The Nightscape

Safe Haven

Lyra could have wept with relief when Hayden's compound could be seen as a dark smudge on the horizon. It had taken yet another week to get this far, and she had only been on her feet for the past three days. Even so, she was exhausted to her very bones, and those who had helped carry her stretcher looked even worse. The oppressive heat and blinding sun certainly didn't help; it felt like every drop of clean water they managed to get would just get sweated out without an hour. The reflection of the light against the dust had made some of their party temporarily blind before they realised they needed to wrap rags around their eyes to stop the glare. While they were near the sea, they had smeared mud on their skin to stop the light from burning them, but within a day or two they sweated it all off and now they were all burnt to a crisp. Vivian had also taken a turn for the worse as they traveled, her wound getting infected, and she had been lost to fever dreams for the last two days. 

Needless to say, they were on their last legs when they finally staggered into the compound, people calling for Hayden and water and a doctor as the ten of them who had survived this long finally reached safety. Lyra made herself keep walking into the fenced off compound itself with Vivian and the two men who were carrying her stretcher, looking around for Ettie. She wanted to know if she had seen the boy as well and spoken to him, or if it had all been some bizarre, intricate hallucination. Before she could find the girl, though, Hayden was there. To her shock, he had lost a hand since she last saw him, the stump wrapped in clean white bandages and his face a little gaunter than it had been. He hurried over to the two of them, taking one look at Vivian and wincing. 

"Take her to the medical bay, now, and get doctor Thalia to take a look at her." He instructed, ushering the men carrying the stretcher towards one of the low grey building before turning back to Lyra, taking it her exhausted state with a single glance. 

"Come with me, I'll take you to a room I had prepared for you. Shower, go to the mess hall, and then sleep. We can talk about what happened when you don't look like you're an inch away from death." He said, a streak of paternal concern in his tone that made Lyra wince. He began to lead her away and she followed, too tired to protest and too relieved to be somewhere relatively safe. He looked back over his shoulder at her, eyes flicking up and down like he was checking her for something. "First, actually, do you have any injuries that need tending to? We have a few doctors, so there's no need to play the martyr." He assured her. Lyra shook her head. 

"No, no injuries. I'm just tired and hungry." She explained as he led her past the grate, the hole where she had been kept prisoner until she was forced to heal the rift. Hayden saw her looking at winced. 

"I'm sorry I put you through so much, and I mean that sincerely. That being said, I would do it all again to set the world to rights." He told her, glancing at his own mutilated arm with a look of grim satisfaction. Not for the first time, she wondered what had happened at the metallic altar. She could ask later, she ultimately decided. Even asking after the others, finding out where Anya was, could wait until she had washed and eaten and slept. It would be nice to have a bed and a hot meal that didn't run the risk of poisoning her before she probably got herself kicked out. Even finding the boy could wait as far as she was concerned. 

"If you'd do it all again, you don't mean the apology. That's what my dad always said." Lyra muttered as he led her inside, sighing with relief of finally being out of the sun. 

"That's fair, I just wanted you to hear it. Here. I had it made up when you were first brought here for after the rift was healed, in case you needed somewhere to stay. You are welcome here as long as you want." He told her. Lyra didn't respond with more than a distracted nod, breathing a sigh of relief when he left and closed the door behind him. 

It resembled a self contained flat, with a bed and a bookshelf and a little kitchenette with a microwave, making Lyra wonder if they had electricity here. There was also a tiny bathroom, and when she pushed the tap on, water came out. Vivian had been right, apparently. Hayden really had figured everything out, and suddenly staying here didn't seem like a terrible idea. Once she had found Anya and figured out what was going on with that boy, of course. Everyone looked happy and healthy enough, and really it was the least he could do for her.