I stood outside of the tent as I heard violent coughing. I walked inside and Akira was trying to sleep. I let her sleep in my cot and gave her a few blankets. She closed her eyes. I walked back outside to see the other three standing there. They had sad faces as I looked at them.

"How is she?" Ryoichi asked.

"She's ill but I'm sure that she'll live through it. I think she'll be better in the morning." I said and then walked away.

I walked into the forest with a small bowl. I dipped it in the water and then stood up. I walked back to the tent and gave Akira some water. She smiled and then went back to sleep.

Takashi, Honoka, Ryoichi, and I slept outside under the stars that night. Luckily, it wasn't raining or anything. Our animals came next to us and layed down on the ground. I covered myself with my cloak as Kukiko and Adeluin slept close to me. I closed my eyes and got a good night's rest.

The sun rose up and then I saw Akira's face in mine. My eyes went wide and then I punched Akira. She flew back and landed on Ryoichi. He was startled by the weight that was suddenly put on him. I sat up to see Akira grinning at me. Ryoichi sat up. His hair was all jumbled up and so was Takashi's. Honoka started to laugh a little.

"You should now know not to do that!" I said to Akira.

Akira suddenly ran over to me and gave me a huge hug.

"Thank you!!! I'm glad I'm not sick anymore!!!" she said.

I sat up and pulled her off of me. I smiled and then layed back down on the ground. I closed my eyes to get some more sleep. I suddenly felt knocking on my head. It hurt a lot.

"Cut it out!" I groaned as I still tried to get some sleep.

I started to feel another burning in my chest. It was the same burn as I got earlier. I put my hand over the mark and then it disappeared.

"You okay, Eya?" Akira asked.

"I-I don't know. I've never felt like this before." I said as I started to stand up.

I was about to walk until I suddenly fell to the floor. I felt so tired for some reason. Akira, Takashi, Honoka, and Ryoichi ran over to me. I was on my hands and knees, having trouble breathing. It was pretty painful. I clenched my teeth as the mark started to burn. I ended up passing out in a matter of minutes.

I woke up to see Takashi looking down at me. The sun was already out and I figured that it was past noon. I sat up and Takashi helped me back to my feet.

"You okay?" he asked.

I nodded and then I felt him wrap his arms around me. I hugged him back until Ryoichi, Akira, and Honoka returned from doing something.

"What started this mark thing?" she asked.

"All I can remember about the battle was when he pierced me a little with this black and red dagger." I said. Then my eyes got wide and I suddenly remembered.

"When Rikuto got me, I saw that the dagger had a wolf's head on it. It must've been that. My master told me that Rikuto was good with magic. He must've put a spell on the dagger and that's how I got it!!!" I said.

"How do we stop him?" Honoka asked.

I turned around and looked beyond the valley. I closed my eyes and then turned back towards my troops and friends.

"We're going to have to defeat him, obviously. But we are going to have to meet him somewhere. I just don't know where." I said.

Everyone packed up and we continued on the trail. Adeluin walked around the steep paths. We stopped in front of a canyon where so many rocks started to fall towards the river down below. I turned Adeluin around to face the troops.

"We have to be careful. These rocks can fall anytime, so be prepared to move quickly. I think it will be easier if we split up." I said.

I gave everyone their groups and I turned around to get moving with my group of troops. I let Takashi, Akria, Honoka, and Ryoichi lead their own groups. I told them that we would meet over at a land bridge which is somewhere around these canyons. Adeluin cantered around the curves and over the rocks. I heard the land start to move and I made everyone gallop away from it. We raced through the canyon I saw a giant space. I urged Adeluin and he jumped across the gap. My troops followed me. As Adeluin jumped, I saw Takashi's group below.

We raced through the canyon and I saw a sight of a bridge to get to the other side of the canyon. Adeluin galloped at full speed as Takashi, Akira, Honoka, and Ryoichi caught up with me. I smiled at them and Akira gave a small kick to Goro. He hissed and went faster than all of us. I shook my head and then Adeluin got the message. Adeluin made it past Goro pretty fast. We started to slow down once we got close to the bridge.

Adeluin came to a sudden halt when the bridge was right in front of me. Adeluin started to back up. I made Akira's group go first. Goro didn't have any trouble getting across but the horses were walking a little slower. Akira's group got across just fine. Takashi's and Honoka's groups went across. Ryoichi then led his group across. I gave my group a signal and we walked across the bridge.

The land started to break a little. I made it across and so did most of my groups did. I turned around and a horse was startled to death. The horse reared on its hindlegs and the rider was freaking out. The rider fell off and plummeted towards the river. I galloped onto the bridge and got out a piece of rope.

I gave it to Adeluin and he neighed in response. I dove deeper and deeper. I grabbed hold of the young man and he looked at me. He has brown hair and dark brown eyes. I tugged on the rope a little. Adeluin started to back up. We rose up inch by inch. I heard Akiko walk up to Adeluin. She wrapped her antlers around the rope and helped pull back. We rose up faster. The other animals helped and we were able to reach the top of the bridge. I stood up and patted Adeluin's neck. He nudged me to make sure I was okay. A dapple gray horse walked up to the young man and nuzzled him. The young man patted his horse and mounted into the saddle. I got into Adeluin's saddle and walked over to the young man.

"Are you okay..." I asked. I couldn't remember his name.

"Aoi..that's my name. Thank you for saving me." he said.

I smiled at him and walked to the front of the troops. Honoka walked over to him and examined his wounds. He smiled at her and she smiled back. Akira turned around and she suddenly had a grin come across her face.

"Don't even think about it!" I said.

She smiled a little and then continued on the trail. We continued through the trail until we reached a small grassy area. The sun started to go down and the sky was getting darker and darker. I made my troops keep marching on. Akira yawned loudly. She opened her eyes and she saw Takashi, Honoka, Ryoichi, Aoi, and I looking at her.

"What!?! I'm tired." she said.

I looked around and I decided to let the troops rest for the night. Everyone got ready for sleep. I jumped off of Adeluin's saddle. I turned around and took it off and I also grabbed hold of his briddle. I made sure that everyone was asleep and then I fell asleep under my cloak.