CHAPTER NINETEEN (WAXING CRESCENT) Chapter Nineteen: Meeting Again She immediately got on her feet, tucked her equipment with her, and looked around once more. There was literally no one around her, she was alone. Mallory’s heart thumped wildly. The lapping of the water and the gentle whispers of the wind sound so distant. She looked at the horizon; there was still a lot of time before the sun dipped on the horizon. Maybe they just went somewhere to rest. Mallory tried to think positively. She calmed her anxious heart and walked towards the bank where her companions were. She saw their traces trailing towards the forest. Mallory looked and stared. There were no obvious movements inside the dense trees and bushes. She can’t hear their voices, and can’t see any trace of them. She gulped and said with finality. “They left me.” That was a fact she dreaded to learn. She remembered the way their captain looked at her and remembered how the others treated her—like an air. ‘The area
CHAPTER TWENTY (WAXING CRESCENT) Chapter Twenty: For the Second Time “Is it your first day at school?” Malloy noticed the small bag on the table first thing when she went out of their room. The aroma of cooked food assaulted her nose. “Yes,” Oddny replied shortly then sent a spoon of food in her mouth. Mallory approached sleepiness still not shaking off from her. “That looks good!” Oddny looked up at her, smiling. “Thanks.” She smiled as well, her heart lightening. She’s finally slowly getting back to her old self. Mallory reached for her head and rubbed it. “Learn well.” “Where are you going?” Mallory stopped and looked back, raising her bucket. “Bath.” “Why?” Oddny placed the spoon on her plate, leaning towards her direction. “Do you have somewhere to go?” “Uh,” I forgot to tell her. Mallory laughed awkwardly and answered. “… Fishing?” Her brows jolted up, but fortunately, she quit asking. “Okay, good luck.” “Thank you.” Mallory then went out. Baths are done quickly a
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE (WAXING CRESCENT) Chapter Twenty-One: Unknown, Subtle Changes She regretted it, but since she had already talked, she braced herself up and continued. “They expected me to at least catch twice as I did last time.” He stared, then laughed after some time, showing his perfect smile. It was contagious. ‘That must have been the reason why they flock to him,’ Mallory deduced in her mind, trying so hard for her lips not to lift up. “That’s great!” He grinned at her and gestured to the river. “Join me, then.” She couldn’t say no. It would sound stupid after she just told him—indirectly told him that she’ll stay to fish with him. Meekly, she nodded her head, and they both traced back down the path towards the river. They sat a bit further from where they did the day before. “There might be no more fish there. Maybe others had warned them that there was a werewolf hunting for them.” Leofric reasoned out. Mallory humored him and went along. After sitting down
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO (WAXING CRESCENT) Chapter Twenty-Two: Liking Each Other’s Company “You came,” Mallory greeted as soon as she saw him walking towards her, with the usual fishing rod and bucket in his hands. Leofric grinned. “Of course, I can’t leave you hanging.” “We didn’t agree on anything,” Mallory said, smiling despite that. “Still,” he sat next to her. “I don’t want to leave you alone.” Mallory smiled and said nothing else. So, is he accompanying her in this out of pity? If yes, she doesn’t mind. She enjoys his presence very much. And just because he’s doing it out of pity doesn’t change that fact. Although it does hurt her a little, that doesn’t mean anything. “Do you,” sometime later, Leofric spoke. “Not get tired of this?” He gestured to the river and the rod. “Are you tired now?” She asked back. “No, I mean, I was simply curious.” Leofric appeared to be flustered by her question. Awkwardly, he laughed. “Sorry if I offended you somehow.” Mallory silently sighed
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE (WAXING CRESCENT)Chapter Twenty-Three: Hours Before the Full Moon“Say, Mallory,” Leofric asked while they were walking back to the pack.“Hmm?” Mallory briefly lifted her head to look at his back before looking back down. They were walking on uneven ground, if she was distracted even for a bit, she’d slip and throw all the fish away to the ground. And embarrass herself.“Are you free tomorrow?” He stopped to wait for her.“Tomorrow?” Mallory met his eyes, also stopping to continue the conversation. It was still early; the sun would go down two hours from then.“It’s the full moon,” he grinned. “I want to meet with you at the moon square in the evening. Let’s watch the Blessing Ceremony together.”“Ah—”Unconsciously, her eyes wid
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR (WAXING CRESCENT)Chapter Twenty-Four: Ravings“Are you sure you’re going to be okay by yourself?” Oddny stopped right before the door to look at her.Mallory leaned on the wall, looking straight at her. She nodded. “I will be.”Oddny stared, looking at her face as if she was trying to figure out what was going on inside her mind. Mallory kept her smiling face, making sure to not let anything out.Oddny in the end just sighed in defeat. She held the door knob. “I don’t know what will happen, but everything will be alright.”“Thank you. I believe so too.”“Then, I’ll go first.” Oddny pulled the door open.“Wait!” Mallory stopped her. Oddny looked back over her shoulder. “Tell them good luck and congratulate them for me.”Oddny nodded before
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE (WAXING CRESCENT)Chapter 25: ForagingMallory looked behind him discreetly. So, it was his team. Mallory nodded her head in her mind then looked back at him.He looked at her with great expectation twinkling in his eyes. It was hard to disagree. After some hesitation, she ended up agreeing and just found herself in front of an officer and listed her name on the list. She was given a basket and she went out of the hall with her mind still floating.“Let me do it,” Leofric took the red ribbon from her hand.“Sorry?” Mallory didn’t know what happened. She watched Leofric tie the ribbon on her wrist and saw his satisfied smile after.“There,” Leofric turned to his team who were looking over and nodded his head. “Let’s move out!”No one dared to say against his words. Everyone filed into a single li
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX (WAXING CRESCENT)Chapter 26: An unexpected turn of EventsA whole week passed.During that week, as promised, Mallory joined him two times. It was fun, but she must admit that their time beside the river was the most enjoyable one. She doesn’t need to catch other people looking their way whenever they’re close. Having eyes on them was awkward, so she mostly avoided being with him if there were other people in the vicinity.He seems to understand it as sometimes he willingly creates distance between them, but whenever she’s alone, he just pops out of nowhere and accompanies her then disappears again to tend to the others.It was funny to watch, but she couldn’t help but notice the little tickle in her heart while watching him like that.For the remaining five days, she spent her time either helping on a farm inside the walls or simply fis