Chapter Ten

Aerilyn

It felt like they had been walking forever until the scenery began to change. They came across a large hill where the ground became covered with grass. The sight of the ground finally changing gave her some form of hope. The trek up the small hill wasn’t terrible, but the incline made her ankles ache. When they finally reached the top, she looked out into the area beyond where they stood. At the bottom of the hill was a small village full of brick buildings. It was run down and crumbling, the majority of the buildings only partially still standing. The place hadn’t been touched in decades, leaving it destroyed by the weather and time. It was the first thing they’d seen beside dead grass, rocks, and a few trees. The strangest part of all was the way the sunlight touched the tips of the buildings. They stood in darkness on the top of the hill, but just like Orissia there seemed to be a barrier that separated the darkness from the sunlight.

The group stood still, glancing between the town and each other. None of them knew what to do until Brinley nudged her elbow into Aerilyn’s side. “I’ll race you. The last one there has to give up one of their rations of food!” She yelled before taking off down the hill. Without thinking Aerilyn began to run behind her, not letting her mind ruin the moment of peace. There were no hounds, no guards watching them, they had a moment to be free. She didn’t look behind her to see if the men had followed, letting her feet guide her down the hill after Brinley. She felt the air rushing into her lungs as the heat of the sun hit her face. It had only been three days since they left Orissia, but the time felt much longer in the darkness.

Aerilyn stumbled, losing her footing as she rolled down the hill. Blaise was close behind her, tripping over her as she fell. He hit the ground hard beside her, bursting into laughter. “You aren’t very coordinated are you, Aeri?” He shook his head, pulling himself to his feet as he brushed the dirt off of his front. “Evidently not,” she giggled as he held his hand out to her. She grabbed onto his outstretched palm, letting him pull her to her feet. The rest of the group stood at the bottom of the hill, waiting for them to join. “How about we finish together? Then they can’t force only one of us to give up a ration,” he suggested, keeping her hand within his. “Or we can see who’s faster?” She challenged, letting go of his hand as she shoved his shoulder. She took off running, leaving him behind. She heard Brinley cheering her on, running the last few feet to meet the rest of the group.

“You cheater! I was trying to be nice,” Blaise teased her, shaking his head as he tried to catch his breath. “I don’t let men take it easy on me,” she laughed. Blaise’s eyes went wide at the comment and glanced over to Everett. “Did you hear that? She doesn’t like it easy. Must mean she prefers it rough,” he ran his fingers through his long dark hair, bringing a laugh out of Everett. The sound was beautiful. It didn’t seem like he genuinely laughed often. She couldn’t blame him, the life he lived wasn’t an easy one. “I’m sure she does,” Everett replied, but he was no longer looking at Blaise. His eyes were locked directly on her. “You guys are disgusting!” Brinley gagged, shaking her head. “Aren’t they? Such perverts,” she slid her arm into the redheads, walking ahead of the men. Through it all, Bastian stayed quiet. She wasn’t sure how to feel about the man, but she couldn’t judge him after he had saved her life.

An ear-piercing howl filled the air around them, quickly turning Aerilyn’s attention to the source of it. A large hound stood upon the hill where the light touched the dark. Its figure was unmoving, its purple glowing eyes directly on them. Aerilyn quickly grabbed her dagger as the others drew their own weapons. She moved into a fighting stance, readying herself for the attack, but the hound didn’t move. It only continued to howl as if it were frustrated. She looked at the others in question, but they all had the same confused expression on their faces. The hound was refusing to step into the light , she realized. She stepped towards the beast in a taunting manner, seeing if it made any attempt to attack. It didn’t.

“They don’t like the light,” she whispered, finally making the connection between where the hound stood and why it was unmoving. Everett stepped up beside her, examining the scene that was unfolding before them. “They can’t survive in the light,” Everett confirmed, coming to the same realization she had. The beast snarled at them as if it understood that they no longer felt threatened by the beast. Everett adjusted his grip on his sword before taking the final steps towards the hound, shoving the blade into its chest. The glowing purple eyes slowly closed as the hound slumped to the ground, no longer moving. She let out a breath of relief that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

“Well that’s nice to know,” Blaise approached them, studying the corpse. He was right. They had just learned vital information that would make their journey much easier. The hounds wouldn’t attack them as long as there was some form of sunlight. The reassurance of that would only allow for them to travel easier from then on. She turned back to the town, trying to brush off the events. They needed to get to safety before the night came.

The cobblestone path was overgrown with weeds and uneven from the way the stone disintegrated. They carefully walked through the empty village, taking in their surroundings. The stories of the plague replayed in her mind as she examined the ghost town. The plague had spread so quickly that nobody knew how to stop it. All of these people probably had ended up dead or escaped to Orissia since they had been the only kingdom to find a cure for the disease. The town was full of things that looked like they had been abandoned quickly. Carts still sat in the streets and doors remained open swinging on its hinges. Aerilyn was lost in thought when she saw the bones lying beside the pathway. Her entire body froze, seeing the human skull along with a variety of other bones lying in the grass. She placed her hands over her mouth, letting out a gasp.

“Holy fuck,” Brinley whispered, stopping beside her to see what she had been looking at. She felt a hand on her lower back as Everett glanced over her shoulder. There were more. Beyond the path lay several sets of bones. She felt a pain in her gut from the sight of it all. These people had all died so long ago, but she couldn’t help but feel sympathy for them. They hadn’t received a proper burial, they had been left to rot on the side of the street. “What if….” Bastian finally spoke, cutting off his thought before it left his lips. Aerilyn glanced at him, trying to urge him to speak. “What if these are other Chosen?” His voice was shaking, his wide eyes trying to take in the destruction. The thought he placed in all of their minds made them uneasy.

“We should find a building that gives decent shelter and try to relax for the night. We’ve been walking nonstop and sleeping in the dirt for several days now, we need the rest,” Everett spoke up, trying his best to sound confident in his words. Aerilyn could tell he was as uneasy as the rest of them. “I agree. We should take some time to look at the old maps and find a plan to get to this damn sword so we can go home,” Brinley said as she started walking the path again. They all tried to push the sight of the bones away from their minds as they looked for a building that would provide them with some shelter for the night. After the first night’s attack, they all barely slept the following nights. The exhaustion was written across their faces. Aerilyn had been given no time to rest after her injury, but she refused to slow the others down.

Many of the buildings were worn down from natural causes, leaving them unsafe for the group to enter. The sun that had been warming their skin was slowly slipping down closer to the horizon, signaling that they needed to find shelter quickly. Once they lost sight of their full surroundings, walking around the unknown area would be much more dangerous. Even though they had been in darkness for days, it was the sort of darkness that allowed enough vision for them to find their way. Once the sun slipped away in the old town, she was afraid it would be too dark to see.

“This one seems clear,” Bastian called out to them from the doorway ahead of her. All of their attention moved toward the building that he stood before. It had a roof, which many no longer had, and the structure of it seemed stable enough. The building would’ve been cute before time destroyed it. The paint was peeling, leaving it with an odd coloring. She wanted to imagine that a sweet family had lived there. Someone had lived out their long lives in such an adorable place without a plague or hounds around to ruin it. All she’d ever known was the time after, but she was always curious as to what life looked like before tragedy struck.

“Looks decent enough,” Everett shrugged in agreement, stepping beyond the doorway into the home. She followed close behind him, taking in the sight before them. The place was one large open room with several cots and scattered blankets. It seemed that a family had lived here, but they were most likely poor compared to the rest of the community. Even though they had such a small home, it still stood longer than the other buildings that had contained the richer families. She wanted to smile at that thought.

They all filed into the room, each of them taking in the surroundings. She moved to the corner, letting her pack fall off of her back as she sat down on one of the cots with a groan. Her feet burned in pain from the distance they’d traveled. The slight relief of sitting was more enjoyable than she had imagined it to be. As Blaise did the same, there was a soft squeak before a small rodent ran out from the corner in an attempt to escape the man. They all gasped, staring at the animal as it disappeared once more. “There aren't supposed to be any animals beyond the wall….” Brinley paused, her mind running with thoughts. She sat down beside Aerilyn, letting her pack fall to the floor as well. They all stayed silent for a moment, all having the same thoughts. If there was a rodent still alive, maybe there were more animals that they could find for food.

“I think we should focus on this first,” Everett changed the topic as he slid his pack off, removing a map from its depth. They only had a short time of daylight remaining, the light already disappearing. There were a few open windows in the home, giving them a view of the town and fields beyond. He spread out the map on the floor as they all huddled around him, examining the size of the continent. It was hard to tell how far they’d made it in the time they’d spent traveling.

“This is where the sword is expected to be. The tales state that it was the last place Aleksi was seen with it. As long as the tales are accurate, this is our best bet. I’ve watched the compass and we’re still heading north. I guess we continue until we find the coast and then we can try to find the city of Vale,” Everett explained, pointing on the map to the city that marked the top of the continent. Aerilyn’s eyes scanned the map, taking in the entirety of it. “Let’s pray those tales are right. Otherwise, this might be an impossible mission,” she remarked, running her hand over her face. She felt the sleep calling to her, but she made her attempt to fight it so they could finish their conversation. The others looked at her as she spoke the words they all didn’t want to think. “That’s if the Sword of Aleksi is even real,” Blaise shrugged. The possibility of this entire mission being bullshit was quite high, but they couldn’t just give up. They weren’t allowed to return to Orissia empty-handed. They had to continue until they found the sword and were able to successfully control the hounds.

“For the prince’s sake, I hope the sword is there,” Bastian whispered, his soft voice always surprising Aerilyn when he finally did put his input into the conversation. “I know this entire situation is unfair and cruel. If it were up to me, none of you would be here. You’d all be home in your beds with your families. I’m sorry this had to be your fate,” Everett finally admitted to the guilt that he had brought up to Aerilyn previously. The rest of the group looked at him with a softer gaze than they had before. “It isn’t your fault, Everett. We can’t blame you for this. Besides, you’re stuck here with us,” Brinley nudged his arm playfully, bringing out a sad smile from the man. They were all sent to the hounds without choice and now they still had no choice but to fight for their lives.

“We need to get some rest. None of us have slept in several days,” Aerilyn pipped in, watching as everyone else nodded in agreement. “I’ll take the first watch,” Bastian volunteered before anyone else could. None of them protested. She didn’t wait for them as she crawled onto the cot, plopping down on her back. She stared up at the ceiling as she heard the others moving around to find their place to sleep. Brinley laid down beside her, her eyes burning into the side of Aerilyn’s face. She looked over at the girl, their eyes meeting. “I am glad I met you, Aeri. I would’ve gone mad with those three. Thank you for protecting us when that first hound came. I froze up and you took charge to keep all of us safe. You were so brave for that,” she slid her hand into Aerilyn's, squeezing it tightly. Aerilyn felt her heart warm at the simple words. She had never been appreciated by anyone else before and to feel the gratitude from the other woman made her happier than she could put into words. “I’m glad I met you too, Brinley,” she whispered back, squeezing her hand in return.

The sunlight had disappeared leaving the room coated in a new darkness. She could no longer see the others lying around her, but she could hear their soft breaths as sleep began to take each of them. The thought of the rodent replayed in her mind, trying to process how anything living could have been left. It provided her with a slight sense of hope as she drifted into a dreamless state.