The Nightscape

Benefits Of Immortality

Guy was lagging behind, and it was really annoying Lyra. They were in a hurry, both to outpace Zidros and Francine and to rescue the others, and yet they had only been marching for a few hours and Guy was beginning to slow down. The sun had long since dipped below the horizon, and Lyra could see dark shapes moving about on the horizon. Monsters, no doubt, creatures who were hunting them for their dinner, but Lyra didn't care. She was immortal, they couldn't kill her, and Zidros wouldn't let Guy die either. So they didn't need to make camp and light a fire to keep them away, not that that seemed to relax her companion. 

"Lyra, I need to stop for the night." He finally gasped, stopping where he was and waiting for her to turn around and talk to him. She had ignored every other attempt at conversation, and when he first spoke, she had tried to do the same. Only when she realized that he really was stopping did she finally face him and speak. 

"No we don't. Come on, Guy, I'm not tired at all, so you can't be either. Besides, we need to keep going, we don't have time to relax through the night. I thought you would want to push on so we can save your precious little sister." She snapped at him, still feeling as though she could walk through the night. His eyes hardened. 

"Don't start taking snipes at my family, Lyra." He warned her. She snorted at him. 

"Really? That's what crosses a line for you? You tried your hardest to get my family killed!" She yelled at him. He sucked air through his teeth and glared at her. 

"I did not, I tried my best to stop you from being killed!" He yelled back, throwing his teeth up in the air. 

"My life was never in danger and you bloody well know it, so don't claim that you were doing it for my own good because we both know it's bullshit. This was, and always has been, about your stupid little family feud that had nothing to do with me! I just wish that you had the common courtesy to leave me out of it." She snapped at him. Guy swallowed down his comeback and looked at her. 

"Look, no matter what we've got in our past, I honestly don't care. I'm bloody tired, Lyra, and I need to get a few hours sleep. We can still reach the bunker by mid afternoon tomorrow if we set off at dawn." He argued, sitting down and pulling out a sleeping bag from his pack. Lyra looked at him, shocked. 

"We don't have time! Don't be so damn lazy, get up!" She insisted. She had half a mind to leave him here for the creatures, but she needed him. Lyra wasn't confident she could find her way back to the bunker without his guidance, and she was certain that she wouldn't be able to convince those inside to help her. Guy gave her a tired, frustrated look. 

"Lyra, have you even wondered why you don't feel tired? Why you've never had to reach for your water bottle, or you haven't felt hungry?" He demanded of her, kicking his shoes off. Lyra did in fact pause, realizing he was right. Even when she took a sip of water, she didn't feel a sudden thirst like she had been running on adrenaline and had simply tuned out her bodies needs. Frowning, she swiped at her forehead and under her armpits with her fingers, surprised not to find a drop of sweat despite the quick pace she had set and the burning sun she had been under all day. Guy left her to her thoughts, climbing inside the sleeping bag, curling up, and going to sleep. Lyra sat down heavily. 

She didn't feel anything physically. She didn't the bathroom, she had never felt too hot in the day heat or too cold in the nippy air of the night, she hadn't needed to take a drink or felt a pang of hunger, and now, after so long on the move, she felt wide awake. It must be a side effect of the immortality, she realized. Lyra wondered if she even could sleep anymore. But tonight wasn't the time to test it. Guy had already fallen asleep, his snores loud and annoying, and if she fell asleep she was certain they'd sleep through the night and well into the morning, wasting time they didn't have. Besides, the beasts circling around them were getting more confident now.