She glanced over her shoulder and with a wave of her hand, commanded him to look away. Despite his trepidation, he finally obeyed.
There was a rustling of leaves, then silence. It occurred to Uldyssian that he could use his powers to check on her location, but suspected that Serenthia would, with her own, notice him doing just that. However, considering her present circumstances, the former farmer shied away from doing so.
There was a muffled sound from Serenthia’s direction. Uldyssian peered around for her. With relief, the dark-haired woman’s head reappeared. Seconds later, Serenthia slipped back to join him.
“I was worried…for a moment,” he admitted.
Much to his surprise, her eyes brightened at this comment. Serenthia put a hand to his cheek. She smiled almost shyly.
“I like that,” the merchant’s daughter finally murmured.
Then, her face reddening, Serenthia rushed on, briefly leaving a befuddled Uldyssian to try to understand just what the incident meant, if anything. Then, forcing such dangerous thoughts from the forefront, he hurried after the rest of the party. They did not head toward the capital, as some thought, but rather, farther south, toward where the main temple lay. It was not what Uldyssian would have chosen, but Lilith had forced his hand. Despite her acting as if she wanted him to destroy the Triune, he somehow felt that if he went directly for their supreme headquarters, it would be more than the demoness expected. Uldyssian hoped in that manner to throw her off guard.
Unfortunately, he also suspected that he was still playing into her hands.
The makeshift army paused near a river that, according to the Torajians, flowed between the southern gates of the city and the lands owned by the Triune. Uldyssian saw the river as the perfect guide for the rest of their journey. Romus and some of the others located the best area for the camp and the nephalem started to settle down for the night.
Recalling the river reptiles that Achilios had caught, Uldyssian made certain that not only did his followers steer clear of sleeping too close to the water, but that no one went alone to it for any reason. Even then, those small groups who did head to the river were to alert other people of the fact first.
“We should be able to fear nothing,” he remarked sarcastically to Mendeln. The two sat alone near one of the many fires. “That’s what these powers should mean, but look at us…”
“They are learning rapidly, Uldyssian. Have you not noticed that the more converts you gain, the more of your followers increase their abilities and quicker?”
“They need to! I’m marching them into a war with demons and magic and who knows what else!” He buried his head in his hands. “Will they be ready for that, Mendeln? You saw how it was in Toraja…”
“The lesson of Toraja is burned into all of us, brother. The next time will be different.”
Uldyssian looked up, his eyes narrowing. “The next time. What did the Torajians call the place?”
“Hashir. It is smaller than Toraja.”
“But somehow I doubt it’ll be any easier.”
Shrugging, Mendeln replied, “What will be will be.”
The younger brother stood up, and with a pat on Uldyssian’s shoulder, walked off. Uldyssian sat there, watching the flames and recalling the ones engulfing the temple and parts of Toraja. Would it be like that all over again? How many would perish this time? He had felt so determined after Lucion’s destruction, but Toraja had taken much of that from him, not that he let anyone other than Mendeln truly know that.
“You shouldn’t fret so, Uldyssian. It’s not good for you or for those who follow you.”
He looked up to see Serenthia step into the light of the fire like some night spirit. Her hair flowed loose and Uldyssian was surprised at just how long and lush it had gotten.
“I thought you were asleep,” he replied.
“Sleep…” Brushing back some hair, she sat down next to him. “I don’t sleep as much as some think, Uldyssian.”
That was something that he could understand, often suffering it himself, but to hear that Serenthia shared the problem worried him. “You should have said something…”
Her eyes glistened in the light of the fire. “To you? How could I bother you, when you’ve got so much with which to deal?”
As she spoke, she leaned against him. Her nearness both stirred him and added to his guilt.
“I always have time for you,” he heard himself say.
Serenthia touched the back of his hand. “If there was anyone I’d turned to, you know that it would be you, Uldyssian. And you know that I would be there for you, also. I’ve always been there for you…”
He remembered all the years that she had followed him around, waiting for the farmer to notice the young girl who had become a woman. Uldyssian had, but unlike most of the other men in Seram, not in the manner in which Serenthia had hoped.
But now, at a time when he least wanted to, he was noticing her as she had once dreamed.
She leaned closer…too close. “Uldyssian—”
Caught between desire and loyalty to a lost comrade, Uldyssian tried not to look directly into her eyes—
And, in doing so, saw something all but shadowed by the nighttime jungle.
With a gasp, he leapt to his feet.
“Uldyssian! What is it?”
He instinctively looked down at her, then quickly returned his gaze to the wilderness. However, all that met his eyes were darkened trees and vines. Nothing else. Nothing remotely resembling a human shape.
Nothing, certainly, resembling a figure with a pale face draped by blond hair, a figure whom he had taken for someone long dead.
“Achilios…” Uldyssian whispered. Without thinking, he took a step toward the jungle.
“What did you say?” asked Serenthia, suddenly standing in his path. “Did you see something out there?”
“No…nothing…” He could not tell her that he had just seen a ghost, a dead man walking. After all it had only been his own guilt that had manifested the vision. They had left Achilios buried far, far behind them…
To his further dismay, Serenthia put her palms on his chest. She looked up at him. “Uldyssian—”
“It’s late,” he interrupted, backing up from her. “We should do the best we can to sleep, Serry.” He purposely used the other name this time, hoping it would douse the volatile situation.
She frowned, then nodded. “As you say.”
Uldyssian expected her to say more, but she suddenly turned and headed deeper into the encampment. He watched her vanish among the others, then sat down by the fire again.
Staring at the jungle, Uldyssian suddenly probed the shadows. There was nothing, though, and he had not thought that there would be. It had been his own regrets, nothing more.
Achilios was dead…and for that reason alone, Uldyssian could never allow things to grow between Serenthia and him. Mendeln jolted to a sitting position, the sensation of something awry filling him. He hated when that particular sensation occurred, for it usually presaged imminent disaster for all. Quickly peering around, he saw no reason for his concern, but that did not assuage him in the least. His brother and he dealt with far too many dangers that kept themselves hidden until ready to spring upon the pair.
Moving silently, Mendeln rose from his blanket. Unlike most of the others, he did not sleep near the fires, preferring somehow the quiet dark of night over the protective light of the flames. Another change from the young boy who had always huddled closest whenever the last glimmer of day had passed.
His first concern was Uldyssian. With catlike movements, he stepped among the sleeping edyrem—as they were now apparently to be called—until he located his brother. Uldyssian slept fitfully and alone, Serenthia nowhere in sight. Mendeln felt mildly disappointed about the last. With Achilios dead, he had hoped that the two would find one another. Certainly, they deserved a little bit of happiness. Of course, his brother likely still felt too much at fault over the hunter and Serenthia had long ago given up trying to catch Uldyssian’s eye.