped down her face, wetting her tunic. She felt refreshed. Awake. The others were still sleeping as she washed herself and had breakfast of leftovers from the day before. She left some for Morn, but perhaps they would rather hunt for more. Should she? She shook her head in response to her internal question. No need to take care of the orc, they could take care of themselves.
The tent had been set up nearby the cave and was shielded from the sunlight. It was usual for them to wake up at sunrise, when the warm light lit up the insides of their tent. But today, Jade thought, she would have to wake them up. Looking at the tent containing her friends, she chewed on a piece of bone. When she was about to stand up, she heard a stir from inside the tent. She let out a sigh of relief and tried to find something to give off the appearance she was not just idling around. Swiftly, she stood up and turned away from the tent, as if she was casually keeping watch. It was then that she realized that she did not hear any bird sounds, no chirping, chatter or singing. How odd were these mountains, very different from the forest that she called her home. A chill, that had nothing to do with cold, came over her.
The tent fabric ruffled and both Morn and Acantha walked out. Jade didn’t turn around to see, but she felt their movements with her feet. Those feet used to stand on snow and ice. Jade felt a prickling in her neck. She knew she was being looked at. It was time to drop the act, Jade thought, and turned around.
“Good morning,” Jade said to her friends.
Morn grunted something in reply and sat down to finish the leftovers. Acantha stretched her lean body as far as she could, standing on tiptoes and yawned before she replied with a friendly good-morning.
“I’m gonna go freshen up,” Acantha said, and disappeared into the cave.
Jade started breaking down the tent and finished wrapping it up into the regular backpack size when Acantha returned. They were ready to go. Acantha held something out for Jade to see. It was the glass bottle they’d picked up yesterday. The red liquid had been replaced for a crystal clear one.
“I filled it with water from the cave,” she explained.
“Smart,” Jade replied appreciatively, “Now we can drink when we need to.”
Acantha smiled, glowing with self indulgence.
Morn had by long finished their breakfast and was now sitting with their eyes closed.
“It’s dark,” Morn said.
“Try opening your eyes,” Jade responded lamely.
Morn did open their eyes, giving Jade a look of disapproval.
“The cave in which the daemon is hiding, I know where it is. But it is dark. We will not be able to see anything.” Morn explained.
“Maybe the daemon won’t be able to see us either,” Acantha added cheerfully.
They picked up their stuff and left for the cave in which the daemon was hiding. Morns directions were more clear now and Jade gladly made use of them. She tried to find a route in which they had cover. But up in the mountains, there were not many plants to hide out under. Instead of focusing on being stealthy, she made an effort to be more aware of their surroundings. Then, at least, if there was danger lurking, they would be able to spot it as soon as it had spotted them.
“You hear that?” Jade said. She held up her hand and pointed. Something was squealing. The sound was in between the chirp of a bird and the wails of a baby. They walked towards it and had to peer over a large rock to find a helpless baby bird. It wasn’t a regular bird though. It was the size of a toddler, but it had a beak and wings. Hideously enough, it was covered in tiny feathers.
“Look at that baby!” Acantha squealed. Morn and Jade were already looking at the creature. Jade made a face of disgust. Acantha, on the other hand, was strangely attracted to the bird. Her curiosity was aroused. “Poor thing, where do you think it’s parents are?”
Acantha looked around and up towards the sky. There was no other creature in sight. Morn mumbled something about second breakfast. But Acantha shot them a look.
“It’s a baby spawn,” she stated, as if that made any difference to the orc.
Acantha looked again at the helpless baby and walked towards it. She picked it up and immediately the wailing stopped. The baby bird settled inside Acantha’s arms.
“We’re not taking it,” Morn said, seeing where this was headed.
“We’re not leaving it,” Acantha replied matter of factly. She offered her pinky finger to the creature, who grabbed onto it with a tiny claw foot. Jade hoped furiously that no one would ask for her opinion. When she thought about it, it didn’t surprise her that they didn’t. Despite their bonding over the last couple of weeks, she felt her friends still saw her as a tool for survival, not an intellectual person. She didn’t really blame them, all the elves in there clan seemed a bit, out of it. But still she was hurt that she hadn’t been able to convince her friends that she was fully sane. But then again, maybe she wasn’t. Jade shook her head to rid herself of that thought. She stopped as quickly as she realized how that must have looked.
They walked for another few hours before reaching the edge of a small valley. Morn gestured towards a dark crack in the mountain on the other side of the valley. They had almost reached the cave. Jade noticed something else as well. She laid her hand on Acantha’s shoulder and pointed towards the sky. Two large birds were circling on the other end of the valley. Acantha bit her lip. The creature in her arms was sleeping quietly.
“They look like they could be the same species,” Jade said carefully.
Acantha nodded. “Do you think if we leave the baby, they’ll find it?”
“Surely if it starts wailing again,” Jade replied.
Morn was helpful enough to point to a location in clear view from the sky. They put the baby spawn there, out in the open. Acantha brushed the creature’s cheek gently. Jade was surprised to see the spawn girl cared so much about the creature. Acantha never seemed like the warmhearted, loving type. Jade was wise enough not to mention it and looked around swiftly to see if there was any shelter. She didn’t know if the spawn’s parents would be hostile and she preferred avoiding them altogether. Just in case. But there was not much shelter. Perhaps they could reach the cave before the baby started crying.
Leaving the baby behind, they hurried across the valley towards the cave. When they were halfway, they heard a birdlike screech. Jade urged her friends towards a small ditch. They watched from afar how one of the large spawn came down from the sky and swooped up the baby creature. Jade tried to meet Acantha’s gaze, but the plant spawn was distracted and followed the bird take off into the sky.
“Let’s go,” Jade urged her, “We should go over the plan once more.”
The three comrades left the ditch. Morn shot a foul look towards Jade. The elf knew that Morn didn’t like to hide from danger and she was grateful that they hadn’t protested. They all knew they shouldn’t be distracted. They had a larger fish to fry.