"What… just happened?" Nadia, as the mist faded and revealed the other side, stared wide-eyed at the scene before her.
The conclusion she'd come to about Nomma's water abilities was far different than what she'd imagined. Not only was he capable of drawing water out of the air itself, but in massive quantity. The scope of his power was higher than even her own, not that she'd ever attempted to do such a thing, but she couldn't even imagine it.
Not just Nomma, but the creature was on its side, unmoving. Rocks nearby were splattered with purple and blue. And the head of it was gone, as if vaporized.
Haq turned to the two of them, his gaze lingering on Nomma before turning back toward the creature, still catching his breath after sprinting to them. Nadia turned to her left, toward Nomma, only to see visible droplets running down the side of his neck, his face a glowing sheen of sweat. Complexion far paler than what it had been, Nadia immediately grabbed his canteen at his waist and shoved it into his hands, silently telling him to drink and compose himself. He did as she suggested, spilling a little out of the corners of his mouth, hand trembling and thirst taking over, combining dangerously as he gulped the remainder of water.
As he let out a breath of relief, he met Nadia's alarmed gaze. She mouthed words of gratitude to him, to which he responded with a subtle nod of his head. Both grateful for different reasons, they turned their attention to what was before them.
Haq, ignoring them, had already begun moving forward, eyes focused on the creature, taking in the intense damage and searching for any signs of life. He already knew it was dead, could tell from just a glance. There was nothing to see, for breath, just a twitch of its legs, as though it were attempting to flee. Acid sizzled on the ground as well as the walls of the Canyon. He frowned, noting the lack of weapon.
"Is it dead?" Nomma asked as Haq made his way back to them.
"Yes. Do either of you have any idea what that was?"
"No."
Nomma shakes his head "I don't know either."
Though he hadn't specified what exactly he was speaking of, he knew that they were both lying. He wasn't going to interrogate them, not when it was clear they were all on the same side in this. Haq had already taken note of Nomma's wild gaze, his trembling, his sudden tension and the almost instant sickly coloring on his face when the wall had appeared between them and the creature.
He spotted the canteen, the sweat, the clear avoidance of Nadia's gaze. Letting out a breath, Haq tilted his head and put on a smile.
If he'd had to take a guess as to what Nomma had done, it would've been the water wall that had prevented injury, not the explosion of the creature's head. Though he wanted to thank the young man for his aid, his interference with the secret they were attempting to keep might end up more detrimental than helpful, Haq realized.
He grinned at them.
"Well, it's not a problem anymore, is it?"
In the window of a gap between the two of them, something moved, a figure that couldn't camouflage with the reddish-tan coloring of the rock walls. Haq's eyes widened, seeing it, the smile fading from his lips.
"Abana," he whispered.
Both Nadia and Nomma turned, startled, only to see her walking toward them, a tight grip on her axe and a dangerous determination in her steps. Her expression fell within the realm of fury and anger, but as she reached them, the first she did was ask one simple question.
"Are any of you hurt?"
Rather than answering, Haq looked back to the creature, this time, his gaze catching on something he hadn't noticed before. Knowing that they were in good hands if, in fact, they were hurt, he wandered away.
Nadia and Nomma both shook their heads as she gave them a thorough visual inspection. Cleared, her attention moved. With a frown, she watched Haq striding up to the creature. He reached down, left hand extended as he crouched, to pull something free of the body. The three of them watched as he froze and instead twisted his body the other way, grabbing it with his right hand and yanking it free, careful of the acid that followed the removal.
Abana immediately began storming over to him as he shook off the dagger he'd discovered. It was untainted by the acid, with an intricate design. Before he could admire it, seeing the weapon for the first time in person, Abana was at his side, grabbing his upper arm firmly, lifting it away from his body. His forearm was a mix of purple and red. She, realizing what she was seeing, looked to him with a sharp glare.
"What?"
With a sigh and a roll of the eyes, she pulled him away from the creature's dead body, to the opposite side of the pathway. Haq, with widened eyes that stayed solely on Abana, followed her lead, stunned. Nadia and Nomma looked at one another before quietly moving after them.
The timing of her presence was purely coincidental, yet the three of them, silently assumed she'd been responsible, not for the wall of water, but of the death of the creature. It was too perfect, her appearance just as it perished. Abana said nothing, asked nothing of it, neither confirming nor denying.
Once she had Haq seated on the old log of a fallen tree, she pulled out the canteen Elavale had given her earlier in the morning. She'd hooked it on the side of her waistband.
Abana carefully washed away the blood on his arm, both from the creature and himself. Nadia gasped softly at the sight left behind once the colors washed away. The whole of his forearm was a different color. Not just an angry shade of red, it was darker in places. The skin itself looked stiff, not dissimilar to the char of meat cooked too long over a fire.
Lyruk and Elavale rounded the corner in the distance, making their way over to the four of them.
"What's going on?" Elavale asked as she stepped closer.
"Lyruk. Salve and bandages," Abana demanded, holding out a hand in their direction without even giving them a glance.
Once they got close enough, Haq's arm was in plain sight. Elavale's expression transformed instantly while Lyruk merely closed his eyes to focus, understanding why Abana needed such things from him.
"Gosh! What happened?!"
Wordlessly, Lyruk focused on his home, visualizing and picking out an appropriate homemade salve and a roll of clean cloth. After a moment, they appeared in his hands.
Haq used his other arm to point at the creature.
"That's a pile of acid."
"Acid?"
Elavale turned, eyes wide as her head whipped back to Lyruk. They were recalling the conversation with Lybis. After a short explanation of what had happened, Haq skillfully leaving out the wall of water and blast of acid from its mouth, leaving both Nadia and Nomma relieved and Abana newly concerned, Lyruk and Elavale took Nadia and Nomma farther along the path. They were headed far enough to peek around the next corner, looking for, but not engaging with any creatures. It was to plan their next course of action while Abana worked on Haq's arm. She silently began with the salve as they walked away. Eyes scanning and fingers gentle, she was making certain every millimeter was covered while not causing extra pain in the process.
Haq studied her in the quiet, taking the moment to appreciate seeing her face so close, to learn the details in a calm environment. With her blue skin, it was hard to see the light brown freckles that dotted her forehead unless she was within a short distance. She had a lightly colored scar as well, at the base of her ear, a few centimeters in length; it was thin and parallel to her jaw.
As much as he liked admiring her in the silence, his curiosity got the best of him.
"How did you take down the creature?"
It was the first words said between them in what seemed like both hours and seconds all at once.
"It wasn't me. I had nothing to do with it." Abana shook her head vehemently, denying any part of what had happened. "I didn't do it."
Unlike when Nadia and Nomma were trying to claim they knew nothing of the previous events, Haq could tell instantly that she was being truthful. However, if that was the case, then how did the creature die? Who had done it? Was it Nomma, with the water? Though Haq didn't know the scope of the ability, it was possible he'd done it simultaneously. Perhaps he used water like a spear?
"Have you ever seen anything like it before?" Haq asked about the creature, momentarily unable to bring his voice higher than a whisper. It didn't make a difference that it was just the two of them and the question wasn't anything out of the ordinary for the situation.
Abana paused before continuing to carefully dab globs of the salve onto his arm.
"Lybis told us this place can connect to other planets," she eventually replied, adjusting her volume to match his.
Haq frowned, his brows furrowing low as he considered her words. He glanced over at the creature, eyes widening in alarm.
"Wait. You're saying..."
"I've never seen that," she said, nodding slowly. "None of us have."
"Because it's... from another planet?"
Abana pursed her lips, but there was no need for a reply aloud, the both of them falling into a contemplative silence. She tapped the last bit of salve on his arm and closed the tin, setting it aside. Grabbing the roll of cloth, she assessed his arm and where to begin.
The healing capabilities of those who lived longer than humans were increased to support their lifespan. What could take months to heal and scar on an ordinary person could be done in weeks or days if they were a being of power in the universe.
Haq watched her and then opened his mouth, putting a gentle hand over the cloth. She pushed his hand aside.
"I don't think I need the bandage, it'll-"
"Shush."
He blinked, several times, staring at her as though he could find an answer to what had just occurred before his eyes. The word she uttered wasn't said sarcastically nor was it spoken in a similar manner to that. It had been a firm reply, but with a warmth he generally didn't hear from her.
"What?"
"You're just going to have to deal with it," she clarified, her voice turning more authoritative as she gave him a sharp look.
"The bandage?"
"The bandage," she agreed.
For a moment, as she began wrapping the cloth around his arm, he contemplated saying something. As much as he wanted to start a conversation, to speak to her like this, without the fighting and back-and-forth they normally did, he didn't want to disturb the peace settling between them now.
He sucked in a sudden breath, the cloth pulled a little too tight. She looked up apologetically, meeting his eyes hesitantly.
"Sorry."
He laughed, caught off guard. "Don't be. It's just a little tender."
Slowing down, being all the more careful, Abana bit her lip as she continued to wrap the wound.
"It's really not that bad," Haq whispered.
Her gaze rose, meeting his. They both paused, looking at one another as if seeing each other for the first time.
"I'm sorry I wasn't..."
Her words fell away and her hands began to work again. It was then that Haq finally understood her words. The apology itself had a double meaning. She wanted to tell him she was sorry she hadn't come with the three of them.
One side of his mouth lifted in a lopsided smile.
"No."
"What?" Abana froze and looked back at his face.
"I'm glad you weren't here."
"How can you say that?" She frowned, narrowing her eyes.
"Better me than you."
"Why?"
He searched her face for a moment, finding the words that would make the most sense to her. The reality was much simpler. After all, the pain of seeing another injured increased exponentially the more they cared about them.
"Why?" she repeated, needing to hear the answer.
He smiled, and inclined his head toward her axe.
"Axe versus dagger. Splatter pattern. Better that I was the one who attacked it."
Had she gotten close and hacked at any part of it with her weapon, she'd have been covered in the blood, wounds extensive. Since it had been Haq, with just a dagger, the burst had been limited to one area.
Abana turned to look at her axe, processing his words. It was logical, reasonable. She shouldn't have hated it, yet she couldn't help but feel peeved at the reason. Quickly returning to her work on the bandaging of his arm, she failed to notice Haq's expression fall. The real explanation of his opinion on the matter of gratitude that she wasn't present was held hostage within himself.
Conflicted, Abana realized that although his reason was sound, she wanted him to say something else. Unable to fathom what she'd expected him to say, all she knew was that she was at war with herself over him. She couldn't look at him without recalling her revelation.
Though she knew it was useless, that she shouldn't entertain such emotions, she liked him, perhaps more than she could comprehend at the moment.