Chapter Text
The wind whistled down the hallways as thunder shook the dark cave. Even as I could not see anything, I could feel my hands shaking as a cold shiver cut through my spine. My clothes were soaked from the rain, and the chilled stone that pressed against my back did not help. Hopefully this storm would pass quickly, before hypothermia could find me faster.
Taking a deep breath, I squeezed my hands together in attempt to get them to stop shaking. Once they did, I got to work. I stripped my swords out of their holsters and unstrapped my amour, laying everything out across from me. Next, I rung out my clothing. By rights, I should have stripped all my clothing, but I needed to spare whatever dignity I had left.
Once that was all accomplished, I found a small crevice and pressed myself against it. I needed to be smart; I needed to preserve warmth. But the pattering of rain drowned out my thoughts, and I felt my wit drain from me. I was hungry, cold, and worse of all, hopeless. This war took my family and my innocence, and I felt it grasping at me. This war could steal a thousand things, but it would not—will not take me.
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The chandelier burned into me as I stood tall, my legs stiff and my clothes ripped. I hugged myself, my torn fingernails biting into my elbows. My bare feet felt like an insult to the expensive red velvet that my feet sunk into. My heart racing, my eyes darted to sets of eyes staring at me. Women lounged around the brilliant room, their tanned skin sinking into the cushions lazily. They were adorned with dark rubies, etched into fabric that cascaded down their forms. Some of them shown pity, while others gazed down at me with disgust. I squeezed my eyes together, attempting to block the river of tears that threatened my eyes.
Maybe if I squeezed them tight enough, I would wake up from this nightmare and be back at my home. If I listened more, maybe I could hear the fish jumping in the pond or the wind whispering through the trees. Maybe I could smell dinner in the oven, my Ma humming to herself while she cut vegetables. But when I tried to imagine it, all I could smell were the flames, and hear the screams and sobs of my Ma while she holds my dad limp in her arms.
I felt a warm hand start to rub circles into my back, and I pried opened my eyes again. A large man now sat in the throne ahead of me, deep shadows hollowing his cheeks and annoyance laced in his beady eyes. He cleared his throat, the room hushing into silence. The only thing that spoke were the whispers of the rain that beat on the roof. I peeked up at the face that the hand belonged to, but all I saw was the reflection of the shiny metal visor. Not taking his hand from my shoulder, he started to speak.
“Your majesty,” he dipped himself into a small bow, “We have found an unforeseen complication while raiding one of the Greens.” He gestured to me with his other hand. The king’s face contorted in confusion, before I saw the pieces fit together in his vacant eyes. His shoulders started to shake, and a bellowing laugh erupted from his chest and echoed around the silent room. He laughed for a while, before composing himself again.
“And what do you want me to do with this? I command you in war, not figure out what to do with children, especially not greenie children.” He says ‘greenie’ slowly, the word weighing down on his tongue with something like disgust.
“Your majesty, but she is the only child we have ran into so far—”
“Just kill her. Is that so difficult? Make sure she is the last child you see in a Green village.” He yells, his face contorting to a pale red.
“Your Majesty, she is merely 6 years—”
“Stop wasting my time on something so irrelevant. You could have destroyed another village in the time it took to arrange this meeting. If you care about this thing so much, then you take her! Or just kill her for all I care.” He then stood up abruptly, and in one swift movement of his cloak, he stomped from the room. Almost immediately, the people around the room went back to chattering in regular conversation.
For a few moments I stood there, my eyes wide in shock and brimmed with fear. With one final squeeze to my shoulder, the knight reached down and grabbed my hand. If he didn’t see the look on my face, one contorted with desperation and hopelessness, he must have felt the shaking of my hands. Gently, almost like he was handing something breakable and precious, he scooped me into his arms and carried me away from the castle.
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Stuck together with unshed tears and exhaustion, I slowly pried my eyes open to the boom of clashing thunder. I had no idea how long I was asleep for, but I could feel my limbs locked together from both the stillness and the cold. The sky was still dark and cloudy, giving no indication of the time. Something low growled in my stomach, and I wondered how much longer this storm would take to pass over.
By the lack of feeling in the tips of my fingers, it was only getting colder. All I could dream about was the warm fire, singing old and forgotten war songs with my squad. I could imagine them right now, all curled up inside their warm tent, mummering softly to one another. I could hear their silent prayers, hoping to guide me back.
I am glad that I did not allow any of them to scout the road ahead with me. I hoped for them to all be safe and not stuck in a freezing cave, curled up in the corner so weakly. We were so close to finding what we have spent years on the search for, I could feel it. This was not the end, but only a minor setback. I had lost too much for it to be the end.
My squad only had about 10 people in it, give or take. Originally, we started with 8 and kept those same members for a long few months. When traveling with those people for so long, they started to feel like a family to me. It only took one confrontation with an unexpected Green village to take the lives half of my squad, leaving that little found family we created fractured.
From then, the King sent more troops to join our mission and awarded me with leadership. The badge should have felt like an accomplishment, but instead it just felt like the weight of the dead man who used to carry it. Within a few more small battles, the new troops started to feel like numbers to the cause instead of a squad. Just coworkers instead of family. Only 2 of the original members still stand by my side.
The death of one creature would end all the loss. The Greens believed this creature to be magnificent, worshipping it like a god. Humanlike in stature, the stories they tell describe it to be the key to all life, connecting the blue in the skies to the grass on the ground. They say that the creature left, scared off when the Thneeds built their towns too close.
I do not believe a word of it. If a creature so glorious and powerful, why would it be so delicate? There was no way that something so small could control so much, not when there were real, proven reasons to why our skies were not blue and grass was dry. Our land was riddled with droughts, not dry because some creature moved away.
Even as I know that it all is a lie, the lie came from somewhere. I remember my parents telling me stories about it, about how it would come back when the land was healthy again. I remember the way they described it, the descriptions that my ancestors gave them. The creature may not be a god, but it was probably real.
The reason it disappeared could only be because of two logical reasons: it became extinct or it slowly migrated away. On the slight chance it was the first option, then just about my entire plan crumbles away. If it is the second option, then I will kill it. By bringing back the body of the Greens so-called ‘god,’ they would finally submit and live peacefully with the Thneeds. That’s all I wanted—peace.
That is what I have been searching for these past years of my life. By following the blue skies, we will find where these creatures are hiding. Then that leads me here, stuck in a dark cave from a thunderstorm. While my squad set up camp, I told them I would scout the new area. Getting a clear scout usually takes hours to do, but I was only able to get so far out when the storm hit. The first time I saw a storm, I thought it was magical. From living in a place where there is a constant drought, the water that opened the skies felt endless. It wasn’t until the second storm that I realized the damage they bring.
I was pulled from my thoughts by a small sound inside the cave. My head jerked up, but all I could see was darkness. It was probably just a tree branch falling from outside, the sound obscured by the clash of thunder. Or it could have been a rock, falling off one of the tall stone columns. It could have been my mind, clouded by the darkness and hearing things that were not there.
After a few moments, by heart rate slowed down again and I hugged my knees tighter. Then, I heard it again, louder this time. It wasn’t a rock tumbling or a tree branch tearing, but a small shuffling noise. I swiftly grabbed one of my daggers, hiding it in my sleeve and standing up to a ready position.
I waited a little longer, blinking and squinting my eyes to adjust to the cave. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw it. Bright orange in color and blob in shape, it was tucked under one of the larger boulders. What threw me off though, was the slight glow to its fuzzy skin. Maybe if I was slightly angled to the right, I could have seen it much earlier.
“Come out!” I screamed, hoping it would either scatter or face me. Instead, it slowly stood up, revealing its face. It was the one thing I least expected to find. Just like the stories, it had long golden hairs protruding from wither side of its face, and large black eyes haloed by a light blue. It couldn’t have been any taller than my hip, but it had human hands and stood on two human legs. Before I could lunge at him, he opened his mouth.
“Calm down and listen for just one second before you go making a decision you will regret.” I froze where I stood, petrified at the sound of English. It talked, and even worse, sounded human. It had a deeper, older voice, but it had a strange sound to it that made it sound off. Like human, but almost not. I gaped, my mouth opened, but then closed again.
“This storm will not pass for another few days, if you want to survive, you need to listen to me.” It said, holding its hands up in surrender. I lowered my fists, only because it could be right. If the storm did not pass, I would have no food and eventually freeze over. Maybe that fate would be better than trusting this weird creature. I took a deep breath and made my mind.
“What can I do then?” He looked at me for a second, pondering my question thoughtfully.
“You need to sit down and not attack me while I get a fire made,” he said. I plopped down back on the cold stone, still on alert while he walked to the front of the cave. He came back dragging old tree branches, wet from the storm. Logistically, he was crazy. Only dry branches could catch flame, and these were far from it.
He slowly stacked them on top of one another, and with a flick of his wrist, a small spark appears. His face scrunched in focus and tried again. This time, every inch of the branch exploded in flames, and a gasp escaped my mouth. Immediately, I held my palms out, soaking in the warmth of the fire. I couldn’t take my eyes off the dancing flames, even when he sat down only a few feet away from me.
We sat in silence for a while, until my eyelids were weighted down by exhaustion. Finally warm, I could get the sleep I have long waited for. Resting my cheek on the side of one of my shoulders, I felt myself fully relax. Through the cracks of my eyelashes, I peeked over at the strange orange creature next to me. I stared at the fire, his eyes aged with wisdom and creased with time. He was so different from what I originally believed him to be. He must have felt my eyes scanning him, because he looked up and met my gaze.
“I know who you are,” he said softly, considering each word carefully. At this, my heart sped up again. He couldn’t know who I was, because I had never seen him in my life. Before embarking on this journey, I hadn’t seen rain, blue skies, or even felt soft grass. If I had seen something as unusual as him, I would have remembered it. He must have seen a look on my face, because he continued to speak. “You were once a Green. I can see it in your eyes, that care for the forest never leaves.”
Before I could respond, he reached over, brushing my hair from my eyes. His hands were gentle as he tucked the piece behind my ear. Something fractured inside me. So many people dedicated their lives for me to live this moment, for me to be able to make this decision. Instead, I was letting my mission build me a fire and brush the hair from my face. When I blinked, all I saw were the lifeless faces of my past squadron, I could hear the screams as arrows penetrated their hearts. I could smell the flowers and the dirt as I prepared their makeshift, unmarked graves in the middle of nowhere. The creature leaned in again, his hand outstretched. My heart racing, my breath hesitant, I did what I knew best.
In one fluid movement, I slipped the dagger from my sleeve and ingrained it in his heart.