Euryce ~ She didn't say goodbye before leaving

Countdown for the cut: One hour before the end

We had gotten separated of the main group.

Orphie and two of his guards where “guiding” us towards the meeting point in the path to sacrifice mountain, when suddenly veils started popping out from everywhere, moving quickly in all directions. Obviously, I wasn’t gonna waste a chance like that.

I grabbed Howard and ran away, finally separating myself from Orphie. It wasn’t precisely what I would call a rescue plan, but I was willing to take anything at that point. We ran out of the path, Howard confused and dazed, blind and lost, until he finally realized what was going on.

He planted himself firmly in the ground.

“Eury, we can’t do this.” He said,

The fact that I didn’t headbutt him hard enough to make him faint and carry him out of here is a testament to my self control. I feel so proud of myself.

And so angry at his stupidity and stubbornness.

“Howie, dear, my dear fool, we must go. Now move or Orphie will find us again.” I said, with a sweet voice that tried to hide the anger I was starting to feel then. I pulled his arm with more strength that I had intended to.

There were still veils moving through the forest, we should not stay still.

“But you know what’s gonna happen. Someone’s got to enter the stream this cycle, or the barrier will break.” He said again, doing his best to stop us again.

This time, I did stop too. That was the main problem I still found no solution to.

And that was the problem. Even if I managed to save Howard and hide him until the stream went away, if Nochigtdad fell, there would be nowhere left to go.

Everyone would be left without a barrier, left to be picked by the creatures that live thrive in the veils. Just thinking about it… sowed the seed of doubt in my heart.

I turned around and looked at Howard. I put my hand in his cheek, looking at him in the eyes. Why did everything have to be so hard?

“There must be another way.” I said, trying to collect my determination once again.

He put his hand over mine. He looked at me, although he probably could not truly see me anymore. He didn’t need to say anything, his resignation was clear to see. If only…

“There is another way.”

We turned around as quickly as we could when we heard a voice coming up from behind us. My fight or flight instinct had flared in an instant as I heard that unknown voice coming out of nowhere when I was completely sure we were alone.

And then that fear completely dissipated when I saw who it was.

“Lyra!” I screamed, forgetting any caution, running towards her to hug her.

Usually she tried to free herself from my grasp everytime I hugged her, but this time, she did not. I hugged her, raising her from the ground and moving side to side. I was so glad to see she was fine. She seemed slightly uncomfortable, but she started to hug me back.

After a minute, in which I decided to kiss her forehead again and again while she was still trapped in my bear hug, I finally let her go. She looked rattled, her face now a funny shade of red.

“I’m so glad you are fine. But why…” I started to say.

“Why am I here?” She tried to guess, still rattled by all the sudden affection.

“Why are you wearing those clothes?” I asked. I also wanted to know why she was here, but this took priority.

He was wearing clothes that were very similar to Pole’s. Why? It couldn’t be…

“My clothes were too bloody and torn apart. He lent me his spare.” she said, looking away while doing so.

That was extremely suspicious. I opened my mouth, but managed to stop myself from starting an interrogation. I turned around trying to not do so…

No, I need to know, did anything happen?

By the time I turned around ready to get all the answers out of her, Howard had already gone ahead of me and spoke to her.

“I’m so glad to see you again, Lyra.” Said Howard, coming up from behind, finally deciding to approach as he felt that our little reunion was over.

Lyra didn’t even say anything. She just went forward to hug him. That was… very unlike her.

“Hey… it’s nice to see you too” He said, softly hugging her back.

I couldn’t remember the last time Lyra had hugged him. Honestly, I don’t think I can remember the last time she hugged someone in general.

And this time, Howard DID hug Lyra back. Why can he actually show your affection with Lyra and not with me, huh? When I did it before he simply but his hand on my head!

Once all of this is over he and I will have a long conversation about all of this.

Howard slowly let her go, and once again, his face sunk in worry.

“But what are you doing here, Lyra?” He asked, looking around by instinct, even if he barely could see the shapes of the trees around us.

Lyra suddenly remembered what she was supposed to be doing, also letting Howard go before walking away a couple of steps and feigning that nothing had happened

“I’m here to help you escape Orphie.” Lyra said.

I opened my eyes wider, looking around as I understood what was going on. There were still veils everywhere, but none of them were moving towards us. But for something of this magnitude to happen…

“This… this is your doing?” I asked, still in disbelief as I understood why we could escape Orphie.

“I… yes, I am.” Lyra simply admitted, not finding any excuse at all. She simply looked away, slightly embarrassed.

I looked around. There were dozens of them. They were small, all of them barely big enough to contain a person, but to control so many of them at the same time?

How long had Lyra spent on the forest, practicing her powers, to reach such a level? Certainly, no other person could even dream of reaching such a thing. Even back when Nochigtdad was a great city, there was no one who could do a feat like this. It was unthinkable.

But again, it has always been like that with Lyra.

“I sometimes forget how special you always were.” I mumbled.

Lyra turned around, not having heard completely, but knowing I had said something about her. When I noticed that she was looking at me again, I focused, let out a small cough and said.

“Great, let’s get out of here then” I said, already trying to think what we should do next.

“Let’s go then.”

Howard and I turned around in surprise too when we heard another voice coming out of the woods. I again prepared to fight, but once again, I relaxed completely when I saw who it was.

“You two should learn how to appear without scaring the shit out of me.”I grumbled, while Swerans approached from the woods.

“I know, I know, but I couldn’t resist” She said, with a satisfied smirk in her face.

“It’s so nice to hear you again, Swe” Said Howard, with a sigh of relief.

Swerans went also hugged Howard, in a deep, wordless hug.

He also had hugged Swerans without any issue. I swear to god I’m going to find out what’s wrong with this man.

“I was so worried after you didn’t return from the expedition.” He said, still not letting her go.

“I know, but you can guess what happened. Negotiations fell through and Orphie decided that we would be better of imprisoned than returning home” Swerans said, mumbling through her teeth, noticeably pissed off.

That feeling I can understand well.

“Now, no more time to lose, let’s go.” Said Swerans, grabbing Howard by the arm and starting to pull him.

“Let’s go” I said, starting to follow them, but then I noticed that Lyra wasn’t moving.

Swerans and Howard took a while longer to notice it, but they did when I stopped too.

Lyra was looking at me with clouded eyes. I recognized those eyes.

“What do you have to say? Say it at once” I said, trying to pry the answer from her before she could make up any excuses.

“I have work to do here.” She said, looking at me for a moment before looking at Swerans. She simply nodded back.

“Let’s go Howard. I found somewhere safe to hide.” Swerans said, slowly taking him away. He tried to stop her, but she didn’t allow him the option.

Soon, it was only us Lyra and me in the forest full of veils. Silence engulfed us.

“What is going on?” I asked, worried by her silence.

I could see her steeling herself, bit by bit, before rising her head and saying everything before she lost the courage to do so.

“Pole has a plan to stop the ritual at once.” she said, looking at me with expectation and fear.

I tried to hide my own anxiety and walked towards her, grabbing her hands.

“What is it that you got to do? What are you thinking about?” I asked, grabbing her hands so she would not have any chance of getting away.

“He thinks there is a way to stop the ritual but… we have to face that monster” She said.

She didn’t need to say more details; just by that, I knew who she was talking about.

“You saw that thing?” I asked, worried. I could see the wounds under her clothes. Had it hurt her?

“I have no idea what that thing is, but Pole thinks that if we do this we may be able to survive without rituals. And… he may even have a chance to go home.”

I looked at Lyra deep in surprise, in profound disbelief of what she was saying.

“Tell me what’s that plan, and don’t skip any details.” I said, grabbing her by the arms, determined to know what was truly going on.