A Sacrifice of Names

Chapter 18

Muriel had not been wrong when she told them it was only a few more hours until they reached the border into the Court of Shadows and left the Quiet Land behind them. Silence accompanied them, as did the night. Morning mist crawled across rock-strewn paths, but the sun did not greet them until after ten. Keely had been right, the farther north they went the longer the darkness held these lands in its grasp. Even the slight decrease in temperature reminded Earie of home.

Home.

Twice had she cast her gaze over her shoulder. Once right before they crossed into the Court of Shadows, its border being a large, stone arch looming on the horizon. There she froze and dropped her gaze down towards her fingers, wondering if she would ever be able to accept the change.

The second time had been when an unsettling cry alerted all those feeling well enough not to take up unnecessary space in the leftover carriages. Another had succumbed to his fatal wounds, adding another name to the list of those who would be buried in unfamiliar soil, a place they never had the chance to call home.

Could she ever call this place home? In a body that was but an illusion?

One last time did she want to drag her fingers over the screen of her phone, type in her parents' long phone number, and to hear her mother apologise first thing for not having a good enough internet connection to turn on the camera. She would laugh and shake her head, although they would never see.

Never.

When was the last time she had heard her father shout an upbeat hello from behind her mother whenever she would ring them up? The last time she had given him a hug had been after spending Christmas with them two years prior. They had made the long trip back to Scotland and she had dropped them off at the airport afterward, never having allowed the thought to cross her mind that it could very well be the last time she would ever see them in person.

Keely had found her hand and squeezed it softly. A sorrowful smile tugged on the ends of Earie's lips as she lifted her gaze, mouthing a soundless thank you.

It was not their fault. It would never be. If anything, it was she who should carry the guilt for dragging them into this. Had it been despair or nativity that had made her believe she could get out of here unseen and unharmed? This world wasn't words written on paper, those deaths had not been mere paragraphs out of one of her many books. This was a truth, a reality she wasn't yet ready to accept.

A reality which end wasn't written in books.

✒

"Eat something..."

Earie said nothing, her features emotionless and eyes still cast down towards her hands. The soft pads of her thumbs gently caressed her other fingertips, as if this was the first time she had ever truly taken notice of them.

Fake, fake.

"Bloody fool," Innogen snarled, giving Keely the opportunity to sit down and eat instead of wasting her time trying to get Earie's attention. She didn't, bony fingers gently tapping against Earie's shoulder instead.

"How can you both be so calm?" Earie finally said in a thin whisper. "How can you even stomach food right now after what happened?" The skies had grown dark again, their faces illuminated by a fire made in the middle of a clearing after Muriel had decided it was best to make camp for the night. This time no one had complained about setting up some tents which allowed the survivors some privacy. Exhausted faces surrounded them, dinner finished in almost silence. Some mourned, some merely wished for a, albeit restless, full night of sleep after the events of the night prior.

Keely cast a quick look over her shoulder towards one of the two carriages.

"Their bodies will return to the earth," Sorrowful was the smile that she painted across her lips. "We take from the world when we are born. It feeds us, and when we die we return what we borrowed. Their spirits will dwell, but eventually those, too, will be absorbed by the things around us."