An uncomfortable silence hung in the air, only occasionally broken up by a bird somewhere in the trees, or the sound of Ray tugging out mouthfuls of green grass. Not even the canopy of leaves above them kept the forest cool at that point, the hot summer sun baking the earth.

Lukas was sitting cross-legged on the grass, close to where Ray was grazing. He had been fiddling with the grass he was sitting on, absent-mindedly weaving the long green blades together. Finally he's grown bored of that, and had resorted to watching his mare graze while fanning himself with one hand in an unsuccessful attempt against the summer heat. He couldn't wait for autumn to roll around.

Jesse didn't seem to be phased by the humid summer air at all, slowly pacing up and down between two trees. Lukas could tell she was worried, or frustrated, or annoyed, or something along those lines, her hands twitching at her sides and her expression stiff. They haven't been waiting that long, only about twenty minutes. But it felt like an eternity had passed.

"Are you sure you don't want to sit down?" Lukas said, taking a bottle of water from his bag. "You know how carried away Jack can get when he's telling a story, we might be waiting for a bit."

"No thanks." Jesse mumbled distractedly.

"Is everything okay?" Lukas tried, taking a small drink from the bottle. "What's bothering you?"

"Nothing!" Jesse snapped, making Lukas flinch. She sighed, raking her fingers through her hair. "No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap. Nothing's bothering me, nothing specifically, this is just... kind of how I feel on a daily basis."

"What do you mean?" Lukas asked softly.

"It's just these powers." Jesse mumbled, beginning to stroke the grazing mare. "My emotions fuel the powers, but the powers exaggerate my emotions, so it's all just one big mess." She sighed. "I just can't win."

Lukas's face softened. He's been a little too hung up on how much Jesse deserved another chance to realise how hard things were for her. Any sympathy he had was clouded over by the anger over Petra getting hurt.

Before Lukas could reply, Ray lifted her head, a clump of grass still hanging from her mouth. Her ears were pricked as she stared through the trees, snorting.

"Do you hear that?" Jesse asked, as Lukas slowly got to his feet as well.

It was distant, but it sounded like hoofbeats. They didn't have to wonder for long, as Petra became visible through the trees after a few moments, leading two horse behind her.

"Hey guys!" She was grinning. "Looks like we'll get there today after all, Jack said we could use these two."

"They're beautiful." Lukas said, reaching out to stroke one of the horses while the other cautious sniffed Ray.

They were both geldings, clearly bred for travelling unlike Ray. The first one was a striking black and white appaloosa, his white coat covered in splashes and flecks of black. A large black patch covered most of his back and rump, decorated with white spots. The other was a dark dappled grey with four white stockings that all went up over his knees, as well as a broad white blaze. He looked much younger than the appaloosa, looking around with curious eyes.

"Did you get the compass? And the map?" Jesse asked.

"Got them both." Petra said, handing the map to Lukas and the compass to Jesse. "But you can return that compass to Binta, Jesse, we're not using it."

"What?" Lukas asked in surprise, looking up from the map.

"Jack gave me this." Petra said, showing them the blanket. "It's from the Oasis, so if that's where Xara is, it'll take us straight to her."

"That's perfect." Jesse said, smiling for the first time in a while. "Everything really is falling into place!"

"What are we waiting for then?" Lukas asked, looking between them. "Let's go!"

Neither of them needed telling twice. Petra quickly tightened Ray's girth that Lukas had loosened when they waited, while Jesse vaulted onto the dappled grey gelding. She adjusted her position awkwardly, not having been in a horse's saddle for a very long time.

Lukas legged Petra up onto Ray again, before mounting the appaloosa. Holding the reins with one hand, he studied the map intensely, before taking the lead at a trot. Petra urged Ray on so the mare was trotting behind Lukas, while Jesse tried to keep to the back again. But the young grey didn't fancy riding at the tail end of the group, tugging at the reins until Jesse gave in and allowed him to fall into stride beside Ray.

The first stretch of the ride was quiet between the three friends. Because they were familiar with the forests and plains in the area they were trotting and cantering for the most part. Ray seemed particularly thrilled about running with other horses.

By midday, the terrain started getting a little more unfamiliar. The riders and horses were all tired and sweaty, so they decided to take a break by a small creek. Jesse remained quiet as always, strolling away from the others as Petra and Lukas took out the lunch they had brought, while the three horses drank from the creek.

The sun was still high in the sky by the time they decided to set out again, this time at a slower pace. Lukas took the lead once more with the map, using it to guide them through the unfamiliar rocky hills. Petra and Jesse were riding a few feet behind him. Jesse's gelding had decided he quite liked Ray's company and was sticking to the mare's side, every now and then giving her affectionate nuzzles.

"Nervous?" Petra asked, noticing Jesse's gaze fixed on her horse's mane. "It's not far now. I recognise these hills from when we came with Jack."

"Not really." Jesse said, not looking up. "Numb more like."

"Numb?" Petra asked.

"Numb's good." Jesse said, smiling faintly. "When I focus my attention on something mundane, focussing so hard I can't feel my emotions any more... that's the only time they completely go away. And I can feel like Jesse again."

"I'm sorry." Petra replied softly. "I didn't realise..."

"You don't have to apologise." Jesse whispered, shaking her head. "Maybe if I didn't push you away and talked to you... then you would have understood and the accident never would have happened. It wasn't your fault Petra, it was mine for not being honest with you about what was going on inside my head."

"What really happened that day?" Petra asked softly. "I barely remember anything, just... voices. I remembered you asking me to stop, but I didn't listen. And then just... darkness."

"It escalated so quickly." Jesse explained, biting her lip like she was trying to hold back tears. "You wanted to talk, I didn't. You kept coming closer, trying to get me to listen... I was too wrapped up in my own emotions going haywire to really listen, but I could feel myself loosing control. I was trapped between you and the wall, the space continuing to grow smaller."

There was a distant look in Jesse's eyes as she relived the argument. Petra listened on guiltily.

"I began begging you to stop. I think I made it look like I didn't want help, when in reality I just didn't want to explode... but I did." Jesse took a deep breath, flexing her fingers around the reins as she felt her fingertips burning. "I kept attacking, no matter how much you were begging me to stop." She gulped. "I came to my senses after I threw you off the building. I didn't know if I killed you."

"Jesse, I... I'm really sorry." Petra said softly.

"Please don't apologise." Jesse whispered. "You were only trying to help. I've spent the last year trying to figure out how I could possibly apologise."

Petra reached over, resting one hand on Jesse's shoulder. The shorter girl flinched slightly, looking over at Petra in surprise.

"It's nobody's fault. It was just an accident." Petra said, smiling. "Let's leave it at that."

Jesse returned the smile faintly, before nodding.

--------------------------

It was late afternoon, the sky a peachy orange colour. The horses were all visible tired, their heads hanging low as they sluggishly walked across the sandy slope. The riders themselves looked beat, Lukas and Petra both slouched in the saddles tiredly. Jesse was the only one who sat up straight, looking around with intrigued brown eyes.

"You can't deny that view." Lukas said as he pulled the appaloosa up, sitting back in the saddle as he took in the ocean in the distance, the sun only just beginning to set across a dark blue horizon.

"Just like I remember it." Petra said, exchanging glances with Jesse.

"According to the map there's an island not too far from here, with the sea temple right beside it." Lukas said, checking the map again.

"That's right." Jesse replied. "There's some old wooden boats just nearby we can use to get there. The diving helmets are on the island."

"Speaking of the boats, they're right where Jack said we can leave the horses." Petra explained, beginning to steer Ray down the slope. "It's an old fenced off field, doesn't belong to anybody, but is still sturdy and safe. It has small stream going through and more than enough for them to graze on."

"Sounds good." Lukas said, riding after Petra. "I hope there's some place for us to rest around here as well, because I'm beat."

"Actually, I think we should go to the island right now." Jesse spoke up. "The two of you are going to practically get scorched in the sun if we go in broad daylight, so we should make that trip when it's dark."

"I agree with you, Jesse, but Lukas also has a point." Petra said, patting Ray's neck. "We're exhausted."

"Is this the place?" Lukas asked, changing the subject as he gestured to a sturdy wooden fence, if a little scuffed up and faded.

"That's it." Petra said, slipping from Ray's back.

Her right leg threatened to buckle beneath Petra once she was on her feet. She leaned against Ray for a moment, holding her breath as she flexed the sore limb. Even though Ray was doing most of the work for her, Petra definitely pushed it a little.

"I have an idea." Jesse said as Lukas opened the field's gate, leading his horse in.

"What?" Petra asked, limping over with Ray as well.

"I don't see why the two of you can't rest in a boat." Jesse said, begging to undo her horse's girth. "I don't need rest, I can steer it."

"Are you sure?" Petra said, gratefully handing Ray's reins to Lukas when he offered to untack her. "It's going to be a long, boring night for you."

"Every night is." Jesse responded, shrugging. "At least I'll have something to do. And that way, we'll be by the island before morning even comes."

"It's not a bad idea." Lukas agreed, leaning against the fence as they watched the horses sniffing around the paddock.

Ray began hungrily tugging at the lush green grass, while the appaloosa dipped his muzzle into the clear stream of water. The grey threw his head in the air with a delighted whinny, before dropping down onto the grass to roll. They all chuckled, reassured that the horse's would be alright there.

Agreeing that they'd sail out at night, the group spent the last bit of daylight with the horses, eating the last of the food they brought on the paddock fence. Lukas walked around the field one last time to make sure the fences didn't have any sharp bits where the horse could cut themselves, while Petra was giving Ray a goodbye cuddle. Jesse had said something about looking for the boats, before slipping off.

"You're going to enjoy it here the next few days, okay?" Petra said to the horse, scratching her behind her ears. "You've got a whole field of grass and two men wrapped around your hoof."

One of the geldings whinnied loudly as if he understood.

"Hey girl." Lukas said as he too came walking up, petting Ray's neck and offering her a piece of carrot. "It's going to be hard not to worry about the three of you here, all alone."

"They'll be okay." Petra said, giving Ray one last pet, before getting down from the fence railing. She and Lukas watched together as Ray trotted off to where the geldings were, touching noses with the grey.

"I have a feeling we'll soon have bigger things to worry about."

___

It's been a while since I've updated, so I'll split this author's note between talking about the chapter and a quick life update!

So first of all, long hiatuses should officially be a thing of the past - that's right, ya girl here has finished school and is officially free!
I actually finished a few weeks ago, but I spent the first while after finishing just relaxing, honestly, I watched movies and played computer games with no end! And then I somehow managed to get sick shortly after so that's why I haven't been active in the slightest.

I'm excited to spring through the rest of the book now that I have nothing but free days ahead of me!

As for what's going to happen from here on out, I'm still planning on pursuing my dream of becoming a freelance author and illustrator, but before anything else, I'm going to focus on myself and recover mentally from this year. I haven't shared much here on wattpad, but this was a really difficult year for me (surprisingly it had nothing to do with the pandemic or any of the major issues in the world) and on top of that I had a pretty bad burnout a few months ago. 2021 is going to be a gap year for me, a year to find myself again and just unwind!

My boring old life aside, back to the story! Sorry you guys had to wait so long for another chapter, but Jesse, Petra and Lukas are finally headed to the underneath... What awful surprises might be awaiting them on their journey? What challenges will they face on their way down? Will they find Xara there? Will she be able to help them?

I'm editing the next chapter right now, so you'll have it in a few days!