Chapter31: The Rebels

*Maerilee* The world comes back to me in bits and pieces. Blurred shadows shift above, and damp earth presses into my back, grounding me as I try to gather my senses. I blink, my  vision sharpening gradually, until I see the dense canopy overhead. Water droplets hang from leaves, refracting the faint morning light into tiny rainbows that sway and shimmer as though they’re part of a dream. It’s quiet here, with only the soft trickle of water nearby and the gentle rustling of wind in the trees. I push myself up on an elbow, and that’s when I spot them. River, Brook, and Akin are huddled around a low fire, surrounded by a group of strangers. My heart leaps as I focus on Akin, his wrists still covered, but not with chains. They’re covered in bandages, dark with some sort of balm underneath. His face is pale, but he smiles in the firelight, laughing at something one of the strangers said. Relief floods through me, so overwhelming I nearly sway from it. He’s alive. We’re all alive. As if sen