Content Warning: Death and Grief

Two

Lirrynae

She had buried Jenaisa under a bush of white blooms along the edge of the small, stony beach.

Her heart ached when she had laid her down, and she had blinked back tears as she collected stones from the shoreline. As she slowly buried her pain, the guilt and regret grew. She should have brought something to defend them. She could have found some other way to escape the attack without forcing Jenaisa to jump to her death. She should have taught Jenaisa how to brace such a dive.

It didn’t matter now.

Her love’s gentle soul was on its way to restart the journey of life, while her body lay broken, and never to see the light again. All Lirrynae felt as she looked over the mound of rocks was emptiness. A void had opened in her chest the moment she had opened her eyes to find that last night had been devastatingly real. It was now in the early hours of the morning, with the stars shining down on her as though nothing had changed.

It should have been me.

Her hands fisted at her sides, sucking in a shaking breath at the thought. Jenaisa had so much to live for, and a family who loved her so much. She had a dream, a vision for her life, and now it was all for nothing. Lirrynae never had anything but her work before Jenaisa had traipsed into her heart. She didn’t have any family or vision for her life besides her service. She was disposable; that was the point.

Now, she was the one to walk away, which she needed to do now. She needed to figure out where she was. They had started out a half a day’s walk out of Nelenai and as she had swam north, that likely put her a few hours from the edge of the metropolis. She didn’t want to think about what she would need to do once she arrived, which was to notify everyone of the Chovera’s presence before she would travel north to Jenaisa’s family somewhere in the countryside of Daosu.

She was barely aware of her muscles screaming for relief, pain and exhaustion weighing her down even as she took her first step away from the consuming ocean’s lapping waves. The forest had fallen silent around her, each step crackling in her ears. She fought the urge to look back, locking her eyes ahead of her when she wasn’t searching for the origin of every chirp or rustle around her. She was both relieved and crushed by the lone rhythm of her footsteps.

Lirrynae rubbed at her eye, the distinctive black markings she had drawn on the day prior were now nothing but smears of charcoal staining her cheeks and fingers. She wasn’t sure how long she had been walking before her leg buckled under her, sending her tumbling onto the uneven ground. A gasp tore from her throat as she barely caught herself before her face slammed into one of the stones spearing up through the dirt.

Fire curled up her left side, twisting around her ankle and permeating to her hip and up her spine. She gritted her teeth, nails curling into the ground as she muffled a scream. Her breath shuddered, eyes damp as she glanced down to see her ankle now twisted awkwardly sideways in such a manner that caused bile to rise in her throat. She blinked, biting back a groan as she carefully flipped over, backing up to prop herself against the stone.

After catching her breath, she tried to test moving her foot, only for the world to spin around her as a bolt of pain wracked her body. She leaned her head back against her tight shoulders, looking up at the giant stems of fungi that canopied above her and the dimly glowing green leaves that danced close to the heavens.

Part of her lamented about how her healing abilities were useless for herself, while another embraced the suffering that was only a fragment of the loss within her soul. The temptation to simply lay there until she perished was strong, but Jenaisa would have wanted her to go on though and Lirrynae couldn’t afford to die without first informing someone of what had happened. They needed to know that a daemon had gotten loose on Ariya.

She sat forward, tentatively brushing her fingers over the tender, swelling skin just above where her sandals were secured. She looked over herself, searching for anything she might still have, but what little she had carried had been lost during either the chase, the dive, or in the ocean. Her eyes landed on the flowing base of her tunic. It would make for a good enough splint if she was able to tear a long enough piece away from the garment. Sending a silent apology to Jenaisa for the crime she was about to commit, she tugged at the bottom seam… and tugged again.

She almost laughed, her grip loosening as she noted the one time that Jenaisa’s insistence on using strong, high-quality fabric was not helpful. If she was able to loosen the seam or create an opening in the tightly woven threads, then it would be no problem. The issue was that she was clearly without a blade to do such a task.

Her gaze lowered to the forest floor, noting the fragments of rock scattered around her. Most would be too dull or were too small for her to effectively hold, but one caught her eye: a triangular shard just large enough to grip between her fingers. She reached for it, jaw clenching as her attempt fell just short of her fingers brushing against the rough stone. Her second grab resulted in her just being able to fumble the point into her palm, a whoosh escaping her as she adjusted her hold on it.

She carefully cut through the hem, pulling at the forming tear. She looped the strip of fabric around her, carefully ending the long ribbon draped in her hands. She set it aside, quickly untying her sandals, adjusting her foot to lie in a more natural position. She hissed as she looped the fabric around it, wrapping it until there was only enough to secure it. She replaced her shoe, blinking back the stars at the edges of her vision and wiping away the beads of sweat that gathered on her brow.

She only allowed herself a moment before she pushed herself up, supporting herself by propping an arm against a thick fungi stalk. Pressure screamed in her temples, her vision going white as when she rocked forward onto the splinted ankle. Her eyes fluttered rapidly, the light slowly dimming until the darkened forest returned. She shoved the pain aside, clenching her jaw in determination. Step after step, supporting herself on various trees and fungi, she forged forward.

The golden hints of morning light began to show as the undergrowth became more and more sparse, signalling her approach of the city. She felt her wobbling steps grow faster, her shallow breaths shaking in relief. She could see the light, curving structures ahead.

The wind shifted, carrying with it a rancid stench that made her stumble to a stop with a cough. Lirrynae gagged, blinking her watering eyes from the horrifying miasma that assaulted her. Her eyes returned to the buildings that signified the edge of Nelenai, her desperation peeling away in lieu of fear for what she would find once she reached the streets of her home.

Her breaths were shallow, the air thickening with rot with every step. Her hands fisted, her heart pounding in her ears as she stepped free of the undergrowth. Her silver eyes darted wildly as she limped forward. It appeared as it had before she had left, except for one glaring detail.

Not a soul was in sight.

Even at the edge of the city, there was always at least one person out. The deadly silence only made her shuffling pace on the gravel street even louder. As started for a street that would take her deeper into the neighborhood, she silently begged to hear a single word from another soul. Her hands trembled as she approached the turn, brushing away tears that had gathered from the pungent odor. When she rounded the shop that blocked the main road from view, her feet froze.

Nothing could have prepared her for the scene before her.

Red.

Her arms fell limp at her sides, her breath abandoning her as her eyes traced the dozens of bodies littered as far as the eye could see. Some had weapons in their hands, obvious that there had been an attempt to defend themselves, while others had nothing. Even from where she stood, she could see victims of all ages splayed out and left to the elements.

She forced her feet forward, jolting herself out of her stupor. Her stomach rolled, unable to look away from the unknown faces of those that had been slain. The blocks blended together, and the occasional face of the fallen leaped out at her as familiar. She swallowed her growing nausea, the pain of her ankle completely forgotten. She couldn’t help but notice how no one’s wounds were consistent. Some had died by a blade, while others had been ferally torn apart.

She halted in front of a woman’s body which was laying in the center of the street, her clouded golden eyes staring sightlessly up into the sky. Beside her, a silver sword had fallen from her hand. Lirrynae knew that whoever, whatever, had done this could very well still be nearby.

She knelt down, her hand gently brushing over the unknown woman’s eyes to grant her peace, whispering the departing words of a fellow warrior. “Raiya idhalan,” She whispered, closing her eyes. This isn’t life’s end.

She withdrew her hand slowly, hesitantly lowering it to grasp the blade. Only to stiffen at the distinctive sound of a drawing bow.

“Don’t move,” the low growl of a man resonated from behind her.

Lirrynae dared to glance over her shoulder, meeting the narrowed navy gaze of a young man, his black hair pasted to his face with dried blood, and a thick gash ran across his chest. In his hands, he had an arrow notched and pointed to her head, the bow shaking slightly. She distanced her hands from the sword, holding them up for him to see.

“I said don’t move.”