The guys poured some of this water on their hands, then the liquid took the form of their hands as if they were gloves from the water. Emma came up to me and started to walk her hands over my wounds. In the first seconds, there was a lot of pain again, but it was different than before, but it was still unpleasant. A couple of minutes later I felt better, and Luke could stand on his feet, which meant the guy was right; the first move was different. In my case, all this was reflected in a lot of pain. Soon Emma stopped doing what she was doing and withdrew. I felt much better already, but I still couldn't get up. I'm sure it was all a result of landing. Yeah, my leg really hurt a lot. George and David helped me to get back on my feet. The man immediately understood what was going on:
- Yes, Nika, everything is serious. We can't help you in this case, but leaving you here is even more dangerous than taking you to the Fire Castle. I hope you can move around a little bit. We can't waste any time, Nika! Can you handle it?
In return, I nodded again. George understood me, but in the crowd, I could hear a familiar voice:
- Ballast!
If I had any strength right now, I'd be happy to punch Max in his pretty face! If he didn't realize I wasn't feeling well right now, I was ashamed, I let everyone down. Max is right! I am the real ballast! While I was thinking, Emma answered for me, thank you very much for that:
- And you remember your first move, Max! Don't say a word without you, but it wasn't Nika's fault!
All I could do to thank her was smile a little bit, but she noticed and smiled back.
Then George decided to add it from himself:
- Nika will not interfere with us, but we need to act even more carefully, we do not need extra problems now! I hope that everything is in place? Yes! I see that everyone is present, then we are going towards the castle. I will ask you only about one thing: to go all next to each other and not to lag! Come on, let's go!
After these words, everyone followed George. Next to me was Luke, and the final one was Max, and I wouldn't expect to see anything else. Then Emma joined me in carrying my bag, where Snack was supposed to be. The girl answered my dumb question briefly:
- He was asleep.
Uh...the stone fell off my soul... I'm glad that the animal is okay. It calmed me down a little bit. I hope he was okay, but my sick leg was making itself felt. There was a terrible terrain, dirt and incomprehensible tree roots all over the place, and the darkness was also a great source of stress, as the torchlight wasn't enough for good lighting. My legs were already hurting a lot. I wonder if this Fire Castle is far away. How much time will we spend on the road? I wonder... I got a little strength in me, so I asked my escorts:
- "How far do we go? "
The girl wanted to answer, but Luke interrupted her:
- About three hours, but we'll go even longer. A fire castle can be traced from all sides, but we know how to get in.
Emma didn't like that Luke interrupted her:
- Luke, I could have explained it all myself! You...
But the guy wouldn't let her finish again, and the girl was all blush with anger:
- Yeah, yeah, you could have said it yourself, but I did. Stop looking at me like I was the last freak. She was angry and don't shout, not until now.
She threw her angry look at Luke again and drew air through her clenched teeth loudly, but did not answer anything. Next, we walked in the silence that was bothering me, and lately, I had begun to hate that silence. It depresses and destroys the man from the inside... As we walked, I began to feel a surge of energy and tried to walk myself. Luke noticed my progress:
- You see, you're feeling better now. I told you that everyone is going through their first journey in different ways. For example, the first time I couldn't sleep for five days after the move, but I threw up during the process itself. So...
But now the guy was interrupted by Emma:
- Oh, yeah, I remember that! I'll never forget it! Nika should have seen it then! You're a real wuss, and that's what you're still like!
The guy didn't like Emma's words, but he found the answer:
- Do you remember yourself? I remember everything in the smallest detail! How you couldn't talk normally and you were always hanging on to me, and also...
The girl answered with a whisper:
- I wasn't hanging on to you! You...
Luke interrupted her again, they probably like to argue like that, but it's starting to piss me off:
- Of course! That's what happened! Then you fell into the ditch, and I had to pull you out! But at least I had fun!
If you could kill a man with one look, Emma wouldn't have left anything of Luke, though who knows if you could kill with one look or not, we just can't know it! The girl was already on the verge of attacking the guy, but I stopped in time to ask what I was interested in:
- "How did Max survive the first move? "
