Ethira

by J D Evergreen

  I nod and stare into the leaping flames and Lexa comes to settle down beside me just as Melissa marches back into the clearing, two fat furry creatures hanging from their tails in her hand.

  She passes them to Lexa who inspects the creature. “This looks like some sort of river rat.”

  Melissa nods. “That’s what I thought, even if they do have strangely glowing eyes. I figure they are still edible.”

  Lexa pulls her knife from her belt and efficiently skins the creatures and pulls out their innards before setting the bodies on sticks placed over the fire. “It still seems like a better idea than drinking the water.”

  Tash crawls to her feet. “I’ll put this lot in the water, at least when things come to eat it there, it won’t be anywhere near where we are sleeping.”

  I climb to my feet. “I will help.”

  Together we gather up the discarded animal parts and throw them into the water. Small vibrantly colored fish, about the size of my hand, dart up to the surface to fight over the scraps amongst the glowing liquid.

  I watch a green and red fire-colored fish fight over the same section of intestine. Their sharp little teeth quickly tear through the flesh and devour it in moments. Their movements cause small waves of glowing water to crash against each other.

  Tash and I gape at the river. I look up at her. “Okay, getting in the water is a last resort. I do not like how quickly those fish annihilated those scraps.”

  Tash gulps. “I second that notion.”

  Together we walk back to the crackling fire and squeeze in amongst our companions. The smell of the roasting river rats causing my stomach to rumble in chorus with the sizzling of the fat.

  Tash leans back on her hands and stares at the fire. “So, the fish in the river have teeth and eat their food in packs. I think it might be worth avoiding the water where we can.”

  Lucas sits up eagerly. “The fish have teeth? Are you sure?”

  Tash and I nod together.

  Lucas lets out a grin and rubs his hands together. “Most unusual.” He pauses and stares off towards the river. “Perhaps I can rig up a line or net of some sort so I can have a closer look at these creatures.”

  I roll my eyes. “Only if you want them to chew through whatever it is you try to catch them with.”

  Lucas rubs his chin. “Well, that is a problem that will need solving.”

  I eye the young man. Lucas seems to flip from crazy to relatively normal, and right now he has both feet planted firmly in the insane section.

  Lexa pokes the river rat with her knife, and a satisfied sigh climbs from her mouth. “Dinner is ready.”

  She sets about hacking chunks and everyone spears a section with the tip of their knife. I sniff the meat and it seems okay but I have never eaten river rat before. Not that this creature looks anything like any rat I have ever seen. These creatures are much too fluffy; really the only thing they seem to have in common is the elongated snout.

  We quickly work our way through the meat until only the bones are left. Lexa collects the bones with a sigh. “Too bad we didn’t bring a pot. These skeletons would have made excellent broth for tomorrow morning.”

  Nathanial gets up with a grunt and takes all the bones to the river, and Lucas joins him, eager to see the fish Tash and I described earlier.

  I hold my hands out to the fire and fight off the shiver that settles on me now that I am still. Tash and Melissa stretch out near the fire claiming the best spots by the leaping flames.

  The boys come back from their trip to the river, and the gleam in Lucas’ eyes tells me everything I need to know about whether or not he encountered the creepy fish.

  Lexa stretches and reclines against the large boulder behind her. “Get some rest. I will take first watch.”

  Nathanial plonks himself down on the ground and settles into a comfortable position. “Wake me for the second shift,” he demands as he closes his eyes, and his breathing evens out almost immediately. Apparently, he can sleep anywhere.

  I sigh and shift on the uncomfortable ground below me. What I would give to have that skill.

  I lay with my back to the fire. Even with Lexa watching, I would rather see if anything is coming towards me. If being a slave taught me anything, it’s how to sleep with one eye open.

  I curl up, but flashes of the fight in the rebel camp plague me. What is happening to everyone else wandering throughout the caverns? Are they safe? Did Anne survive that blast? What if the guards have her? My stomach twists and I honestly don’t know which option is worse.

  My thoughts drift to my mother. I bite back a sob. Another person I failed to save. Inevitably this leads my thoughts to the medic who tried to heal me at the compound and the punishment she received for treating my wounds. People who attempt to help me don’t do so well.

  I sit up with a frustrated breath. Sleep isn’t going to happen anytime soon. My eyes drift over to Lexa, perched against a rock and staring at the fire.

  I pull myself to my feet and head over. “Is it okay if I sit with you? I can’t sleep.”

  Lexa looks up at me, her eyes slightly rimmed with red. She clears her throat. “Of course.”

  I settle beside her, and we sit quietly for a long time. I cast a sidelong glance at the woman next to me. Did her thoughts travel to unpleasant places the moment quiet descended around us? Once nothing was left to distract us from what we did?

  I gently nudge her. “It will get better with time. I know it doesn’t feel like it now. But it will.”

  Lexa looks at me with wide eyes. “How do you know that?”

  I shrug and offer her a weak smile. “It’s something someone else told me.”

  Lexa lets out a small laugh and stares back at the flickering flames. Her shoulders are so tense that I worry she might snap if she moves too suddenly. Nothing I can say will make her feel better. I sigh and rest my head back against the rock.

  The mushroom towers above me is light blue with little white speckles running across the length of the stem. Following the stem are the thin lines that span under the cup of the mushroom. Each of them is almost too white to look at, and they run vertically across the underside of the fungus and highlight the navy-blue bottom. In their own weird way, these mushrooms are beautiful.

  Lexa shifts beside me. “My brother died saving me too.”

  I tense and force myself to listen carefully. She is speaking so quietly I almost missed her first sentence in the deafening silence around us. As if the smallest crackle of the fire would drown her voice out.

  “We were running, but I was injured from a gladiator match, and I couldn’t keep up with Jarmon and Anne. I was attacked from behind by a Cerebi.” Lexa pauses and brings her knees to her chest, hugging them close for security. Almost as if trying to protect herself from her own memories.

  My eyes drift to Lexa's long-fingered hands and the way her knuckles are flushed white from the wringing she is subjecting them to.

  A single tear runs down Lexa's cheek. “Jarmon heard my cries. After hiding Anne, he came back for me. He attacked the Cerebi and took me to where he had hidden her.”

  I shift ever so slightly, afraid to interrupt Lexa.

  Lexa takes in a shuddering breath. “He handed me the necklace and told me to take Anne and run as soon as it was safe. Then he ran off leading the Cerebi in another direction so we could get away.” She paused before continuing, her voice barely above a whisper, “The guards came and took what was left of him back to the compound.”

  My heart pounds in my chest in response to the pain in Lexa's strangled voice. Nothing I do could take the pain away from the woman beside me. Something twinges inside me. I find the realization deeply unsettling.

  Lexa's frame softly rattles next to mine. “We couldn’t just leave him so Anne and snuck back and watched as they hung him on the compound wall. He just hung there, his body broken and battered.”

  I shudder, remembering all too well the bodies displayed along the compound walls as a warnin
g to others about what happens if you defy Darkmor. Those images, coupled with the pain in Lexa's voice, rip a hole in my heart.

  Cautiously, I wipe tears from my own face, reluctant to let Lexa know how her story has affected me.

  “That’s when we began the rebel camp. It started as a small natural cave, and slowly we saved others, one by one increasing our numbers. Somehow, I became their default leader. But the rebellion is what Jarmon wanted. That, and for me to protect Anne.” Lexa wipes her face and clenches her jaw. “I couldn’t do either right. I failed them all. I feel so useless.”

  Slowly I slip my arm around Lexa's shoulder. She curls into my embrace and cries into my shoulder. “Don’t think like that,” I say. “You gave those people a safe place where they had a chance at a happy life. They might still be safe, making their way to another place. Lexa, you gave them a chance when no one else would have.”

  I take a deep breath. “As for Anne, you did a fantastic job helping her grow into the woman she became. But she was her own person, an amazingly brave person. A big part of that is because you were there for her.”

  Lexa sniffles in my shoulder and clutches my side. “I feel like all I have done today is cry.”

  A small smile spreads across my face. “If anybody asks, I’ll tell them it’s just hormones. Anyone with enough sense will leave it be. They may even try to feed you.”

  Lexa chuckles into my shoulder. “In the event food is given, I will be sure to share it with you.”

  I smile, and we settle into a comfortable silence. I find I miss the tea we usually share in these moments. Lexa sits upright and begins throwing small rocks into the glowing river to the right of us. Each little pebble sending brilliant bursts of white-blue water into the air.

  It isn’t long before I join in, delighting in how the water splashes after each impact. The small game we are playing quickly becomes a competition to see who can cause the glowing water to splash the furthest up the large boulder on this side of the river.

  I dig a fist-sized rock out of the ground and throw it at the water. It creates a spectacular splash and vibrant liquid splays across the large boulder, leaving a long glowing stripe and a series of small speckles in its wake.

  I let out a small bark of laughter. I never had a chance to play games with other people my age. The thought of having to fight them to the death had always put a damper on any fun that might have been had.

  A soft humming fills the space around us as the water stills. My laughter dies, and I shoot to my feet, drawing my weapon, searching for the cause of the sound around us.

  Lexa is on her feet beside me. “Can you see anything?”

  I shake my head, and my companions stir and sit up.

  A lizard skitters down from the tree and into a hole in the ground. River rats I didn’t even know were nearby flee through the dead, dry scrub around us, and even the vibrant fish seem to retreat further into the water.

  I furrow my brow.

  Nathanial climbs to his feet and walks over to Lexa and me. “Well, that would account for the moaning people say comes from here.”

  I tilt my head to the side and listen, and I can see how people could mistake that sound for moaning. The humming continues and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

  Nathanial lowers himself to the ground. “Go on, you two. I will watch from now on.”

  I struggle to re-sheath my sword and I cast one last look around. If this is normal, why did the creatures flee?

  Lexa sheathes her sword in one fluid movement, and I swear she didn’t even look at what she was doing. She casts a glance at Nathanial. “Remain vigilant. I am not comforted by the sound. It may explain the moaning, but it does not explain the reasons for it.”

  Nathanial nods. “As always.”

  Exhaustion creeps into my bones and even if there is something wrong, Nathanial is on watch. He will wake us if he suspects anything is amiss. Or at least, I hope he will. I glance at Lexa adding sticks to the fire and poking it to stir up the flames.

  She trusts him and for now, that’s enough.

  I search the ground for a flat piece and plop down with a soft grunt.

  Lexa raises her eyebrow. “Well, that was graceful.”

  I shrug. “What can I say, it comes naturally.”

  Lexa gives me a small smile and quietly settles down beside me.

  I roll onto my right side and bring my arm up as a makeshift pillow. I relax for a few moments before I can no longer ignore the discomfort of my dagger pinned between me and the ground. The damn thing is digging into my leg.

  Wriggling, I struggle to untie it from my belt without getting up and after a lot of huffing I am successful in getting my belt to release the dagger into my custody.

  Lexa casts me a disbelieving face. “That is simultaneously the most awkward and lazy thing I have ever seen somebody do.”

  I clutch my prize to my chest. “I think you mean glorious, because what I just did there was amazing.”

  Lexa's eyes twinkle, and a small smile creeps on to her face. “I just watched you roll around in the dirt trying to untie a dagger from your belt instead of just sitting up to do it. Glorious and amazing are not the words I would use.”

  I shrug and tuck my arm back under my head. “I guess you are entitled to your wrong opinion.”

  Lexa flashes me a full-toothed grin and lays down beside me. “Goodnight, Claire.”

  “Night, Lexa.” I chime back happily. My eyelids drop of their own accord and I force them open to glance over at Nathanial. He sits on a large rock, watching Tash thoughtfully.

  Tash stirs, looks around and spots Nathanial whose cheeks turn a light shade of pink. Tash moves towards him and settles back to sleep about an arm’s length away from where Nathanial sits perched on a rock.

  A small grin creeps on to my face, and after a time, I fall asleep to the humming of the mushrooms around me.

  Chapter Two

  Dreaming.

  The world around me swirls with colors and faces that stream past my vision faster than I can identify them. I hold my head in my hands, trying to prevent the rising nausea caused from the swirling images. Then suddenly, everything stops, the sudden stop almost as nauseating as the swirling had been.

  Slowly, I bring my head out of my hands and stare around at the hazy world I find myself in. I peer through it, but that does me as much good as trying to look through water. The image is distorted, and nothing seems to right it.

  Well, at least the rushing faces have stopped. I don’t think my river rat would have tolerated it for much longer.

  I lay my hand on my stomach, take a deep breath and try to focus on the world around me once more and I can’t get much detail out of my surroundings except that everything seems to be hazily green.

  Slowly, the faint outline of tall yellow trees mark, the clearing I am standing in. I stare at the blurry yellow bulbous trunks for a few moments before I notice a large campfire not far from me.

  I creep over to the fire, my feet soundless in this strange new world. By the time I arrive at the flickering flames it has changed, and a large black pot hangs over it, secured by a peculiar metal tripod lashed together above the burning blaze.

  I hold my hand out to the flames, but no warmth meets my hand. Curious, I step towards the pot and reach for the lid.

  Rustling fabric makes my heart pound in my chest and I spin around reaching for my sword only to find it is not there. Confused, I look up and see a woman with long blonde hair and a light blue gown, rushing towards me. With every step the woman takes, her edges become more defined until she is the sharpest image inside the clearing.

  I clear my throat. “Excuse me, where am I?

  The blonde ignores me as she hurries through the clearing and she doesn’t even look over in my direction. It’s like I don’t exist.

  The blonde pauses in front of me, so close I could reach out and touch her. She looks about searching for something. Now that she is closer, I can see her blu
e dress is covered in tiny white dots that sway with her movements and create an almost hypnotizing sight.

  The blonde peers over my shoulder and apparently spots the thing she is looking for. “Carissa! Come quick!”

  I spin on my heel and look back at the fire pit to discover an older woman crouching down beside the pot, casually stirring it with a large wooden spoon. Her red shirt stands out in stark contrast with the green fuzzy world around her, even with her blue overalls doing the best they can to mute the brightness of the red.

  The woman by the pot glances towards us. Her greying hair frames her lightly weathered face and around her mouth and eyes are lines of age and laughter.

  The older woman, Carissa I presume, rises to her feet and carefully places the lid back on the pot before hurrying towards the blonde who had called her.

  Carissa moves so quickly I don’t get the chance to shift out of her way. I stumble a few inches when the older woman strolls right through me, not even pausing as she follows the blonde woman a short distance away.

  “What the—?” I exclaim clutching my stomach to check I was indeed still solid. “I must be dreaming.”

  “It would seem they cannot see us,” comes a voice from behind me.

  I twist around, and my eyes come to rest on a familiar woman, slightly taller than myself. Her emerald green eyes watch the interaction between the older woman and the blonde behind me.

  “Lexa!” I huff. Of course, dream Lexa would get a kick out of scaring me. Apparently, my brain doesn’t think awake Lexa did enough of that.

  “Claire.” Lexa acknowledges, bringing her gaze to rest on mine. “Any idea what is going on here?”

  I shrug and turn to face the two women who hurry purposely towards a faded red caravan now swimming into view, its edges and detail becoming more defined and sharpened with each passing second. It isn’t long before it stands out clearly against the faded green and white world around us.

  I start towards the women and cast a glance back at Lexa. “Maybe we should follow them?