Aoife and Nadia held bundles of fruits wrapped in blankets they had taken from the bedrooms. Rowan gestured with his new sword to show what he had found, and turned to exit the building.
Aoife and Nadia followed this time, though Rowan did look back towards the house before he continued on. He had truly believed Ben to be a good person, had thought of him as similar to himself, but apparently, he had been far off with his assumption.
Turning away from the house, Rowan saw that Aoife and Nadia were both looking back at the house as well, a mix of sadness and sternness in their eyes.
Rowan simply walked by them. He had quickly come to terms with Ben's death, because it wasn't hard to tell that he had deserved it. Whether or not he could have saved Leah was a question he wouldn't be able to answer, but leaving her to suffer in that fate was one Rowan could easily resolve.
Still, disappointment lingered in his mind, as he thought about how he had wanted Ben to be a good person. Nadia and Aoife eventually followed after him, and he quickly found himself at the back of their group again.
Sighing, Rowan looked up to the sky in near exasperation. Dwelling on what Ben had done wouldn't change anything. No matter how much he regretted trusting him, or felt sorry for Leah, it wouldn't undo what had been done. Pushing the thoughts away, Rowan returned to the road they were travelling on, and on his role of keeping an eye out for anything that came to attack.
Yet, just as in the previous days, there was nothing. No beasts hiding out in destroyed buildings to the sides of the road, no signs of impending danger, nothing. The lone creature he saw outside of the group was some black coloured bird, high up in the sky.
It was too far away to tell exactly what species it was, but Rowan guessed it was likely a raven or crow, unless it actually was some kind of beast. Yet despite its incessant circling above, it never actually got any closer.
'Probably some kind of carrion bird, waiting for us to die...'
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They passed through the next city they saw without incident. It was much smaller than Kilkenny had been, and was significantly more destroyed as well. The beasts had likely abandoned it due to how levelled the place now seemed, barren of hiding spots or things to eat.
They were covering more ground then they had on the first day, having started moving much earlier, not having to figure out where they were. At least, Rowan hoped they didn't have to figure out where they were, as he was basically blindly trusting that Aoife and Nadia knew where they were taking him.
But he had no real choice other than to trust them, really. He hadn't gotten the same upbringing as them, only being taught the basics of math, Fall history, pre-Fall history and learning proper English. On the other hand, they had been taught about Hells, awakeners, and the geography of Ireland.
'It's no wonder the death rate of orphans is so high, they probably can't find their way back. I wonder if that's what happened to Fiona...'
How long could she have survived out here, if she did make it out of her Hell? Would she have survived a week? Two? Rowan sighed. It was pointless to think about, whatever the case was, she hadn't made it home. Either she had been eaten by a beast, or had fallen victim to someone the same way Leah had.
They passed more Hells on the way to the city called Clonmel, their next destination. Some of them were the same as the ones they had entered for their initial Hell, but more like the strange ones they had seen were appearing.
"It must be because their higher tier. That'll make it easier I suppose, to be able to tell what tier a Hell is."
Aoife nodded at Rowan's comment, while Nadia stared at the Hells with no small amount of fear.
'She really isn't cut out for this... I suppose that's one of the downsides of being born in an awakened family, you're pretty much forced into challenging the Hells.'
Rowan continued on, knowing that she would eventually turn away and continue to follow. The sun sat high in the sky, and Rowan began to realise he hadn't had anything to drink in the time they had been walking. The fruit was very juicy, but Rowan didn't particularly feel like he could eat that yet.
Luckily, the road bridged over a river, and Rowan decided he would take a drink from the river as they passed. Aoife and Nadia agreed as well, though he did not know if it was out of disgust for the fruits, or simply wanting a drink.
Regardless, the water of the river was very refreshing, and Rowan took many handfuls as he drank hastily. Climbing back up to the road, he noted lazily that there were now three black birds circling overhead.
'Guess they really don't value our chances...'
Ignoring the morbid corvids, Rowan waited for the others to climb back up before continuing their journey. Farm land continued to sprawl on either side of them, with only the occasional destroyed farm building in sight. Rowan wonder what it might have looked like before the Fall, crops growing in fields, animals grazing in pastures.
Yet now there was nothing, just the empty spaces where they used to be. Looking at the sky to gauge how much sunlight they had left, Rowan saw it approaching the horizon, with about 3 hours to go, based on the previous day's experience.
But he also noticed, high above him, circling, were an increasing number of birds. They flew in a lazy circle above the group's heads, and Rowan began to doubt whether they would wait for the group to die, or if they intended to speed up the process.