Drip, drip, drip.
Translucent droplets of water plunged down towards the grimy ground, a hollow void pooled down below, devouring everything that fell inside.
Somberness lurked in sordid corners, slaughtering each vivid flame.
Beneath the thousands of treacherous rocks that hovered overhead, slumbered serenely two somnolent silhouettes, overlapping together, enveloped in each other's warm embrace.
Head against a rigid, moss-covered, damp boulder, a panging ache surfaced when Delyth first woke up.
Her back ached, her legs throbbed and pulsed, moving even an inch felt dreadful.
A small head drowsed off restfully on her tingling, numb left arm.
The faint smell of coppery blood lingered feebly.
Though darkness pervaded, she could barely outline his defined cheekbones, red-rimmed, puffed-up eyes and his dull, flaking lips. Sweat drenched curls slightly itched her jaw, as the warm breath tickled her neck, sending tingling sensations.
A small, scarred hand clung on her bloodied top, specks of crimson stippled the white.
She slowly traced down his undeviating nose bridge, counting each sputtered freckle that dotted down to his nose.
Half-lidded eyes suddenly opened, eyelashes fluttered as they clung together, resemblant to feathered wings.
“You’re awake?” She asked, whispering the string of words, seeping through and slithering in his ear.
He laggardly nodded, half-conscious, still basking in the lulling radiance of his sister.
“Do you think you can get up?” she asked softly. “We need to leave soon..."
The half-asleep boy turned groggily his head to face her; a befuddled expression was plastered on his face.
“What?” He drawled out, voice hoarse.
“We need to leave soon.”
“Oh.”
An uneasy silence settled between them for a seemingly never-ending moment, before he broke the gaucheness with one word,
“Ok.”
The young girl slowly raised an angled eyebrow, muddleheaded by her brother’s lackluster response.
He stayed hushed for a few seconds, lips pursed, his right cheek hollowed as he bit it, as if mulling about whether to ask a particular question or not.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
He finally asked, voice brittle,
“Why did we have to leave?”
Stillness.
A familiar hum arose.
It buzzed.
It rung.
It tingled.
Its clear words were now gone.
She couldn’t run away.
It didn’t ache; it just ambled.
Lingering in the quiet corners of her mind, intangible presence, yet undeniably there.
Doe-like eyes stared at her, a small gleam of hope and expectance shone dully.
Her upper lip quivered. She opened her mouth, but no words came. No comfort. No denial. No truth. Only a sigh, warm, yet hollow.
Abruptly, the heavy, burdensome weight vanished from her left arm, a sense of relief washed over.
She spotted him in the darkness, patting and dusting his clothes off, hands gliding over the smooth and silky fabric, amassing the hovering grime that stained them.
The bloodied splotch of crimson, though shrouded in the covers of obscurity, seemed as apparent as day, a veil of guilt she couldn’t lift.
“Where are you going?” She asked, voice coarser, gradually fading to be devoured by the whistling wind, dripping with dread.
Did he want to go back?
He couldn’t go back.
He couldn’t.
They’ll eat him.
Consume his flesh without a single thought.
He can’t.
He can’t.
He can’t, he can’t, he can’t-
“Delyth.”
The young girl slowly tilted her head to look up.
Unwittingly, her hands grasped fistfuls of hair, kneading the ebony black strands under her fingers, rubbing and gliding the satin-like texture, as they tugged, emitting a piercing pain in her scalp.
“We need to go soon, right? Why aren’t we leaving yet?” He didn’t look too worried, just confused.
She stared at him, eyes widened and glistening, as if on the verge of tears, a small gleam of alleviation scintillated.
“Yes, right, sorry, I’m just a bit tired.”
Seeming to notice her unease, he said,
“I know Sister will protect me. I’m not scared of leaving the village.”His breath held a trace of regret, bitter and brief, but it was blanketed by something stronger: belief.
A soft, yet effulgent smile illuminated her face, penitence and contriteness lingered, overshadowed.
“Alright, let’s go.”
...
The sun blazed duskily, veiled by drab, drifting clouds, as if wanting for only them to embrace the tranquilizing warmth.
The light lustrously pierced through the delicate, serrate leaves, veins splaying sporadically across the green field.
The inconclusive mushrooms and berries still dawdled where they were yesterday, always bewitching and seemingly scrumptious.
The mischievous tree roots swerved and veered from their paths until now, tumbling the passing beings.
Deciduous boughs overhung their heads, looming, threatening to fall.
Small breezes caressed every inch of their bodies, invigorating them.
The rejuvenating smell of damp cement wafted silently, as a faint odor of lavender strolled in the wind.
Crunch.
Crack.
Crick.
Aggravating sound of branches snarling resounded in the forest, reverberating blatantly in the quiet with the spontaneous chirps of the morning birds as they neared the end of the forest.
Miniscule scratches and unseen fallen leaves embellished their person, indisputable voucher of their one-day survival in the wilderness.
A solemn road stretched out before them, tree-lined, endless.A road to nowhere, paved only by steps they hadn’t yet taken.
