Get Back

It is getting hard to breathe. I'm losing too much blood. I need to get to Joy. 

Tsk It is impossible, I'm on the other side of the town and there is chaos everywhere.

Inhale. Exhale. 

I press against the wound on my belly. I have to move.

RARWW

I hear, close-by. Dangerously close. Followed by an eerie silence.

TSK. Do I circle around? Did it attack someone? Why isn't it moving?

I drag myself closer, slowly. Try to peek at it from a corner. I can see its legs. Still. Lifeless. 

I move closer. There is someone below it, trying to get rid of the weight. 

"Sally! What happened?"

I help her get away from the beast, and we move to a better hidden spot. 

Her armor is not much more than some scrap metal hanging on her body and a pushed in plate around her chest. She has a linen shirt below the armor, but it is all torn in multiple places and I can see a lot of lacerations on her skin.

"I don't know what happened. Don apparently got banned, he simply vanished and I had to run."

He eyes look dead, she looks like someone who's on the verge of giving up. I'm not far from it myself. I inhale and prepare to mutter, but she beats me to it.

"We're going to die, aren't we?"

Ha. And she says exactly what I was thinking.

Our minds were being clear, that is it for you. You are too far from safety. Tarik is guarding the only reliable way out, and there are apex predators everywhere. 

We did my best, morals tells us that we did good, but life is our most precious resource, it tells us to keep going. 

Logic tells us that there aren't any safe paths leading to survival, but it is more likely to find one by moving than by staying here sitting, it tells us to keep going. 

However, none of those matters. I feel my heart pulling me to get up, and it shows me a path, a path so clear and warm that the only way to not see it would be to try it with my eyes. It is as if bubbles are cracking though the ground and popping in front of me, leading the way.

Sally seems confused, but helps me up and uses her body to help me move. I point the way. My feet are almost dragging in the floor, I can feel the soil scratching.

"We shouldn't surrender, I don't think we should surrender, and I feel that is the safe way to get out of here."

We cut through town, between dense areas of people screaming and refusing to let go of their houses. I wish we could help them, but the growls are a stark reminder that it doesn't matter if we do try. It is impossible for now. We cannot stray from the bubbling path. 

I don't know if it is a surge of adrenaline or pure inspiration, but walking along this path eases the pain from my wounds and calms my nerves. It feels magical and somehow resembles Joy's secret skill's warmth. 

As if triggered by the thought of her, the paths abruptly split. My heart wavers. I know that following north then east is home, but there is a faint part of my heart that leads further south. 

Do I recognize where I am? I didn't walk much this far from the AGRICULTURE's guild. The only time I was on the southwest portion of town was … Oh, this leads to Lily's. 

I have to check on her, somehow I know that no matter what happens the path will take me home safely — We have to be able to save at least Lily.

She lives close to the edge of town, things are considerably tamer around here, there are some doors that were taken down and some blood trails, but her house looks fine. 

I knock and slowly push the door. A sudden desperate scream "aahhh, leave me alone" as I glimpse a small figure crouching and trembling with a knife behind a table. 

Her eyes were fluttering, but as soon as she noticed me, they relax and start tearing. She pounces into my arms crying. Petting her head now feels like a refuge from the terror, but we have to move. 

"Let's go to my home. Do you have bandages or something?"

She looks around and procures a piece of cloth and cordage, patches my wound and we head out.

As we're reaching the exit of town, I can feel the weight of my body starting to slow me down. We get into the forest and my mind is already getting hazy, but the breeze of the forest and the chirping birds are a second wind of hope. We're almost there.

I look down to catch my breath and let everything sink in and as I pull my chin upwards I follow the path of bubbles with my gaze. Their density increases and the warmth is almost blazing as those tender constructs gather around a pair of feet.

I fall to the ground, I don't need to force it anymore those thin long legs, a distinguishable palm tree skirt, they are solid enough. 

This is the feeling I've been calling home, getting back to the exposed belly, the adorned top, and within those arms I can relax. 

And it is only by climbing those dark and red locks that I can feel safe in those shiny golden eyes.

The image is so beautiful, it has me in tears. The girls also notice we can be at ease now and chill out. 

Lily hugs me and as I return the favor. I embrace her the hardest I can and don't intend to let go.

The bubbles burst, but we don't need them anymore. They were so fragile and short-lived, but serve as a stark reminder that this refuge is temporary. 

Tarik cannot be forgiven, and we cannot ignore what Daniel has turned into.