BLOOD AND BONE | rewritten

56

"You are positive you know the way?" Gigi asked Delphinium as they led the way into the uncharted territory together. "It all looks the same."

Like the obedient bird she was, Delphinium knew the way to her cage better than the way to her own home. "I'm sure."

She glanced up at a rare glimpse of blue sky through the impossibly white canopy layer. It was as if the ground had sucked all the plant life dry. Leaving behind red, red dirt. Their jet landed before noon, and the drive to the ruins would be eight hours round trip. It was already beginning to turn to late afternoon and the shadows cast between the trees were getting longer by the minute. This was perhaps one of the only regions in Kybeshi that still followed nature's rules of day and night.

Even as a child, Delphinium was never one to shy away from the dark. It was engrained deep in her bones to love bleak, sinister darkness. But the last thing she wanted to see was the fortress at night. Perhaps it was childish, but the enslaved fifteen-year-old in her was awake for good.

Suddenly, the white tree trunks looked a lot more like massive shards of bone stabbed haphazardly into the bleeding ground.

The eerie stillness of the air put everyone on edge enough for Delphinium to feel it with her back turned. The loudest noise was their feet crushing the red dirt, which did nothing to minimize Delphinium's suspicion that someone was sneaking up on them. She wished someone would say anything to take her mind off the horrible guessing game she tortured herself with.

Blessedly, Jaxon asked, "Isn't this place meant to be filled with monsters like all those children's stories?"

"It is," Delphinium spoke. "Just not the kind you think."

That put an even greater damper on the mood. The forest was silent again. No wildlife, no wind. It was as if they knew better than to exist around this area. The lack of conversation was deafening, like it was being forced into Delphinium's ears. Delphinium couldn't keep her gaze from darting every way, checking behind every white trunk as they passed it. Here, she was not formidable. Her power meant nothing. She was nothing but a cornered animal, exposed to the eyes of her predators. This forest could be hiding anyone.

Though her hands itched to wrap around herself in a sense of false comfort, Delphinium steeled herself as always. Instead, she absorbed solace from the twin daggers strapped at her waist. In the chaos of the night of the Needles' raid, none of the soldiers noted her new blades, and she intended to keep it that way with the new IMC jacket covering her abdomen. The other two blades were hidden inside the slit in her mattress.

Deep down, she knew she was acting just as paranoid as everyone thought her to be. Was it so terrible to need reassurance?

Finally, she swallowed the lump in her throat long enough to say, "Here." The clearing was ahead. From there, the ruins would be perfectly visible.