Mantle of the Gods

We made it to the grasslands in just over two hours.

I hadn’t been able to really tell since it was dark last night, but there wasn’t much forest after the bridge until it changed into grassland.

We had run into three Bramble Skeletons during our trek, which Ether and Justia had made short work of. The two of them seemed to be working together even better after their night together. I doubted Edward had been much help on watch, or that the two of them would have trusted him to stay awake during his turn.

I looked over at the blonde Noble. Edward had dropped the large bundle of stakes in the middle of the trail and had sat down against them. The math that I’d run had said that we’d need to beat six monsters an hour while only taking a six-hour break each night. It was after eight in the morning, so we were already behind schedule, and somehow I doubted that I’d be able to get him to move for a bit.

“We need to start farming.” I set down my jumpsuit full of fruit, trying to be careful not to bruise them any more than I had during transport.

“I need a nap.” Edward spread out his arms as he lay against the wood. "None of you could’ve carried that this far.”

“Atlas carried more.” Ether walked over to me. “Are you okay?”

I just nodded as I tried to catch my breath, I just ignored Edward. I didn’t care to waste it arguing with the Noble.

“There’s no way that a bunch of fruit weighs more than this load.” He slapped the stakes. "Speaking of, be a dear and throw me one of those.”

Ether glared at him but made no move to comply.

“Come on! You had the easy job! All you had to do was wait to hold a stickman.” When it became apparent that she wasn’t going to get him any food he turned to Aelin. "Blondie! You did even less. I need something to eat before I can move!”

Before Aelin could answer, Justia cut her off. "I’ll get you one.”

“Thanks!” He smiled, not realizing how much sarcasm had been in her voice.

The brown-haired Healer walked over and bent down. I saw her pick up a rock instead of a piece of fruit. Our eyes met for a moment and I gave her a questioning look, but all that did was give her a small pause before she turned and threw it as hard as she could.

“Catch!”

Edward couldn’t get his hands up in time. While his Power might have been at ten, his Speed was not faster than Justia’s. The rock shot through his hands and caught him in the side.

“OW!” He shot up to his feet. "Why’d you throw it that hard?” He looked down at the rock. "You threw a ROCK?!?”

He stomped over to her.

I should have been concerned, but it was hard to take him seriously when he was an inch shorter than her. Which wouldn’t have been so funny if he hadn’t started walking on his tiptoes in order to look taller.

“You dare to hit a NOBLE?” He fumed

“You aren’t the only Noble here.” Justia crossed her arms and glanced at me. "Would you look at that? He can move without getting something to eat.”

His face turned red, but he only sputtered as he tried to find words. When none came, he bent forward and reached for a piece of fruit.

Justia caught him by the ear.

“OWWW!”

“I think you have some apologies to give.” She turned him towards Ether. "They." She turned him towards Aelin. "Have done more today than you have since we got locked in here.”

Aelin looked up from where she was emptying the sling bag of the fruit that she’d carried. She had started helping Ether pull the fruit out of my jumpsuit and stack it into piles.

“So before you think about insulting one of us again… Don’t.” She looked around. "And if you can’t find a way to be useful, I’ll throw you in…” She looked at me and I pointed towards the cave in the distance where the boss room was. She pulled him up so he could see what she was turning him towards. "The boss room by yourself.” She twisted him so that he was looking up at her. "Do you understand?”

He tried to look at me. The rage in his face was gone and I saw fear and a plea for aid.

“Don’t look at him. He’s not going to help you.”

“I-I-I understand!”

Justia let him go. "Start putting up the fence.” She pointed at the stakes. "And you better not be the first person to eat something.”

He meekly nodded and slinked over to the stakes.

“You okay?” I got to my feet as she picked up the ax.

She nodded and pointed out at the eighteen inch high grass. "How big do you think these snakes are?”